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Lent Pray40: The Return
40 days left
Join Jonathan Roumie, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Mark Wahlberg, Chris Pratt, Sister Miriam, Jeff Cavins, Mother Olga, and more this Lent for Pray40 — a journey back home to the Father with The Brothers Karamazov and the Return of the Prodigal Son by Fr. Henri Nouwen. We’ll see how Dostoevsky’s famous novel brings the Parable of the Prodigal Son to life like never before, showing us how we’re all farther from God than we need to be. The good news is God is waiting for us each with open arms, running out to meet us while we are still a long way off. Join us today as we let go of what holds us back, return home to the Lord, and let Him send us out as His hands and feet. You can get your copy of The Brothers Karamazov here: https://hallow.com/karamazov
47 sessions
1The ReturnWelcome to the Lent challenge! Join Jonathan & Sr. Miriam as we begin with ashes, humility, and hope. Today invites you to take the first step home through the Litany of Humility, discovering how even death can become the soil where new life begins.
Day 1: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam14 min
2The Prodigal SonDive into the heart of the Prodigal Son and The Brothers Karamazov with Jonathan and then pray with Sr. Miriam to step out of the role of observer and into the story—where God’s mercy meets both our rebellion and our pride.
Day 2: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam12 min
3Fasting FridayToday begins our weekly fast with Mark & Chris and a simple prayer: “Lord, empty me, fill me, use me.” We’re invited to detach from what clutters our hearts so God can make space, bring freedom, and bear fruit through us.
Day 3: Mark & Chris10 min
4Saturday ConversationJoin us for a powerful conversation as Jeff talks with Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart about her religious community, the season of Lent, and the prayer at the heart of our Pray40 challenge. Feel free to select "Video" or "Audio" from the drop down menu above.
Day 4: Jeff & Mother Olga24 min
5Sunday HomilyReflect with Fr. Mike on the Sunday Gospel and what these first days of Lent can mean for the rest of our lives. Using the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Fr. Mike challenges us to take courage and begin writing the story that God has already begun.
Day 5: Fr. Mike21 min
6The AnswerJoin Jonathan & Sr. Miriam as we meet our first character of The Brother's Karamazov—Fr. Zossima, the monk who sits at the heart of the novel's great spiritual message. We'll hear about the moment that shaped his life and discover a radical truth about our responsibility towards all.
Day 6: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam14 min
7The Way HomeWalk with Jonathan & Sr. Miriam as we follow the radical conversion of Fr. Zossima. We'll reflect on the idea of our guilt before everyone and pray for the grace to see Christ in all.
Day 7: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam14 min
8The BowReturn with Jonathan & Sr. Miriam to Fr. Zossima as an elder and spiritual father. Through his witness of active love, we explore what it means not only to come home to the Father—but to become Him.
Day 8: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam16-24 min
9Story of ReturnJoin us today for our first Story of Return—real-life stories of radical conversion, grace, and mercy. With a journey mirroring the prodigal son’s, Fr. John Burns shares how the Lord called him to return home and to become the gift he’d been running from.
Day 9: Fr. John Burns17 min
10Fasting FridayJoin Mark & Chris for a Friday Fasting Challenge on humility and responsibility. Through Scripture and an excerpt from Dostoevksy, we’ll seek to be emptied of judgment and to be transformed into mercy.
Day 10: Mark & Chris10 min
11Saturday ConversationListen in on this beautiful conversation between Jeff and Gwen Stefani about her journey of faith. Feel free to select "Video" or "Audio" from the drop down menu above.
Day 11: Jeff & Gwen20 min
12Sunday HomilyJoin us for a Sunday homily from Fr. Mike on the Younger Son as we explore the choice to leave home and the longing that drives us into the “distant country.” Through the Transfiguration and Mitya’s story, we’ll reflect on identity, desire, and what happens when we forget who we are.
Day 12: Fr. Mike
13My Most Grievous FaultToday, we meet Mitya—the “younger son” of this journey—and watch how private choices ripple outward. With guidance from Jonathan & Sr. Miriam, we’ll enter the storm of desire, shame, and longing, and ask what’s missing when confession stops short of mercy.
Day 13: Jonathan15 min
14Our InheritanceJoin Jonathan as we follow Mitya to the edge: family wounds, inherited brokenness, and a moment where anger threatens to take over. In prayer, we’ll hear God name our truest inheritance—living hope, freedom, and a new identity as His beloved.
Day 14: Jonathan14 min
15The PigstyToday, Jonathan plunges us into a night of chaos with the Karamazovs. While there's a flicker of hope and repentance, an arrest that shakes everything. Then we’ll pray with Sr. Miriam from the “pigsty” of the prodigal and discover Jesus already there—meeting us in the mud and calling us home.
Day 15: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
16Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear Mariama Roldan-Strycula's firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father. Note: this story contains themes of physical abuse, sexual abuse and assault .
Day 16: Mariama Roldan-Strycula
17Fasting FridayThis Friday, you're invited by Mark & Chris into a deeper letting go. As the prodigal leaves the pigsty behind, we’re challenged to double down—fasting not only from comforts, but from every attachment that keeps us from freedom. Through Scripture and prayer, we practice dying to the old self so Christ can clothe us with compassion, humility, and love.
Day 17: Mark & Chris
18Saturday ConversationWe dive into another exciting conversation between Jeff and Michael Iskander, the actor who portrays the title character in the TV series House of David. Feel free to select "Video" or "Audio" from the drop down menu above.
Day 18: Jeff & Michael
19Sunday HomilyThis Sunday, we turn with Fr. Mike to the elder son—the one who stayed, obeyed, and yet grew distant in heart. Through Ivan’s story, we’ll reflect on pride, resentment, and hardened hearts, and listen for the Father’s invitation to step out of isolation and back into joy.
Day 19: Fr. Mike
20Faith vs. ReasonStep into Week 3 with Jonathan to meet Ivan: a brilliant mind wounded by suffering. Hear his outrage over innocent pain, the temptation to judge God, and the elder son’s pride that keeps us outside the Father’s joy.
Day 20: Jonathan
21Love Is a PersonJoin Jonathan as we hear how Ivan puts Christ on trial over freedom and suffering—then meets a shocking reply: not an argument, but love. Bring your hardest questions to the cross in prayer.
Day 21: Jonathan
22Pride and the Elder SonCome along with Jonathan as Ivan’s “just ideas” collide with real consequences as Smerdyakov acts on “everything is permitted.” In your prayer with Sr. Miriam, you'll ask yourself: will pride keep you outside, or will you come home?
Day 22: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
23Story of ReturnJoin us for a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father. Note: Names have been changed to protect the privacy of those mentioned in this story. This story also contains themes of sexual abuse, date rape and abortion.
Day 23: Mother Mary Concepta, S.V.
24Fasting FridayThis Friday go with Mark & Chris to the root of all sin: pride. As we reflect on Christ who emptied Himself, we fast from ego and self-exaltation—choosing humility, generosity, and love that turns us outward toward God and others.
Day 24: Mark & Chris
25Saturday ConversationToday Jeff sits down with Alex to talk about the ways God has moved in his life and how the mission of Hallow began. Feel free to select "Video" or "Audio" from the drop down menu above.
Day 25: Jeff & Alex
26Sunday HomilyFr. Mike's homily today turns our gaze to the Father—his mercy, patience, and joy—and to the path of becoming like him. Through Alyosha, we glimpse a life lived not apart from God, but with Him: loving, bearing burdens, and choosing the light.
Day 26: Fr. Mike
27Love Where No One SeesJoin Jonathan to meet Alyosha, the unlikely “hero” of The Brothers Karamazov. Fr. Zossima sends him from the monastery into the messy world to practice “active love”—small, unseen obedience that mirrors Christ’s own descent to bring the lost home.
Day 27: Jonathan
28Loaves and FishesIn today's session, Jonathan shows us how Alyosha tries to live Fr. Zossima’s “humble love” amid family chaos—kissing his raging father, mediating broken relationships, and searching for Mitya. He offers what he has, loaves-and-fishes style, before grief shatters everything.
Day 28: Jonathan
29Becoming the FatherJoin Jonathan as one of the novel's most climactic event unfolds: Fr. Zossima dies—and scandal follows as decay and gossip erupt. Alyosha’s faith buckles, and he rebels. In prayer with Sr. Miriam, we stand with the Father, learning obedience that waits, loves, and trusts without guarantees.
Day 29: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
30Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father.
Day 30: Fr. Malachy Napier, CFR
31Fasting FridayThis Fasting Friday with Mark & Chris marks a turning point: after weeks of emptying ourselves, we pause to receive. Scripture reveals the Father’s steadfast love—pursuing the lost, carrying us home, and inviting us to rest in His mercy and be filled.
Day 31: Mark & Chris
32Saturday ConversationToday, we dive into an exciting conversation between Jeff and Patricia Heaton. Feel free to select "Video" or "Audio" from the drop down menu above.
Day 32: Jeff & Patricia
33Sunday HomilyThis Sunday homily from Fr. Mike reflects on conversion and the courage to return home. Through the prodigal sons and the brothers’ encounters with grace, we’re invited to take our final step—accepting mercy, rising to new life, and choosing communion over isolation.
Day 33: Fr. Mike
34Wedding at CanaJoin Jonathan as we step into Alyosha’s turning point: grief and scandal pull him toward temptation, but unexpected mercy meets him first. A single “onion” of love opens a vision of Cana, where sorrow yields to joy and God fills what’s empty.
Day 34: Jonathan
35This Risen ManCome with Jonathan to find Mitya into the interrogation room: humiliation, accusation, and powerlessness strip him down. Then a dream of a freezing “wee one” awakens tenderness and responsibility. He accepts suffering as purification—and begins walking home with love for the poor.
Day 35: Jonathan
36Enter the FeastJonathan & Sr. Miriam invite you dive into Ivan’s crisis: his guilt over his role in tragedy shatters the armor of intellect. A tormenting encounter exposes pride’s loneliness, and the clock runs out. He chooses to speak, to risk shame for love—one step across the threshold toward mercy.
Day 36: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
37Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father.
Day 37: Ashley Lenz
38Fasting FridayStep into this Fasting Friday with Mark & Chris as the final prayer takes shape: use me. Having been emptied and filled, we’re sent to love—patiently, humbly, concretely—starting not far away, but with the people directly in front of us.
Day 38: Mark & Chris
39Saturday ConversationToday, we dive into an exciting conversation between Jeff and Lauren Daigle about her love for music and the Lord.
Day 39: Jeff & Lauren
40Sunday HomilyJoin us for a Fr. Mike's Sunday homily on life inside the Father’s house. Through Alyosha and a wounded community of boys, we see how forgiveness restores joy—and how God invites us to become spiritual fathers and mothers who gather others into the feast.
Day 40: Fr. Mike
41Where Grace AboundsJoin Jonathan for Holy Week as we journey to the Cross and watch as sin’s ripple reaches a wounded boy—and grace ripples back.
Day 41: Jonathan
42Seek Happiness in SorrowToday, we'll hear from Jonathan how grace gathers a broken group of boys around a sick child. We witness reconciliation, a friendship returning, and mercy that heals shame. Then we pray for those God places on our hearts—especially the forgotten.
Day 42: Jonathan
43Hurrah for KaramazovStep into the final pages of The Brothers Karamazov with Jonathan & Sr. Miriam: a graveside farewell, “memory eternal,” and hope beyond death. We pray with our memories—joyful and painful—asking God to redeem our past and lead us toward Easter.
Day 43: Jonathan & Sr. Miriam
44Story of ReturnJoin us for a Story of Return. We'll hear a firsthand story of what it looks like to return home to the Father. Note: This story contains themes of child loss and serious illness.
Day 44: Paul and Maggie Kim
45Fasting FridayJoin Mark & Chris this fasting Friday—Good Friday—to mourn the Cross and receive hope. Pray Luke 23, ask Jesus to remember you, and let His costly love teach you to love for all time: empty me, fill me, use me.
Day 45: Mark & Chris
46Saturday ConversationJeff sits down for a powerful conversation with Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa in the Holy Land, where he currently serves. Feel free to select "Video" or "Audio" from the drop down menu above.
Day 46: Jeff & Cardinal Pizzaballa
47Sunday HomilyCelebrate Easter with us as we rejoice in the Resurrection and new life. Having returned home this Lent—emptied, filled, and sent—we now live in the Father’s joy, celebrating the feast and carrying His love into the world.
Day 47: Fr. Mike