Podcast Summary: Petersboat

Host: R. Ketcham
Episode: The Monday After | All Beneath the Mulberry Tree
Date: October 6, 2025

Overview of the Episode

In this episode, Father R. Ketcham explores the deep questions of faith, trust in God, and the psychological roots of our struggles to follow Christ wholeheartedly. Drawing from recent Mass readings and personal stories, he delves into the difference between belief and faith, the wounds from our past that can inhibit trust, and the healing Christ offers when we courageously bring our struggles to Him. The episode is clothed in the relatable, conversational tone of a parish priest speaking directly to his community—but its themes are universal.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Difference Between Belief and Faith

• Question Raised: At what point do I find it hard to trust Christ, even if I believe all the right things about Him? (00:03)
• Psalm Reference: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
• Insight: There is a distinction between holding beliefs and actually living out faith, especially in challenging circumstances.
  • “There are times when we say, even though I believe this, I'm having a hard time trusting this.” – Fr. Ketcham (00:55)

2. Unique Roots of Struggle

• Each person's difficulty in trusting God stems from different experiences and wounds.
  • “There's something that makes it hard for you to trust that might not make it so hard for me.” – Fr. Ketcham (01:05)
• The opportunity lies in identifying when we struggle to trust and inviting Christ to address the roots of that struggle.

3. The Mulberry Tree & Deep Roots

• Scripture Reference: Jesus says if the apostles had faith the size of a mustard seed, they could command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea (Luke 17).
  • "The reason you find it hard to trust me... is because of your deep and complicated root system, which is in the soil. A lot of times of your childhood and your adolescence, you need healing." (02:20)
• These “roots” represent deeply ingrained patterns and wounds that need Christ’s healing.

4. Personal Story: The “Cool Kids” Wound

• Fr. Ketcham recounts his own experiences among popular groups and later feeling rejected, which has impacted his ability to receive wisdom from popular figures in the Church or religious trends.
  • "I have to admit, though, that it makes it difficult for me to receive something good from things that happen to be popular... But that's sad, because guys like Father Mike Schmitz or Bishop Barron or Dr. Scott Hahn... are awesome. But I find it difficult to receive something good from them because there's envy in me. Resentment." (04:32–05:30)
• Connects this to Jesus’s parable and God’s desire to heal not just actions, but root causes.

5. Emotional Reactions, Integrity, and Faith

• Mass readings refer to integrity—the ability not to be ruled by rash emotional reactions.
  • "The rash one has no integrity, but the just one, because of his faith shall live." (07:35)
• Faith unites and directs emotions, making them "servants" rather than masters.

6. Story of Compassion & Empathy

• Personal anecdote: Riding with his sister during a snowstorm, she feels panic before he does, illustrating that each person reacts to situations based on their unique emotional and life history.
  • "Each one of us is reacting to life uniquely, according to our own soil, upbringing, complicated root system… Christ is with each one of us to help us in the way that is unique and particular to us, to our own heart, which he knows." (11:00)

7. Saints and Healing

• St. Faustina: Christ entrusted to her the devotion to Divine Mercy despite her self-doubt—God heals wounds by entrusting us with new responsibilities, as he did with Mary Magdalene.
  • “Look at the picture of Jesus, the divine mercy. You see where the rays of light and grace are coming from? They're coming from his wounds. From his wounds.” (13:25)
• Healing is not psychobabble but a deeply Christian principle.

8. Giving Permission for Healing & Real Freedom

• The importance of honestly acknowledging our wounds and opening even the “crack” of our hearts to Christ for healing.
  • “Alright, come Lord Jesus, come Holy Spirit, come into my heart… look at it with Christ and open up the heart like a little crack, like the thief on the cross with faith the size of a mustard seed. And he will enter into that why and bring you right down to its roots. And then real healing can begin.” (14:42)

9. Affirmation From a Parishioner: Longing to Belong

• A young parishioner remarks on the priest’s story, reminding him that the desire to be loved and belong is fundamentally good.
  • "It's a good thing to want to be loved or to want to belong. So I think it comes from a good place." (14:59)
• Wounds don’t negate the goodness of the underlying desire—they just shape how we experience and respond to it.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Belief vs. Faith:
  “There are times when we say, even though I believe this, I'm having a hard time trusting this.” – Fr. Ketcham (00:55)

• Deep Roots Analogy:
  "The reason you find it hard to trust me sometimes is not because you don't believe, but because of your deep and complicated root system, which is in the soil. A lot of times of your childhood and your adolescence, you need healing." (02:20)

• Honesty About Envy:
  "I find it difficult to receive something good from them because there's envy in me. Resentment... When the Lord says, 'are you envious because I am generous?' Yeah, sometimes I am." (05:32)

• On Emotional Integrity:
  "The emotions, which are good things, become like useless servants... unless there's a faith to unite them and wield them for good." (07:35)

• Healing Comes Through Entrustment:
  “That is precisely how God healed her, by entrusting her with responsibility… Look at the picture of Jesus, the divine mercy. You see where the rays of light and grace are coming from? They're coming from his wounds. From his wounds.” (13:25)

• Hope for Healing:
  "Alright, come Lord Jesus, come Holy Spirit, come into my heart… look at it with Christ and open up the heart like a little crack, like the thief on the cross with faith the size of a mustard seed. And he will enter into that why and bring you right down to its roots. And then real healing can begin." (14:42)

• Affirmation of Belonging:
  “It's a good thing to want to be loved or to want to belong. So I think it comes from a good place.” – Young parishioner (14:59)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Belief vs. Faith: 00:03–01:05
• Mulberry Tree/Deep Roots Analogy: 01:46–02:20
• Personal Story - "Cool Kids": 04:25–06:13
• Emotions & Faith: 07:35–08:21
• Story: Car Snowstorm with Sister: 09:37–11:00
• St. Faustina & Divine Mercy: 12:25–13:25
• Invitation to Healing: 14:42–14:59
• Parishioner's Comment & Core Desire: 14:59–End

Final Reflections

Father Ketcham vulnerably shares how faith is not about having “enough” but about saying yes even in our places of woundedness. The call is to recognize, with honesty, the deep emotional roots that make trusting God hard, to bring them to Christ’s healing mercy, and to remember that our foundational desires—for love, for belonging—are intrinsically good. This episode serves as a compassionate invitation to self-examination, empathy for others, and hope in Christ’s ongoing work in our hearts.