Truth in the Barrel – "Acts of Deep Hope w/ The Sisters of Loretto"

Hosts: Amy McGrath & Denver Riggleman
Date: December 9, 2025
Guests: The Sisters of Loretto (Johanna, Maria, Mary Ann), Community Members (Susan, Jesse)

Episode Overview

In this intimate episode of "Truth in the Barrel", Amy McGrath visits the Sisters of Loretto in Central Kentucky for a raw discussion on faith, public policy, and the meaning of “acts of deep hope.” The conversation explores how faith intersects with public issues like the common good, immigration, environmental justice, and the true definition of being “pro-life,” especially through the lens of Catholic sisters and rooted community activists. The tone is deeply reflective, at times critical, but ultimately hopeful—a testament to radical empathy and steadfast commitment to justice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. History and Mission of the Sisters of Loretto

• Johanna gives a brief history of the order:
  • Founded in 1812 near Central KY, on current property since 1824 ([03:08]).
  • Mission: Establishing and supporting schools, currently in St. Louis, Denver, and El Paso ([03:52]).
  • Personal story: Drawn to the order’s spirit of service, joined at 18 ([04:39]).
• Core principle: Following the gospel by “being helpful and improving the lives of the people around us.” ([11:01])

2. Defining the Common Good

• Maria: "Common good really means sharing of resources... It answers to the needs of a diverse group in society." ([06:13])
• Susan: Invokes Thomas Merton’s "original unity": “When we live to the depth of who we are... everything is connected.” ([09:38])
• Jesse: Stresses interdependence with humanity, earth, past, present, and future: “It’s about being in relationship...” ([09:56])

3. Faith and Public Policy: Immigration

• Marianne: Critiques hypocrisy in economic reliance on immigrant labor: “We owe those people. They came because we wanted them.” ([13:22])
• Kimber: Calls for both legal structures and moral openness for newcomers ([13:43]).
• Johanna: “Probably here illegally because there’s no way to do it legally.” Critiques criminalization: “Beyond law is responsibility...criminalizing these people...is totally selfish.” ([15:01])
• Susan: Urges policymakers to grapple with complexity—recognizing US interventions abroad, climate change, and the roots of migration ([16:56]).
• Kimber: Testifies to shared humanity: “What really hurts me is this lack of respect for them as equal human beings with just the same desires and hopes that I have to live a good life.” ([18:35])

4. Environmental Justice as Moral Imperative

• Jesse: “This is our entire context. This is our home, the planet where we live. It’s not like we get a second chance somewhere else.” ([20:25])
  • Personal account: Describes Kentucky flooding’s effect on young children as a sign of climate crisis ([20:53]).
  • Cites principle: “What you do to the land, you do to the people. And what you do to the people, you do to the land.” ([22:11])
• Kimber: Warns against divorcing people from land, loss of agricultural heritage: “If you turn your back on agricultural and farming, you’re doing a great injustice to the whole country.” ([23:37])
• Susan: Details support for Apache at Oak Flat, whose sacred land is threatened by copper mining—a result of policy failures and market forces ([24:30]).

5. Critique of Current Government and Political Climate

(One word characterizations of the administration):

• Johanna: "Self-serving" and "Isolationist" ([27:12])
• Kimber: "Destructive" ([27:24])
• Marianne: "Cruel" ([27:26])
• Susan: "Moral corruption" ([27:28])
• Jesse: "Dysfunctional" ([27:43])

Deeper Reflections:

• Marianne: Details cruelty in immigration enforcement, care for detainees, and ending of international aid, decrying “a gotcha level, a meanness.” ([27:50–28:41])
• Johanna: Connects politics to “selfish isolationism” and the twisting of Christian language for exclusionary, America-first policies ([29:09–29:50]).
• Susan: Laments weaponizing faith against empathy: “There are some Christian nationalists...calling empathy toxic...taking that basic understanding and calling it sinful.” ([31:08–31:38])

6. Reclaiming ‘Pro-Life’ and Catholic Identity

• Kimber: Broadens “pro-life” to mean respecting people and the planet—rejects narrow focus: “Study a little bit of embryology if you want to see the randomness of choice in humanity.” ([34:05–35:45])
• Johanna: Quotes Pope Leo: “Don’t call yourself pro-life if you have no concern about what happens to that child after it’s born.” ([37:06])
• Marianne: “Scripture says, choose life. That’s it. ...Women sometimes feel that abortion is the best choice they can make for life...It’s a serious, solemn choice.” ([38:40])
• Kimber: Emphasizes the primacy of conscience and education in making difficult moral choices ([39:42–40:16]).

7. Closing Reflections: Acts of Hope and Grassroots Change

• Johanna: Weekly vigil with the sign, “We are all neighbors. No exceptions.” ([41:46])
• Kimber: Stresses the value of “availability”—of showing up for neighbors, fostering real civic participation ([42:30–43:12]).
• Marianne: Calls for an end to the death penalty in Kentucky—“we do not have the right as a state to kill.” ([43:47])
• Susan: Invokes theme "We’re saved by beauty": “Beauty and goodness are calling us toward a life where everything and everyone can flourish. ...Don’t just resist cruelty—build the life we want.” ([44:15])
• Jesse: On Walter Brueggemann’s ‘prophetic imagination’: “To truly be the kind of alternative community...we have to engage in acts, gestures of resistance and acts of deep hope.” ([44:55])
  • Advice from Indigenous elder: “Always ask yourself, are you centering life? And if you are not centering life, stop...” ([45:28])

8. Pride in Public Service

• Jesse: Finds hope not in political leaders, but in everyday people working in broken systems: “I am proud of those people. ...front desk clerks, social workers...trying to make it work in an utterly chaotic, broken system.” ([46:39–48:01])
• Host: “Government is just people.” ([48:27])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Johanna ([04:39]): “I came up this hill at the ripe old age of 18 to give my life to God.”
• Maria ([06:44]): “The common good is ...respect and caring. That’s what I find important about being a member of a religious community.”
• Susan ([09:38]): “When we live to the depth of who we are as human beings...everything is connected.”
• Johanna ([15:10]): “Law is not the greatest moral force that we have. Love is, you know. Beyond law is responsibility.”
• Jesse ([20:25]): “This is our entire context. This is our home, the planet where we live.”
• Susan ([24:30]): “Policy has not protected the religious freedom of the Apache...We all use copper...that’s the complexity we have to be willing to grapple with.”
• Jesse ([44:55]): “We have to engage in acts, gestures of resistance and acts of deep hope.”
• Pat McCabe quote via Jesse ([45:28]): “Always ask yourself, are you centering life? If you are not centering life, stop and start over again and do it differently.”
• Johanna ([41:46]): “We are all neighbors. No exceptions.”

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [03:08] — History & mission of the Sisters of Loretto
• [06:10] — What does the common good mean?
• [11:32] — Immigration in the lens of faith and policy
• [15:01] — The law vs. love and responsibility
• [20:01] — Environmental justice: generational impact and moral core
• [26:40] — One word for the current administration & elaboration
• [34:01] — What does ‘pro life’ mean to you?
• [41:46] — Closing reflections: hope, action, and what’s next

Tone & Final Message

Throughout the episode, the speakers maintain a tone of fierce compassion, blending righteous indignation at injustice with personal humility and hope. The Sisters and guests advocate for radical, inclusive love as a guide to policy and everyday action—emphasizing availability, neighborliness, environmental stewardship, and a refusal to give in to despair or cynicism, no matter how fraught the times.

“To me, that is an act of deep hope right now: centering life... What can I do today as an act of deep hope?” – Jesse ([45:28])

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