New Resources, Pilgrim People, and Dramatic Podcast Titles

A roundup at the end of a long week

This post has three purposes: expressing gratitude, offering a reminder, and sharing a roundup of the abundance of things that I’ve done this week.

Thank You!

First, I want to say thank you to everyone who has become a paid patron since I asked for your support two weeks ago. Really, your support is immediately and concretely helping my family and allowing me to devote time to Third Space. Thank you.

Reminder

Second, I wanted to make that ask one last time.

Third Space is a crucial part of my “real job.” Like many millennials, my family’s income is in the gig economy. I work part-time as a professional counselor, then the rest of my income comes from consulting and coaching work about spiritual abuse in the Church and Third Space. I never anticipated that this Substack would become a real job, a key source of my income. But it has. And I’m grateful for it.

Obviously, I’m not the first creator to make an income off of Substack. However, many of the professional Substackers put some or all of their content behind a paywall. And that’s great! Writers and podcasters deserve to be paid for their work. But I’ve decided not to do that. I always want Third Space to remain a resource that’s completely free and accessible to everyone who can benefit from it, regardless of their financial situation. That’s important to me.

But I’m realizing that you don’t know what I need unless I tell you, unless I ask.

The reality is that writing the essays and preparing for/recording podcasts take a significant amount of time, research, and emotional energy every week. Time and effort that, if I’m going to keep growing Third Space, also need to have financial growth. In the past year and a half, the overall subscribers have doubled, but the paid subscribers have essentially stayed the same.

If you have the resources and value Third Space—if you open these emails and listen to the podcast—if you believe these conversations are important for the People of God, please consider becoming a paid patron today.

You won’t get exclusive bonus content for upgrading. You’ll get the knowledge that you’re directly keeping these resources free for thousands of others, supporting my family, and ensuring Third Space can continue to grow.

There are two ways to help. The first is becoming a paid subscriber. There are three paid subscription options:

• $10 a month

• $100 a year

• *New* $500 a year

The second is to make a one-time contribution via PayPal (paul@faheycounseling.com) or Venmo (@catholicthirdspace).

As a special bonus, if you sign up for the $500 tier (or make a one-time contribution of $500 or more) before Memorial Day (May 25), you’ll receive a Third Space sticker and a print of this brand-new pastel sketch by Kristina (at Painted Sanctuary) of the Lost Sheep as a small token of gratitude. (I snuck this picture of the unfinished draft:)

“Which one of you does not go after the one that is lost until he finds it?”

This Week’s Roundup

Finally, I want to share about the fun stuff I’ve been doing this week!

1. I released a new self-paced online course about spiritual abuse in the Catholic Church! This is a project I’ve been working on for over a year, and it finally all came together this week. You can see the course here. And check out the great promo!

2. Leo Live was this week! Sarah Carter and I had a really fun conversation with Colleen Dulle. Sarah was streaming from her van while Colleen and I were both streaming from makeshift spaces because we’re both in the process of moving (though Colleen is moving to a way cooler place than I am). We were truly a pilgrim people :)
   
   We discussed Pope Leo’s ongoing catechesis on Vatican II. We talked about how the Church is in constant need of renewal and reform, about Mary as the “Icon of the Mystery,” and gave our prognostications about the pope’s imminent encyclical.
   

3. Chris Damian published his interview of me from several months ago! I laughed when I saw the dramatic title: “My Pastor Lied, the Diocese Covered It Up… and I Stayed Catholic.” But the subtitle summed up our conversation well: “If you’ve been harmed by the Church, are wrestling with staying or leaving, or just want better language for spiritual abuse, this conversation is for you.”
   
   I’m really grateful for this interview. Chris asked thoughtful and personal questions. Usually when I’m on someone else’s podcast I’m there to talk about a thing, usually spiritual abuse. Chris invited me to talk about myself, my own story and my relationship with God. I thought it was a really meaningful conversation. But don’t take my word for it; Daniel Quinan graciously said: “that immediately became one of my favorite interviews of this year.”

   

4. On Monday, I published my conversation with Dr. David Lantigua about Dilexi Te and the Latin American theology that shaped Pope Leo and Pope Francis. Talking with David was like drinking from a firehose; we could have talked for hours. As we approach Leo’s coming encyclical, this conversation helped prepare me to understand the theology that helped to form our new pope.

Finally, on top of all of that this week, I bought a house! After months of looking, Kristina and I finally purchased a new house. We’re really excited about it, especially how close we are to family. So we will be spending the weekend painting, and over the next few weeks we are replacing a septic tank, air conditioner, flooring, and making other small repairs before we move in. Life keeps moving!

Thank you all so much for your support, allowing me to invest in all of these projects.

Peace,

-Paul