Father Augustine Wetta has been a Benedictine monk at Saint Louis Abbey for 30 years. He teaches high school, coaches rugby, turns the Psalms into rap, and wrote Humility Rules, which has sold over 100,000 copies. He met his first monk on a bus in Rome while fending off a pickpocket, and he once told his abbot he was a terrible monk. The abbot agreed.

Josh and Father Augustine talk about going all in on a faith when your vows leave no exit: Saint Benedict's way to end an argument, why love can grow out of commitment, and why you will marry the wrong person. Then they disagree about AI. Josh builds with it every day and sees a crisis of purpose coming fast. Father Augustine uses it to write rap songs, doubts anyone can predict the future, and says no machine can say Mass or become flesh.

They land on the practical: shame, honor and virtue signaling, humility as truthful self-knowledge, why the closer you get to God the smaller you feel, and one thing anyone can try for the next 30 days.

About Father Augustine Wetta: Father Augustine Wetta is a monk of Saint Louis Abbey in Saint Louis, Missouri, where he teaches high school and coaches rugby. He has degrees from Oxford University, Rice University, and Middlebury College. Father Augustine grew up on a tropical island, where he learned to surf and was nearly eaten by a shark.

Father Augustine Wetta: https://www.augustinewetta.com
His psalm raps: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/corvuschristi/ran

• (00:00:00) - Intro
• (00:01:59) - A Benedictine monk since 1996
• (00:03:30) - The monk with no pockets
• (00:05:26) - Stuck in an elevator, and it was perfect
• (00:07:13) - A family that argued about God
• (00:08:15) - Why the Benedictines have lasted
• (00:10:10) - How monks end an argument
• (00:14:15) - Bad at being a monk
• (00:15:11) - No exit: vows, marriage and commitment
• (00:20:47) - You will marry the wrong person
• (00:23:02) - AI and the Psalms as gangster raps
• (00:28:30) - A dangerous dance with the beast?
• (00:30:45) - Why a robot can never say Mass
• (00:37:36) - Building our own gods
• (00:38:53) - Ouija boards and demons
• (00:43:34) - Our times are too certain
• (00:50:13) - Entertainment vs the sacred
• (00:56:51) - Cool vs beautiful
• (00:59:48) - Shame, honor and virtue signaling
• (01:09:33) - Humility as truthful self-knowledge
• (01:14:12) - Kill the ego? God doesn't create junk
• (01:18:16) - The closer to God, the smaller you feel
• (01:20:13) - Be a good monk today, leave tomorrow
• (01:23:24) - One practice for 30 days