Episode #89: Fr. John Henry Hanson on The Fire and the Silence—How Prayer, Psychology, and Interior Life Transform Everything

Episode #89: Fr. John Henry Hanson on The Fire and the Silence—How Prayer, Psychology, and Interior Life Transform Everything

From The Luella Jonk Show by Dr. Luella Jonk, PhD

February 16, 2026 · 1h 14m

About this episode

Father John Henry Hanson discusses the intersection of psychology and spirituality, emphasizing the importance of interior silence and prayer in personal transformation.

In this episode, I sit down with Father John Henry Hanson, a Norbertine priest, formator, and spiritual writer from St. Michael's Abbey whose work lives at the crossroads of psychology and spirituality. Father holds a degree in psychology from Divine Mercy University, and his upcoming book The Fire and the Silence explores what it truly means to align the mind with God in a world that never stops pulling our attention away. This conversation stopped me in my tracks—and I think it will do the same for you. I'll walk you through: ✅ Why psychological order alone leaves us empty—and what actually fills the rooms of the soul ✅ How interior silence isn't passive—it's one of the most demanding and transformative things you can practice ✅ The difference between creating order in your mind and creating life in your mind ✅ Why therapy works—and where it reaches its limits without something deeper ✅ How cognition either opens or closes the door to genuine spiritual growth ✅ What a life shaped by prayer, discipline, and silence actually looks like from the inside ✅ Why removing something from your life is never enough—and what you need to replace it with Whether you're someone who has done…

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