Introduction

Introduction

How do people manage co-occurring mental and physical health issues while recovering? On the Battlefield kicks off with an honest, energetic introduction from co-hosts Fr. Joseph Collins and Fr. Michael Marcantoni, two Orthodox priests who want to help you face life’s chaos with both spiritual depth and practical tools from addiction recovery. You’ll hear Fr. Michael share his background as a U.S. Army veteran, his deployment to Afghanistan, and the years of post-war drinking that followed.

He speaks openly about doing a 30-day inpatient stay, gaining two years of continuous sobriety, and how the hard-won lessons of recovery now shape his priesthood and this podcast. Fr. Joseph, meanwhile, explains that he never planned to be a priest, isn’t an addict himself, but has watched friends die from alcohol and drug use, and has a passion for making complex ideas simple and actionable. The tone is relaxed and humorous at times (yes, “Fr.

Cheyoming” makes an appearance), but the focus stays serious: life is a battlefield, everyone hits “the scramble,” and recovery wisdom can help even those who don’t identify as addicts. They unpack fear and anxiety, quote scripture, and keep returning to one core practice: doing “the next right thing” instead of being paralysed by the future. As Fr. Michael puts it, anxiety often signals that “we are not, in fact, placing things in God’s hands,” while Fr.

Joseph frames anxiety as a red flag that there is suffering and unresolved trauma that needs to be faced rather than numbed. The episode sets clear expectations for the series: boots-on-the-ground Orthodox spirituality, aimed at people dealing with unmanageability, from alcoholism to financial disaster to plain old restlessness and discontent.

If you’ve ever wondered how faith, recovery, and real life can actually fit together, this introduction might be the nudge you need to start asking, what is my own next right thing?