St. Josemaria Institute Podcast
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In this meditation for Easter Sunday: Fr. Javier del Castillo invites us to contemplate the Resurrection of Christ and how the Resurrection is an event that can only be accessed by people of faith who have had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Why is the Resurrection such a mysterious event that is not public, but is only accessed through a personal encounter with Our Lord? Because, as Fr. Javier explains, God preordained that the news of his Resurrection be spread through witnesses that had the credentials of having seen, heard, and touched Our Lord. This is the nature of a witness. Jesus appeared to the apostles, so that could spread the great news of the Resurrection. Our personal encounter with Jesus today comes from meeting him in our baptism, in holy communion, and in confession. The sacraments make him present here and now. Thanks to the priesthood, we have Jesus Christ present in the Church so that every generation can have the same encounter that the Apostles had. Therefore, as Christians, we are sharers in the great light of the Resurrection, which is the love of Christ that is alive today and that can enlighten all of humanity. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Easter_-True-Witnesses-of-Christ-Rebroadcast.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/easter-true-witnesses-of-christ/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Let us know that our podcast is important to you: __ __ Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Fr. Javier del Castillo explains the great lesson Jesus teaches us in the gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (John 12:20-33), which is that we have to die -- to self and in this world-- in order to really see who he is. From a Christian outlook, death is a passageway to eternal life where we get to see God, face to face, if we have lived according to the faith. Because of Jesus, we can no longer think that our death in this world is the end or something to be feared, it is actually now a new beginning. Therefore, as Fr. Javier explains, the consideration of death is needed to help us to precisely put our heart in the right place. Not knowing when were going to die is actually something that has has to help us be more faithful every day and to always be prepared for whenever God calls us to himself. And Jesus came to also teach us that all we need to prepare for eternity is love, everything else is superfluous. Today is is what we have; we dont have tomorrow yet. We need to love today, so that we can love for eternity. In the presence of Our Lord, Fr. Javier encourages us to ask ourselves: What is it that I am attached to? Am I placing God above all that and placing him first? View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Why-Do-We-Have-To-Die-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/why-do-we-have-to-die/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Let us know that our podcast is important to you: __ __ Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Fr. Javier del Castillo reflects on the revolutionary teaching of St. Paul who preached that Our Lord who is rich in mercy will always forgive us (Ephesians 2:4-10). It is a message that is intended to make our hearts rejoice on this Fourth Sunday of Lent or . Salvation is a gift. God became man for this purpose, to have mercy on us. We dont forgive our own sins. It is not a conquest of our own. We cant take our spiritual life in our own hands. Where our struggle lies is in opening up our soul to God and having the humility to recognize our sins. Even if we live good lives, as Fr. Javier explains, we must never assume that we are without sin. Our lives will find peace and joy only when we continue to ask for forgiveness: "Lord, I want to hold on tighter to your hand, because I see myself in danger all the time, as long as I am in this world. And I want to be very close to you, really change, try to change my lifestyle, thats what I want to do." View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/A-God-Who-Forgives-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/a-god-who-forgives/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Let us know that our podcast is important to you: __ __ Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Fr. Javier del Castillo helps us to contemplate the Gospel of the Mass for the Third Sunday of Lent— Jesus cleansing the Temple (John 2:13-25). This is a rare moment in the Gospel when Jesus gets angry because the worship that was due to his Father was being mingled with human motives and was not worthy of his Father God. As Fr. Javier explains, when it comes to the sacred, Our Lord makes no allowances for competition. The same is true for us as the temples of the Holy Spirit. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19) The virtue which allows us to love God and to worship God rightly with an undivided heart is holy purity. Purity is not simply a virtue for the single person but for everyone—married, single, priest, and religious. It is a virtue that allows us to see God behind everyone and every situation in our lives. And it allows us to be a contemplative, to carry that temple, to carry God with us wherever we go. Our heart is something great, something valuable, and we have to keep it pure for God. Theres many manifestations of this virtue and they are all beautiful, but they do require sacrifice. And that is where we need to really make a commitment to living these sacrifices so that the valuable gift of holy purity can be safeguarded. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/The-Temple-and-the-Virtue-of-Holy-Purity-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/temple-and-holy-purity/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Let us know that our podcast is important to you: __ __ Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Fr. Javier del Castillo helps us to contemplate the scene of the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, which we read in the Gospel of the Mass for the Second Sunday of Lent (Mark 9:2-10). Fr. Javier explains how Jesus took the Apostles up Mount Tabor to show them the full truth about himself, about his divinity, so that they could have hope in eternal life and remember this experience of bliss and eternity, especially when it comes time to suffer through the Passion. That is, Jesus took them aside to show them the glory that is a consequence of the Cross and that can only come after the Cross: the Tabor behind the Calvary. In considering this scene at Tabor, we also try to go to Jesus, to look at him, so that we may be enlightened and have our hopes placed correctly in that which is eternal. When we try to discover the Tabors behind the Calvaries, we are freed up of any worry and from thinking about ourselves, and that allows us to recover our peace and our inner joy in order to serve others and shine a new light around us. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/The-Tabors-Behind-the-Calvaries-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/tabors-behind-the-calvaries/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/ Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Fr. Peter Armenio helps us to enter into the season of the Lent with a desire for becoming good repenters. And he shares the easy steps for coming back to Christ and beginning again. Although we might believe that God must be sick of us for doing the same sinful things all the time, Fr. Peter reminds us that Our Lord never gets sick of us because he loves us infinitely. That is why his favorite penance is a humble and contrite heart, not to shame us but to get us back. Therefore, a spirit of self-knowledge--sincerity and self-honesty--is the raw material for repentance, not to wallow in our defects and sins, but as a springboard to begin again. A humble and contrite heart releases those barriers between ourselves and Jesus Christ. Fr. Peter also highlights numerous examples of good repenters in Scripture, from King David to Peter, from Matthew to the Samaritan Woman and Dismas (the Good Thief). Their stories remind us that all saints begin as very good repenters, and Our Lord is asking us to be good repenters too. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Becoming-a-Good-Repenter-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/becoming-a-good-repenter/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/ Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Fr. Peter Armenio helps us to pray about the sacrificial and redemptive true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and how we should make the center of our life. The source and summit of the Christian life is the Eucharist. Therefore, as Fr. Peter explains, "everything hinges on the Mass. In a certain sense, every devotion is an extension of the Mass and must lead to the Mass." And, how much we get out of Mass depends on our presence of God throughout the day, and how well we embrace the Cross. Jesus crucifixion and death were a culmination of his life of self-giving through his work and through his public life. We have to join Jesus in his death and resurrection, through the cross, expressed in our work and expressed in our suffering. St. Josemaria Escriva referred to the workbench as our altar, not sacramentally or liturgically, but that everybodys altar is in whatever they do. And he says that what really counts is how much self-giving love we put into our work, because thats how much were going to get to be part of the Mass. "While you are at Mass, think that you are sharing in a divine Sacrifice. For that is how it is: on the altar, Christ is offering himself again for you" (St. Josemaria Escriva; , no. 831). View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Everything-Hinges-on-the-Mass-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/everything-hinges-on-the-mass/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/ Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this meditation: Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on how holiness is like the seeds that Jesus speaks about in the Gospel. Holiness grows in each one of us, but it grows by being in a constant state of converting; that is, we are all a work in progress. Conversion requires an overhaul of our lives and a complete change of heart. And, as Fr. Peter explains, step number one is to speak with Our Lord and ask him to enlighten us, so that we see ourselves with the idea of changing, repenting, and becoming more like Christ. Our Lord desires a humble and contrite heart. Step number two, we need faith. We must take to heart every word Jesus enunciated—his example, his witness, his sentiments, and his teachings. Our faith is not where it should be until we embrace everything the Lord says. When we look to Our Lord and ask for his grace, we will discover the tiny ways (or seeds) that allow the natural growth of our Christian life and our progress in holiness. As St. Josemaria Escriva said, "Conversion is the matter of a moment. Sanctification is the work of a lifetime" (, no. 285). View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Conversion-A-Work-in-Progress-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/conversion-a-work-in-progress/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Fr. Javier del Castillo reflects on the lives of the early Christians and martyrs and the way they gave witness to their faith through the simple actions of everyday life. He explains how we should also foster an awareness of our personal sanctification and strive to be heroic in and through our ordinary circumstances. The call to holiness is a real gift from God, theres nothing we have done to deserve it. As Fr. Javier says, "its not about us doing anything as much as us getting out of the way so that God can do everything. Every ordinary thing that we do, if we look at it with supernatural colored glasses, can be a little step on our path to holiness." Therefore, as we respond to the gift of holiness with the same faith of the martyrs, we become cooperators in God’s divine plan and witnesses to the love of Christ. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Heroic-Holiness-A-Gift-from-God-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/podcast-heroic-holiness/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Msgr. Fred Dolan speaks to us about our love for a good vocation story-- that amazing moment when someones life is changed radically. There is something very special about people who have discovered what it is that God has in store for them. Msgr. Dolan explains that the mission that Jesus offers us can change our life and fill it with light. It all comes down to that conviction that we were created, each one of us, in the Lords image. We were called personally into existence and given a personal name. And, very compellingly, God has dreams for our life. Therefore, during this time of prayer, Msgr. Dolan helps us make the resolution to maintain a vocational sense of life every day. Our prayer can help us to see how much depends on our response, day after day, hour after hour, to the realization that God is there, following us always with his tender love and with his tremendous interest in our lives. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/God-Has-Dreams-for-Our-Life-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/god-has-dreams-for-our-life/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In our meditation of the week: Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the greatest gift that we have from God-- the supernatural virtue of charity. Many of the Mass readings during Christmas, Epiphany and the following days, remind us that God really wants us to think about charity. We are especially reminded of Jesuss desire that we, his disciples, should be known by the love we have for one another. Fr. Peter explains that through our baptism, all of us have charity, together with faith and hope, written in our supernatural genetic code or DNA. God gives us what it takes to love with the heart of Christ. As his disciples, no matter what the culture is like, we know that charity is more powerful than resentment, hatred, and coldness. The light of charity always dissipates darkness, just as life overcomes death and grace overcomes sin. So, as we listen to this meditation, Fr. Peter guides us to pray and ask ourselves: View Transcript Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/charity-being-known-by-your-love/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
IN THIS MEDITATION FOR CHRISTMAS DAY: Fr. Leo Austin helps us to contemplate the first nativity scene. Entering into Bethlehem and the stable, he invites us to look first of all to Mary and Joseph and to learn from them. All they had were each other (unity), poverty and happiness. In their simplicity, Mary and Joseph are telling us that we dont need anything but each other. We don’t need anything else but to look at the baby Jesus and focus on him. Look at Jesus-- this is what all the saints have done throughout history. He will clean our eyes and our hearts. He will make us simple in a good way. This also makes it possible for us to just stop and look at each other as human beings. Bethlehem, the city of bread. Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born. The Eucharist is Jesus coming to us, the person of Jesus Christ taking possession of our hearts and the Blessed Trinity dwelling in our souls. And then, after realizing the love that we have received, looking at each other and at every single human being throughout history, with different eyes, with the eyes that are cleansed and purified by contemplating Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In Jesus, we have a brother. In the Holy Family, we have a family. In Bethlehem, we have a home and we are always welcome. As Fr. Leo says, "Mary, Joseph, Jesus, I want to be always with the three of you. I dont want to leave Bethlehem. I dont want to get complicated. I dont want to grow up in a bad way. I want to just take advantage of my family, of my home in Bethlehem, to be more simple, to be more poor, in order to bring the simplicity of a heart made clean to the rest of the world." View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/They-Had-Each-Other-Christmas-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/christmas-they-had-each-other/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast for the Fourth Sunday of Advent: Fr. Leo Austin guides us in our prayer as we near the end of the Advent journey that is bringing us closer and closer to the day of Jesuss nativity and to the day that changed history forever. Our Lord, in his providence, has been leading us towards the destination that is the encounter with him. There are 7 billion people on the planet right now, more or less, and God is actually coming to us personally. He knows our past and our limitations. The good news is that he is coming to change us and not to inform us about your limitations. He is coming to tell us that we can change and thats what vocation means: a calling to a better situation and happiness in life. Jesus invites us to be open to divinity and to divine intervention in our history. In her humility and purity, the Blessed Virgin Mary did not understand such an honor. But we learn from Mary her readiness to use all her talents, with freedom, to adapt herself to the plans that God has for her and to see things in the big picture. As Fr. Leo says, like Mary, Jesus is asking us: "Are you accepting my visitation? Are you open to that?” And with all our hearts, we want to say yes, obviously, because we are the sons and daughters of the handmaid of the Lord. Mary will always give herself to God, not in an obedience that is blind and absurd, but in an obedience that is both hearts connecting at the same time. And thats what we can learn and imitate from Mary, our Mother, this Advent and Christmas. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/The-Big-Picture-Advent-4-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/advent-the-big-picture/ Missed the podcasts for the first - third Sundays of Advent? Its not too late to tune in! Explore "A Time for Hope: Advent with St. Josemaria Escriva" https://stjosemaria.org/advent-time-for-hope/ - a collection of devotions, readings, and meditations from the St. Josemaria Institute to help you prepare for the Nativity of Our Lord and the season of Christmas. Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast for the Third Sunday of Advent, Fr. Leo Austin encourages us to continue our interior journey this season -- a journey to (re)discover our vocations by asking ourselves the deeper questions of life: St. John the Baptist was asked a similar question to which he immediately answered, “I am not the light, but came to testify to the light” (Jn 1:6-9). We will discover that our vocation is also to testify to the light and to be glowing witnesses of Christ who walks by our side and calls us to happiness. Pope Paul VI said, "In our world today, we need glowing witnesses who know how to break open the dark skies of the world, not with words, but with the witness of their lives." As witnesses to Christ, we can look around at the world and at every single human being as tabernacles-- all of our friends are dwelling places of the Blessed Trinity. In this meditation, therefore, Fr. Leo helps us to consider the importance of our mission and our vocation as apostles in order to make a lot of friends and to be a who radiates the light and friendship they have received from God. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Glowing-Witnesses-Advent-3-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/advent-glowing-witnesses/ Its not too late to tune in! Explore "A Time for Hope: Advent with St. Josemaria Escriva" https://stjosemaria.org/advent-time-for-hope/ - a collection of devotions, readings, and meditations from the St. Josemaria Institute to help you prepare for the Nativity of Our Lord and the season of Christmas. Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast for the Second Sunday of Advent, Fr. Leo Austin reflects on the invitation we receive this season to go to the desert-- a mysterious and quiet place where we can meet Our Lord face-to-face without distractions and without hiding to contemplate our lives and specifically our vocations. Even if he already knows everything, it is good for our relationship with Jesus Christ to open our hearts to him and tell him the story of our lives. This is always a little bit scary, as Fr. Leo explains, but God does not come to accuse us or threaten us. He comes to walk with us and offer us his light. This Advent, therefore, can be a great opportunity to open our eyes and allow Our Lord to point out things that maybe need to change or scars from the past that are not completely healed. Through an examination of our lives and through confession, we experience Gods healing and the peace of having him inside us. A bonus of being forgiven is being able to forgive and to bring that peace and dignity to the world that sometimes is so hectic and also in need of God. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/An-Invitation-to-the-Desert-Advent-2-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/advent-an-invitation-to-the-desert/ Did you enjoy this podcast? Explore https://stjosemaria.org/advent-time-for-hope/ - a collection of devotions, readings, and meditations from the St. Josemaria Institute to help you prepare for the Nativity of Our Lord and the season of Christmas. Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast for the First Sunday of Advent, Fr. Leo Austin offers an inspiring meditation to help us focus not necessarily on what we are going to give to Jesus, but on the gifts that Jesus gives to us. He is not asking us to be perfect. He is inviting us to a relationship with him saying, "Come to me." Advent is a preparation for an encounter. Its not about being scared or tense because God is going to show up at any moment and catch us. Advent is a time for us to realize that Our Lord is coming to this world to call us to happiness. As Fr. Leo explains, "Its God coming to see you, to be with you." This is our vocation: God coming into this world, creating us, and then giving us freedom to develop, to unfold, to discover, and to explore. God is telling us, "I love you before you were aware of that and Im preparing for you something special--an encounter, a friendship, that is unconditional." Yet, if sometimes we dont trust God, the funny thing is that he trusts us. God knows that sometimes we are blind, scared, wounded, and discouraged. For those moments, he provides us with the gifts of faith, hope, and love. And, as we read in the Gospel, he comes to heal us and he tells us these three consoling words, "Come to me." _________ Did you enjoy this podcast? Explore "A Time for Hope: Advent with St. Josemaria Escriva" https://stjosemaria.org/advent-time-for-hope/ - a collection of devotions, readings, and meditations from the St. Josemaria Institute to help you prepare for the Nativity of Our Lord and the season of Christmas. _________ View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Come-to-Me-Advent-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/advent-come-to-me/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai reflects on the authority of Christ as King of heaven and earth to help us renew our desire for Christ to reign deeply in our hearts and to proclaim with the saints and martyrs, "Long live Christ the King!" The Solemnity of Christ the King was established in the 1920s by Pope Pius XI in response to the great rise of secularism in which people increasingly lived their lives as if God didnt exist. It is not unlike the battles and crises that we are confronting today that also fuel our desire to spread Gods kingdom on earth. But for that to happen, Christ has to reign in our hearts now. Fr. Eric reflects on the ways in which we see Christ depicted as king in scripture and in art. Among those images is Jesuss entry into Jerusalem on a humble donkey. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest” (Mt 21:9). What is an hosanna? Hosanna is a word that was used in the Hebrew liturgy, and then later in the Christian liturgy, as a shout of jubilation and a sign of respect and honor for he who saves. But in Jerusalem, it was especially a shout of praise and adoration and a kind of recognition of Jesus as the Messiah. Like those people, we can also offer so many hosannas to Our Lord to acknowledge him as our king. Fr. Eric encourages us to throw our cloaks under Our Lord as a beautiful sign of our submission to his will. We want to let him trample on our comforts and willfulness, under his donkey, so that we rely more not on our things but on his will, and so that his will is what really reigns in our heart. Tune in as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Long-Live-Christ-the-King-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/long-live-christ-the-king/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan guides us to pray and ask God to help us to stand back to take a look at our life on earth and to realize that our time here is very short. The great project of our life is gradual transformation into another Christ, explains Fr. Fred. We long to change and to be transformed. Therefore, a sign that we truly and passionately want to be fully alive is our willingness to be mindful of every moment and day of our life. We dont want to be sleepwalking or flying blind through life. We want to reflect on deeper things and focus on things that are important, asking ourselves often: Why do I give so much importance to things that just do not matter in the bigger scope of things? This gives us perspective and peace. And it allows us to give ourselves and our souls space to take time to do things calmly and in the right order. Fr. Fred also shares strategies that can help us to live heroically every minute of our life, including not allowing ourselves to waste time trying to undo the past and focusing on the importance of helping our loved ones prepare for death. The fact is that a life well lived, which is what were all looking for, will have reverberations down through the centuries. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Great-Project-of-Our-Life-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/the-great-project-of-our-life/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reminds us of our invitation as disciples of Jesus Christ to connect with God through the humanity of Jesus, especially through the Gospels and through the geographic area revealed by the Gospel itself. Like Christian pilgrims throughout the ages, Fr. Peter shares how he had always dreamt and aspired to the possibility of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and how the experience exceeded his expectations. It is a very profound spiritual experience and an extraordinary privilege to walk among the sites and landscapes where Jesus lived. The Holy Land is the only place on earth that also has an eternal dimension to it because of Jesus Christ, God made man. These places are not just sites from a historical period of time, but they are sites made holy by the Eternal Word made flesh who lived there, worked there, socialized there, worked miracles there, died there, and redeemed us there. The redemption of the world took place there in a given place and set of circumstances. Therefore, Fr. Peter explains, it is obviously the will of the Holy Spirit that we encounter Christ in a special way in the Holy Land. We encounter Christ by contemplating his humanity and seeing the land where he was born and dwelt among us. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Contemplating-Christ-Through-the-Holy-Land-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/contemplating-christ-through-the-holy-land Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha guides us to pray about the gift of the month of November. It is a great gift because it gives us the opportunity to focus on reality, to focus on the truth and love of God, and to recover our perspectives on our own journeys through time and to eternity. This is important, as Fr. Donncha explains, because when we elevate and perfect all the bits and pieces that make up our day, seeing them within the horizon of eternity-- one universal horizon-- we will find the integrity and maturity that give meaning to all the aspects of our being. In the month of November, especially with the Feast of All Saints and then the Commemoration of All Souls, were also reminded straight off that when we consider time and eternity, were not alone before this mystery; were not alone before this journey. In life and in death, were always accompanied, loved, and supported by our brothers and sisters who have gone before us, who love us, and intercede for us. The saints are our good friends. Theyre our brothers and sisters. We can be sure that we are always surrounded by the reassuring company and consoling presence of the saints and the souls in purgatory, and by the whole Church. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/In-Life-and-in-Death-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/in-life-and-in-death/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on how our faith and fidelity can increase through our genuine self-giving to the will of God. Faith is more than just believing or trusting. An ongoing faith or fidelity requires us to go beyond the limitations of our experiences and of our intellects in order to give ourselves more to the will of God and to our vocation as Christians. And, as Fr. Peter explains, our collective vocation as Christians is to evangelize and to attract people to Christ through our friendship, through our charity, and through our counsel. Our Lord is asking of us to bring everyone to him which requires a fidelity and partnership with him. And, we enter into a partnership and into the heart of Christ through three entrance ways: the Eucharist (the vine), the Cross (pruning), and the Word of God (nourishment). Under no uncertain terms, therefore, Jesus says we will be fruitful and we will work miracles. But without that kind of fidelity, we can do nothing. Even as an instrument, we could do nothing. An intimate and faithful union with Christ needs to be there fueled by prayer, sacrifice, and our self-giving. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Increase-My-Faith-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/increase-my-faith/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai leads us in a time of reflection and prayer to check up on our spiritual health. He explains that when we are spiritually healthy, we are grateful and cheerful. But when we are not, even the smallest thing drives us crazy. All those times when were kind of irritable, restless, disconcerted, really worried about how things are going to turn out, what people might say, thats a sign we need a checkup and we need to get more spiritually healthy. Our spiritual health will come, he explains, if we are men and women of prayer; if we are men and women who turn prayer into a real dialogue with God. Prayer puts us in contact with God, with our purpose and meaning, and therefore has the profound effect of giving us hope. There is nothing more essential for us than hope, to live by hope. We cant really live without hope. We cant even pray without hope. The hope that comes from our prayer is also a reminder that were never alone-- thats how some of the great saints survived. Prayer doesnt have to be a super perfect, forceful, or calm concentration. Prayer is a correspondence and dialogue with Our Lord. As St. Josemaria Escriva says, “Prayer is the most powerful weapon a Christian has. Prayer must make us effective. Prayer must make us happy. Prayer gives us all the strength we need to fulfill Gods commands" (, no. 439). View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Time-for-a-Spiritual-Check-Up-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/spiritual-health-check-up/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio challenges us individually to answer the question, October is the month dedicated to Our Lady through the Holy Rosary. Our Lady herself has asked us to pray the rosary in the battle against evil and to win sinners back, ourselves included. She wants our prayers because they connect us with her Son-- she is the shortcut to him. As Fr. Peter explains, when Mary takes our prayer and brings it to her Son, it has more effectiveness. And Mary, what does she want more than anything else? She wants to bring everlasting life to every human being. And how does her Son want this done? Through his children--his saints and witnesses. We must be inspired to pray the rosary, meditating on the life of Christ through the mysteries, so that Mary can facilitate our growth in holiness and charity and so that we can take on this war of love and peace, drowning out evil, with an abundance of good in the world. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Mary-The-Shortcut-to-Jesus-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/mary-the-shortcut-to-jesus/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
BONUS EPISODE OF THE WEEK - In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the commemoration of the canonization of St. Josemaria Escriva (October 6, 2002). The commemoration of feasts and anniversaries are designed for conversion and inspiration from the Holy Spirit to connect with Jesus Christ in a closer way. As Fr. Peter says, "although we may feel like a zero or insignificant, if Christ is dwelling in us, Christ is unstoppable." He will use us as that divine pathway to spread the Gospel "to every corner of the earth,” as he did with St. Josemaria. A canonization is an infallible declaration of the Church, which means there is no possibility of error in this determination or judgment of the Church that this person is a saint. This person has lived the Gospel to a heroic degree, which does not mean that the person didnt have defects or weaknesses or sins. Cooperating with the work of the Holy Spirit, he or she has allowed Christ to reach a culmination in their life that they could say, "It is no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20). Fr. Peter helps us to pray and remember that holiness is not about me, its not about my devotions, or my interior life. We have as much responsibility in evangelizing and spreading the Gospel as anyone else in the Church. And, we are called to have the same level of heroic love for God as any saint. St. Josemaria, the saint of the ordinary, is a great example for each one of us! View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Christ-is-Unstoppable-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/christ-is-unstoppable/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio shares how God desires everyone to be a recipient of his message to become saints in the middle of the world and to change the world. This message probably sounds familiar to us today, but it was an unprecedented message in the Church in the early 20th century. In 1928, St. Josemaria Escriva was a young priest in Spain who since seminary had developed a reputation for special graces and holiness. However, as Fr. Peter explains, he was not a mystic or visionary, a missionary, or a founder of a religious order, like St. John Bosco, SS. Jacinta and Francisco, St. Teresa of Avila, or Mother Theresa. Yet, God chose to show St. Josemaria a specific pathway through which he wanted to be in the world in a way that he had never been there before. It was a reiteration of what Our Lord did with his disciples when he ascended into Heaven. God didnt show St. Josemaria a specific institution or organization; he showed him how all the faithful, especially the laity, are called to change the world and bring Christ to the middle of the world through their work and ordinary lives. From that moment on October 2, 1928, when St. Josemaria saw Opus Dei, the Work God, he dedicated his life to spreading the message and specific pathway to finding God in the world, to being contemplatives in the world, and to leading holy lives that truly change the world. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Called-to-Change-the-World-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/called-to-change-the-world/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha reflects on how the universal call to adoration is the source of our happiness and the source of our true human flourishing and maturing. We can achieve our fullest human and spiritual potential insofar as we worship and adore God with our whole being and with our lives. The universal call to adoration, to give all the glory to God, especially through our ordinary, secular, daily, and sometimes mundane/repetitive realities, in no way demeans the human person, but rather raises us up, embellishes all that we have, and enhances all that we are. As we celebrate the Feast of the Archangels (September 29), Fr. Donncha reminds us that the first function of the angels is to give glory to God. St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael are adorers of the Lord! Its not surprising that the saints, like St. Josemaria Escriva, would have great devotion to the Archangels, who stand before the throne of God and who kneel before the throne of God in adoration. The Book of Job tells us that mans life on earth is a struggle or battle. There is, undoubtedly, a battle going on between good and evil. For all of us in the Church, the Archangels are our great allies. Were not alone in our battle. In our call to adoration, we are praying within the warmth, the company, the presence of a family, in communion with the Holy Church. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Universal-Call-to-Adoration-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/universal-call-to-adoration/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Leo Agustina invites you to imagine inviting Jesus to dinner as he passes by you at home, your dorm, your office, your kitchen, or your desk. Would you welcome him and listen to him? Would you allow him to open your horizons and give meaning to your whole life? This was the way of St. Matthew (also called Levi) as we read in the Gospels. Jesus was sending a huge message by passing by people at their jobs and at work. He is present, he is aware, and he really cares. But you must be humble enough to accept that your vocation means you inviting Jesus to meet you first, to talk to him, and to follow him. Jesus says “follow me,” if you want to. The calling of St. Matthew reminds us that our vocation is a combination between our freedom and the grace of God--our freedom and his invitation--and thats the beauty of every vocation. In every vocation, theres a story to be told and to be unfolded. And, Jesus is happy to be creating that story together with the protagonist. Our vocation is truly a treasure. But the principle and most important treasure of our life is our relationship with Jesus—-its the treasure that we should rediscover every single day. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Dinner-with-Jesus-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/dinner-with-jesus/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan reflects on Our Lady, the Woman of Sorrows, and how contemplating her during the Passion of her Son and at the foot of the Cross helps all of our worries and sufferings to pass away. Our Lady of Sorrows places us at her side before Jesus on the Cross to help us mature in our share in the mission of her Son. Bringing us to the Cross means helping us to face up to the difficulties of life, since learning how to deal with suffering is a major step in our personal growth. And, it means sharing in the mission of the redemption of Christ, which gives great depth to the purpose of our lives. As we celebrate the feasts of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) and Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15), Fr. Fred invites you to also place yourself at the foot of the Cross: __ __ View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/At-the-Foot-of-the-Cross-with-Mary-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/foot-of-the-cross-with-mary/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Leo Agustina helps us to prepare our hearts for the feasts of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8) and Marys Holy Name (September 12). Her feasts remind us, like St. Joseph, that God is also telling us, “Do not be afraid to take Mary” (Mt 1:20). Mary is a wonderful reality that makes us want to do like St. Joseph, like St. John the Apostle, and bring her into our lives and into everything. In human history, there is a deep line that divides it into two: before and after Jesus Christ. Because of divine providence, we happen to be in the afterwards of His birth and life; and that happened, in part, because of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is wonderful to think about the unity between Mary and Jesus: both hearts beating at the same rhythm, both eyes looking at the same people with the same love, both of them connected in a beautiful symphony of thoughts, loves, and desires. They both look at us individually, wanting to help us in every step we take and in every situation we live. The connection that we have with Mary is very special. The good news is that its not just for some people, its for everyone, just like the love of God that precedes us. So, on Marys birthday, we unite ourselves to thank God for creating such a beautiful Mother, for pouring all His imagination, all His creativity in such a wonderful human being. And especially we want to say thank you for sharing His Mother with us, for giving us the possibility of calling her Mother, and to be adopted in such a wonderful family. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Good-News-of-Mary-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/the-good-news-of-mary/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others. And, leave us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org https://stjosemaria.org/subscribe/
In this podcast, Fr. Donncha Ó Haodha offers a profound reflection on St. Josemaria Escriva as a great teacher of prayer to help us renew our awareness of the essential nature of prayer and how transformative it is. In society, we tend to measure things by peoples doings and achievements. But what ultimately gives value to any life is communion with Christ. Without prayer, nothing! With prayer, everything! Prayer produces the fine wine of Christian holiness in and around us. Prayer fills ordinary life with the greatness of God. Our Christian faith teaches us that it is God who seeks man out. He does everything to seek us out and to win our hearts. Therefore, we dont want our prayer to be purely formal, routine, or superficial. We want our prayer to be a genuine conversation, an expression of love, and real communion. To learn how to do this well, we have the example of Our Lady, because there is nobody who surpasses her in the life of prayer. She also reminds us that a person who prays, who seeks an encounter with Christ, leaves a deep, lasting, and somehow eternal imprint on history. View Transcript https://stjosemaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/School-of-Prayer-Transcript.pdf Visit Show Page https://stjosemaria.org/podcasts/at-the-school-of-prayer/ Support the show https://stjosemaria.org/give/ THANK YOU FOR LISTENING Let us know that our podcast is important to you by sharing your favorite podcast episodes with others and leaving us a rating or review. Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep the all of our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: https://stjosemaria.org/give/ Stay connected with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stjosemariainst/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stjosemariainst/.
