Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts

Episode 2 – Caiaphas – “Villains of the Early Church: And How They Made Us Better Christians” In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss Caiaphas and the temptation of unholy compromises. An excerpt from Villains of the Early Church: CAIAPHAS IS mentioned everywhere in the Church Fathers, but almost as furniture—“ and Jesus was brought before Caiaphas.” If the early Christian writers are interested in anything about him, it’s that he could prophesy truly because of his office. Otherwise, they don’t seem to find much remarkable in him. He’s the banality of evil. A bureaucrat. Yet, Caiaphas, like many of the characters caught up in the Passion story, was in a complicated position—more complicated than we may realize when we hear the story in the Gospels. Aquilina, Mike. Villains of the Early Church: And How They Made Us Better Christians (Kindle Locations 304). Emmaus Road Publishing. Kindle Edition. You can find the book on which this series is based here Mike Aquilina is a popular author working in the area of Church history, especially patristics, the study of the early Church Fathers.[1] He is executive vice-president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a Roman Catholic research center based in Steubenville, Ohio. He is a contributing editor of Angelus (magazine) and general editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History Series from Ave Maria Press. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books, including The Fathers of the Church (2006); The Mass of the Early Christians (2007); Living the Mysteries (2003); and What Catholics Believe(1999). He has hosted eleven television series on the Eternal Word Television Network and is a frequent guest commentator on Catholic radio.   Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com    

Msgr. Esseff reflects on the teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and on how we pray: Gospel     LK 18:9-14 Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30, 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to St. Teresa of Calcutta. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical Missions, a Catholic organization established by St. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.  

Dr. Matthew Bunson discusses the life, times and teachings of St. Anslem pt 1 * Born: 1033, Aosta, Italy * Died: April 21, 1109, Canterbury, United Kingdom * Full name: Anselmo d’Aosta * Books: Proslogion, More From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI General Audience 2009 He is also known as Anselm of Bec and Anselm of Canterbury because of the cities with which he was associated. Who is this figure to whom three places, distant from one another and located in three different nations Italy, France, England feel particularly bound? A monk with an intense spiritual life, an excellent teacher of the young, a theologian with an extraordinary capacity for speculation, a wise man of governance and an intransigent defender of libertas Ecclesiae, of the Church’s freedom, Anselm is one of the eminent figures of the Middle Ages who was able to harmonize all these qualities, thanks to the profound mystical experience that always guided his thought and his action. St Anselm was born in 1033 (or at the beginning of 1034) in Aosta, the first child of a noble family. His father was a coarse man dedicated to the pleasures of life who squandered his possessions.

Episode 31- We continue the study of the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church”  Chapter 6 – The Right to Work – Human Work CHAPTER SIX HUMAN WORK V. THE RIGHT TO WORK a. Work is necessary b. The role of the State and civil society in promoting the right to work c. The family and the right to work d. Women and the right to work e. Child labor f. Immigration and work g. The world of agriculture and the right to work   We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G.   Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101  

Episode 1 – Judas – “Villains of the Early Church: And How They Made Us Better Christians” In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss the “mystery of Judas.” An excerpt from Villains of the Early Church: What happened to Judas? Was it simple greed that snapped him? That seems unlikely. Thirty pieces of silver was a good bit of money, but Judas was doing all right with his embezzling racket. The Gospels don’t tell us his motivation most likely because their writers just didn’t know. It was a mystery to them as it is to us. And a lot of the Christian legends that later grew up about Judas seem like popular attempts to psychoanalyze him. Judas was also present for the Last Supper, having a miserable time as Jesus told the disciples that one of them would betray him: “The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born” (Matthew 26:24). John tells us that the disciple whom Jesus loved—John himself—asked Jesus who the betrayer would be. “It is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it,” Jesus responded, and then dipped the morsel and handed it to Judas. Yet the others still didn’t understand what Jesus meant when he said to Judas, “What you are going to do, do quickly” (John 13:26–27). Was he sending Judas out to buy more food? Or to make a donation to the poor from the money box? “So, after receiving the morsel, he immediately went out,” John says, adding the significant detail “and it was night.” Judas walked out of the Last Supper and into the very symbolic darkness (John 13:30). But he knew where to look for Jesus when he came with the police. Judas and the rest of the disciples had often been with Jesus in that pleasant park across the Kidron Valley, the garden of Gethsemane (see John 18:2; Mark 14:32). That was where Judas led the soldiers to arrest Jesus. Aquilina, Mike. Villains of the Early Church: And How They Made Us Better Christians (Kindle Locations 190-203). Emmaus Road Publishing. Kindle Edition. You can find the book on which this series is based here Mike Aquilina is a popular author working in the area of Church history, especially patristics, the study of the early Church Fathers.[1] He is executive vice-president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a Roman Catholic research center based in Steubenville, Ohio. He is a contributing editor of Angelus (magazine) and general editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History Series from Ave Maria Press. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books, including The Fathers of the Church (2006); The Mass of the Early Christians (2007); Living the Mysteries (2003); and What Catholics Believe(1999). He has hosted eleven television series on the Eternal Word Television Network and is a frequent guest commentator on Catholic radio.   Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com    

Show 269 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” –   On Prayer Msgr. Esseff reflects on the teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and on how we pray: Gospel       LK 18:1-8 Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”          

Dr. Joshua Hochschild, along with his co-author Christopher Blum, brings us “A Mind at Peace: Reclaiming an Ordered Soul in the Age of Distraction.”  It is outstanding and truly needed by us all!  More than a self-help book, this work is more about cultivating a virtue-driven life through a series of very practical spiritual exercises and reclaiming balance and order in our distraction driven world.  An absolute must-have for all seeking peace and an ordered soul. You can find the book here From the Inside Flap: These past two decades, modern technology has brought into being scores of powerful challenges to our interior peace and well-being. We’re experiencing a worldwide crisis of attention in which information overwhelms us, corrodes true communion with others, and leaves us anxious, unsettled, bored, isolated, and lonely. These pages provide the time-tested antidote that enables you to regain an ordered and peaceful mind in a technologically advanced world. Drawing on the wisdom of the world’s greatest thinkers, including Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas, these pages help you identify and show you how to cultivate the qualities of character you need to survive in our media-saturated environment. This book offers a calm, measured, yet forthright and effective approach to regaining interior peace. Here you’ll find no argument for retreat from the modern world; instead these pages provide you with a practical guide to recovering self-mastery and interior peace through wise choices and ordered activity in the midst of the world’s communication chaos.

Episode 11 – In this conversation, Fr. Gallagher reflects on the ordinary quality of St. Therese’s holiness by reading from the testimony of those who knew her.  He answers the question, “Could St. Therese be considered a mystic?” Here are some of the various texts Fr. Gallagher refers to in this episode: The Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, Vol. I: 1877-1890 (Critical edition of the complete works of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux) Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, Vol. II From the Witnesses of the ordinary trial – Witness one: Agnes de Jesus (Pauline Martin) One of them said that it wasn’t difficult being holy when one had everything one could wish for as she did, and when one lived with one’s family and was pampered. I am obliged to say that this senior professed nun, who was not of very sound judgement, decided to leave the monastery and is now living out in the world. Another, during her last illness, said, “I wonder what our Mother Prioress could possibly write about Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus. What can you say about someone who has been constantly cosseted and hasn’t acquired virtue at the cost of struggles and suffering like us? She is meek and good, but these things come naturally to her.” [LC 29-7] I heard these words through Sr Thérèse herself, who had heard them. The nun who pronounced them is now dead. On the other hand, that same nun, who was a Lay Nun, said on other occasions that Sister Thérèse of the Child [241v] Jesus was a saint   Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life:  The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola”. For more information on how to obtain copies of Fr. Gallaghers’s various books and audio which are available for purchase, please visit  his  website:   frtimothygallagher.org For the other episodes in this series check out “The Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux with Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts” page

Dr. Matthew Bunson discusses the life, times and teachings of St. John Chrysostom pt 1 Born: 347 AD, Antioch, Turkey Died: September 14, 407 AD, Comana Pontica For more on St. John Chrysostom and his teachings   – Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew   – Homilies on Acts   – Homilies on Romans   – Homilies on First Corinthians   – Homilies on Second Corinthians   – Homilies on Ephesians   – Homilies on Philippians   – Homilies on Colossians   – Homilies on First Thessalonians   – Homilies on Second Thessalonians   – Homilies on First Timothy   – Homilies on Second Timothy   – Homilies on Titus   – Homilies on Philemon   – Commentary on Galatians   – Homilies on the Gospel of John   – Homilies on the Epistle to the Hebrews   – Homilies on the Statues   – No One Can Harm the Man Who Does Not Injure Himself   – Two Letters to Theodore After His Fall   – 

Episode 6 – John 2:  The Wedding Feast at Cana pt. 2 Picking up from where we left off last week, Sharon takes us to John 1, where we count the days as described by John.  Day 1:  the Jewish leaders come to visit John in the wilderness wondering if he is Elijah returned or the prophet or even the Messiah.  Day 2:  Upon seeing Jesus, John cries out, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”  The image of a lamb immediately makes us recall Genesis 22, Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac.  As they climb Mt. Moriah, Isaac notices that they do not have a lamb to sacrifice.  Abraham reassures him, promising that God himself will provide the lamb.  Just as Abraham is about to kill his son, God stops him and provides a ram for sacrifice. Israel and the rest of the world will have to wait for God’s promise of a sacrificial lamb to be fulfilled by Jesus.  The image of a sacrificial lamb can be found elsewhere in scripture:  the Passover lamb of Exodus 12; the messianic silent lamb led to slaughter in Isaiah 53; the marriage feast of the lamb in Revelation 19.  Day 3:  the call of the first disciples, including Andrew and his brother Simon, whom Christ renames Peter.  Day 4:  the call of Phillip and Nathanael.  Sharon breaks open the symbolism behind Jesus’ home town of Nazareth, which means “branch town”, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 11 which predicts that a branch will spring forth from the root of Jesse, and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him.   Branch imagery is also found in Zechariah 3 which describes “my servant the Branch” who will the remove the guilt of the land in a single day.  Then, on the third day after the fourth day, we come to Day 7:  the wedding feast of Cana.  The verb form of Cana is translated “to create” and it is the same word spoken by Eve when she exclaims that with the Lord’s help, she has created a man, Cain (Gen 4).   The wedding feast at Cana is a symbol of a new creation, a new covenant and serves as the backdrop of the mystical marriage:  Jesus, the new Adam, enters into a spiritual marriage with Mary, the new Eve, and the fruit of this marriage is the Church.  The marriage is consummated at the cross and the church is birthed at Pentecost.  By calling his mother “woman”, Jesus brings us back to the woman of Genesis 3:15, whose offspring will crush the head of Satan.  Jesus later again calls Mary “woman” as he hangs on the cross, telling her and John the apostle: “Woman behold your son.”    John represents the Church and Mary, the woman, is our mother.  In this chapter, we are introduced to another of John’s themes:  the hour.  When Mary tells Jesus that the wine has run out, Jesus responds that his hour has not yet come.  Jesus, in his humanity, anticipates the hour of his passion, and knows that this first miracle of turning water to wine will mark the beginning of his road to Calvary.  Another theme that runs through John’s Gospel are the Jewish feast days.  In this the first of three Passovers found in John’s Gospel, Jesus clears the Temple of merchants and money changers.  The true presence of God had been missing from the Temple since the Ark of the Covenant was hidden away by Jeremiah (2 Mac 2).  The true presence of God has now returned to the temple and Jesus predicts his passion:   Jesus’ body, the new temple, will be raised in three days after his death. Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life. For more in this series visit the Seeking Truth with Sharon Doran Discerning Hearts page “Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study,

We continue the study of the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church”  Chapter 6 – Human Work   CHAPTER SIX HUMAN WORK I. BIBLICAL ASPECTS a. The duty to cultivate and care for the earth b. Jesus, a man of work c. The duty to work II. THE PROPHETIC VALUE OF “RERUM NOVARUM” III. THE DIGNITY OF WORK a. The subjective and objective dimensions of work b. The relationship between labour and capital c. Work, the right to participate d. The relationship between labour and private property e. Rest from work We live at a very special time. The confluence of many things has brought forth the clear need to be able to articulate the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church in a way that is accessible and applicable. This is not to be an effort where high-minded theories are to be bandied about. Rather, this is a time of opportunity wherein we can apply the Social Doctrine to the concrete so as to bring about a New Kingdom, a Revolution. – Omar G. Also visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101  

Msgr. Esseff reflects on gratitude, particularly in difficult times. Gospel LK 17:11-19 As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30, 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to St. Teresa of Calcutta. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical Missions, a Catholic organization established by Bl. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.  

Day 2 St. Hildegard you have said: These visions which I saw were not in sleep nor in dreams, nor in my imagination nor by bodily eyes or outward ears nor in a hidden place; but in watching, aware with the pure eyes of the mind and inner ear of the heart.   O glorious St. Hildegard, abbess of the order of St. Benedict and doctor of the universal Church, we now join in the prayer you taught us…. God is the foundation for everything This God undertakes, God gives. Such that nothing that is necessary for life is lacking. Now humankind needs a body that at all times honors and praises God. This body is supported in every way through the earth. Thus the earth glorifies the power of God. O God, by whose grace your servant Hildegard, kindled with the Fire of your love, became a burning and shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. St. Hildegard von Bingen, pray for us For the complete 9-Day Novena to St. Hildegard of Bingen  Mp3 audio and Text Musical excerpt: Ave generosa, by Hildegard von Bingen (1089 – 1179) Laurence Ewashko, conductor 30 January 2000, St. Matthew’s Church, Ottawa, Ontario, Canadahttp://www.cantatasingersottawa.ca/listen.php

Msgr. Esseff reflects on the birth of the Virgin Mary and the importance of the Blessed Mother in our lives.  The gift of her presence in the action of salvation history and  role is the “Mother” of us all. The Birth of Jesus Foretold 26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace,[e] the Lord is with you!”[f]29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her,[g] “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Mary Visits Elizabeth 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechari′ah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be[i] a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.