Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts

 St. Anthony of the Desert Novena Day 4 Day 4 From the Sayings of St. Anthony of the Desert: Abbe Pambo asked Abba Anthony, “What ought I to do?” and the old man said to him, “Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.”   Abba Anthony said, “I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, ‘What can get through from such snares?” Then I heard a voice saying to me, “Humility.’ Dear God, St Anthony of the Desert accepted your call to renounce the world and to love you above all things. He faithfully served you in the solitude of the desert by fasting, prayer, humility and good works. In the Sign of the Cross, he triumphed over the devil. Through his intercession, may we learn to love you better; with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, all our strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. St Anthony, great and powerful saint, intercede for us also for this special request (mention your request). We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen St. Anthony of the Desert, pray for us.   The sayings  of St. Anthony us, as translated by the late Sr Benedicta Ward SLG , are taken from her  The Sayings of the Desert Fathers:

Episode 12 – John 5:  Do You Want To Be Healed pt.2   Before an in-depth look at John 5, Sharon reminds us of some of the themes of John’s Gospel, including “the hour” and “the seven signs”.  Also, we recall Photina, the Samaritan woman at the well, who underwent a metanoia as she turned away from sin and back toward the Lord.  In addition, we learn an interesting detail about the royal official, who begs Jesus to heal his son.  While there is a parallel with the Synoptic Gospels’ story of the healing of the centurion’s son, the royal official is a different person.  Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was the ruling king over Galilee at the time of Jesus and this royal official would have served in the palace of Herod Antipas, who was an Edomite.  The clear message is that Christ offers salvation to all:  Jesus came for the common Jews at Cana, for the Jewish aristocracy with Nicodemus, for the Samaritans with Photina, and now for the Edomites with the royal official’s son.  Sharon raises a small but important detail.  Often when Jesus is addressing the Jews, he is referring to the Jewish leaders who opposed him, as distinguished from the common Jewish people, many of whom were among his followers.  Moving on to John 5, we hear the story of the man who lay paralyzed for 38 years at the pool of Bethzatha.  This number reminds us of the Israelites who needed 38 years to break free of the bondage of the Moses generation and into the Joshua generation that could enter the Promised Land (Deut 2:14).  Sharon then combines archaeology, mythology, scripture, and theology to reveal the deeper meaning of this passage.  As Sharon beautifully teaches us, the pool of Bethzatha was actually a healing pool dedicated to the Greek mythological deity Asclepius, the god of medicine, health, and healing.   Jesus does not use the pagan waters when he heals the lame man.  Rather, he simply commands him to get up, pick up his mat, leave, and abandon his misguided faith in the mythological god Asclepius.  Jesus is the true source of healing.   The paralyzed man had put his trust in a false god and Jesus warns him not to fall back into the sin of idolatry lest something worse happen to him.  Sharon concludes with the same question Jesus asked the man:  Do you want to be healed?  This is the question posed to us each time we receive the Eucharist.  Do you really want to be healed?  And if the answer is yes, then we just have to avail ourselves to the healing power of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the true source of healing.   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, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to www.seekingtruth.net

St. Anthony of the Desert Novena Day 3 Day 3 From the Sayings of St. Anthony of the Desert: “When the demons see Christians, specially the monks, working joyfully and growing in the spirit, first they fight them with temptation, and by placing obstacles to hinder their growth, trying to inject evil thoughts in their minds; but there is no reason for fear from their temptations because their offenses fail instantly by prayer and fasting, especially if you have had armed yourself with faith and the sign of the cross.”   Dear God, St Anthony of the Desert accepted your call to renounce the world and to love you above all things. He faithfully served you in the solitude of the desert by fasting, prayer, humility and good works. In the Sign of the Cross, he triumphed over the devil. Through his intercession, may we learn to love you better; with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, all our strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. St Anthony, great and powerful saint, intercede for us also for this special request (mention your request). We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen St. Anthony of the Desert, pray for us.   The sayings  of St. Anthony us, as translated by the late Sr Benedicta Ward SLG , are taken from her  The Sayings of the Desert Fathers:

Dr. Matthew Bunson discusses the life, times and teachings of St. Hildegard von Bingen Born: September 16, 1098, Bermersheim vor der Höhe, Germany Died: September 17, 1179, Bingen am Rhein, Germany For more on St. Hildegard von Bingen and her teachings From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI  APOSTOLIC LETTER Proclaiming Saint Hildegard of Bingen, professed nun of the Order of Saint Benedict, a Doctor of the Universal Church 1. A “light for her people and her time”: in these words Blessed John Paul II, my Venerable Predecessor, described Saint Hildegard of Bingen in 1979, on the occasion of the eight-hundredth anniversary of the death of this German mystic. This great woman truly stands out crystal clear against the horizon of history for her holiness of life and the originality of her teaching. And, as with every authentic human and theological experience, her authority reaches far beyond the confines of a single epoch or society; despite the distance of time and culture, her thought has proven to be of lasting relevance. In Saint Hildegard of Bingen there is a wonderful harmony between teaching and daily life. In her, the search for God’s will in the imitation of Christ was expressed in the constant practice of virtue, which she exercised with supreme generosity and which she nourished from biblical, liturgical and patristic roots in the light of the Rule of Saint Benedict. Her persevering practice of obedience, simplicity, charity and hospitality was especially visible. In her desire to belong completely to the Lord, this Benedictine Abbess was able to bring together rare human gifts, keen intelligence and an ability to penetrate heavenly realities. 2. Hildegard was born in 1098 at Bermersheim, Alzey, to parents of noble lineage who were wealthy landowners. At the age of eight she was received as an oblate at the Benedictine Abbey of Disibodenberg, where in 1115 she made her religious profession. Upon the death of Jutta of Sponheim, around the year 1136, Hildegard was called to succeed her as magistra. Infirm in physical health but vigorous in spirit, she committed herself totally to the renewal of religious life. At the basis of her spirituality was the Benedictine Rule which views spiritual balance and ascetical moderation as paths to holiness. Following the increase in vocations to the religious life, due above all to the high esteem in which Hildegard was held, around 1150 she founded a monastery on the hill of Rupertsberg, near Bingen, where she moved with twenty sisters. In 1165, she established another monastery on the opposite bank of the Rhine. She was the Abbess of both. Within the walls of the cloister, she cared for the spiritual and material well-being of her sisters, fostering in a special way community life, culture and the liturgy. In the outside world she devoted herself actively to strengthening the Christian faith and reinforcing religious practice,

St. Anthony of the Desert Novena Day 2 Day 2 From the Sayings of St. Anthony of the Desert: Someone asked Abba Anthony, “What must one do in order to please God?” The old man replied, “Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes, whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.”   Dear God, St Anthony of the Desert accepted your call to renounce the world and to love you above all things. He faithfully served you in the solitude of the desert by fasting, prayer, humility and good works. In the Sign of the Cross, he triumphed over the devil. Through his intercession, may we learn to love you better; with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, all our strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. St Anthony, great and powerful saint, intercede for us also for this special request (mention your request). We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen St. Anthony of the Desert, pray for us.   The sayings  of St. Anthony us, as translated by the late Sr Benedicta Ward SLG , are taken from her  The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

From the Counsels of Mercy from the writings of Venerable Bruno Lanteri founder of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary: “If I should fall a thousand times a day, a thousand times a day I will begin again, with new awareness of my weakness, promising God, with a peaceful heart, to amend my life. I will never think of God as if he were of our condition and grows weary of our wavering, weakness, and negligence. Rather, I will think of what is truly characteristic of him and what he prizes most highly, that is, his goodness and mercy, knowing that he is a loving Father who understands our weakness, is patient with us, and forgives us.” For more Counsels of Mercy – Counsels of Mercy For more information visit: Venerable Bruno Lanteri Guild 2 Ipswich Street Boston, MA 02215 617-536-4141 ext. 127 lanterians@omvusa.org https://www.omvusa.org/bruno-lanteri/about-bruno-lanteri/venerable-bruno-guild/ For a brochure with the Counsels of Mercy visit: https://oblatesvm-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/bruno-lanteri/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/20 Visit the “Begin Again: The Spiritual Legacy of the Venerable Bruno Lanteri with Fr. Timothy Gallagher Discerning Hearts podcast”     For books on the life and teachings of Ven. Bruno Lanteri: .

Episode 37- Regnum Novum: Bringing forth the New Evangelization through Catholic Social Teaching with Omar Gutierrez – We continue the study of the “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church”  Chapter 10 “Safeguarding the Environment” CHAPTER TEN SAFEGUARDING THE ENVIRONMENT I. BIBLICAL ASPECTS II. MAN AND THE UNIVERSE OF CREATED THINGS III. THE CRISIS IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND THE ENVIRONMENT IV. A COMMON RESPONSIBILITY a. The environment, a collective good b. The use of biotechnology c. The environment and the sharing of goods  d. New lifestyles     Also, visit Omar’s “Discerning Hearts” page Catholic Social Teaching 101  

 St. Anthony of the Desert Novena Day 1 Day 1 From the Sayings of St. Anthony of the Desert: When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by acedia (lack of care, sloth), and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, “Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How can I be saved?” A short while afterward, when he got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work, getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down again and plaiting a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard the angel saying to him, “Do this and you will be saved.” At these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this, and he was saved. Dear God, St Anthony of the Desert accepted your call to renounce the world and to love you above all things. He faithfully served you in the solitude of the desert by fasting, prayer, humility and good works. In the Sign of the Cross, he triumphed over the devil. Through his intercession, may we learn to love you better; with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, all our strength and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. St Anthony, great and powerful saint, intercede for us also for this special request (mention your request). We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen St. Anthony of the Desert, pray for us.   The sayings  of St. Anthony us, as translated by the late Sr Benedicta Ward SLG , are taken from her  The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

From the Counsels of Mercy from the writings of Venerable Bruno Lanteri founder of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary: “I urge you to begin each day, leaving the past to the mercy of the Lord, and the future to his Divine Providence. Do not let yourself be troubled by anything, not even by your own failings, taking care to overcome them immediately by an act of love of God.” For more Counsels of Mercy – Counsels of Mercy For more information visit: Venerable Bruno Lanteri Guild 2 Ipswich Street Boston, MA 02215 617-536-4141 ext. 127 lanterians@omvusa.org https://www.omvusa.org/bruno-lanteri/about-bruno-lanteri/venerable-bruno-guild/ For a brochure with the Counsels of Mercy visit: https://oblatesvm-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/bruno-lanteri/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2018/08/2018-Counsels-of-Mercy-ENGLISH.pdf   Visit the “Begin Again: The Spiritual Legacy of the Venerable Bruno Lanteri with Fr. Timothy Gallagher Discerning Hearts podcast”     For books on the life and teachings of Ven. Bruno Lanteri: .

Heart of Hope Part 4 – The healing hand of Christ, seeing the will of God, and how we suffer love.  The tale of the two criminals on the cross next to Christ on Golgotha. Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha This extraordinarily popular series explores the work of suffering in the Christian life and how God can use it to transform the heart of the individual and the world. The “Heart of Hope”  tackles a very tough subject…the gift of suffering in the Christian life.  Deacon Keating guides us well You can find other episodes in the Heart of Hope – Discerning Hearts series page  

A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION FOR LIFE!!!  Have a relationship with God and know your identity! Msgr. Esseff asks the question, “Do you truly know how to pray?” in this Discerning Hearts Podcast.  We need to learn to listen.  How can we learn to listen?  Why is a journal important?   He then brings forward a basic of prayer, R.I.M.: Relationship, Identity, and Mission. He breaks this open for us in a concrete, practical way using, among other things, the “Our Father.” Matthew 6:9-13 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) 9 Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name.10 Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done,    On earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread;[a]12 And forgive us our debts,    As we also have forgiven our debtors;13 And lead us not into temptation,    But deliver us from evil.[b]  

Episode 4 – “Extraordinary Activity” – Put on The Armor – A Manual for Spiritual Warfare with Dr. Paul Thigpen Ph.D Dr. Thigpen offers insights on the Manual for Spiritual Warfare Chapter 2: Beyond the ordinary activity of demons through temptation is their extraordinary activity. This destructive work is more powerful and manifests itself, not only in thoughts, but also in the physical realm. Most observers of demonic tactics agree that the following activities occur, but they sometimes differ in how they categorize the various phenomena. Here’s one common way of classifying them:  Infestation…Oppression…Obsession…Possession Visit here for other episodes in this series: Put On The Armor – A Manual for Spiritual Warfare w/Dr. Paul Thigpen Ph.D. The “Manual for Spiritual Warfare” can be found here Paul Thigpen, Ph.D., is the Editor of TAN Books in Charlotte, North Carolina. An internationally known speaker, best-selling author, and award-winning journalist, Paul has published forty-three books in a wide variety of genres and subjects: history and biography, spirituality and apologetics, anthologies and devotionals, family life and children’s books, study guides and reference works, fiction and collections of poetry and prayers. Paul graduated from Yale University in 1977 summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with Distinction in the Major of Religious Studies. He was later awarded the George W. Woodruff Fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, where he earned an M.A. (1993) and a Ph.D. (1995) in Historical Theology. In 1993 he was named as a Jacob K. Javits Fellow by the U.S. Department of Education. He has served on the faculty of several universities and colleges. In 2008 Paul was appointed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to their National Advisory Council for a four-year term. He has served the Church as a theologian, historian, apologist, evangelist, and catechist in a number of settings, speaking frequently in Catholic and secular media broadcasts and at conferences, seminars, parish missions, and scholarly gatherings.  

Dr. Matthew Bunson discusses the life, times and teachings of St. Bernard of Clairvaux pt 2 Born: 1090, Fontaine-lès-Dijon, FranceDied: August 20, 1153, Clairvaux Abbey, FranceBooks: Two-Fold Knowledge For more on St. Bernard of Clairvaux and his teachings From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI General Audience 2009 I would now like to reflect on only two of the main aspects of Bernard’s rich doctrine: they concern Jesus Christ and Mary Most Holy, his Mother. His concern for the Christian’s intimate and vital participation in God’s love in Jesus Christ brings no new guidelines to the scientific status of theology. However, in a more decisive manner than ever, the Abbot of Clairvaux embodies the theologian, the contemplative and the mystic. Jesus alone Bernard insists in the face of the complex dialectical reasoning of his time Jesus alone is “honey in the mouth, song to the ear, jubilation in the heart (mel in ore, in aure melos, in corde iubilum)”. The title Doctor Mellifluus, attributed to Bernard by tradition, stems precisely from this; indeed, his praise of Jesus Christ “flowed like honey”. In the extenuating battles between Nominalists and Realists two philosophical currents of the time the Abbot of Clairvaux never tired of repeating that only one name counts, that of Jesus of Nazareth. “All food of the soul is dry”, he professed, “unless it is moistened with this oil; insipid, unless it is seasoned with this salt. What you write has no savour for me unless I have read Jesus in it” (In Canticum Sermones XV, 6: PL 183, 847).

Episode 11 – John 5:  Do You Want To Be Healed pt.1   Before an in-depth look at John 5, Sharon reminds us of some of the themes of John’s Gospel, including “the hour” and “the seven signs”.  Also, we recall Photina, the Samaritan woman at the well, who underwent a metanoia as she turned away from sin and back toward the Lord.  In addition, we learn an interesting detail about the royal official, who begs Jesus to heal his son.  While there is a parallel with the Synoptic Gospels’ story of the healing of the centurion’s son, the royal official is a different person.  Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was the ruling king over Galilee at the time of Jesus and this royal official would have served in the palace of Herod Antipas, who was an Edomite.  The clear message is that Christ offers salvation to all:  Jesus came for the common Jews at Cana, for the Jewish aristocracy with Nicodemus, for the Samaritans with Photina, and now for the Edomites with the royal official’s son.  Sharon raises a small but important detail.  Often when Jesus is addressing the Jews, he is referring to the Jewish leaders who opposed him, as distinguished from the common Jewish people, many of whom were among his followers.  Moving on to John 5, we hear the story of the man who lay paralyzed for 38 years at the pool of Bethzatha.  This number reminds us of the Israelites who needed 38 years to break free of the bondage of the Moses generation and into the Joshua generation that could enter the Promised Land (Deut 2:14).  Sharon then combines archaeology, mythology, scripture and theology to reveal the deeper meaning of this passage.  As Sharon beautifully teaches us, the pool of Bethzatha was actually a healing pool dedicated to the Greek mythological deity Asclepius, the god of medicine, health and healing.   Jesus does not use the pagan waters when he heals the lame man.  Rather, he simply commands him to get up, pick up his mat, leave, and abandon his misguided faith in the mythological god Asclepius.  Jesus is the true source of healing.   The paralyzed man had put his trust in a false god and Jesus warns him not to fall back into the sin of idolatry lest something worse happen to him.  Sharon concludes with the same question Jesus asked the man:  Do you want to be healed?  This is the question posed to us each time we receive the Eucharist.  Do you really want to be healed?  And if the answer is yes, then we just have to avail ourselves to the healing power of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the true source of healing.   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, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to www.seekingtruth.net

Are you being called to be a “martyr”? Msgr. Esseff, on the feast of St. Stephen the Martyr, shares the story of his friend Fr. Nicolas Kluiters S.J., who served the Church in Lebanon.  He discusses what it means to be a martyr in the past and what it looks like today.   From JESUIT MARTYRS, In the Service of the Arab Orient (1975-1989) By Father Camille Hechaïmé, Dar el-Machreq After studying business then plastic arts, Father Nicolas Kluiters painted until he felt the call of religion. He joined the Society of Jesus in his country, Holland, when he was 25. He soon asked to be sent to Lebanon and his wish was granted in 1966. He completed his novitiate and studied Arabic (1966-1968) and social sciences (1968-1969) in Beirut, then he studied philosophy and theology in Lebanon and France . He was ordained a priest in Amsterdam in 1973. Soon after his return to Lebanon in 1974 and his nomination in the Taanayel monastery in the Bekaa valley to serve the poor Maronite isolated villages in an area that is non Christian in its majority, the war started and soon took a sectarian characteristic. However, these bloody events did not discourage the young zealous priest. With the approval of his superiors, he would leave his monastery in Taanayel, go to villages near Dayr al-Ahmar village and return to the monastery once a week. One of these villages was Bechwat, in which lies the Church of our Miraculous Lady where Nicolas made his last solemn vows in 1977 to express his belonging to this poor land and to serve the underprivileged. He made the village Barqa the second base of his journeys and increased his activities there for it to become a model village. After gaining the villagers’ trust, he cooperated with them to renovate the church and build a house for the priest, a school, a monastery where a group of nuns from the Sacred Hearts settled at the end of 1984, as well as a dispensary soon after. He would receive from his native country, Holland, financial aids that enabled him to improve the land and develop agriculture. His main worry was to boost the morale of these good but poor, marginalized and isolated people, to consolidate their faith and, despite the dangers, to implant them in their land, the land of common living for all communities. Perhaps Nicolas’ successful mission aroused the disapproval of ill wishers and people bothered by the vitality he gave back to the villages they wanted to keep submissive. On the night of March 13, 1985, after celebrating mass with the nuns of the hospital in Hermel, he returned to Barqa where the villagers were waiting for him the following morning. However, he never reached the village and there was no news about him. His fellow priests in Taanayel, the nuns, and the security forces looked for him in the area. One of the shepherds noticed a suspicious horde of crows over a deep ditch and notified the people in charge. After many efforts, they were able to reach the bottom and removed the body that had been missing for 17 days. Nicolas was dreadfully killed; he was shot twice, hanged and impaled, which indicated his murderers’ strong hatred. Afterward, it appeared that he courageously resisted his kidnappers because he was strong and was trained in self-defense with the paratroops in the military service in Holland. His car was found after a few days with the following inscription, “The forces of revenge”. He was buried in the Taanayel monastery on Wednesday April 3, during the Holy Week, in a very emotional and devotional atmosphere. The bells did not ring for sadness, but for joy because all those who knew Nicolas understood that they were biding farewell to a martyr who gave his life for his faith; until this day, they are still convinced of that.