March 2018

BTP-WP10 Chap 35 – 38 – Sin, Temptation, Mercy and Humility – The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Dr. Lilles discusses sin and temptation, but also the great gift of mercy and a life of true humility.

Chapter 35—Describes the recollection which should be practised after Communion. Concludes this subject with an exclamatory prayer to the Eternal Father

Chapter 36—Treats of these words in the Paternoster: “Dimitte nobis debita nostra.” (Forgive us our debts)

Chapter 37—Describes the excellence of this prayer called the Paternoster, and the many ways in which we shall find consolation in it.

Chapter 38—Treats of the great need which we have to beseech the Eternal Father to grant us what we ask in these words: “Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo.” (And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil) Explains certain temptations. This chapter is noteworthy.

Saint Teresa Painting Convento de Santa Teresa Avila Castile Spain.

For the audio recordings of St. Teresa’s “The Way of Perfection” you can visit the Discerning Hearts Spiritual Classics audio page

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Way of Perfection with Dr. Anthony Lilless

Anthony Lilles, S.T.D. is an associate professor and the academic dean of Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo as well as the academic advisor for Juan Diego House of Priestly Formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. For over twenty years he served the Church in Northern Colorado where he joined and eventually served as dean of the founding faculty of Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. Through the years, clergy, seminarians, religious and lay faithful have benefited from his lectures and retreat conferences on the Carmelite Doctors of the Church and the writings of St. Elisabeth of the Trinity.

“Through Him, With Him, In Him” – A Good Friday Reflection with Msgr. John Esseff

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on Good Friday. Through Him, With Him, In Him, AMEN!

Reading 2HEB 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

In the days when Christ was in the flesh,
he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears
to the one who was able to save him from death,
and he was heard because of his reverence.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered;
and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

IP#314 Dr. Peter Kreeft – Catholics and Protestants on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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Dr. Peter Kreeft brings forward an important work that is inspired by Christ’s high priestly prayer in the Gospel of John “that they may be one,” entitled “Catholics And Protestants: What Can We Learn From Each Other?” Thoughtful, engaging, and paradigm shifting, Dr. Kreeft shows that while there are still significant differences, we are much closer than we think. A highly recommended work!

You can find the book here

Peter Kreeft has a remarkable gift for expressing complex issues in lucid, accurate, and pithy ways. He also has the fairness and insight needed to undertake a tractate to bring Catholics and Protestants into closer union. This book will no doubt help understanding and dialog between both.
–Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Author, The Soul’ s Upward Yearning

No one has taught me more about what healthy ecumenism looks like than the brilliant and eloquent Peter Kreeft. He is a peerless apologist for truth and has been an inspiration to me for over two decades on the happy and vital connections between serious Catholic and evangelical faith.
–Eric Metaxas, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, Bonhoeffer; Host of the Eric Metaxas Show

Readers will expect– and be gratified to find — what we always find in any work by Kreeft: thorough, solid, intelligent work, and agile prose style brought to the service of dependable content. This book should help us to find a real step forward in the mutual understanding of these two sectors of the Ancient Faith.
— Thomas Howard, Author, On Being Catholic

The Passion of the Lamb ….In Conversation with Fr. Thomas Acklin O.S.B.

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Bruce and I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Fr. Thomas Acklin, a Benedictine priest, who is a professor of theology and psychology at St. Vincent College and Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He is the author of a tremendous work entitled “The Passion of the Lamb”. In this book, he challenges us to become lambs like Christ, the little children He calls us to be so that we may be able to follow him in Word and Deed. Fr. Acklin is a master spiritual director, who helps us to hear the voice of the Lord in our hearts and encourages us to respond, in trust, to the will of the Father. An important not to be missed gift.

You can find the book here

From the book description:

Many today fear that we hover on the brink of global collapse. War, terrorism, and disease provoke a sense of despair. Yet in our midst stands Jesus Christ, undaunted by the brutal realities of a world that rejects him. And as he looks at each of us, he asks directly and personally, Will you have faith in me?

In this powerful book Fr. Acklin reveals the passionate love of God for every person, love that will not be denied or defeated. God is for us in spite of our indifference. God has not been eclipsed by the world s agenda. God willnever abandon us. God will always seek out the wounded and lost. We have his guarantee that this is so because the suffering and death the passion of Jesus clinched the deal confirming God s commitment to his creation.

The Passion of the Lamb helps us answer the only question that ultimately matters: Will we have faith in Jesus?

BK3 Chap 1 – The Ascent of Mt. Carmel by St. John of the Cross – Mp3 audio & Text Podcast

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Saintly Masters of Prayer - writings, teachings, biographies 3

BK3 Chap 1 – “The Ascent of Mt. Carmel” by St. John of the Cross

translated by David Lewis
read by Ed Humpal

For the complete pdf text of the “The Ascent of Mt. Carmel” by St. John of the Cross

For other audio chapters of “The Ascent of Mt. Carmel” visit here

Book 3

Which treats of the purgation of the active night of the memory and will. Gives instruction how the soul is to behave with respect to the apprehensions of these two faculties, that it may come to union with God, according to the two faculties aforementioned, in perfect hope and charity.

Chapter 1

Of the Natural Apprehensions of the Memory : which is to be emptied of them, that the soul, according to that faculty, may be united with God.

“Get Cracking” The Baroness, Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty speaks to us today! – Discerning Hearts

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We discovered an incredible audio of a conference talk given in the late 70’s by the Baroness herself, Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty. She is the co-founder of the Madonna House Apostolate and one of our absolute favorite authors. We dare you not to be moved by her words!

Reflection on Catherine’s talk by Deacon Omar Gutierrez:

Catherine de Hueck Doherty speaks with the kind of prophetic fire that one imagines would have poured from the mouth of Isaiah or out of the minds of the early Church fathers. Her spirit and message are as thoroughly Catholic as any you have ever heard. With the kind of salty swagger of a woman who knew what it was to live with the poorest of the poor, she understood intimately what it meant to live the social teaching of the Church. “Service without prayer,” she says, “is paternalism, social service work, something that the poor do not accept.” “In order to do what we must do, in order to be what we must be we have to pray.”

As she loudly asks why it is that our cities do not applaud and cry at the manifest love for the poor that should be there but isn’t, and demands that we pray for the souls of the owners of multi-million dollar corporations, and points out the “stupid” behavior of Church governors she can at the same time turn around and insist that we all have the faith of a St. Perpetua in order to renew the ancient Church. She demands that we pray for our priests who are manifestations of God’s love for us. “We don’t need psychiatrists from our priests. We don’t need counselors from our priests. We need priests to take us by the hand and lead us to sanctity.”

Doherty is a lioness, a spirit that could move mountains. We would all do well to listen to her advice and seek union with Christ in His Church and in obedience to the teachings therein. So, in Catherine’s words, “Get cracking”!

HR27 “To contemplate the Holy Eucharist ” – The Holy Rule of St. Benedict with Fr. Mauritius Wilde O.S.B

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“To contemplate the Holy Eucharist”

From the Holy Rule of St. Benedict:

CHAPTER VIII

PROLOGUE

Listen, O my son, to the precepts of thy master, and incline the ear of thy heart, and cheerfully receive and faithfully execute the admonitions of thy loving Father, that by the toil of obedience thou mayest return to Him from whom by the sloth of disobedience thou hast gone away.

To thee, therefore, my speech is now directed, who, giving up thine own will, takest up the strong and most excellent arms of obedience, to do battle for Christ the Lord, the true King.

In the first place, beg of Him by most earnest prayer, that He perfect whatever good thou dost begin, in order that He who hath been pleased to count us in the number of His children, need never be grieved at our evil deeds. For we ought at all times so to serve Him with the good things which He hath given us, that He may not, like an angry father, disinherit his children, nor, like a dread lord, enraged at our evil deeds, hand us over to everlasting punishment as most wicked servants, who would not follow Him to glory.

Father Mauritius Wilde, OSB, Ph.D., did his philosophical, theological and doctoral studies in Europe. He is the author of several books and directs retreats regularly. He serves as Prior at Sant’Anselmo in Rome. For more information about the ministry of the Missionary Benedictines of Christ the King Priory in Schuyler, Nebraska

Book 3 of The Ascent of Mt. Carmel by St. John of the Cross – An introduction by Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor

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Dr. Anthony Lilles joins Kris McGregor to give a brief introduction Book 3 to the spiritual classic “The Ascent of Mt. Carmel” by St. John of the Cross. We hope this will be a helpful support to those who are choosing to enter into this rich spiritual work.

For the complete pdf text of the “The Ascent of Mt. Carmel” by St. John of the Cross

For other audio chapters found on Discerning Hearts visit “The Ascent of Mt. Carmel” visit here

IP#309 Sally Read – Night’s Bright Darkness on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

Poet Sally Read’s “Night’s Bright Darkness: A Modern Conversion Story” is breathtakingly beautiful! It is one of the best conversion stories I have ever read. She expresses so well what it is like to be captured by the net of mystery, and the struggle one has to understand the earthshaking, life-changing realization of your identity found through, with, and in Christ. Raised an atheist in England, Sally Read recalls compellingly her unexpected journey which led her to seek full communion with the Catholic Church (one of the last places she ever wanted to be). Her writing is exquisite! I love this book; I have no doubt it will remain one I cherish for a lifetime. Highly recommended.

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You can find the book here

From the book description:

Read confronts head on the burning question for God that every true Christian harbors:What do you want me to do? In an age of increasing secularism, and in the wake of disillusionment with the Catholic Church following disclosures of abuse, the book takes us to the core of what the Church is all about: Christ and the yearning to be near him.

Read’s book captures the ecstasy of first knowing God’s love and charts how it changes us. It is a testimony to the powerhouse of Christianity: love and the life-changing encounter with Christ.

Sally Read’s story is the best and liveliest account of a conversion for a generation. It is a story of divine grace as moving and unexpected as it is luminous and profound. There is not a wasted brush-stroke, not a blurred line. It is an absorbing story, a tale that will grip readers all the way through to the end.”
–Paul Murray, OP, Angelicum University; Author, T.S. Eliot and Mysticism

“Every story of conversion has the potential of conceiving another. Each gives witness to the work of grace. In this brilliantly written, candid, sometimes shocking unveiling by Sally Read, we see vividly the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit on a heart once impenetrably hard and shut off, but then opened and reborn by the merciful joy of our Triune God.”
–Marcus Grodi, EWTN Host, The Journey Home

WM3 – “Why Baptism Matters” – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast

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Episode 3 “Why Baptism Matters” – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas

In this episode, we discuss “Why Being Baptism Matters.” Archbishop Lucas contiures to disucss why being a Catholic matters and moves into the importance of Baptism.

From DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH – LUMEN GENTIUM no. 1267

1267 Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ: “Therefore . . . we are members one of another.”⁷² Baptism incorporates us into the Church. From the baptismal fonts is born the one People of God of the New Covenant, which transcends all the natural or human limits of nations, cultures, races, and sexes: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”⁷³

From CHRISTIFIDELES LAICI no. 12

In the words of Saint Paul we find again the faithful echo of the teaching of Jesus himself, which reveals the mystical unity of Christ with his disciples and the disciples with each other, presenting it as an image and extension of that mystical communion that binds the Father to the Son and the Son to the Father in the bond of love, the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 17:21). Jesus refers to this same unity in the image of the vine and the branches: “I am the vine, you the branches” (Jn 15:5), an image that sheds light not only on the deep intimacy of the disciples with Jesus but on the necessity of a vital communion of the disciples with each other: all are branches of a single vine.

From DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH – LUMEN GENTIUM no. 32

32. By divine institution Holy Church is ordered and governed with a wonderful diversity. “For just as in one body we have many members, yet all the members have not the same function, so we, the many, are one body in Christ, but severally members one of another”.(191) Therefore, the chosen People of God is one: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism”(192); sharing a common dignity as members from their regeneration in Christ, having the same filial grace and the same vocation to perfection; possessing in common one salvation, one hope and one undivided charity. There is, therefore, in Christ and in the Church no inequality on the basis of race or nationality, social condition or sex, because “there is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all ‘one’ in Christ Jesus”.(193)

BTP-WP10 Chap 35 – 38 – Sin, Temptation, Mercy and Humility – The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles

For the audio recordings of St. Teresa’s “The Way of Perfection” you can visit the Discerning Hearts Spiritual Classics audio page

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Way of Perfection with Dr. Anthony Lilless

“Through Him, With Him, In Him” – A Good Friday Reflection with Msgr. John Esseff

Reading 2HEB 4:14-16; 5:7-9

IP#314 Dr. Peter Kreeft – Catholics and Protestants on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

The Passion of the Lamb ….In Conversation with Fr. Thomas Acklin O.S.B.

BK3 Chap 1 – The Ascent of Mt. Carmel by St. John of the Cross – Mp3 audio & Text Podcast

BK3 Chap 1 – “The Ascent of Mt. Carmel” by St. John of the Cross

translated by David Lewis
read by Ed Humpal

HR27 “To contemplate the Holy Eucharist ” – The Holy Rule of St. Benedict with Fr. Mauritius Wilde O.S.B

“To contemplate the Holy Eucharist”

CHAPTER VIII

PROLOGUE

Book 3 of The Ascent of Mt. Carmel by St. John of the Cross – An introduction by Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor

IP#309 Sally Read – Night’s Bright Darkness on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

WM3 – “Why Baptism Matters” – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast

Episode 3 “Why Baptism Matters” – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas

For more episodes in this series visit the
Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast page

For more teachings and information about Archbishop George J. Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, visit: archomaha.org

For the audio recordings of St. Teresa’s “The Way of Perfection” you can visit the Discerning Hearts Spiritual Classics audio page

For other episodes in the series visit The Discerning Hearts “The Way of Perfection with Dr. Anthony Lilless

Reading 2HEB 4:14-16; 5:7-9

BK3 Chap 1 – “The Ascent of Mt. Carmel” by St. John of the Cross

translated by David Lewis read by Ed Humpal

We discovered an incredible audio of a conference talk given in the late 70’s by the Baroness herself, Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty. She is the co-founder of the Madonna House Apostolate and one of our absolute favorite authors. We dare you not to be moved by her words!

Doherty is a lioness, a spirit that could move mountains. We would all do well to listen to her advice and seek union with Christ in His Church and in obedience to the teachings therein. So, in Catherine’s words, “Get cracking”!

“To contemplate the Holy Eucharist”

CHAPTER VIII

PROLOGUE

Episode 3 “Why Baptism Matters” – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas

For more episodes in this series visit the Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast page

For more teachings and information about Archbishop George J. Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, visit: archomaha.org

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Way of Perfection with Dr. Anthony Lilless

translated by David Lewis
read by Ed Humpal

For more episodes in this series visit the
Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast page