WM8 – “GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE” by Pope Francis pt. 2 – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast

Catholic Spiritual Formation - Catholic Spiritual Direction 3

Episode 8  “GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE”  by Pope Francis pt.2 – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas

In this episode, Archbishop Lucas continues the conversation on various aspects of the April 2018 Apostolic Exhortation “Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and be glad)” given to the faithful by Pope Francis.  We conclude our conversation of Chapter 2, “The Two Subtle Enemies of Holiness,” with the subject of “contemporary Pelagianism.”   We then discuss Chapter 3 and 4, entitled “In the Light of the Master” and “Sign’s of Holiness in Today’s World.”

From GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE

63. There can be any number of theories about what constitutes holiness, with various explanations and distinctions. Such reflection may be useful, but nothing is more enlightening than turning to Jesus’ words and seeing his way of teaching the truth. Jesus explained with great simplicity what it means to be holy when he gave us the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:3-12; Lk 6:20-23). The Beatitudes are like a Christian’s identity card. So if anyone asks: “What must one do to be a good Christian?”, the answer is clear. We have to do, each in our own way, what Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount.[66] In the Beatitudes, we find a portrait of the Master, which we are called to reflect in our daily lives.

64. The word “happy” or “blessed” thus becomes a synonym for “holy”. It expresses the fact that those faithful to God and his word, by their self-giving, gain true happiness.

 

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

GWML#20 G. K. Chesterton and “The Man Who Was Thursday” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts podcast

GWML#11 William Shakespeare (Merchant of Venice and King Lear) - Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce - Discerning Hearts 2Episode 20 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – G. K. Chesterton and “The Man Who Was Thursday”

“A powerful picture of the loneliness and bewilderment which each of us encounters in his single-handed struggle with the universe.”
–C. S. Lewis 

ChestertonChesterton’s own response, and riposte, to the Decadence of the 1890s can be found in his novel “The Man Who Was Thursday”. Whereas the Decadents–taking their own perverse inspiration from the dark romanticism of Byron, Shelley and Keats-had stripped the masks off reality” and discovered darkness, Chesterton stripped the masks off reality” (from the “anarchists” in his novel) and discovered light — Joseph Pearce “Ignatius Insight” May 2005

Joseph Pearce is Director of the Center for Faith and Culture and Writer in Residence at Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a renowned biographer whose books include his autobiography, Race with the Devil: My Journey from Racial Hatred to Rational Love (Saint Benedict Press, 2013); Candles in the Dark: The Authorized Biography of Fr. Ho Lung, Missionaries of the Poor (Saint Benedict Press, 2012), Through Shakespeare’s Eyes: Seeing the Catholic Presence in the Plays (Ignatius Press, 2010); and Tolkien: Man and Myth, a Literary Life (HarperCollins, 1998). He is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Higher Education from Thomas More College for the Liberal Arts and also received the Pollock Award for Christian Biography. He is co-editor of the St. Austin Review and has hosted two series on Shakespeare for EWTN, as well as hosting several EWTN productions on J. R. R. Tolkien.

The-Man-Who-Was-Thursday

You can find the book here

ROF#8 – Roots of the Faith with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Mike Aquilina - Fathers of the Church  and so much more... 5

Episode 8 – The Papacy:  The Apostolic Throne

Roots of the Faith – From the Church Fathers to You with Mike Aquilina, makes clear that just as an acorn grows into a tree and yet remains the same plant, so the Catholic Church is a living organism that has grown from the faith of the earliest Christians into the body of  Christ we know today. Hosted by Kris McGregor

 

 

Pick up a copy of Mke’s book.  You’ll find so much more and invaluable references and resources as well

Also visit Mike’s “Discerning Hearts” page for more audio downloads and information!

MM3 – The Centrality of Mercy for Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope St. John Paul II – The Mystery of Mercy with Sr. Gill Goulding C.J. – A Discerning Hearts Podcast

Episode 3  The Mystery of Mercy with Sr. Gill Goulding C.J.

In this episode, Sr. Gill will explore the significant continuity of the centrality of mercy for Pope Francis and for his predecessors Pope Benedict XVI and Pope St John Paul II. The common resonance of their language and the scriptural depth each brings to their understanding of mercy is both illuminating and encouraging. It is also very moving to see how Pope Francis owns his indebtedness to his predecessor when he says in Evangelii Gaudium [7], “I never tire of repeating those words of Benedict XVI which take us to the very heart of the Gospel: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Both Popes reference the writings of Pope John Paul II:  The joy of mercy becomes ever more evident.

Sr Gill Goulding CJ is a member of the Congregatio Jesu an order founded by Mary Ward in 1609. The Congregation has the same constitutions as the Society of Jesus. Sr Gill is Professor of Systematic Theology at Regis College, the Jesuit Graduate School of Theology at the University of Toronto. She is a member of the Theological Commission of the Conference of Religious in Canada and was appointed by the Conference of Canadian Bishops as one of two RC members of the Council of Canadian Churches. In 2012 she was honored and humbled to be appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as a theological expert to the 2012 Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization and the transmission of the Christian Faith. In 2017 Sr Gill was awarded a Henry Luce III Fellowship for a project looking at the dynamic impact of mercy on the mission of the Church. During this sabbatical year, she spent a number of months in Rome and was thrilled to meet Pope Frances and to present to him an outline of her project and to receive his blessing on her work.

Sr. Gill’s project was made possible by a grant from the Luce Foundation

 

Church of Passion and Hope To obtain a copy of the book on which this series is based visit here

“Gill Goulding, C.J. invites readers to move beyond a debilitating polarization in the Church and to adopt an ecclesiology of communion. She presents the ecclesial disposition of St Ignatius of Loyola, rooted in love for Christ, alive to the inseparable union between Christ and the Church, and aware that to love Christ is to love the Church – the real, concrete, hierarchical, “institutional” Church, the people of God, the spouse of Christ infused by His Spirit. Goulding’s love for the Church is evident in all she writes and suffuses the exposition with warmth. One cannot read this book without feeling the call to communion in the Church. A Church of Passion and Hope also serves to highlight an underemphasized part of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises – the Rules for Thinking (sentir) with the Church – a valuable contribution to Ignatian writing and practice.” ―Fr Timothy Gallagher, O.M.V., Saint Clement Eucharistic Shrine, USA

UPDATE: A Special Heaven in Faith Retreat– A spiritual journey with St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Join us May 24 -27, 2018 for a Heaven In Faith Seminar/Retreat with Dr. Anthony Lilles in Schuyler, NE at the St. Benedict Retreat Center!!!!

Technically, we met our goal and we are full, but we are opening a few more rooms and extending registration to our special “Heaven in Faith: A spiritual retreat with St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Seminar/Retreat! We felt there might be some others being called to this unique encounter with this special saint and her mission of prayer, so we are keeping the “doors open” a little longer for those discerning their participation. Registration will now close May 10.

Click on the blue button to be taken to the registration page!

Elizabeth of the Trinity understood her mission to be to help people enter into deep prayer. A Carmelite nun, she saw self-occupation as a considerable block to prayer and said that she would help lead souls out of themselves and into God. She was convinced that once we are free of our ego – God can transform us in love. She called this transforming encounter with the Lord “the divine impact.”

With her love for the Scriptures, her devotion to the Trinity, her captivation with Christ’s salvific work – her writings are filled with helpful insights. Not everyone finds her easy to read – her flow of thought follows a musical composition rather than the rules of logic – and she is dense with quotations from the mystical tradition of the Catholic Church. Although she only lived to the age of 26, from the beginning of the Twentieth Century to today, many contemplatives have found her solid teaching helpful.

Sessions :

The seminar is addressed to those who wish to live in an atmosphere of fraternity and evangelical simplicity for a time of study, prayer, and social interaction, learning how to integrate Christian spirituality with their engagement with the world.
The sessions comprise of an initial lecture, individual silent reading on selected texts, small-group discussion and big group sharing then synthesis. The directors of the seminar initially will present the texts, and the group coordinators will guide the discussions.

The celebration of the Holy Eucharist will be offered daily. Reconciliation will be available, as well as times of Eucharistic Adoration.

Seminar Director: Dr. Anthony Lilles, S.T.D.

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.

Collaborators:

Fr. Marie-Robert Torczynski, a Carthusian monk featured in the movie “Into Great Silence.”

Kris McGregor, Executive Director/Founder of Discerning Hearts

Teresa Monaghen, A.O. Pro Sanctity Movement

Miriam Gutierrez

The Event officially begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 24.

It concludes on Sunday, May 27 at 2 p.m.

***IMPORTANT***

If you are flying in from another part of the country, please plan on arriving sometime on Wednesday, May 23, 2017. 

We can help in making special arrangements for your accommodations and transportation to the Retreat Center due to your early arrival.  Please arrange your flight to arrive by 6 p.m. Central time.  Contact Patty at [email protected] for details.