SJ4 – Marriage Amid The Madness – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast


Mike Aquilina Discerning Hearts podcast Villains of the Early Church. MarcionEpisode 4 – Marriage Amid the Madness

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss Mary and Joseph’s marriage and his challenge with her pregnancy.  They also discuss Mary’s need to visit her cousin Elizabeth, commonly referred to as The Visitation.

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

Commentators down the ages have proposed three approaches to this enigmatic passage:  (1) the suspicion theory, (2) the perplexity theory, and (3) the reverence theory.  Let us examine them briefly.

1. The Suspicion Theory. In this reading of the Gospel passage, Joseph suspects that Mary has been unfaithful. He is devastated, but his love for her remains so great that he cannot bear the thought of her facing public shame—or, worse, the death penalty, since adultery was a capital crime, punishable by stoning. He decides to divorce her, as the Law permitted, until an angel deters him from that course of action.

2. The Perplexity Theory. According to this theory, Joseph cannot understand what has happened. He does not believe Mary could be unfaithful. Yet her pregnancy is undeniable and subject to legal penalties. Since Joseph is a just man, he finds a solution that respects the Law, but protects Mary as well. The angel, in this reading, provides the information that Joseph lacks and helps him to make a plan for going forward.

3. The Reverence Theory. This third theory presents Joseph as a man overwhelmed by awe when he learns of Mary’s miraculous conception. From the beginning, he knows of God’s singular intervention: “she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” Joseph feels unworthy to be involved, and so he decides he will cooperate just long enough to protect Mary’s secret and then make a quiet exit. In this reading, Joseph’s first impulse is like St. Peter’s when he said to Jesus, “Depart from me!” (Lk 5:8), or the Centurion’s when he said, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof” (Lk 7:6). The angel, however, persuades Joseph to put aside his fears.

Each theory has saints and doctors of the church among its proponents. St. Justin Martyr and St. Augustine of Hippo advanced the first; St. Jerome the second; and St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and St. Josemaria Escriva the third.

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 39). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

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 the 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

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

IP#374 – Mary Dudro – Salt and Light: The Spiritual Journey of Élisabeth and Félix Leseur on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor Podcast

Mary Dudro

What a delight to discuss Bernadette Chovelon’s Salt and Light: The Spiritual Journey of Élisabeth and Félix Leseur with the translator of the book Mary Dudro. This beautiful love story is filled with fascinating characters, panoramic landscapes, and a sweeping view of a time gone by that is nevertheless very much like our own. The tender relationship between an unbelieving husband and a faithful wife who trusts God completely is a compelling witness to the transformative power of love.

 

You can find the book here

From the book description:

Élisabeth and Félix Leseur began their life together in France as a carefree young couple with a bright future ahead of them. They were beautifully and compatibly matched, except for one major difference—Élisabeth was a devout Catholic, and Félix was a firmly decided atheist. As they faced the seasons of life together, their relationship was tested, and both were called to deep spiritual transformation.

Out of love for her husband, Élisabeth spent her life offering her many sufferings for the sake of his conversion. After her death, and in response to the profound love he encountered in her writings, Félix converted and offered the rest of his life to God as a Dominican priest.

This biography is a lovely narrative of their marriage and the transformative power of God’s love and grace in their lives. It also presents a charming picture of upper-middle-class French society at the turn of the last century. The cause for the canonization of Élisabeth Leseur has been opened by the Catholic Church.

 

BBFA6 – The Moment of Baptism – Baptism: Born from Above w/ Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Episode 6 -Baptism: Born from Above – The child is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…what does this mean?  The anointing with Sacred Chrism, the clothing with the baptismal garment, the baptismal candle…what is the significance of these signs?  The need for discernment. The blessings of the mother, and the father, and the baptized child.

Deacon Keating takes a careful look at the Baptismal Rite and offers prayerful reflection and insight to help us live out the faith and nurture the domestic church.

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO. 

More episodes of Baptism: Born from Above with Deacon James Keating Ph.D.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Hearts” page

Deacon Keating is also the author of:


You can find the book here.

From the book description:

Deacon James Keating’s book Abiding in Christ: Staying with God in a Busy World is a how-to-pray resource. This book helps readers to find a quiet space wherein they can be present to God and offers suggestions of how they can be more open to God s movement within them.

Ep 3 – Wisdom from the Western Isles: The Hermit with David Torkington – Discerning Hearts Podcast

David Torkington, author, and narrator of this work

Episode 3: Knowledge alone is not enough – Experiencing Love

James has been waiting eagerly for Peter’s second visit. He asks Peter to explain what he meant when he said that there is all the difference in the world between knowing that we are loved, and experiencing being loved. Peter describes how the experience of human love can change a person for the better. But he takes the analogy further, describing how God’s love can change us permanently for the better. James is left with the conviction that he has now to learn anew how to welcome God’s love into his life and how to start again at square one, to begin again to learn how to pray”

You can find more episodes of the series here: Wisdom from the Western Isles: The Hermit w/ David Torkington page


You can find the book here.

David Torkington, the author of Wisdom from the Western Isles has re-edited and abridged the work for broadcast; he is also the narrator. The book was published originally as three separate books: Peter Calvay – HermitPeter Calvay – Prophet and Peter Calvay – Mystic. We begin with the first part, The Hermit but including some passages from Peter Calvay – Mystic so as to give an overall view of the spiritual journey for listeners.


David Torkington is an English Spiritual Theologian, author and speaker, specializing in Prayer, Christian Spirituality, and Mystical Theology. Educated at the Franciscan Study Centre, England, he served as Dean of Studies at the National Catholic Radio and Television Centre, London. He was an extra-mural lecturer in Mystical Theology at the Angelicum, the Dominican University in Rome, and has received invitations to speak to Religious, Monks, Diocesan Priests and laypeople from all over the world, including Equatorial Africa, where he gave three prolonged lecture tours speaking on Christian prayer.

Visit his website:  www.davidtorkington.com

The author of the popular Peter Calvay series, his books include Wisdom from the Western Isles, Wisdom from Franciscan Italy, Wisdom from the Christian Mystics, Prayer Made Simple (CTS), and How to Pray by Our Sunday Visitor. His books have been translated into 13 different languages.

 

SJ3 – Prosperity and It’s Price – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast


Mike Aquilina Discerning Hearts podcast Villains of the Early Church. MarcionEpisode 3 – Joseph and His King – “Prosperity and It’s Price”

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss in more detail the life and influence of Herod the Great. Then the conversation turns to St. Joseph.  We learn more about his family background.   Who was his father? What was it like to be a carpenter in those days?  How old was St. Joseph at the time of his marriage to the Blessed Virgin Mary?  What was the influence of the Essene community?

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

An increasing number of scholars believe that the family of Jesus had contact with the Essenes. St. John the Baptist spent time in the desert and shared the movement’s emphases on asceticism and the coming age of the messiah. Mary and Joseph, too, approached their marriage in ways that seem to conform to Essene asceticism. Mary’s responses to the angel during the Annunciation make sense only if she had intended to observe lifelong virginity. Reviewing the evidence, the archeologist Bargil Pixner concluded that Joseph’s family “had strong ties with the Essene movement.”22 John Bergsma, in his book Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, arrived at a similar conclusion.23

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 34). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

 

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 the 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

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

Episode 2 – Chance or the Dance – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast



Thomas Howard tells us why poetry matters—part two of our series on Chance or the Dance?: A Critique of Modern Secularism. This and more in this week’s discussion of Chance or the Dance.


 

 

You can find the book here

Contrasting the Christian and secular worldviews, Dr. Thomas Howard refreshes our minds with the illuminated view of Christianity as it imbued the world in times past—showing that we cannot live meaningful lives without this Christian understanding of things. An inspiring apology for Christianity, and a stirring critique of secularism.


Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J.
IP#281 Vivian Dudro - Meriol Trevor's "Shadows and Images" on Inside the Pages 1
Vivian Dudro
Joseph Pearce

 

ST-John Ep 28- John 13 – Jesus: The Servant of Love part 2 – The Gospel of St. John – Seeking Truth with Sharon Doran – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Episode 28 – John 13 – Jesus:  The Servant of Love part 2

“Chapter 13 of the Gospel of John marks the end of the Book of Signs and the beginning of the Book of Glory.  The hour of glory—the hour of the crucifixion—has started.

Chapters 13-16 are an extended discourse by Jesus, who is preparing his disciples for his exodus, his departure from this world back to his heavenly Father.  The washing of the disciples’ feet is laden with nuptial imagery, a theme that runs throughout the entire Bible.

Beginning with Adam and Eve, the story of salvation is the story of the marriage between God and His people.  God entered into a spiritual marriage with Adam and Eve, but this perfect union was shattered by original sin.  But through our bodily nature, God has given us a glimpse into the image of the trinity.  As John Paul II states in his Theology of the Body, “only the body is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world, the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it.”  The eternal mystery is the union of the three persons of the Trinity. Man’s spiritual union with God, fractured by sin, is restored at the crucifixion, the wedding celebration of Christ and His Church.

Mary is the perfect model of spiritual marriage with Christ.  She and John the Evangelist stayed in communion with Jesus as he hung on the cross.   The message for us is to stay in communion with God and with each other, avoiding the temptation to run away from the messy crosses of our lives.  Over the years, a number of saints have experienced a spiritual marriage with Jesus, and Sharon tells us the story of Catherine of Siena who suffered from the invisible stigmata in her union with Christ.

Turning back to the foot-washing, Sharon shows us the spiritual meaning of this story.  Before a wedding, the bride must be blemish-free, washed free of the stain of sin.  Baptism cleanses us from original sin, while reconciliation removes the filth of all other sin in our lives.  When Jesus washes the feet of the apostles, he is spiritually washing away the guilt of sin, prefiguring the sacrament of reconciliation, “that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish (Eph 5:27).”  Stripping down to his linen ephod, Jesus performs the intimate, yet priestly ritual of washing the apostles’ feet, preparing them to enter into the spiritual union of the crucifixion and to become the first priests of a new priesthood of which he is the Eternal High Priest. ”

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

A Short Primer for Unsettled Laymen with Dr. Angela Franks pt. 1 – “Balthasar: Beauty, Goodness, Truth” Podcast

 A Short Primer for Unsettled Laymen with Dr. Angela Franks – pt. 1

With Dr. Angela Franks, we begin our discussion with an understanding of where we are today and why there is a crisis of identity.  She will discuss Balthasar’s emphasis on the importance of thinking with the Church and properly understanding Word, Sacrament, and Authority and his warnings concerning the corrosive effects of the “-isms” of our age.

Balthasar: Beauty, Goodness, Truth is a series of conversations with noted theological scholars about the life and teachings of Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar who is considered to be one of the most important Catholic intellectuals and writers of the twentieth century.

 

Find the paperback book here
Find the e-book here

 

From the book description:

Hans Urs von Balthasar addresses the critical issues that have been unsettling the Catholic laity since the Second Vatican Council. In a clear and readable manner, he focuses on the core elements of the faith: the Word of God; the life, death, and resurrection of Christ; the sacraments; the structure of the Church; and Mary.

Speaking plainly about the polarization within the Catholic Church, he also discusses the various ideological trends—such as liberalism, progressivism, and traditionalism—that have undermined the confidence and the unity of the faithful

“In this Primer, Balthasar addresses today’s faithful laity who feel that [the] solidity of the Church is shifting beneath their feet. He speaks to those who fear that the Church has done what she ought not to do: that she is in fact relaxing her demands in order to win favor, not from God, but from man. Into this situation Balthasar re-proposes the’form’ of Jesus Christ as revealed in his Church. This form is ‘only the whole’: the whole, concrete reality of Christ, conveyed within Catholic tradition. This form is ‘spun from three strands’ of Word, sacrament, and ecclesial authority. These three provide the Church with the ability to remain on course despite the winds blowing through history.”
— Angela Franks, Ph.D., From the Foreword


For more podcast episodes with Dr. Angela Franks discussing A Short Primer for Unsettled LaymenA Short Primer for Unsettled Laymen Podcasts


For Audio and Text Excerpts from A Short Primer for Unsettled LaymenAudio and Text Excerpts


 

BTP-IC25 – Sixth Mansions Chapter 6 part 2 – The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles Podcast

In this episode, Dr. Lilles discusses the Sixth Mansions Chapter 6 part 2  of the “Interior Castle” which covers:

DESCRIBES AN EFFECT WHICH PROVES THE PRAYER SPOKEN OF IN THE LAST CHAPTER TO BE GENUINE AND NO DECEPTION, TREATS OF ANOTHER FAVOUR OUR LORD BESTOWS ON THE SOUL TO MAKE IT PRAISE HIM FERVENTLY.

1. The soul longs for death. 2. The soul cannot help desiring these favours. 3. St. Teresa bewails her inability to serve God. 3. Fervour resulting from ecstasies. 5. Excessive desires to see God should be restrained. 6. They endanger health. 7. Tears often come from Physical causes. 8. St. Teresa’s own experience. 9. Works, not tears, are asked by God. 10. Confide entirely in God. 11. The jubilee of the soul. 12. Impossibility of concealing this joy. 13. The world’s judgment of this jubilee. 14. Which is often felt by the nuns of St. Joseph’s. 15. The Saint’s delight in this jubilee.

For the Discerning Hearts audio recording of the “Interior Castle” by St. Teresa of Avila  you can visit here


St. Teresa of Avila Interior Castle Podcast Anthony Lilles Kris McGregorFor other audio recordings of various spiritual classics you can visit the Discerning Hearts Spiritual Classics page

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Interior Castle with Dr. Anthony Lilles”

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.

 

BTP-IC26 – Sixth Mansions Chapter 6 part 3 – The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles Podcast

In this episode, Dr. Lilles discusses the Sixth Mansions Chapter 6 part 3  of the “Interior Castle” which covers:

DESCRIBES AN EFFECT WHICH PROVES THE PRAYER SPOKEN OF IN THE LAST CHAPTER TO BE GENUINE AND NO DECEPTION, TREATS OF ANOTHER FAVOUR OUR LORD BESTOWS ON THE SOUL TO MAKE IT PRAISE HIM FERVENTLY.

1. The soul longs for death. 2. The soul cannot help desiring these favours. 3. St. Teresa bewails her inability to serve God. 3. Fervour resulting from ecstasies. 5. Excessive desires to see God should be restrained. 6. They endanger health. 7. Tears often come from Physical causes. 8. St. Teresa’s own experience. 9. Works, not tears, are asked by God. 10. Confide entirely in God. 11. The jubilee of the soul. 12. Impossibility of concealing this joy. 13. The world’s judgment of this jubilee. 14. Which is often felt by the nuns of St. Joseph’s. 15. The Saint’s delight in this jubilee.

For the Discerning Hearts audio recording of the “Interior Castle” by St. Teresa of Avila  you can visit here


St. Teresa of Avila Interior Castle Podcast Anthony Lilles Kris McGregorFor other audio recordings of various spiritual classics you can visit the Discerning Hearts Spiritual Classics page

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Interior Castle with Dr. Anthony Lilles”

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.