May 2021

IP#375 – Bishop Donald Hying – Love Never Fails on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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What a delight to talk with Bishop Donald Hying, bishop of the diocese of Madison, WI, about his book Love Never Fails: Living the Catholic Faith in Our Daily Lives! The book is steeped in wisdom from the heart of a contemplative bishop who is very much active in everyday life. He guides us all with his down-to-earth teaching on prayer and helps us to respond to the universal call to holiness. It is said that you can’t give what you don’t have, and it’s truly evident that Bishop Hying has it … a love that never fails. We highly recommended this book and that you connect with Bishop Hying on Facebook to catch his daily video reflections!

You can find the book here

From the book description

The spiritual fruit of much pastoral experience, this book addresses both perennial and current issues facing Catholics in the world today. Ranging from the interior life of prayer and devotion to the practicalities of evangelization and virtue, Bishop Hying offers contemporary and practical insights into the depths of the Catholic faith and how to live it with heroism and humility. He gives a particular focus on the person of Jesus Christ–his identity, mission, and presence in our lives.

As a pastor of souls a good Bishop must apply theology to the lives of the people he serves. These reflections are born from the heart and mind of a pastor who has served in varied contexts of priestly and episcopal ministry, including suburban, inner city, Hispanic, seminary formation, and missionary settings. In the beauty, challenge, grace, and complexity of interacting with a wide variety of people sincerely striving to be holy, Bishop Hying has learned much about the efficacy of God’s purpose and action in human lives and events. This book seeks to feed the Christian soul, mind, and heart.

Episode 4 – Real Philosophy for Real People – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast

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Fate versus destiny, “now” versus the present and other tricky concepts as we unpack chapter 4 of Robert McTeigue’s Real Philosophy for Real People.

This discussion is part of the FORMED Book Club—an online community led by Fr. Joseph Fessio, Joseph Pearce, and Vivian Dudro that reads and discusses a different book each month.

You can find the book here

A great philosopher once observed, “Philosophers let theories get in the way of what they and everybody else know.” A lot of ink has been spilt in order to obscure what we really can’t not know about reality, humanity and morality.

In the midst of a culture permeated by philosophies that seek to redefine the universally available meaning of what it is to be human, Fr. Robert McTeigue says it is more important than ever to be equipped with reliable philosophical tools that help us to see clearly the implications of our stated moral claims; that enable us to detect moral and logical error; and that keep us grounded in the love of truth.

You will find such tools in these pages that explore what it means to be human with metaphysical, anthropological, and ethical dimensions.

But this book does more than offer tools for seeing and understanding. It is a refutation of philosophies which prize love of theory over love of truth; a rebuke of any metaphysics that cannot account for itself; a refutation of anthropologies which are unworthy of the human person; and a refutation of ethical systems which reduce the great dignity and destiny of the human person.

Most importantly, this book is a prescription for an alternative: it is a real philosophy for real people, wherein the best of classical philosophy finds its fulfillment, expressed in a contemporary idiom that is accessible to the layman and plausible to the scholar. It offers a catalog of errors with their refutations, and a map for living a truly human life. It is a portable error-detector, while providing a basis for knowing and presenting the truth.

CWC6 – The Reception of Grace – Communion with Christ with Deacon James Keating

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Episode 6- Communion with Christ – Practical Prayer – How we receive prayer. The reception of grace and the great gift of memory. Through prayer, heaven begins. Prayer is a battle…it isn’t easy. Western culture is a “culture of distraction”. We need to receive the coming of God when it enlights upon us.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2610and 2611

2610 Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will.”⁶⁶ Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt: “all things are possible to him who believes.”⁶⁷ Jesus is as saddened by the “lack of faith” of his own neighbors and the “little faith” of his own disciples⁶⁸ as he is struck with admiration at the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman.⁶⁹

2611 The prayer of faith consists not only in saying “Lord, Lord,” but in disposing the heart to do the will of the Father.⁷⁰ Jesus calls his disciples to bring into their prayer this concern for cooperating with the divine plan.⁷¹2612 In Jesus “the Kingdom of God is at hand.”⁷² He calls his hearers to conversion and faith, but also to watchfulness. In prayer the disciple keeps watch, attentive to Him Who Is and Him Who Comes, in memory of his first coming in the lowliness of the flesh, and in the hope of his second coming in glory.⁷³ In communion with their Master, the disciples’ prayer is a battle; only by keeping watch in prayer can one avoid falling into temptation.⁷⁴

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.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

Deacon Keating is also the author of:

You can find the book here.

From the book description:

The book addresses their mutual dedication to remain with Christ in prayer even in the service of parishioners. Once prayer finds a place in the heart, compassion grows for those who look for God “like sheep without a shepherd.” Through interior prayerfulness, clerical unity in ministry can be better ensured Remain in Me is for priests and deacons to use as prayer, on retreat, or during the holy seasons of Lent and Advent.

“We also must love one another”– Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff podcast

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Msgr. Esseff asks the question, “Can you forgive ?” He challenges us to take a good look at our prayer lives and to prepare for the coming of Jesus in your life today.

1 Jn 4:11-16
Beloved, if God so loved us,
we also must love one another.
No one has ever seen God.
Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,
and his love is brought to perfection in us.

This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,
that he has given us of his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify
that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,
God remains in him and he in God.
We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.

God is love, and whoever remains in love
remains in God and God in him.

Gospel
Jn 17:11b-19
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me,
so that they may be one just as we are one.
When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me,
and I guarded them, and none of them was lost
except the son of destruction,
in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you.
I speak this in the world
so that they may share my joy completely.
I gave them your word, and the world hated them,
because they do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world
but that you keep them from the evil one.
They do not belong to the world
any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
so I sent them into the world.
And I consecrate myself for them,
so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30th, 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served as a retreat director and confessor to Blessed Mother Teresa. 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. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.

Episode 3 – Real Philosophy for Real People – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast

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What’s real and what’s not? And is life worth living at all? Nihilism, naturalism, existentialism, and more as we unpack chapters 3 and 4 of Robert McTeigue’s Real Philosophy for Real People.

This discussion is part of the FORMED Book Club—an online community led by Fr. Joseph Fessio, Joseph Pearce, and Vivian Dudro that reads and discusses a different book each month.

You can find the book here

You will find such tools in these pages that explore what it means to be human with metaphysical, anthropological, and ethical dimensions.

CWC5 – Ask, Seek, Knock – Communion with Christ: Practical Prayer w/ Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 5- Communion with Christ – Practical Prayer – ” How did I ever live without prayer?” A sustained communion with Christ is the beginning of heaven. “Ask..seek…knock”. Are you knocking to receive a relationship or are you knocking to get more stuff? Are you seeking to surrender and entrust or are you seeking to satisfy more of a passing desire or mood? Even in our coming to prayer Jesus wants to purify our motive for doing so. The challenge of entering into deep prayer leads to the great maturity of prayer.

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.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

Deacon Keating is also the author of:

You can find the book here.

From the book description:

Remain In My Love – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the readings from the 6th Sunday of Easter

Gospel

Jn 15:9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love.

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another.”

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.

CWC4 – God’s Longing for Us – Communion with Christ: Practical Prayer w/ Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 4- Communion with Christ – Practical Prayer – Deacon Keating continues his reflections on the last things said by Jesus on the Cross and Mary as a teacher of prayer. The Blessed Virgin Mary is the wellspring of interiority because she held all the mysteries in her heart. Deacon Keating discusses God’s longing for us and allowing God to pray in us. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me”…is it more that we have abandoned God? Sin looks like crucifixion. The final words.

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.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

Deacon Keating is also the author of:

You can find the book here.

From the book description: