The Discerning Hearts Blog Archives

Conference 1: Gifts of the Holy Spirit – Yearning for Healing /w Msgr. John Esseff & Sr. Cor Immaculatum Heffernan

Conference 1: Gifts of the Holy Spirit – Yearning for Healing /w Msgr. Esseff & Sr. Cor Immaculatum Heffernan – Discerning Hearts Online Retreat

Retreat Directors: Monsignor John A. Esseff and Sister Cor Immaculatum Heffernan, IHM

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Conference 1: Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Opening Prayer:

Praise of the God the Father, Creator of our world…

God the Son…Redeemer who established His Body, the Church and God the Holy Spirit who has gifted us to minister to others

We, the baptized – in this time of need look up to heaven to Mary…and pray: Hail, Holy Queen

We are all in need of healing…we are all wounded…

God has not left us orphans… but has given us gifts in Baptism and Confirmation, gifts for us to use to minister to others, to teach, to heal, to preach, to serve…

1 Cor: 12: 4-‐11 -‐ Different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit

Called to holiness in our different vocations in life – healing power of blessings and prayer

- Single life – examples of holiness
- Religious life – “ “ “ “
- Married life
  - Parents called to bless their children, throughout their lives, family prayer,
  - Baptism – blessing of child by the family, community of the Church

Blessings in the Old Testament – through all generations
- Genesis 26: 1-‐5 – Isaac’s blessing of Abimelech
- Genesis 27: 26-‐29 – Isaac’s blessing of Jacob
- Genesis 49: 25-‐26 – Jacob’s blessing of his sons
- Exodus 20: 6 – God’s blessing to Moses -‐ the 10 Commandments
- Numbers: 6:24-‐27 – Blessing of the priests
Through the union of Baptism, we – the Church Militant in the world today -‐ are surrounded by the Church Triumphant and the Church Suffering -‐ our prayers to them for their assistance are powerful

Pope Francis’ decree that Latin-‐rite Catholics observe the feast “Mary, Mother of the Church” on the Monday after Pentecost. John 19: 25-‐31 (see quote in handouts)

Matthew 5: 1-‐12 The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes are our challenge, our call to live the Gospel today…to LOVE everyone in the entire world

10) The Holy Spirit has given us many gifts…the Greatest Gift is LOVE– all healing is because of LOVE…healing comes through love

Paul’s exhortation: 1 Cor 13: 1-‐13

Suggestions for individual reflection and prayer:

1, Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the special gifts that you have been given…make a list of them

How can I use those gifts for others?

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the special gifts He has given to your spouse,,,your children…your grandchildren…your friend/neighbor
- How can I affirm them?
Reflect on the personal challenge to you to LOVE everyone – as you are called in 1 Cor: 13: 1-‐13. Prayerfully, make a resolution.

HANDOUT: Quote

MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

Awaiting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the first disciples were had perfectly

accepted and made fruitful the singular grace with which importantly, the grace of being the Mother of God. All of the Church’s children can admire her complete docility to the action of the Holy Spirit: faultless docility in faith and transparent humility. Mary, therefore, testifies fully to the obedient and faithful reception of every gift of the Holy Spirit.

Moreover, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, the Virgin Mary, by her maternal charity, “cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cares, until they are led into the happiness of their true home”.[117] Since she “let herself be guided by the Holy Spirit on a journey of faith towards a destiny of service and fruitfulness, today we look to her and ask her to help us proclaim the message of salvation to all and to enable new disciples to become evangelizers in turn”.[118]

For this reason, Mary is recognized as the Mother of the Church and we, powerful intercession, the charisms, abundantly bestowed by the Holy Spirit among the faithful, may be received with docility and bear fruit for the life and mission of the Church and for the good of the world.

The Sovereign Pontiff Francis, in the Audience granted to the undersigned

Cardinal Prefect on 14 March 2016, approved the present Letter, adopted in the Plenary Session of this Congregation, and ordered its publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, May

15, 2016, the Solemnity of Pentecost.

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He served as 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. 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 is a founding member of the Pope Leo XIII Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians, and other religious leaders.

Sister Cor Immaculatum Heffernan, IHM is a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Scranton, PA. “ She holds several degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in English/Art and a Master of Science degree in Counseling, both from Marywood; a Master of Arts degree in Sculpture from the University of Notre Dame; and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Illustration from Syracuse University. Her multi-faceted life is in itself a masterpiece: she is a teacher, a mentor, and a consultant; she is a sculptor, a harpist, a calligrapher, and a creator of mosaics; she is a counselor, a spiritual director, and above all, she is a servant of God to others”.

DC39 St. John of Avila pt 2 – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom w/ Dr. Matthew Bunson

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Dr. Matthew Bunson discusses the life, times and teachings of St. John of Avila

Born: January 6, 1499, Almodóvar del Campo, Spain
Died: May 10, 1569, Montilla, Spain

From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI

From the General Audience on St. John of Avila

Master Avila was not a university professor, although he had organized and served as the first rector of the University of Baeza. He held no chair in theology, but gave lessons in sacred Scripture to lay people, religious and clerics.

He never set forth a systematic synthesis of his theological teaching, yet his theology was prayerful and sapiential. In his Memorial II to the Council of Trent, he gives two reasons for linking theology and prayer: the holiness of theological knowledge, and the welfare and upbuilding of the Church. As befitted a true humanist endowed with a healthy sense of realism, his was a theology close to life, one which answered the questions of the moment and did so in a practical and understandable way.

The teaching of John of Avila is outstanding for its quality and precision, and its breadth and depth, which were the fruit of methodical study and contemplation together with a profound experience of supernatural realities. His abundant correspondence was soon translated into Italian, French and English.
For more visit Vatican.va

Dr. Matthew E. Bunson is a Register senior editor and a senior contributor to EWTN News. For the past 20 years, he has been active in the area of Catholic social communications and education, including writing, editing, and teaching on a variety of topics related to Church history, the papacy, the saints, and Catholic culture. He is faculty chair at Catholic Distance University, a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and the author or co-author of over 50 books including The Encyclopedia of Catholic History, The Pope Encyclopedia, We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI, The Saints Encyclopedia and best-selling biographies of St. Damien of Molokai and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

Episode 7 – The Day Is Now Far Spent – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast

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What are philanthropic groups like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation doing in Africa? This week, we discuss Cardinal Sarah’s take on ideological colonialism in “The Day Is Now Far Spent”.

This discussion is part of the FORMED Book Club—an online community led by Fr. Joseph Fessio and Joseph Pearce that reads and discusses a different book each month. Go to formedbookclub.ignatius.com to sign up for free!

You can find the book here

Robert Cardinal Sarah calls The Day Is Now Far Spent his most important book. He analyzes the spiritual, moral, and political collapse of the Western world and concludes that “the decadence of our time has all the faces of mortal peril.”

A cultural identity crisis, he writes, is at the root of the problems facing Western societies. “The West no longer knows who it is, because it no longer knows and does not want to know who made it, who established it, as it was and as it is. Many countries today ignore their own history. This self-suffocation naturally leads to a decadence that opens the path to new, barbaric civilizations.”

While making clear the gravity of the present situation, the cardinal demonstrates that it is possible to avoid the hell of a world without God, a world without hope. He calls for a renewal of devotion to Christ through prayer and the practice of virtue.

IP#281 Vivian Dudro - Meriol Trevor's "Shadows and Images" on Inside the Pages 1 — Vivian Dudro

WOM13 – The Purgative and Illuminative Way – The Way of Mystery with Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts

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Episode 13 -The Way of Mystery: The Eucharist and Moral Living– the spiritual life and moral living… understanding the journey through the Purgative and Illuminative Way and their role in the moral life.

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha.

The Vatican II documents remind us that the spiritual journey is not made in a vacuum, that God has chosen to save us, not individually, but as The People of God. The Eucharist must help Christians to make their choices by discerning out of Christ’s paschal mystery. For this process to take place, however, Christians must first understand how the Eucharist puts them in touch with Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, and what concrete implications being in touch with this mystery has for their daily lives.

Check out more episodes at “The Way of Mystery” Discerning Heart podcast page

DC38 St. John of Avila pt 1 – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom w/ Dr. Matthew Bunson

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Dr. Matthew Bunson discusses the life, times and teachings of St. John of Avila

Born: January 6, 1499, Almodóvar del Campo, Spain
Died: May 10, 1569, Montilla, Spain

From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI

From the General Audience on St. John of Avila

Thanks to his insight into the times and his excellent academic training, John of Avila was an outstanding theologian and a true humanist. He proposed the establishment of an international court of arbitration to avoid wars and he invented and patented a number of engineering devices. Leading a life of great poverty, he devoted himself above all to encouraging the Christian life of those who readily listened to his preaching and followed him everywhere. He was especially concerned for the education and instruction of boys and young men, especially those studying for the priesthood. He founded several minor and major colleges, which after the Council of Trent would become seminaries along the lines laid down by that Council. He also founded the University of Baeza, which was known for centuries for its work of training clerics and laity.

3. John of Avila was a contemporary, friend and counsellor of great saints, and one of the most celebrated and widely esteemed spiritual masters of his time.

Saint Ignatius Loyola, who held him in high regard, was eager for him to enter the nascent “Company” which was to become the Society of Jesus. Although he himself did not enter, the Master directed some thirty of his best students to the Society. Juan Ciudad, later Saint John of God, the founder of the Order of Hospitallers, was converted by listening to the saintly Master and thereafter relied on him as his spiritual director. The grandee Saint Francis Borgia, later the General of the Society of Jesus, was another important convert thanks to the help of Father Avila. Saint Thomas of Villanova, Archbishop of Valencia, disseminated Father Avila’s catechetical method in his diocese and throughout the south of Spain. Among Father Avila’s friends were Saint Peter of Alcántara, Provincial of the Franciscans and reformer of the Order, and Saint John de Ribera, Bishop of Badajoz, who asked him to provide preachers to renew his diocese and later, as Archbishop of Valencia, kept a manuscript in his library containing 82 of John’s sermons. Teresa of Jesus, now a Doctor of the Church, underwent great trials before she was able to send him the manuscript of her Autobiography. Saint John of the Cross, also a Doctor of the Church, was in touch with his disciples in Baeza who assisted in the Carmelite reform. Blessed Bartholomew of the Martyrs was acquainted with his life and holiness through common friends, and many others acknowledged the moral and spiritual authority of the Master.
For more visit Vatican.va

HR-Soberness- 4 “Finding Balance” – The Holy Rule of St. Benedict with Fr. Mauritius Wilde OSB Podcast

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Everybody seeks for himself a healthy balance in his life. Our whole life is a balancing, to inhale and exhale to the pendulum movement of wakefulness and sleep. We work and recover, we are alone and with others, we talk and listen. As long as we follow this healthy pendulum movement, we are satisfied with ourselves. We do not respond to what our body or soul actually calls.

For some reason, we do not give ourselves what we need, but something else. We avoid what we need, maybe. Here we come across the phenomenon of compensation. If we have stress – what would be good for us? Relaxation. It’s slower and is an adequate answer. Instead, we choose a compensation. For example, we smoke or we eat. Instead of relaxing, we treat ourselves to a snack in between activities. And for a moment we feel better.

Another example: we are lonely. To feel better, we feel we need to spend time online or with the social media that makes us feel less alone. What would be a better response to the feeling of loneliness? Visiting the neighbor, inviting a friend, calling somebody, talking to the man. It’s actually quite easy, but something prevents us from doing that, and so we resort to compensation. Hence are struggle to find a healthy balance.

Prologue (50 lines total):
1. Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart. This is the advice from a father who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice.
2. The labor of obedience will bring you back to him from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience.

Matthew 7:7-10
“Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Revised Standard Version (RSV)
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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.

Sacred Heart Novena – other prayers – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Jesus - Devotional Prayers dedicated to Our Lord text and Mp3 audio downloads 5

Act of Reparation

O Heart of Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before your altar, eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which your loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful, alas, that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask your pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offenses; but also for the sins of those who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow you, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their Baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of your law.

We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against you; we are determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violation of Sundays and Holydays, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against you and your Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which your Vicar on earth and your priests are subjected, for the profanation by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of your divine love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations, who resist the right and teaching authority of the Church which you have founded.

Would, O Divine Jesus, we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of your divine honor, the satisfaction you once made to your eternal Father on the Cross and which you continue to renew daily on our altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of your Virgin Mother and all the saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of your grace, for all neglect of your great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth, we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our ability to prevent others from offending you and to bring as many as possible to follow you.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to you, so that we may one day come to that happy home, where you with the Father and the Holy Spirit live and reign, God, world without end. Amen.

Petition to the Sacred Heart

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have asked you for many favors but I plead for this one (mention your request). Take it, place it in your open, broken Heart, and when the Eternal Father sees it covered with the mantle of your most Precious Blood, he will not refuse it. It is not my prayer, but yours. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory

O Divine Heart of Jesus, grant, we beseech you, eternal rest to the souls in purgatory, the final grace to those who shall die today, true repentance to sinners, the light of faith to pagans and your blessing to me and mine. Amen.

WOM12 – The Communion Rite – The Way of Mystery with Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts

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Episode 12 -The Way of Mystery: The Eucharist and Moral Living– The Liturgy of the Eucharist part 4: the Communion Rite…The moment of radical surrender…can we do it? When we come forward to communion, what are doing…what are we saying? Will we allow ourselves to be transformed? The moment of silence…will we allow ourselves to be transformed within so we can go out to transform the culture for Christ?

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha.

Check out more episodes at “The Way of Mystery” Discerning Heart podcast page

Sacred Heart Novena Day 8 – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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DAY EIGHT
My God and my Savior, Jesus Christ, I believe it to be an undeniable truth. I believe it firmly, O Jesus, that you are my good shepherd. Even if you had not said it, I would believe it because I know that you have in my behalf always manifested the heart of a good shepherd. Would that I, during my entire life, had permitted the goodness and solicitude of your Heart to lead me; would that I had never departed from your side, for then I would not have suffered so much misery and tribulation. But alas, I was untrue to you so often that in consequence I fell into the abyss of sin and was mortally wounded. Now, however, your straying lamb calls to you from the depths of its misery.

O my Good Shepherd, have mercy on me; give me proof again of your compassionate Heart. After all that you have thus far done for me, I cannot believe that your Heart will reject me. Consequently, I beseech this Heart, I embrace it with confidence; and conjure you by all your merits that you obtain for me from your heavenly Father the forgiveness of my sins and the grace for a complete conversion. And then I also pray for the grace of (mention your request) which I am so much in need and which I hope to receive as the fruit of this novena. O Heart of the Good Shepherd, have mercy on me. Amen
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O Divine Jesus who has said, “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you,” behold me prostrate at your feet. Animated with a lively faith and confidence in the promises dictated by your Sacred Heart and pronounced by your adorable lips. I come to ask your aid. (mention your request)

From whom shall I ask, O sweet Jesus, if not from you whose heart is an inexhaustible source of all graces and merits? Where shall I seek if not from the treasure which contains all the riches of your clemency and bounty? Where shall I knock if it be not at the door of your Sacred Heart through which God himself comes to us and through which we go to God?

To you then, O Heart of Jesus, I have recourse. In you I find consolation when afflicted, protection when persecuted, strength when overwhelmed with trials and light in doubt and darkness. I firmly believe you can bestow on me the grace I implore even though it should require a miracle. You have only to will it and my prayer will be granted. I know I am most unworthy of your favors, O Jesus, but this is not a reason for me to be discouraged. You are the God of mercies and you will not refuse a contrite and humble heart. Cast upon me a look of pity, I conjure you, and your compassionate Heart will find in my miseries and weakness a pressing motive for granting my petition.

But, O Sacred Heart, whatever may be your decision with regard to my request I will never cease to adore, love, praise and serve you. Deign, O Jesus, to accept my act of perfect submission to the decrees of your adorable Heart which I sincerely desire may be fulfilled in and by me and all your creatures forever and ever. Amen.

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Most sweet Jesus, redeemer of the human race look down upon us humbly prostrate before your altar. We are yours and yours we wish to be but to be more surely united with you behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to your most Sacred Heart. Many indeed have never known you, many too, despising your precepts have rejected you. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to your Sacred Heart.

Be you king, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken you but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned you. Grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.

Be you King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions or whom discord keeps aloof and call them back to the harbor of truth and the unity of faith so that soon there may be but one flock and one shepherd.

Grant O Lord, to your Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm. Give peace and order to all nations and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry: Praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor forever. Amen.

Sacred Heart Novena Day 7 – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Sacred Heart of Jesus Novena - Text and Mp3 audio download 7

DAY SEVEN

O my Divine Savior, according to the words of the Holy Scriptures, you are in truth our advocate before our Father. You have freely taken this office upon yourself and unceasingly exercise it with faithful and loving zeal for all who trust in you. Your influence with the Father is so great he will not refuse you. He always hears you as you have testified at the grave of Lazarus. Filled with this faith and with confidence in your Compassionate Heart I come to you to plead my cause. I have offended your Father and have called the anger of his Majesty upon myself. I am heavily indebted to his strict justice. I have nothing with which to pay the debt and therefore must fear the punishment. Besides all this, I am in the present need of the request I place before you (mention your request) where only the power of the Father can help me. For the salvation of my soul I sorely need this grace.

O may it come to me from the riches of your Father. O my beloved advocate, from your throne in heaven to your Father and to my Father, to your God and to my God, reconcile me with him. Repay my debts out of the infinite treasury of your merits and obtain for me assistance in my present trial and the grace that I need so much. In the “Our Father” you have composed a prayer with which I will now approach the Father. Accompany me and with the fervor and power of your most Sacred Heart as my mediator, say with me: Our Father, who are in heaven…
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O Divine Jesus who has said, “Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you,” behold me prostrate at your feet. Animated with a lively faith and confidence in the promises dictated by your Sacred Heart and pronounced by your adorable lips. I come to ask your aid. (mention your request)

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus