The Discerning Hearts Blog Archives

BKL#48 – ” God is All!!!!” – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff

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Show 48 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – “God is All!!!”

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the teaching of Jesus:

Gospel LK 17:5-10

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
The Lord replied,
“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?
Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, ‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'”

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 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 Bl. 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.

To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book byvisiting here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building a Kingdom of Love”

Day 8 St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena

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Day 8

St. Bernard you have said:

“Many appear full of mildness and sweetness as long as everything goes their own way; but the moment any contradiction or adversity arises, they are in a flame, and begin to rage like a burning mountain. Such people as these are like red-hot coals hidden under ashes. This is not the mildness which Our Lord undertook to teach us in order to make us like unto Himself.”

“If anyone makes himself his own master in the spiritual life, he makes himself scholar to a fool.”

St. Bernard you have given us this prayer and with you, we pray:

(The Memorare)

REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

O God, who made of the Abbot Saint Bernard
a man consumed with zeal for your house
and a light shining and burning in your Church,
grant, through his intercession,
that we may be on fire with the same spirit
and walk always as children of light.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The music chant used within this prayer is an excerpt from “Missa pro defunctis – VI. Offertorium” by Giammatteo Asola preformed by Papalin under creative common license

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

Day 7 St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena

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Day 7

St. Bernard you have said:

“It was love that motivated His self-emptying, that led Him to become a little lower than angels, to be subject to parents, to bow His head beneath the Baptist’s hands, to endure the weakness of the flesh, and to submit to death even upon the cross”

St. Bernard you have given us this prayer and with you, we pray:

(The Memorare)

The music chant used within this prayer is an excerpt from “Missa pro defunctis – VI. Offertorium” by Giammatteo Asola preformed by Papalin under creative common license

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

Day 6 St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena

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Day 6

St. Bernard you have said:

“Let no one believe that he has received the divine kiss, if he knows the truth without loving it or loves it without understanding it. But blessed is that kiss whereby not only is God recognized but also the Father is loved; for there is never full knowledge without perfect love.”

St. Bernard you have given us this prayer and with you, we pray:

(The Memorare)

The music chant used within this prayer is an excerpt from “Missa pro defunctis – VI. Offertorium” by Giammatteo Asola preformed by Papalin under creative common license

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Fr. Mark Cyza – Discerning Hearts

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Join Bruce and I as we discuss the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the wonderful Fr. Mark Cyza.

From Pope Benedict XVI 2005 found at vatican.va:

I am also thinking of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that we recently published, in which the Word of God is applied to our lives and the reality of our lives interpreted; it helps us enter into the great “temple” of God’s Word, to learn to love it and, like Mary, to be penetrated by this Word.

Thus, life becomes luminous and we have the basic criterion with which to judge; at the same time, we receive goodness and strength.

Mary is taken up body and soul into the glory of Heaven, and with God and in God she is Queen of Heaven and earth. And is she really so remote from us?

The contrary is true. Precisely because she is with God and in God, she is very close to each one of us.

While she lived on this earth she could only be close to a few people. Being in God, who is close to us, actually, “within” all of us, Mary shares in this closeness of God. Being in God and with God, she is close to each one of us, knows our hearts, can hear our prayers, can help us with her motherly kindness and has been given to us, as the Lord said, precisely as a “mother” to whom we can turn at every moment.

She always listens to us, she is always close to us, and being Mother of the Son, participates in the power of the Son and in his goodness. We can always entrust the whole of our lives to this Mother, who is not far from any one of us.

On this feast day, let us thank the Lord for the gift of the Mother, and let us pray to Mary to help us find the right path every day. Amen.

Day 5 St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena

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Day 5

St. Bernard you have said:

“Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, thou Light of men, From the best bliss that earth imparts We turn unfilled to Thee again. We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread, And long to feast upon Thee still: We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, And thirst our souls from Thee to fill. O Jesus, ever with us stay, Make all our moments calm and bright; Chase the dark night of sin away, Shed o’er the world Thy holy light.”

St. Bernard you have given us this prayer and with you, we pray:

(The Memorare)

The music chant used within this prayer is an excerpt from “Missa pro defunctis – VI. Offertorium” by Giammatteo Asola preformed by Papalin under creative common license

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

Day 4 St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena

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Day 4

St. Bernard you have said:

“Ignorance is brutal, arrogance is devilish. Pride only, the chief of all iniquities, can make us treat gifts as if they were rightful attributes of our nature, and, while receiving benefits, rob our Benefactor of His due glory.”

“Let your prayer for temporal blessings be strictly limited to things absolutely necessary.”

St. Bernard you have given us this prayer and with you, we pray:

(The Memorare)

The music chant used within this prayer is an excerpt from “Missa pro defunctis – VI. Offertorium” by Giammatteo Asola preformed by Papalin under creative common license

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

Day 2 St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena

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Day 2

St. Bernard you have said:

“The man who is wise, therefore, will see his life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then discharges the overflow without loss to itself … Today there are many in the Church who act like canals, the reservoirs are far too rare … You too must learn to await this fullness before pouring out your gifts, do not try to be more generous than God.”

St. Bernard you have given us this prayer and with you we pray:

(The Memorare)

The music chant used within this prayer is an excerpt from “Missa pro defunctis – VI. Offertorium” by Giammatteo Asola preformed by Papalin under creative common license

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

The Fifth Way – The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic

The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic

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The Fifth Way of Prayer

When he was in the convent, our holy father Dominic would sometimes remain before the altar, standing erect without supporting himself or leaning upon anything. Often his hands would be extended before his breast in the manner of an open book; he would stand with great reverence and devotion as if reading in the very presence of God. Deep in prayer, he appeared to be meditating upon the words of God, and he seemed to repeat them to himself in a sweet voice. He regularly prayed in this way for it was Our Lord’s manner as Saint Luke tells us: “. . . according to his custom he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and began to read” [Luke 4:16]. The psalmist also tells us that “Phinees stood up and prayed, and the slaughter ceased” [Ps. 105:30].

He would sometimes join his hands, clasping them firmly together before eyes filled with tears and restrain himself. At other times he would raise his hands to his shoulders as the priest does at Mass. He appeared then to be listening carefully as if to hear something spoken from the altar. If one had seen his great devotion as he stood erect and prayed, he would certainly have thought that he was observing a prophet, first speaking with an angel or with God himself, then listening, then silently thinking of those things which had been revealed to him.

On a journey he would secretly steal away at the time for prayer and, standing, would immediately raise his mind to heaven. One would then have heard him speaking sweetly and with supreme delight some loving words from his heart and from the riches of Holy Scripture which he seemed to draw from the fountains of the Savior. The friars were very much moved by the sight of their father and master praying in this manner. Thus, having become more fervent, they were instructed in the way of reverent and constant prayer: “Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress . . .” [Ps. 122:2].

The text was taken from the book St. Dominic: Biographical Documents, edited by Fr. Francis C. Lehner, O.P. The chapter “The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic” was translated by Fr. Andrew Kolzow, O.P.

“The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic” from St. Dominic: Biographical Documents, © 1964 by The Thomist Press.
Nihil obstat: Reverend A. D. Lee, O.P. Censor Deputatus
Imprimatur: Patrick A. O’Boyle Archbishop of Washington
April 29,1964

For the complete list visit:
The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic

Day 1 St. Bernard of Clairvaux Novena

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Day 1

St. Bernard you have said:

“Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire… Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.”

St. Bernard you have given us this prayer and with you we pray:

(The Memorare)

The music chant used within this prayer is an excerpt from “Missa pro defunctis – VI. Offertorium” by Giammatteo Asola preformed by Papalin under creative common license

The closing prayer – Excerpt from the English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes) © 1974, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. Used with permission

Gospel LK 17:5-10

For the complete novena visit: The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit: The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit: The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit: The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit: The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit: The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic

The Fifth Way of Prayer

The text was taken from the book St. Dominic: Biographical Documents, edited by Fr. Francis C. Lehner, O.P. The chapter “The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic” was translated by Fr. Andrew Kolzow, O.P.

“The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic” from St. Dominic: Biographical Documents, © 1964 by The Thomist Press. Nihil obstat: Reverend A. D. Lee, O.P. Censor Deputatus Imprimatur: Patrick A. O’Boyle Archbishop of Washington April 29,1964

For the complete list visit: The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

For the complete novena visit:
The Nine Day Novena to St. Bernard of Clairvaux – Mp3 audio and Text

“The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic” from St. Dominic: Biographical Documents, © 1964 by The Thomist Press.
Nihil obstat: Reverend A. D. Lee, O.P. Censor Deputatus
Imprimatur: Patrick A. O’Boyle Archbishop of Washington
April 29,1964

For the complete list visit:
The Nine Ways of Prayer of St. Dominic