The Discerning Hearts Blog Archives

FG#3 Interior Freedom episode 3 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#3 – Interior Freedom episode 3- Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

Join host Donna Garrett, with Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, as they discuss the spiritual classic “Interior Freedom” by Fr. Jacques Philippe a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 66

Donna Garrett is joined in this particular series by Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC

“ Freedom can be diminished by a dependence on someone whom we love too much(and in the wrong way) who becomes so indispensable to us that we partly lose our autonomy. But a refusal to forgive also binds us to the person we resent, and diminishes or destroys our freedom. we are as dependent on the people we hate as on those we love in a disproportionate manner. When we foster resentment toward someone, we can’t stop thinking about him. We are filled with negative feelings that absorb a large part of our energy, and so there is an “investment” in that relationship that does not leave us available, psychologically and spiritually, for what we should be concentrating on. Resentment attacks our vital forces and does us much harm. When someone has made us suffer, our tendency is to keep the memory of the wrong alive in our minds, like a ‘bill” we will produce in due time to demand settlement. Those accumulated bills end up poisoning our lives. It is wiser to cancel every debt, as the Gospel invites us to. In return, we will be forgiven everything, and our hearts will be set free, whereas nurturing resentment toward others closes us to positive things they could contribute to us.”

For other episodes in the this series click here “Fountains of Grace w/Donna Garrett”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

WOM#13 – Purgative and Illuminative Way – The Way of Mystery w/ Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts

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.

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For more episodes in “The Way of Mystery” Series click here

Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “The Way of Mystery”.

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.

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for oth er material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

Don’t forget to pickup a copy of “Communion with Christ” , it is on e of the best audio sets on prayer…ever!

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

FG#4 Interior Freedom episode 4 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#4 – Interior Freedom episode 2- Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 75

“Let us ask ourselves this question, to what degree can the evil in my surroundings effect me? With the apologies to those I am going to scandalize,I say that the evil around us- the sins of others, of people in the church, of society-does not become an evil for us unless we let Him penetrate our hearts. The point isn’t that we should become indifferent. Just the opposite. The holier we are the more we will suffer due to the evil and sin in the world. But external evil only harms us to the degree we react badly to it, by fear, worry discouragement, sadness,giving up, rushing to apply hasty solutions that don’t solve anything judging, fostering bitterness and resentment, refusing to forgive and so on. Jesus say in St Mark’s Gospel, There is nothing outside of man which going into him can defile him but the things which come out of a man are what defile him. Harm does not come to us(our souls) from external circumstances, but from how we react to them interiorly.”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

FG#5 Interior Freedom episode 5 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#5 – Interior Freedom episode 2- Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 81

“One of the essential conditions of interior freedom is the ability to live in the present moment. For one thing, it is only then that we can exercise freedom. We have no hold on the past— we can’t change the smallest bit of it. People sometimes try to relive the past events considered failures, (I should have done this.. I should have said that…”) The only free act we can make in regard to the past is to accept it just as it was and leave it trustingly in God’s hands,

We have very little hold on the future either. Despite all our foresight, plans and promises it takes very little to change everything completely. We can’t program life in advance, but can only receive it moment by moment.

All we have is the present moment. Here is the only place where we can make free acts. Only in the present moment are we truly in contact with reality.”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

FG#6 Interior Freedom episode 6 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#6 – Interior Freedom episode 6- Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 84

““We can suffer for Only one Moment.”

This effort to live in the reality of each moment is of the greatest importance in times of suffering. St Therese of Lisieux said during her illness; “ I only suffer for one moment. It is because people think about the past and the future that they become discouraged and despair. Nobody has the capacity to suffer for ten or twenty years; but we have the grace to bear today the suffering that is ours now. Projecting things into the future crushes us not experiencing suffering but anticipating it.”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

FG#7 Interior Freedom episode 7 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#7- Interior Freedom episode 7 – Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 102

“Three aspects of the spiritual life the joyful, sorrowful and glorious outpourings of the Holy Sprit recall the image of the fire and the log used by St John of the Cross. ‘ When fire approaches the log it first lights it up and warms it. That corresponds to a joyful mystery. We are warmed by the love of God revealed to us . When the fire comes closer, the wood begins to blacken, smoke, smell bad, and give out tar and other unpleasant substances. This is the sorrowful outpouring; the soul has the painful experience of its own wretchedness. This phase lasts until the purifying fire has completed its work and the soul is totally transformed into a fire of love. Here is the glorious outpouring, in which the soul is strengthened in charity, the fire Jesus came to kindle on earth.”

For other episodes in the this series click here “Fountains of Grace w/Donna Garrett”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

FG#8 Interior Freedom episode 8 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#8- Interior Freedom episode 8 – Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 112

“Instead of following the impulses of the Spirit, people give themselves up, under a pretext of freedom, to their passions to selfishness and sin and sin in all its forms: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness carousing and the like. St Paul reminds us of a classic teaching worth repeating in these confused times; licentiousness is not freedom. It s slavery in which people are trapped by what is most superficial in humanity selfish desires, fears weaknesses and so on. We must wage an unceasing fight against the tendencies described by St Paul and must remain permanently open to the healing graces that come from the Cross of Christ. Then we become truly capable of accomplishing good.”

For other episodes in the this series click here “Fountains of Grace w/Donna Garrett”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

FG#9 Interior Freedom episode 9 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#9- Interior Freedom episode 10 – Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 121-122

“Identity is not rooted in the sum of one’s aptitudes. Individuals have a unique value and dignity independently of what they can do. Someone who doesn’t realize this is at risk of having a real identity crisis. on the day he or she experiences failure, or of despising others when faced with their limitations. Where is there room for the poor and handicapped in a world where people are measured by the efficiency and the profit they can produce?

Here it is worth reflecting on the problem of pride. We are all born with a deep wound, experienced as a lack of being. We seek to compensate by constructing a self different than our real self. This artificial self requires large amounts of energy to maintain it, being fragile it needs protecting. Woe to anyone who contradicts it, threatens it, questions it, or inhibits its expansion. When the Gospel says we must ‘die to ourselves’, it means this artificial ego, this constructed self must die so that the real self given us by God can emerge.”

For other episodes in the this series click here “Fountains of Grace w/Donna Garrett”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

FG#10 Interior Freedom episode 10 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#10- Interior Freedom episode 10 – Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

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Discussed in this episode, among other topics, from “Interior Freedom” page 125-126

“the trials or purifications so frequently referred to by the mystics are there to destroy whatever is artificial in our character, so that our true being may emerge- ie what we are tp God. The night of the soul could be called a series of impoverishments, sometimes violent ones that strip believers of all possibility of relying on themselves These trials are beneficial because they lead us to locate our identity where it truly belongs, The experience can be highly painful when someone who loves God goes through a phase without an atom of fervor even with a profound distaste for spiritual things. People do not lose their love for God, for their whole being remains completely oriented toward God; but they lose the feeling of love. The benefit of this trial is that it deprives us of any possibility of relying on the good we can do. God’s mercy is all.”

For other episodes in the this series click here “Fountains of Grace w/Donna Garrett”

You can find “Interior Freedom” here

FG#11 Interior Freedom with Fr. Jacques Philippe episode 11 – Fountains of Grace with Donna Garrett

FG#11 – Interior Freedom episode 11 – Fountains of Grace: reflections on contemporary spiritual classics with Donna Garrett

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Join host Donna Garrett as she has a special conversation with Fr. Jacques Philippe about his spiritual classic “Interior Freedom”. Fr. Philippe is a priest of Communaute des Beatitudes, an international association of the faithful of Pontifical Right founded in France in 1973. The members of the Community, which has a contemplative vocation based on Carmelite spirituality, are actively engaged in the service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel.

For other episodes in the this series click here “Fountains of Grace w/Donna Garrett“

You can find “Interior Freedom” here