Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts Archives

IP#20 Anthony Burke Smith – The Look of Catholics on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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“The Look of Catholics: Portrayals in Popular Culture from the Great Depression to the Cold War” is a fascinating work by Anthony Burke Smith. In film, radio, print Catholics contributed significantly to the American Imagination during some of the truly toughest years our nation has faced. It is really interesting how the country turned to the virtuous communal nature of the Catholic identity to lift itself during this time. From Leo McCarey’s Oscar-winning “Go My Way” to Archbishop Fulton Sheen to Henry Luce (publisher of Life magazine), Anthony covers a vast array of areas in this study. I loved it, and I bet so will you!

You can find Anthony’s book at Amazon.com

“Smith’s ambitious and exemplary work demonstrates decisively for all time that Catholics were not only integral players in the formation of modern American popular culture but that the role of Catholicism itself in the national popular culture was a major issue in the production of that same culture. . . . A wonderfully exciting book that will be widely hailed as a landmark achievement confirm the author’s stature as the leading scholar of Catholic popular culture, and be consulted by scholars and their students for decades to come.” –James T. Fisher

The Gift of the Holy Spirit – A reflection by Dr. Anthony Lilles

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From Beginning to Pray authored by Dr. Anthony Lilles

Pentecost is a Feast of Love. It is the feast of the Canticle of Canticles where the Bridegroom comes to kiss his Bride. Today the Church cries out to her Bridegroom for a divine kiss, a kiss from the mouth of God. It is this kiss entrusted to frail humanity that makes all the difference in the world and in our lives. It is by this kiss that God discloses the depths of his love, that He surrenders His Holy Spirit to each of us in the most unique and particular way. It is the kiss God entrusts to humanity from the Cross.

The Holy Spirit is the life of the soul. He is the great gift that the Risen Lord breaths into the world. When lovers kiss, it is as if they are trying to breath their spirits into each other. Each wants the other to completely possess the gift of who they are. It is by way of a holy kiss that Christ breaths his Holy Spirit into the Church.

The whole Church and each of us as members of this mystical Body, through this same Gift, want to give everything we have to Christ and find in ourselves the power to do so and the inner conviction that we do not want to have it any other way. This is because with the Gift of the Holy Spirit we realize this is exactly the way God has loved us in Christ Jesus.

Wherever the Spirit blows, the most beautiful affections are ignited in our humanity. The Spirit of the Father and the Son moves us with a passion so sacred that it raises us up above ourselves. Such holy desires caused by the Fire of God in us allow us to participate in the very life of God.

The more humble we are, the more the kiss of Christ permeates the deep places of our hearts. He won the right to enter into these deep places, to breath his Holy Spirit into these depths, by emptying Himself until he became like us. In solidarity with our humanity, having embraced this most frail work of his creation to his Uncreated Nature in his Divine Person, He allowed himself be completely vulnerable to us – like a lover who attempts to disclose his love to the beloved. Spurned and rejected from the beginning, He would not give up on the friendship He yearned to share with us. He offered his kiss to a distrustful humanity by humbling Himself in the face of our pride and overcame our hostility to Him by his death. When we gaze on Him who died for us, always we see His arms are wide open, ready to embrace us. He waits to kiss us with the Gift of His Spirit whenever we allow our hearts to be pierced by his love.

Will we surrender to his kiss? Will we allow ourselves to be caught up in his love? True, the more we offer ourselves in love, we find ourselves dying to our old way of life. It is the pathway of surrender and trust. We are afraid of this — abandoning our old way of life leads somewhere with which we are not familiar. But the kiss of Christ is so beautiful, so life giving, it is worth this death a thousand times over. Let Him kiss you with the Kisses of his Mouth!

RC#1 – History, with Arms Upraised – The Resilient Church w/ Mike Aquilina

Episode 1 – History, with Arms Upraised

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The Resilient Church with Mike Aquilina, offers a fascinating look at the trials and triumphs of the Catholic Church over the past two thousand years. Fast-paced sketches of critical periods in church history give readers perspective on the challenges faced by the church today. Mike Aquilina does not shrink from the realities of the past, including badly behaved leaders and those who betrayed the Lord. Yet he also leaves us all with well-founded hope for the future: God remains faithful in every circumstance and fulfills his promise to remain with his church always.

Pick up a copy of Mike’s book.

Also visit Mike’s “Discerning Hearts” page for more audio downloads and information!

#04 The Second Rule – The Discernment of Spirits /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV – Video Podcasts

#04 The Second Rule -The Discernment of Spirits /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV from Discerning Hearts on Vimeo.

Episode 4 -The Second Rule:

In the persons who are going on intensely cleansing their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, it is the method contrary to that in the first Rule, for then it is the way of the evil spirit to bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on; and it is proper to the good to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, easing, and putting away all obstacles, that one may go on in well doing.

For the other episodes in this series check out Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s “Discerning Hearts” page

You can obtain just the audio podcast, if you would prefer

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IP#164 Fr. Robert Spitzer – Cosmic Origins on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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It is always a delight to talk with Fr. Robert Spitzer! His sure brilliance, combined with his infectious joy and good humor, is so engaging that any topic he leads us on becomes an adventure. With “Cosmic Origins”, a soon to be released DVD, Fr. Spitzer and a group of physicists and academic heavyweights exploring modern scientific theories about how the universe came to exist. I would call this a “mathematical apologetic”, which is so beautifully points to the greater “purpose” of our creator, that I couldn’t help but smile through the entire presentation. Stunning, wonderful…and so much fun!

To learn more about this film and how you can arrange screenings for your parish or group go here
Cosmic Origins explains what we know about the beginning and nature of the universe, as well as its transcendent implications in clear, easy-to-understand terms. The 49-minute film weaves together a compelling narrative from academics and credentialed scientists pointing toward a very Catholic understanding of how the universe came to exist.

Cosmic Origins is distributed by Ignatius Press.

ROHC-V2 The Agony of Emotional Suffering – The Heart of Hope w/ Deacon James Keating Ph.D. – Video podcast

ROHC-V2 The Agony of Emotional Suffering – The Heart of Hope w/ Deacon James Keating Ph.D. from Discerning Hearts on Vimeo.

Heart of Hope Part 2 — The agony of emotional suffering and opportunities for deeper union with Jesus; the reason for pastoral ministry

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 Heart of Hope”.

This series explores the work of suffering in the Christian life and how God can use it to transform the heart of the individual and the world.

You can obtain just the audio podcast, if you would prefer

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MM1 – A Marian Moment – Reflections on the Blessed Virgin Mary

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From the writings of St. Peter Julian Eymard:

All Mary’s life—taken as a whole—may be summed up in this one word—adoration; for adoration is the perfect service of God, and it embraces all the duties of the creature toward the Creator. It was Mary who first adored the incarnate Word. He was in her womb, and no one on earth knew of it. Oh! How well was our Lord served in Mary’s virginal womb! Never has he found a ciborium, a golden vase more precious or purer than was Mary’s womb! . . .

Prayer: O Mary! Teach us the life of adoration. Teach us to see, as you did, all the mysteries and all the graces in the Eucharist.

#03 The First Rule – The Discernment of Spirits /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV – Video Podcasts

#03 The First Rule – The Discernment of Spirits /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV from Discerning Hearts on Vimeo.

Episode 3 -The First Rule:
In the persons who go from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is commonly used to propose to them apparent pleasures, making them imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons the good spirit uses the opposite method, pricking them and biting their consciences through the process of reason.

For the other episodes in this series check out Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s “Discerning Hearts” page

You can obtain just the audio podcast, if you would prefer

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GWML#14 Herman Melville & “Moby Dick” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts

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Episode 14 – Herman Melville and “Moby Dick” on Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce

A sea adventure, a study of evil, and a cast of fascinating characters, including the crazed captain who is obsessed with hunting down the whale that maimed him — Moby-Dick is all of this and more.

Based on the author’s experiences as a sailor, Herman Melville’s probing look into the human heart has been read and analyzed from every angle, including the most absurd. The tragic tale is looked at afresh in this Ignatius Critical Edition, which examines the background and other writings of the author and provides his essay on a work by his literary friend Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Based on the Ignatius Critical Edition, this series examines, from the Judeo-Christian perspective, the life,the times, and influence of authors of great works in literature .

Joseph Pearce is currently the Writer-in-Residence and Visiting Fellow at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire. He is also Visiting Scholar at Mount Royal Academy in Sunapee, New Hampshire. He is also Visiting Scholar at Mount Royal Academy in Sunapee, New Hampshire. , as well as co-editor of the Saint Austin Review (or StAR), an international review of Christian culture, literature, and ideas published in England (Family Publications) and the United States (Sapientia Press). He is also the author of many books, including literary biographies of Solzhenitsyn, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and Oscar Wilde.

To learn more about the authors and titles available in the Ignatius Moby-Dick Editions

USCCA29 – Life in Jesus Part 4 – U. S. Catholic Catechism for Adults w/ Arch. George Lucas

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USCCA28 Chapter 24 Life In Jesus part 4

Conscience represents both the more general ability we have as human beings to know what is good and right and the concrete judgments we make in particular situations concerning what we should do or about what we have already done. Moral choices confront us with the decision to follow or depart from reason and the divine law. A good conscience makes judgments that conform to reason and the good that is willed by the Wisdom of God. A good conscience requires lifelong formation. Each baptized follower of Christ is obliged to form his or her conscience according to objective moral standards. The Word of God is a principal tool in the formation of conscience when it is assimilated by study, prayer, and practice. The prudent advice and good example of others support and enlighten our conscience. The authoritative teaching of the Church is an essential element in our conscience formation. Finally, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, combined with regular examination of our conscience, will help us develop a morally sensitive conscience.
The Most Reverend George J. Lucas leads the Archdiocese of Omaha.

For other episodes in the visit our Archbishop George Lucas page

This programs is based on:

More information can be found here.

We wish to thank the USCCB for the permissions granted for use of relevant material used in this series.
Also we wish to thank Matt Wilkom for his vocal talents in this episode.

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