Series Archives

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

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 121-122

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

“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

DPD8 – 5 Dimensions of the Examen -The Daily Prayer of Discernment: The Examen Prayer w/ Fr. Timothy Gallagher

Episode 8 The Daily Prayer of Discernment: The Ignatian Wisdom of the Examen Prayer with Fr. Timothy Gallagher.

Fr. Gallagher, in this concluding episode, reviews the different dimensions of the Examen prayer and applications for our lives.

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As outlined from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
(translated from the autograph by Fr. E. Mullan, S.J. 1909 in the public domain)

METHOD FOR MAKING THE GENERAL EXAMEN
It contains in it five Points.

First Point. The first Point is to give thanks to God our Lord for the benefits received.
Second Point. The second, to ask grace to know our sins and cast them out.
Third Point. The third, to ask account of our soul from the hour that we rose up to the present Examen, hour by hour, or period by period: and first as to thoughts, and then as to words, and then as to acts, in the same order as was mentioned in the Particular Examen.
Fourth Point. The fourth, to ask pardon of God our Lord for the faults.
Fifth Point. The fifth, to purpose amendment with His grace.

OUR FATHER.

Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life: The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola”. For more information on books and audio available for purchase from Fr. Timothy Gallagher check out his website: www.frtimothygallagher.org

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

IP#253 Fr. Robert Cormier – Better Than We Believed on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

It was rich blessing to have the opportunity to talk Fr. Robert Cormier about his book “Better Than We Believed: How to Apply the Vision That Is Faith to the Struggle That Is Life”. With an incredible witness in ministry Fr. Bob, as he prefers to be called, has served a parish priest for many years, as well as prison chaplain and a rehab counselor. For the last eighteen years he has been president of Project Live—a leading institution for the care of the mentally ill. He also spent summers in mission work in Guatemala and other areas of Central America. This varied background serves him well as he addresses many of the the areas which challenge many people when it comes to “faith”. What is faith? And how do I live it out? Especially when afraid or challenged, how can I draw on faith for strength to live the life that we were meant for? This books is an excellent resource and wonderful source of inspiration.

(Special note:; On May 13, Fr. Bob died in a climbing accident on Mount Hood in Oregon, after reaching the summit. He was 57 years old. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the soul of Fr. Bob, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.)

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You can find the book here

Here is a link to Faith Kit, the website Fr. Bob mentions during our conversation www.faithkit.org

From the book description:

Presuming nothing that both traditional believers and critical-thinking searchers will not find in their hearts, Better Than We Believed presents a strikingly clear concept of faith that answers the unhappiness of people you will recognize:

MARK, who struggles with anger

IRENE, who battles stress

HENRY, who is consumed by hatred

GLORIA, who has been betrayed

BRIAN, who suffers depression

MARY, who feels trapped by her duty to a loved one

JOY, who can’t get over a loved one’s death, and

JAMES, who knows that he is dying

As we witness this faith applied to these and other serious struggles, we will see how it can transform our own experience, and offer us peace, purpose, and joy.

WOL5 – The “Declaration of Independence” – Reflections on the teachings of St. John Paul II w/ Dr. Carson Holloway – Discerning Hearts

WOL5 – Episode 5- The “Declaration of Independence” and American political philosophy and what it involves. What is the “natural law” and how it applies to political thought. There are principals of political “rights and wrongs” and these are the foundations for political practice (which are not always followed by the human person). What are the “self-evident” truths? What are “natural rights”? Why did this system of thought survive given the American experience compared to the results of the French revolution and its theories? Both might be “children” of the Enlightenment, but one was hostile to Christianity, the other embraced it.

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The Way of Life, Carson Holloway examines the fundamental philosophers of modernity-from Hobbes to Toqueville-to suggest that St. John Paul II’s critique of modernity is intended not to reject, but to improve. Thus, claims Holloway, it is appropriate for liberal modernity to attend to the Pope’s thought, receiving it not as the attack of an enemy but as the criticism of a candid friend.

For other episodes in the series visit Dr. Holloway’s Discerning Hearts page

This series is based on Dr. Holloway’s book “The Way of Life”

WOM#12 – The Communion Rite – The Way of Mystery w/ Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts

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? We when 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?

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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

DPD7 – RENEWAL – The Daily Prayer of Discernment: The Examen Prayer with Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts

Episode 7 The Daily Prayer of Discernment: The Ignatian Wisdom of the Examen Prayer with Fr. Timothy Gallagher.
Fr. Gallagher continues to discuss the the fifth step – RENEWAL – which is how we move forward after our encounter with God in our prayer.

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As outlined from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
(translated from the autograph by Fr. E. Mullan, S.J. 1909 in the public domain)

METHOD FOR MAKING THE GENERAL EXAMEN
It contains in it five Points.

First Point. The first Point is to give thanks to God our Lord for the benefits received.
Second Point. The second, to ask grace to know our sins and cast them out.
Third Point. The third, to ask account of our soul from the hour that we rose up to the present Examen, hour by hour, or period by period: and first as to thoughts, and then as to words, and then as to acts, in the same order as was mentioned in the Particular Examen.
Fourth Point. The fourth, to ask pardon of God our Lord for the faults.
Fifth Point. The fifth, to purpose amendment with His grace.

OUR FATHER.

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

WOM#11 – The Eucharistic Prayer – The Way of Mystery w/ Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts

Episode 11 -The Way of Mystery: The Eucharist and Moral Living

The Liturgy of the Eucharist part 3 : The Eucharistic Prayer…God teaching us to pray. What are we doing in our participation and are we truly ready to receive the Body of Christ? Should we, in integrity, receive the Truth of Christ in Communion…do we really believe?

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

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

DPD6 – Forgiveness (cont.) and Renewal – The Daily Prayer of Discernment: Examen Prayer w/ Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts

Episode 6 The Daily Prayer of Discernment: The Ignatian Wisdom of the Examen Prayer with Fr. Timothy Gallagher.
Fr. Gallagher continues to discuss the fourth step – FORGIVENESS. Then we approach the fifth step – RENEWAL – which is how we move forward after our encounter with God in our prayer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:48 — 44.5MB) | Embed

As outlined from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
(translated from the autograph by Fr. E. Mullan, S.J. 1909 in the public domain)

METHOD FOR MAKING THE GENERAL EXAMEN
It contains in it five Points.

First Point. The first Point is to give thanks to God our Lord for the benefits received.
Second Point. The second, to ask grace to know our sins and cast them out.
Third Point. The third, to ask account of our soul from the hour that we rose up to the present Examen, hour by hour, or period by period: and first as to thoughts, and then as to words, and then as to acts, in the same order as was mentioned in the Particular Examen.
Fourth Point. The fourth, to ask pardon of God our Lord for the faults.
Fifth Point. The fifth, to purpose amendment with His grace.

OUR FATHER.