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Who are you? Your Catholic Identity on Divine Mercy Sunday with Msgr. John Esseff

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Who are you? Your Catholic Identity on Divine Mercy Sunday with Msgr. John Esseff

Msgr. Esseff reflects on the readings for Divine Mercy Sunday and it’s meanings for our lives. He discusses the identity of the Christian, and in particular, what it means to be a “Catholic”.

From the NAB

Reading 1 ACTS 5:12-16

Many signs and wonders were done among the people
at the hands of the apostles.
They were all together in Solomon’s portico.
None of the others dared to join them, but the people esteemed them.
Yet more than ever, believers in the Lord,
great numbers of men and women, were added to them.
Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets
and laid them on cots and mats
so that when Peter came by,
at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them.
A large number of people from the towns
in the vicinity of Jerusalem also gathered,
bringing the sick and those disturbed by unclean spirits,
and they were all cured.

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30, 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 St. 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 St. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.

HSE6 – Ignatian Prayer – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

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Ignatian Prayer – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Fr. Anthony Wieck and Kris McGregor continue this series centered around the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. This episode takes a look at the Spiritual Exercises through methods of Ignatian prayer.

An excerpt from the conversation:

“So it’s actually not even my prayer that I’m entering into. It’s actually God inspiring this. And so as I sit in the chapel, as I sit in my place of prayer, I first calm down and remind myself that God is the one leading me here.

I recall my first spiritual director was a Dominican back in California, and I was complaining to him, “Father, I really don’t know how to pray very well. I’m really not good at this. I really want to be better at this.” And he said, “Stop, Anthony.” He said, “Do you realize that even your desire for prayer is already God working within you?” And I said, “No.” I’d never thought of that. So I need to acknowledge that God has even brought me here that he wants to enter. He’s the initiator of this dialogue.

I need to have the Copernican Revolution, huh? Where my focus is on what God is doing. God’s brought me here. God’s sustaining me in existence right now. So I’m acknowledging what he’s doing and that there isn’t other here with a capital O. And so, I’m entering into this dialogue. Before I enter into the desire, and let’s see, what are the steps of my prayer that I’m going to do today? My prayer? Oh no. It’s an acknowledgement that I’m in the presence of an other who’s drawn me here. I have been drawn here, and I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful for my faith life, which has been complete gift.”

Fr. Anthony Wieck is a Jesuit priest of the Central & Southern province. Sixth of nine children, raised on a farm in Oregon, Fr. Anthony began religious life in 1994, spending his first five years of formation in Rome, Italy, studying at the Casa Balthasar and the Gregorian. The former was under the watchful patronage of Pope Benedict XVI (then-Card. Joseph Ratzinger). Fr. Anthony currently acts as retreat master at White House Jesuit Retreat in St. Louis, Missouri. He also offers spiritual direction at the St. Louis diocesan seminary for 25 future priests there.

Episode 11 – The Spirit of the Liturgy – Fr. Joseph Fessio S.J., Vivian Dudro, and Joseph Pearce FBC Podcast

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Pope Benedict on MUSIC, both ancient and new. Fr. Fessio, Joseph Pearce, and Vivian guide us through part 3, chapter 2, of Joseph Ratzinger’s classic “The Spirit of the Liturgy.”

You can find the book here

In honor of its fortieth anniversary (1978–2018), Ignatius Press presents a special Commemorative Edition of one of the most important works written by Joseph Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy.

This edition includes the earlier classic work with the same title by Servant of God Romano Guardini, a book that helped Ratzinger to “rediscover the liturgy in all its beauty, hidden wealth and time-transcending grandeur, to see it as the animating center of the Church, the very center of Christian life.”

Considered by Ratzinger devotees as one of his greatest works, this profound and beautifully written treatment of the liturgy will help readers to deepen their understanding of the”great prayer of the Church”. The cardinal discusses fundamental misunderstandings of the Second Vatican Council’s intentions for liturgical renewal, especially about the priest’s orientation of prayer to the Father, the placement of the tabernacle in churches, and the posture of kneeling.

Other important topics are the essence of worship, the Jewish roots of Christian prayer, the relationship of the liturgy to time and space, sacred art and music, and the active participation of the faithful in the Mass.

AT7 – Almsgiving and Atonement – Atonement with Dr. Margaret Turek and Evan Collins – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

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Almsgiving and Atonement – Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology

Discerning Hearts presents a series of conversations between Dr. Margaret Turek and Evan Collins about her book, “Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology.”

You can pick up a copy of the book here:

An excerpt from the book:

“In this chapter, we focused our attention on the Old Testament and traced the gradually emerging pattern of a process of atonement that is patrogenetic: it originates from and is engendered by God’s own power to love. God exercises his power against sin in such a way that human freedom is not merely bypassed by a one-sided forgiveness. God’s power is a forgiving power, but it takes full effect in his chosen beloved only by engendering a response of repentant love that willingly bears sin’s consequences. The sinner turns back to God with filial love (regenerated by God; in this respect God is near), such that now he endures the effects of sin (principally distance from God) in filial love-suffering, and by bearing this sin-wrought distance, he turns sin around: away from a refusal of filiation to an occasion of asserting it. Atonement is a work of sonship that “cleanses” from sin by transforming sin into its opposite: nearness to God in the filial love-suffering of distance from God. Hence God’s generative (fore-giving) love brings about a union between himself and his beloved that takes the form of a shared willingness in love to suffer through and transform the separation wrought by sin, thereby enabling his beloved to fulfill his vocation as the image of God’s glory in this “fallen” world.As we arrive at the threshold to the New Testament, the main lines of our sketch point toward a convergence in the atoning mission of God’s Son incarnate. Yet this point of convergence cannot be foreseen by reason alone. “It remains an ‘utterly strange work’ (Is 28:21), an ‘offence’ (Is 8:14), ‘something unheard-of’ (Is 52:15).”155 All the same, the constellation of features presented here may indicate a hidden “theo-logic” that can cast a penetrating light on the transition from the Old Testament to the New. We will continue our attempt at uncovering this “theo-logic” in our next chapter on the Cross as atonement, and in the process illuminate the Cross event in view of its closeness to and distance from the old covenant history of eliminating sin.”

Turek, Margaret. Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology (pp. 74-75). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.

From the book’s description:

“This book presents the chief insights concerning the mystery of atonement in the works of four theological guides: John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Norbert Hoffmann.

The author argues for the central importance and perennial value of a theology of atonement, even as she explains the modern aversion to it. The book’s central aim is to deepen our understanding of the biblical claim that God shows himself to be love precisely by sending his Son as atonement. “In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:10).

The book develops a compelling vision of atonement as a process that originates from and is engendered by God’s own power to love. This vision not only takes account of the gravity of sin and its consequences but also provides a clear illumination of the wholly gratuitous, radically forgiving, passionate and powerful nature of God’s redeeming love for mankind. Distinct from the majority of theological accounts of atonement, which focus almost exclusively on the role of Christ, this book highlights the role of God the Father in the atoning mission of the Son.”

SM8 – The Feast of Feasts – Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter by Servant of God Catherine Doherty – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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SM8 – The Feast of Feasts – Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter by Servant of God Catherine Doherty

An excerpt from Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter:

“The Feast of Feasts”

“Easter—the resurrection of Christ! The feast of feasts! The final proof of Christ’s divinity! Easter—the first feast of the early Church, around which all the other feasts grew like stars around the sun. We celebrate Christ’s resurrection as something absolutely, fantastically beautiful that has happened, and is still happening. The fact that there is an Easter is something to be grateful for. It is such a happy feast. What can be more beautiful than this passage from death to life, real life? Now death has become a passage. A passage to what, to where, to whom? It is the passage of you to God and me to God. You walk into it and there at the end is Christ and Our Lady, the life that lasts forever and that is lived with God and his blessed Mother. Christ’s resurrection is the most joyous feast in the calendar of the Church, the one in which everything comes together. It is the greatest feast.

As you approach the church for the Vigil Mass announcing Christ’s resurrection, you will see preparations for a new fire. The fire is usually lit with a flint as it was in the old days. Ideally, the new fire is a large bonfire lit in the parking lot or other outdoor gathering place. It should be outside of the church on a dark night, because this bonfire celebrates, cries out: “Light! Out of the darkness of the tomb came Light! See! Come here, all you who were mourning. Come, all you who did not believe in God. Come, all you who never were told about God. Come and warm your hands at the fire!” The Light of Christ! This fire is the symbol of light, of warmth, the symbol of the heart of Christ and the love of Christ.”

Doherty, Catherine. Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter (Seasonal Customs Vol. 2) (p. 92). Madonna House Publications. Kindle Edition.

Catherine Doherty was born into an aristocratic family in Russia in 1896, and baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church. Because of her father’s work, she grew up in Ukraine, Egypt, and Paris. Many different strands of Christianity were woven into the spiritual fabric of her family background, but it was from the liturgy of the Russian Orthodox Church, the living faith of her father and mother, and the earthy piety of the Russian people themselves that Catherine received the powerful spiritual traditions and symbols of the Christian East. Catherine fled to England during the Russian Revolution, and was received into the Catholic Church in 1919. The cause for her canonization has been officially opened in the Catholic Church. More information about Catherine’s life, works, and the progress of her cause can be found at: www.catherinedoherty.org and www.madonnahouse.org.

Discerning Hearts is grateful to Madonna House Publications whose permission was obtained to record these audio selections from this published work.

SISL19 – Conclusion – Struggles in the Spiritual Life with Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

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Conclusion – Struggles in the Spiritual Life with Fr. Timothy Gallagher O.M.V.

Fr. Timothy Gallagher and Kris McGregor continue a 19-part series on the various Struggles in the Spiritual Life. This episode concludes the series with reflections from St. Therese of Lisieux.

You can pick up a copy of the book here:

An excerpt from the chapter, “Conclusion”:

“The day was August 8, 1897, the month before her death. Thérèse lay on her sickbed. Her sister Pauline was with her in the room. As she lay there, Thérèse pondered her life. In particular, she remembered the Christmas night eleven years earlier when she received what she had called “the grace of my complete conversion.” On that “night of light,” God’s grace and an act of courage liberated her from the nervousness and sensitivity that had oppressed her for years. Thérèse thought, too, of Judith in the Old Testament and of the courage with which she had acted. Thérèse began to speak.

Many, she told her sister, feel that they lack such courage. Then she said, “God never refuses that first grace that gives one the courage to act; afterwards, the heart is strengthened, and one advances from victory to victory.” That is the message of this book. A path to liberation from discouragement, confusion, and pain in the spiritual life exists.

God has not called us to captivity but to freedom. Clarity regarding the struggle is possible, and remedies are available. Begin. Take the first step. Take it now. And take it knowing that “God never refuses that first grace that gives one the courage to act; afterwards, the heart is strengthened, and one advances from victory to victory.” May that grace and that courage bless our spiritual lives.”

Gallagher O.M.V, Fr. Timothy ; Gallagher O.M.V, Fr. Timothy. Struggles in the Spiritual Life: Their Nature and Their Remedies (p. 144). Sophia Institute Press. Kindle Edition.

To find more episodes from this series, visit the Struggles in the Spiritual Life Podcast

From the book’s description: “Here is a powerful, life-changing book that will help you understand and conquer the struggles you face in your spiritual life. It’s a book for those who love the Lord and desire holiness yet often feel adrift or stagnant in their search for spiritual growth.

All of us encounter valleys on our journey with the Lord — those periods of spiritual desolation that are a painful yet unavoidable feature of our prayer life. Spiritual desolation is as complex as we are, so understanding what is happening and responding to it properly are critical to reaching the heights of holiness.

With warmth and understanding, Fr. Gallagher carefully identifies in this book the various forms of spiritual and nonspiritual desolation and supplies the remedy for each. You’ll learn how to discern whether your struggles derive from medical or psychological conditions or whether those struggles are spiritual and permitted by the Lord for reasons of growth. In each case, you’ll be given the remedy for the struggle. You’ll also learn the forms of spiritual dryness and of the Dark Night — and how to respond to them.

In chapter after chapter, Fr. Gallagher presents a particular struggle as experienced by fictional characters and then provides the advice he gives to those who come to him for spiritual direction about that struggle. You’ll gain confidence as you journey through desolation, and you’ll learn to reject the enemy’s ploys to infect you with a sense of hopelessness.”

Did you know that Fr. Timothy Gallagher has 14 different podcast series on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts?
Visit here to discover more!

WM41 – Easter: A Season for Joy – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast

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Episode 41 – Easter: A Season for Joy – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas

Archbishop Lucas and Kris McGregor discuss Easter as a season for joy within our lives and within the church, drawing back upon the Kerygma as shown in the Gospel readings throughout the Easter Season following Jesus’ resurrection.

For more episodes in this series, visit the

Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast page

For more teachings and information about Archbishop George J. Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, visit: archomaha.org

Happy Easter!!!! Have You Encountered Jesus? – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff

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Happy Easter!!!! Have You Encountered Jesus? – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff

Join Msgr. John Esseff as he reflects on the mystery of Easter and our relationship with the Risen Christ.

Gospel JN 20:1-9

“On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. Msgr. Esseff 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. 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 St. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world, especially to the poor. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians, and other religious leaders.

A Special Good Friday Reflection with Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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A Special Good Friday Reflection with Msgr. John Esseff – Building a Kingdom of Love – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Msgr. Esseff reflects on the meaning of Good Friday for the life of every Christian. We are closely united to Jesus in his Passion. Who are the people who have caused you to suffer? What are wounds that have been inflicted during your lifetime? What are the wounds you have inflicted on others? How can those wounds be healed? He also proclaims how the Cross of Christ defeated the devil and continues to defeat the enemy today.

HSE5 – Our Identity & Relationship in Christ – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J. – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

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Our Identity & Relationship in Christ – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

An excerpt from the conversation:

“So that’s what the spiritual exercises are, five forms of prayer, to help us be free, to help us enter into dialogue with the Lord, to help facilitate that encounter. What is the grounding now? And here’s where I’d like to focus today, if we may. What is the grounding of the spiritual exercises? How are they grounded? St. Ignatius calls this the principle and foundation, and he literally means that these are deep, fundamental or pillars, deep shafts, pylons, thrust into the earth, thrust into the rock, who is Christ upon which a solid spiritual edifice can be built.

So the principle and foundation holds true for all men and women. This is not unique to the charism of Ignatian spirituality. This is regardless of any spirituality or particular sense of God. It’s not a “Catholics only” proposition either. It’s for all Christians, for all men and women of every race, nationality, and tongue. To live from this principle and foundation, it begins, St. Ignatius says, that man is created for a purpose. We are created. Ignatius, by this assertion, uproots any false foundation which underlies most of our self-understanding today in the world. Namely, that we create ourselves, that we pick ourselves up by the bootstraps, we’re self-made American men and women. That’s nonsense, we’re created by God. This is an ongoing creation.”

Who are you? Your Catholic Identity on Divine Mercy Sunday with Msgr. John Esseff

From the NAB

Reading 1 ACTS 5:12-16

Ignatian Prayer – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Almsgiving and Atonement – Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology

SM8 – The Feast of Feasts – Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter by Servant of God Catherine Doherty

An excerpt from Season of Mercy: Lent and Easter:

“The Feast of Feasts”

Conclusion – Struggles in the Spiritual Life with Fr. Timothy Gallagher O.M.V.

To find more episodes from this series, visit the Struggles in the Spiritual Life Podcast

Did you know that Fr. Timothy Gallagher has 14 different podcast series on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts? Visit here to discover more!

Episode 41 – Easter: A Season for Joy – Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas

Why it Matters: An Exploration of Faith with Archbishop George Lucas Podcast page

For more teachings and information about Archbishop George J. Lucas of the Archdiocese of Omaha, visit: archomaha.org

Happy Easter!!!! Have You Encountered Jesus? – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff

Gospel JN 20:1-9

A Special Good Friday Reflection with Msgr. John Esseff – Building a Kingdom of Love – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Our Identity & Relationship in Christ – The Heart of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola with Fr. Anthony Wieck S.J.

Did you know that Fr. Timothy Gallagher has 14 different podcast series on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts?
Visit here to discover more!