Recent Archives

IP#129 Mary Ann Glendon – The Forum and The Tower on Inside the Pages

It was with great joy to be able to speak with Mary Ann Glendon about “The Forum and the Tower: How Scholars and Politicians Have Imagined the World, from Plato to Eleanor Roosevelt”. A fascinating book that chronicles not only the thoughts, but also the lives of 12 notable philosophers and/or statesmen throughout history. The “and/or” is important, because not all can can successfully combine both. In fact, only two in this particular work, are found to be that complete “Philosopher Statesman”. Why is that so? Why is difficult for one who develops a theory to put it into practice? And on personal level on my part, that this is one of the most enjoyable and engaging converstations I’ve been blessed to have in this particular “forum”. We also discuss Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI and their influence in today’s world.

Mary Ann Glendon is Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and is a former United States Ambassador to the Vatican. She holds A.B., J.D., and M.C.L. degrees from the University of Chicago. In 2004, Pope John Paul II named her as the first woman to serve as President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

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You can find the book here
About the Book:

As Aristotle noted long ago, two very different and sometimes incompatible ways of life—the political and the philosophical—exert a powerful pull on the ambitious and talented members of any society. Mary Ann Glendon, who teaches at Harvard Law School, says that she sees this double attraction in her students. Some go into politics, but many turn away, fearful of the compromises and corruptions of power. Such students may go on to become teachers and scholars, but they never quite give up on the idea of “making a difference” in the wider, public world, even if they aren’t quite sure how to do it. Ms. Glendon’s The Forum and the Tower profiles 12 figures in Western history who struggled—not always successfully—with the conflict between an active life and a contemplative one, between ‘life in the public forum and life in the ivory tower.’… The Forum and the Tower is a wise exploration of the eternal tension between action and thought.
— Brian C. Anderson, The Wall Street Journal

The Hellos and Good-byes of Life – Learning to Detach: a reflection with Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the “hellos” and the “good-byes” of life. I can’t really be where I am if I don’t say good-bye to where

I’ve been, especially if I leave it jagged. What do you do if you don’t want to leave a place? You are not ready to let go? He shares the pain of having to leave Lebanon and how his mother helped him to detach and allow God’s will move him to acceptance. How do you deal with the anger that can arise? Letting go of not only a place, but also of things and people may be asked of us in order to respond to the Father’s will. The joy comes ultimately in heaven where there are no more good-byes.

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

IP#153 Mark Brumley – YOUCAT on Inside the Pages

It’s great to be joined once again by Mark Brumley! This time we discuss YOUCAT, an engaging a catechism designed for a youthful audience. I say “youthful” because it appeals to seekers in all age groups. Bright in design, filled with questions and answers, and thoughtful in its presentation of doctrine, YOUCAT, on every page, brings the faith alive. A fantastic resource for every home…a perfect gift for confirmation kids and adults alike. Especially in the light of the challenges facing the Catholic faith in today’s world, we talk with Mark the need for this particular resource.

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You can find out more here

What Pope Benedict XVI has to say about the YOUCAT project:

“Study this Catechism with passion and perseverance. Make a sacrifice of your time for it! Study it in the quiet of your room; read it with a friend; form study groups and networks; share with each other on the Internet. By all means continue to talk with each other about your faith.”

BKL#4 – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff – The Power of Baptism: a story of Bl. Mother Teresa, a princess, and a baby named Cecilia

Show 4 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – The Power of Baptism: a story of Bl. Mother Teresa, a princess, and a baby named Cecilia

Msgr. Esseff reflects on the power of Christ given to us in our baptism. He tells two poignant stories about Bl. Mother Teresa, a princess and a baby named Cecilia. Do we appreciate the gift? Msgr. Esseff also addresses the fears and concerns grandparents have when their children fail to have their own children baptized. Be not afraid…call on the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Rosary.

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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”

IP#152 Stephen Binz – Learning to Pray with Scripture on Inside the Pages

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Stephen J. Binz is a Catholic biblical scholar, psychotherapist, popular speaker, and award-winning author of more than thirty books on the Bible and biblical spirituality. “Learning to Pray with Scripture” is another volume in the excellent “Lectio Divina” series brought to us by Our Sunday Visitor. In it, Stephen uses the actual prayers of Sacred Scripture to help us enter a deeper relationship with God through our own prayer. This series is outstanding and an absolute MUST for those seeking a great guide to this ancient prayer form!

You can find this book here

This study shows the way that various characters in the Bible prayed and what they can teach you about prayer.

It also delves into various types of prayer and what you can learn from them.

Every chapter leads you forward through a sequence of:

Listening – Reading Scripture with expectancy, trusting that God will speak His Word to us through it
Understanding – Seeking to comprehend the meaning of the text, encountering God there and being changed by that encounter
Reflecting – Linking the truth of the Scriptures to the experience of faith in the world in which we live
Praying – A dialogue with God: we listen to God, then we respond in prayer
Acting – After prayerfully listening to God through a passage of Scripture, we should be inspired to make a difference in the way we live

Pope Benedict on Prayer 28 – Meditating upon Sacred Scripture helps us to understand the present

Vatican City, 2 May 2012 (VIS) –

The prayer of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was the theme of the Holy Father’s catechesis during his general audience this morning.

Addressing more than 20,000 faithful filling St. Peter’s Square, the Pope explained how, according to the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen was taken before the Sanhedrin accused of having declared that Jesus would destroy the Temple and change the customs handed down by Moses. In his address before the council Stephen explained that, in saying these things, Jesus had been referring to His body, which was the new temple. In this way, Christ “inaugurated the new worship and, with the offer of Himself on the cross, replaced the ancient sacrifices”, Benedict XVI said.

Stephen wished to show that the accusation of subverting the Law of Moses was unfounded, to which end he outlined his view of the history of salvation, of the covenant between God and man. “Thus”, the Holy Father explained, “he reread the entire biblical narrative to show that it led to the ‘place’ of God’s definitive presence, which is Jesus Christ and in particular His passion, death and resurrection. Stephen interpreted his status as a disciple of Jesus in the same light, … following Him to martyrdom. Thus, meditation upon Sacred Scripture helped him to understand … the present”.

“In his meditation upon God’s action in the history of salvation” the proto-martyr “highlighted the perennial temptation to reject God and His acts, and affirmed that Jesus is the Just One announced by the prophets. In Him, God made Himself definitively and uniquely present: Jesus is the ‘place’ of true worship”.

Stephen’s explanations and his life were interrupted by his stoning, yet “martyrdom was the culmination of his life and message, because he became one with Christ. Thus his meditation upon the action of God in history, on the divine Word which was entirely fulfilled in Jesus, became a form of participation in Christ’s prayer on the cross”.

The moment of Stephen’s martyrdom “again revealed the fruitful relationship between the Word of God and prayer”, the Pope said. Yet “where did this first Christian martyr find the strength to face his persecutors and to make the ultimate gift of self? The answer is simple: in his relationship with God, in his communion with Christ, in meditating upon the history of salvation, in witnessing the action of God which reached its apex in Jesus Christ”.

St. Stephen believed that Jesus was “the Temple, ‘not made by human hands’, in which the presence of God the Father came so close as to enter our human flesh, bringing us to God and opening the doors of heaven for us. Our prayer must, then, be contemplation of Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, of Jesus as Lord of our daily life. In Him, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we too can address God … with the trust and abandonment of children who turn to a Father Who loves them with an infinite love”.

BKL#2 – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff – The Good Shepherd

Show 2 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – “The Good Shepherd“

Msgr. Esseff reflects on the readings from the 4th Sunday of Easter, and in particular, Our Lord’s teachings on role of the Good Shepherd. Also, at the end of this episode, Msgr. Esseff offers a prayer with St. Padre Pio for healing.

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

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

IP#151 Joe Paprocki – The 7 Key to Spiritual Wellness on Inside the Pages

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In “7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness,” best-selling author Joe Paprocki provides a prescription for spiritual health based on the rich wisdom of Catholic Tradition.

The Saints have repeatedly taught us that our souls can get spiritually sick and die.

Joe’s new book focuses on the root causes of spiritual sickness. Each chapter identifies a specific threat to the health of our souls and offers strategies for beating that virus.

His keys to spiritual wellness are:

Seeing Yourself as You Really Are
Actively Seeking the Good of Others
Thinking Before Acting
Holding on Loosely
Recognizing and Setting Limits
Channeling, Not Repressing, Your Desires
Unleashing Your Imagination

You can find the book here

Pope Benedict on Prayer 26 – Fear Not Persecutions But Trust In The Presence of God

Vatican City, 18 April 2012 (VIS) – Returning to a recent series of catecheses on the theme of prayer, Benedict XVI dedicated his general audience this morning to what has been called the “Little Pentecost”, an event which coincided with a difficult moment in the life of the nascent Church.

The Acts of the Apostles tell us how Peter and John were released from prison following their arrest for preaching the Gospel. They returned to their companions who, listening to their account of what had happened, did not reflect on how to react or defend themselves, or on what measures to adopt; rather, “in that moment of trial they all raised their voices together to God”, Who replied by sending the Holy Spirit.

“This was the unanimous and united prayer of the whole community, which was facing persecution because of Jesus”, the Pope explained. It involved the community “because the experiences of the two Apostles did not concern only them, but the entire Church. In suffering persecution for Jesus’ sake, the community not only did not give way to fear and division, but was profoundly united in prayer”.

When believers suffer for the faith, “unity is consolidated rather than undermined, because it is supported by unshakeable prayer. The Church must not fear the persecutions she is forced to suffer in her history, but must trust always, as Jesus did in Gethsemane, in the presence, help and strength of God, invoked in prayer”.

Before trying to understand what had happened the first community sought to interpret events through the faith, using the Word of God. In the Acts of the Apostles St. Luke notes how the community of Jerusalem began by invoking God’s greatness and immensity. Then, using the Psalms, those early Christians recalled how God had acted in history alongside His people, “showing Himself to be a God Who is concerned for human beings, Who does not abandon them”, Benedict XVI said. Subsequently the events were read “in the light of Christ, Who is the key to understanding all things, even persecution. The opposition to Jesus, His passion and death were reread … as the accomplishment of the plan of God the Father for the salvation of the world. … In prayer, meditating on Sacred Scripture in the light of the mystery of Christ helps us to interpret current reality as part of the history of salvation which God enacts in the world”.

Thus the plea the first Christian community of Jerusalem made to God in prayer was not “to be defended, to be spared from trials or to enjoy success, but only to be able to proclaim … the Word of God frankly, freely and courageously”. The community also asked that “their proclamation be accompanied by the hand of God so that healing, signs and wonders could be accomplished. In other words, they wanted to become a force for the transformation of reality, changing the hearts, minds and lives of men and bringing the radical novelty of the Gospel”.

“We too”, the Holy Father concluded his catechesis, “must bring the events of our daily lives into our prayer, in order to seek their most profound significance. And we too, like the first Christian community, allowing ourselves to be illuminated by the Word of God and meditating on Sacred Scripture, may learn to see that God is present in our lives, even at moments of difficulty, and that everything … is part of a plan of love in which the final victory over evil, sin and death is truly is that of goodness, grace, life and God”.

IP#149 Katherine Becker – The Dating Fast on Inside the Pages

In this episode we have a conversation with Katherine Becker, author of “The Dating Fast: 40 Days to Reclaim Your Heart, Body, and Soul”. Katherine is wonderfully articulate in describing her experience with “fasting” from the dating scene and how others can benefit from the practice. The books description really does describe it best:

The endless cycle of boyfriends and breakups got to be exhausting–emotionally and spiritually. When a friend introduced Katherine to the idea of the “dating fast,” she rediscovered her joy for life. You don’t have to “kiss dating good-bye,” but a forty-day, Scripture-based retreat from the fray works wonders. Romantic love isn’t dead, says Katherine, but you have to know where to look for it.

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You can find the book here

Be sure to visit Katherine’s website

“In order to be truly ready for a romantic relationship, you must first love and respect yourself. Katherine Becker’s forty-day dating fast is an excellent tool for self-reflection to understand yourself better and grow in love, confidence and faith. Following this fast will better prepare you for relationships, and is a solid step toward a fulfilling life, with or without a spouse.” —Anita A. Chlipala, MA, MEd, LMFT, Relationship Reality 312, Inc.