Page 114 – Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

PSM5 – The Marian Mystery and the Liturgy – Pathway to Sacred Mysteries with Dr. David Fagerberg – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:55 — 24.1MB) | Embed

Episode 5 – The Marian Mystery and the Liturgy – Pathway to Sacred Mysteries with Dr. David Fagerberg Ph.D.

Dr. David Fagerberg and Kris McGregor delve into the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role within Liturgy. Kris shares her personal relationship with Mary, describing her as a tender and guiding mother figure, contrasting this with her relationship with God the Father, which she feels lacks the same emotional warmth but is deeper. They explore C.S. Lewis’s reassurance that love for imagined figures, like Aslan, does not compete with love for Jesus, highlighting how God works through our imaginations. This leads to a discussion on the different types of veneration in Catholicism: dulia for saints, hyperdulia for Mary, and latria for God alone, with Mary exemplifying the church’s path to glorifying God through liturgy.

They also discuss Marian apparitions, noting their role in leading the faithful to the Eucharist and liturgy, with McGregor emphasizing the Eucharist’s centrality. Pope Paul VI’s “Marialis Cultus” is referenced, highlighting Mary as a model for Christians in the liturgy, exemplifying the attentive Virgin, the Virgin in prayer, the Virgin Mother, and the Virgin presenting offerings. Fagerberg stresses that Mary is not a replacement for Christ but a masterpiece of grace, leading the church to glorify God.

Here are some of the topics explored in this episode:

What is the relationship between Mary and the liturgy of the Church?
What is Liturgical Dogma?
Why is dogma important?
What is the authentic nature of “full and active participation”?

From the discussion with Dr. Fagerberg:

“There’s a relationship between Mary and the liturgy. She’s the model of the spiritual attitude with which the church celebrates and lives. The divine mysteries, any names for Mary is the attentive Virgin. She’s the Virgin in prayer. She’s the Virgin Mother and the Virgin presenting offerings. What do we do in liturgy? This is what Paul VI goes through. In this document, we seek to be attentive, to offer a prayer, to be the maternal church that gathers the world under the wings and heals its sufferings and presents offerings. Mary is a model of a spiritual attitude, which every Christian should have when he or she celebrates and lives the divine mysteries. So she’s not a replacement of the mystery. She’s the model for how we live and express those mysteries.

More taken from the discussion:

The words which are vehicles for Spirit are revelatory in Scripture, but they’re dogmatic in other forms. And dogmas are words, and you have to use the right words. The doctor is writing the prescription for you. He can’t prescribe arsenic instead of aspirin, it matters which words he writes down on the pad. It matters what terms we use in our dogma. And that’s why the Church argues over these things. You have to have the wording just right. As Chesterton has said, the Church is a lion tamer, and she’s running with tigers and lions and dragons. And everything has to be just right in order to keep the balance. One wrong slip of words, Chesterton finishes, and all the stained glass would be broken and all the Christmas trees destroyed. Yeah. As it happened, when we goofed up our understanding of the sacramentality of the church, broke windows, and whitewashed the art, you have to be very careful in how you prescribe it.

We prefer to have a kind of loosey-goosey why can’t we just say, be healthy? Why do we have to have doctors and med school and big medical manuals? Well, because it matters how strong a dose you prescribe. You have to argue about this. And sometimes the arguments have to go on for 300 years before we pinned down our correct definition of transubstantiation in order to make sense out of reality and symbol…John Carbone, again in his book, Wellspring of Worship writes The Virgin Mary is the Church as it dawns in a single person. Let’s see who knew that? Oh yeah. Second Vatican Council Lumen Gentium, the document on the Church. How should we end this with a chapter on Mary? Mary is the Church as it dawns in a single person.”

Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions

Personal Relationship with Mary: How can you deepen your personal relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary and see her as a tender and guiding mother figure?
Understanding Different Types of Veneration: How does understanding the distinctions between dulia, hyperdulia, and latria help you in your spiritual practice?
Role of Marian Apparitions: In what ways do Marian apparitions lead you closer to the Eucharist and the liturgy?
Eucharistic Centrality: How can you ensure the Eucharist remains the central focus of your faith and spiritual practice?
Imagination in Faith: How does God work through your imagination to deepen your faith and love for Him?
Marian Model in Liturgy: How can you emulate Mary as a model in your liturgical practice, particularly in her roles as the attentive Virgin, the Virgin in prayer, the Virgin Mother, and the Virgin presenting offerings?
Mary and Grace: How does viewing Mary as a masterpiece of grace help you in your own journey to glorify God?

For more podcast episodes of this series visit the Pathways to Sacred Mysteries w/Dr. David Fagerberg page

David W. Fagerberg is Professor in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He holds masters degrees from Luther Northwestern Seminary, St. John’s University (Collegeville), Yale Divinity School, and Yale University. His Ph.D. is from Yale University in liturgical theology.

Fagerberg’s work has explored how the Church’s lex credendi (law of belief) is founded upon the Church’s lex orandi (law of prayer). This was expressed in Theologia Prima (Hillenbrand Books, 2003). He has integrated into this the Eastern Orthodox understanding of asceticism by considering its role in preparing the liturgical person. This was treated in On Liturgical Asceticism (Catholic University Press, 2013). And these two themes come together in Consecrating the World: On Mundane Liturgical Theology (Angelico Press, 2016).

He also has an avocation in G. K. Chesterton, having published Chesterton is Everywhere (Emmaus Press, 2013) and The Size of Chesterton’s Catholicism (University of Notre Dame, 1998).

Here are a few of Dr. Fagerberg’s books:

St. Benedict Novena – Day 8 – Discerning Hearts Podcasts

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:46 — 2.0MB) | Embed

Novena to St. Benedict – Day 8

In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

If we do not venture to approach men who are in power, except with humility and reverence, when we wish to ask a favor, how much must we beseech the Lord God of all things with all humility and purity of devotion? And let us be assured that it is not in many words, but in the purity of heart and tears of compunction that we are heard. For this reason prayer ought to be short and pure, unless, perhaps it is lengthened by the inspiration of divine grace. At the community exercises, however, let the prayer always be short, and the sign having been given by the Superior, let all rise together. (Holy Rule 20)

Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.

To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.

{mention your petition}

Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 7 – Trials – Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:42 — 3.3MB) | Embed

Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena

Day 7 – Trials

«Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.» Matthew 16:24

Meditation

The holy couple had many trials—in raising their daughters, in sickness and in grief. St. Zélie told her sister-in-law, « So you see, my dear sister, everyone has troubles. The happiest are only those who are less unhappy. The wisest and simplest thing to do in all this is to resign oneself to the will of God and to prepare oneself to be ready to carry one’s cross as courageously as possible. »
In another letter she adds, « The best thing to do is to put everything in the hands of God and await the outcome in peace and abandonment to His will. That’s what I’m going to try very hard to do. »

St. Louis told his daughters that one day he made the following prayer for all the graces and blessings he received: « ‘My God, it is too much! Yes, I am too happy, it isn’t possible to go to heaven this way. I want to suffer something for you! I offer myself…’ The word ‘victim’ died on his lips, he didn’t dare pronounce it before us, but we had understood. »
St. Zélie also offered herself completely to God, particularly during the long agony of her illness. « If it only took the sacrifice of my life for Léonie to become a saint, I would give it willingly. »

Resolution

Today, I will offer my day as it comes, with trust and abandonment to God’s will.

Prayer

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to

Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.

Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.

Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016

For the complete Sts. Louis & Zélie Martin Novena visit here

text ©Shrine of Sts. Louis and Zélie in Alençon

Please visit their website at https://louisetzelie.com/en/pray/novena-to-saints-louis-and-zelie/

For more on the life of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin visit:

A Sister of St. Thérèse: Servant of God, Léonie Martin; Bearer of Hope w/Fr. Timothy Gallagher

and The Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux with Fr. Timothy Gallagher O.M.V.

St. Bonaventure Novena – Day 4 – Discerning Hearts podcast

St. Bonaventure Novena – Day 4

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:58 — 4.5MB) | Embed

St. Bonaventure you have said:

I confess before God that what made me love Saint Francis’ way of life so much was that it is exactly like the origin and the perfection of the Church itself, which began first with simple fishermen and afterward developed to include the most illustrious and learned doctors. You find the same thing in the Order of Saint Francis; in this way God reveals that it did not come about through human calculations but through Christ.

Dear St. Bonaventure
Cardinal, Bishop and Doctor of the Church,
you chose a life that embraced mortification and great humiliation.
Choosing to serve those individuals who were rejected and sick you risked illness for yourself.
You made your life a continuous prayer and spent hours meditating on the wounds of Christ.
Please pray for us that we may have a sincere and humble heart.
Pray that we may not lose sight of Jesus’ wounds and thus walk on the straight path to eternal salvation.

All-powerful Father,
may we who celebrate the feast of St. Bonaventure
always benefit from his wisdom
and follow the example of his love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel – Day 3 – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40 — 1.5MB) | Embed

O Queen of Heaven,
you gave us the Scapular as an outward sign
by which we might be known as your faithful children.
May we always wear it with honor
by avoiding sin and imitating your virtues.
Help us to be faithful to this desire of ours.
(State your request here…)

Recite the following prayers…

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
pray for us.

Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:03 — 7.0MB) | Embed

Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast

As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.

Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”

Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…

From the Holy Gospel According to Matthew 9:32-37

A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.’
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

What word made this passage come alive for you?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:

A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.’
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

What did your heart feel as you listened?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:

A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’ they said. But the Pharisees said, ‘It is through the prince of devils that he casts out devils.’
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.
And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

What touched your heart in this time of prayer?

What did your heart feel as you prayed?

What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Amen

Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission.

DPD5 – Journeying with the Examen Prayer – The Daily Prayer of Discernment: The Examen Prayer with Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:06 — 18.7MB) | Embed

Journeying with the Examen Prayer – The Daily Prayer of Discernment: The Examen Prayer with Fr. Timothy Gallagher

Fr. Timothy Gallagher and Kris McGregor discuss the third step of the Examen prayer, which is the review of one’s day. Fr. Gallagher explains that the term “examen” comes from the Spanish word for examination, and he refers to this step as “review.” This involves looking back over the day to see where God was present and where the enemy tried to lead one astray. The goal is to develop “eyes of faith” that are vigilant and can recognize the action of God and the enemy in daily life.

Fr. Gallagher uses a reflective example of “Susan,” a composite character from his experiences. Susan has been attending daily Mass for six months and incorporates the Examen into her routine. One day, after Mass, she feels deep spiritual consolation, realizing that attending daily Mass has brought her closer to God and improved her patience and availability to others. This reinforces her commitment to the practice. On another day, Susan experiences spiritual desolation, feeling distant from God and lacking energy for spiritual activities. Despite this, she gets herself to Mass, albeit late. In her review, she identifies this as an instance of the enemy’s tactic to discourage her and recognizes the importance of being faithful to her spiritual commitments.

The Examen helps one become more aware of spiritual consolations and desolations, allowing for growth and a deeper understanding of God’s grace and the enemy’s tactics. This practice, combined with knowledge of St. Ignatius’ rules for the discernment of spirits, enriches one’s spiritual life.

Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions

Understanding the Purpose of the Examen: How does the Examen prayer help us see the action of the Lord and the enemy in our daily lives?
Spiritual Consolation and Desolation: Can you identify moments of spiritual consolation and desolation in your recent experiences, and how did you respond to them?
Practicing Discernment: What steps can you take to incorporate the daily review of spiritual experiences into your prayer routine?
The Impact of Daily Mass: How has attending daily Mass influenced your spiritual life and relationship with God?
Responding to Desolation: When facing spiritual desolation, what strategies can you employ to remain faithful to your spiritual commitments?
The Role of Forgiveness: How does asking for God’s forgiveness daily affect your sense of spiritual growth and personal peace?
Recognizing the Enemy’s Tactics: Are there specific times or situations where you find it challenging to stick to your spiritual plans, and how can you better recognize and counteract these tactics?
The Joy of Forgiveness: Reflect on a time when you felt profound joy after experiencing God’s forgiveness; how did this affect your spiritual journey?
Living the Ordinary with Awareness: How can you bring greater spiritual awareness to the seemingly ordinary events of your day?
Applying Ignatian Principles: How familiar are you with St. Ignatius’ rules for discernment of spirits, and how can you apply them to deepen your practice of the Examen?

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 how to obtain copies of Fr. Gallaghers’s various books and audio which are available for purchase, please visit his website: frtimothygallagher.org

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

St. Benedict Novena – Day 7 – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:40 — 2.0MB) | Embed

Holy Rule Novena to St. Benedict – Day 7

In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

We believe that God is present everywhere and that the eyes of the Lord behold the good and the bad in every place (cf Prov 15:3). Let us firmly believe this, especially when we take part in the Work of God. Let us, therefore, always be mindful of what the Prophet says, “Serve the Lord with fear” (Ps 2:11). And again, “Sing wisely” (Ps 46[47]:8). And, “I will sing praise to Thee in the sight of the angels” (Ps 137[138]:1). Therefore, let us consider how it becomes us to behave in the sight of God and His angels, and let us so stand to sing, that our mind may be in harmony with our voice. (Holy Rule 19)

Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.

{mention your petition}

Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 6 – Mercy – Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena – Discerning Hearts Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:17 — 3.1MB) | Embed

Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena

Day 6 – Mercy

«Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.» Luke 6:36

Meditation

Sts. Louis and Zélie, aware of their own weakness, let the mercy of God transform them, and they tried to live it and pass it on in their everyday lives. Céline relates: « In her old age, Marie, our oldest sister, still remembered with regret, and even with tears, the sighs of our Mother in noticing the damage Marie had done to her lace, damage which our Mother herself repaired, at the price of late nights and fatigue, without addressing any reproach to her daughter. »

« Following the example of my Father, Mother also practiced kindness in judging others, never allowing herself to speak ill of her neighbor, even being delicate and scrupulous in this regard, and reproaching herself, sometimes with great humility, for the little interjections spurred by her vivaciousness. »

On this topic, Zélie said: « I had the weakness of making fun of Madame Y; I’ll regret it forever. I don’t know why I don’t like her. She’s never been anything but helpful and nice to me. … Thus I want to change completely for the good. I’ve already started because for some time I’ve been taking every opportunity to speak well of this woman. »