John Esseff Archives

BKL#24 – The joy that flows from Mary’s simplicity – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff

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Evil is crushed by the lowly! The joy that flows from Mary’s simplicity.

Msgr. Esseff talks about the Blessed Virgin Mary and how a little girl named Marilee helped him come to a greater understanding of Our Lady. Our salvation came about because of obedience and humility; our Mother, Mary, was the exemplar of that submission. God has such a love for the humble and small. Msgr. Esseff recalls his past Christmas times with the poor in foreign lands and how they experienced such an extraordinary joy because of their simplicity. For us to experience that same type of simplicity and joy think of Mary. He looks at the Nativity scene in a the light of this simplicity and goodness.

Mother Teresa would say that those in prosperous lands are spiritually poor and those in third world lands are spiritual rich. Hopefully, our homes this Christmas will find our homes resplendent with the Christian virtues, especially those of humility and love.

From the USCCB Readings:

Reading 2 Heb 10:5-10

Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.'”First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Gospel Lk 1:39-45

Mary set out

and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”

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 by visiting here

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

BKL#23 – Prepare the Way of the Lord! – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff

Now is not a time of gloom and despair…it is a time of anticipation and glory!

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Msgr. Esseff shares his experience at a prayer service that took place at 12 Step retreat. He speaks of a woman named Helen who witnessed to a healing miracle that occurred 17 years earlier at Lourdes, but it turn of the story is more about a miracle that flowed more from love rather than need. From this Msgr. Esseff reflects on the Word of God found in the readings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent.

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

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

BKL#22 – Christ, the true King of this World – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff

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Msgr. Esseff shares a recent encounter with a couple he met while traveling home after time with family. Tom and Mary shared their important encounters with God over the course of their 36 years of marriage. Each story speaks of our times and how relevant it is for our lives to allow Christ to be King of our hearts…that is how He will reign in this world. Msgr. Esseff then reflects on how God answers prayers and why we say “Your will be done”.

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

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

“The Sacred Heart of Jesus and You” – Msgr. John Esseff’s talk from Omaha Sacred Heart Conference – Discerning Hearts

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Msgr. John Esseff rocked the foundation stones of St. Margaret Mary Church in Omaha, Nebraska at the Sacred Heart Conference held there March 3, 2012. Wow…how can you pack so much in just one hour? It must have been grace…AMAZING GRACE. The fruits? You should have seen the line for confession! God is good…VERY GOOD! From the wounds of our childhood to the beauty of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the damage done by original sin to the “knuckleheads” who became saints because of their reception of the Holy Spirit…Msgr. Esseff offers to us all the joy of God’s WORD, the culmination found in the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The next best thing to being there….

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff”s website: “Building A Kingdom of Love”

BKL#67 – Pentecost Sunday – Be Not Afraid!!! Peace Be With You!!! – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff

BKL 67 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – Pentecost Sunday – Be Not Afraid!!! Peace Be With You!!!

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Gospel JN 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

“This is how you are to pray…” with Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts

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Gospel MT 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.“This is how you are to pray: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.

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Mary the Model of Prayer….A Christmas Eve Reflection from Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts

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Reading 1 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16

When King David was settled in his palace,
and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side,
he said to Nathan the prophet,
“Here I am living in a house of cedar,
while the ark of God dwells in a tent!”
Nathan answered the king,
“Go, do whatever you have in mind,
for the LORD is with you.”
But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to dwell in?“‘It was I who took you from the pasture
and from the care of the flock
to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you went,
and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.
And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you
that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his Kingdom firm.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your Kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.’”

Gospel Lk 1:67-79

Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying:“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

BKL#54 – The Reign of Christ the King – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff

Show 54 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – The Reign of Christ the King

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the teaching of the Sacred Scriptures on the feast of Christ the King…the victory of Jesus and the defeat of Satan:

Gospel Lk 23:35-43

The rulers sneered at Jesus and said,
“He saved others, let him save himself
if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.”
Even the soldiers jeered at him.
As they approached to offer him wine they called out,
“If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.”
Above him there was an inscription that read,
“This is the King of the Jews.”

Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying,
“Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us.”
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply,
“Have you no fear of God,
for you are subject to the same condemnation?
And indeed, we have been condemned justly,
for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes,
but this man has done nothing criminal.”
Then he said,
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He replied to him,
“Amen, I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise.”

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

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

BKL#51 – BEWARE: The Danger of Self-Righteous Prayer – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts

Show 51 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – BEWARE: The Danger of Self-Righteous Prayer

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and on how we pray:

Gospel LK 18:9-14

Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”