Catholic Immersion

Today we will be talking about an image of Jesus, a child, and two teddy bears. This image has things to teach us about discernment, growth, and trust. Additionally, this will be the last regularly scheduled podcast for Catholic Immersion. I will leave the archive up so you can check out previous episodes. I will … Continue reading Teddy Bears and Goodbyes →

Today’s episode was recorded live. This teaching was given in 2018 to the My Beloved Charismatic Prayer Group at St Mary Magdalen in San Antonio, TX.

In this episode, we talk about a trap we can fall into when it comes to living out our vocation. This is the trap of ‘If Only’ which can cause us to miss the good God is inviting us to in the now as we experience it.  

In this episode, we talk about a spiritual warfare tool we can use to combat the lies of the devil. We will be using two scripture verses as our guide. 2 Corinthians 10:5: We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Phillippians … Continue reading Spiritual Warfare: Taking Every Thought Captive →

Today’s episode is based on talk four from the Life in the Spirit Seminar series. We begin with Acts 2:38: And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  … Continue reading Receiving God’s Gift →

We pick up where we left off in the previous episode on new life and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In this episode, we will talk further on what some of the charismatic gifts are. We will also talk about how some of our more natural gifts can receive a deeper, charismatic element as … Continue reading What Are The Charismatic Gifts? →

Today’s episode is the first part of talk three from the Life in the Spirit seminar series. In this episode, we will be discussing what the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is and how gifts are one of the ways God invites to participate in new life with Him.

The text for today’s episode is the story of the healing of the ten lepers from Luke 17:11-19. We will be taking a closer look at what faith is and some lessons on faith we can learn from the scriptures.

Satan knows our name but calls us by our sins. God, on the other hand, knows our sins but calls us by our name. In this episode, we discuss a spiritual warfare tactic you can use to combat some of the lies Satan likes to tell us about our identity.

Today’s episode comes from a talk I presented at a young adult retreat in February 2017. The retreat was focused on the theme of the spiritual treasures of our Catholic faith.

Today’s episode is a special live recording. The audio is from the March 2016 Charismatic Conference held at St Mary Magdalen in San Antonio, Texas.

“God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.” St Teresa of Calcutta. Today’s episode focuses on the parable of the talents. You can find the scripture text in Matthew 25:14-40.  

We are back from our Lenten break! In this episode, we are going to talk about how Christ fully present in the Eucharist is a symbol of love and vulnerability to us.

Catholic Immersion will be taking a break during Lent to prepare the episodes for the next season of the show. Until our return April 8th, enjoy the archives of the show!

Today’s text comes from Matt 8:23-27 and is the story of Jesus calming a storm at sea. We also discuss the importance of textual context in understanding Scripture by tying back to the preceding story on the would-be followers of Jesus. Then we discuss some lessons we can learn on discipleship from both of these stories.

Sometimes the seemingly ordinary experiences of life can teach us valuable truths about the spiritual life. Today we look at seven spiritual lessons in light of my experiences running on a treadmill.

There’s no Scripture for today’s episode. Instead, we talk about the importance of articulating your priorities and then examining how the decisions you are making lineup with those priorities. We also talk about the need to manage, not eliminate, the tension between different priorities.

In today’s episode, we approach the story of Peter walking on the water in Matt 14:22-36 in the context of a discussion on taking an active role in our discernment process.    

Today’s episode features Matt 7:7 in the context of a discussion on discernment. We also explore some of the general differences between translations of the Bible as well as discuss what an impramatur and nihil obstat are. “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. … Continue reading Asking, Seeking, Knocking →

Today’s episode is based on Matt 10:5-15, the story of The Mission of the Twelve. We especially focus on this passage from the text: “And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if any one will not receive … Continue reading Coffee Cup Evangelization →

Today’s episode centers around a story from the life of David. We explore how David’s faith in God enabled him to win a great victory out of what could have been his worst defeat. Scripture used in this episode comes from 1 Sam 30.  

Today’s episode is based on two passages from Scripture which have something to teach us about spiritual warfare. We are also going to discuss renunciation, which is a tool you can use in spiritual warfare. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of … Continue reading Remember Who The Enemy Is →

Today we take a look at paragraphs 2041-2043 of the Catechism which talk about the why and the what of the five precepts of the Catholic Church. We’re also going to go over seven tips you can use to get more out of your Mass experience.

We’re wrapping up our series with this episode focusing on the answer of ‘No.’ We usually don’t like hearing ‘No.’ We’ll be looking at a time when Jesus received the answer ‘No’ to one of His prayers in Luke 22:39-47, 54.

Continuing our series on petitions we’ll be looking at the response of ‘Not That Way’ today. This episode’s Bible story comes from the book of Acts and is about St Peter and the healing of a lame beggar (Acts 3:1-10).

Today we’re going to take a look at the response of ‘Yes’ to our petitions. We’ll be learning from the story of the Bartimaeus the Blind Man (Mark 10:46-52).

We’re starting a new series today! We’ll be taking a look at how God answers our prayers of petition and also some things we need to keep in mind when we go to God to ask for things.

What exactly is evangelization? Typically when the word ‘evangelization’ gets used we automatically think of missionaries going to foreign lands to preach to the unchurched. There’s also a movement in the Catholic church which focuses on something called ‘the new evangelization.’ This movement shares the Gospel message with those who already have some familiarity with it … Continue reading Evangelization: Fishers of Men →

Today’s episode concludes our 4-part series on vocations. We’ve talked about consecrated life and we’ve talked about married life–what else is there to talk about? Single life! And so the controversy begins. Some people argue that the single life is not a vocation at all, but a sort of no man’s land which exists before … Continue reading The Forgotten Vocation #4: Is Single Life A Vocation? →

We are continuing the 4-part series on vocations. Today’s episode takes a look at the general vocation of marriage. We’re also going to address two of the goods of marriage, namely the good of the spouses and children.

Today’s episode continues the 4-part series on vocations. We are going to be taking a look at what the vocation to religious life is. We’re also going to address an issue called ‘clericalism’ which has to do with a way in which this vocation can be forgotten to be lived as a vocation.

Today’s episode kicks off a four-part series on vocations. We’re going to be taking a look at the general types of vocations and also how those vocations are lived out and how they can become ‘forgotten’ vocations. In this first episode, we’re going to start by answering what exactly a vocation is and what that … Continue reading The Forgotten Vocation #1: Where Are Your Children? →

If you’ve been Catholic for a while then you’ve probably heard these accusations before: You Catholics worship Mary! You Catholics pray to statues! You Catholics are just a bunch of Idolaters! So some bad news: some of our traditional Catholic practices can easily be mistaken for idolatry. But there’s good news! And that good news … Continue reading Debunking Catholic Idol Worship →

We’re taking a look at some lessons on balance from the story of Jesus getting into a boat to preach to the crowds. You can find this story in Mark 3:7-12. Some lessons we can learn are: 1.) If you are feeling overwhelmed in life, remember Jesus probably felt overwhelmed at times too. 2.) When … Continue reading Jesus And The Multitude: Do You Ever Feel Overwhelmed? →

Today we conclude the two-part Theology of the Body series. The last episode covered how we are all made in the image and likeness of God. We also talked about how we are made to love as God loves in way that is free, total, faithful, and fruitful. This episode is all about how our … Continue reading Theology of the Body – God’s Plan for Gender →

If you’ve ever heard any talk on Theology of the Body you’re probably thinking you know where this episode is going. And that’s a shame, because there is so much more to it than that tiny silver most Theology of the Body talks focus on. We’re going to take a look at what some of … Continue reading Theology of the Body – Made in His Image →

The text for this episode comes from Mark 15:22-40. We could talk about many things in this story. Two things we’re going to focus on are the reason for the death of Christ on the Cross and the tearing of the temple veil.

The text of this story is from Luke 23:26-30. One of the things Jesus shows us on the road to Calvary is that everything does not have to be perfect in your world for you to be able to help someone else carry their cross. You can be suffering and also help someone else who … Continue reading No Greater Love – Jesus Meets the Women →

Three texts for today’s episode! How can this be? Because the Gospels only devote a few verses to the carrying of the cross, with the exception of Luke who relates a separate incident along the way. So from Mark 15:20-21 we get this: And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple … Continue reading No Greater Love – Jesus Carrying His Cross →

For this third week of Lent we continue our series with the story of Pilate condemning Jesus to death. The text for this episode come from Luke 23:1-24.

We continue our Lenten series ‘No Greater Love’ with this second episode containing the story of Peter Denying Jesus. The text for this episode comes from Matthew 26:69-75.

Today we start a new series for Lent called ‘No Greater Love.’ Over these next few weeks we are going to follow along with the story of Jesus’ passion and death as related in the Gospels. Today’s episode will focus on Jesus as we see Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. The text for today’s … Continue reading No Greater Love – Jesus in the Garden →

Our experience of transformation is not always going to be comfortable. Lessons from the life of St Paul. Recording is from a teaching given during the 2015 Life in the Spirit retreat at the Community of My Beloved prayer group at St Mary Magdalen’s in San Antonio, TX.

Lessons we can learn from the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). Recording of the teaching given May 2016 for the Community of My Beloved prayer group at St Mary Magdalen’s in San Antonio, TX.  

Lessons on suffering from Jesus walking on the sea (Matthew 14:22-33). Recording is from the teaching given March 2016 for the Community of My Beloved prayer group at St Mary Magdalen’s in San Antonio, TX.

“The ways of holiness are many according to the vocation of each individual.” – St John Paul II Holiness comes in so many different flavors we can’t name them all. This is because we don’t all have exactly the same vocation. Every single saint is a different flavor of holiness that is different and yet … Continue reading God Broke the Mold →

“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Prov 16:9 We have the end of sainthood in mind. Let’s be SMART about the goals we set to get us there.

In this final episode of our Advent series, we join Mary at the birth of Christ. What can we learn from Mary at this moment about welcoming Christ into our lives?

We continue on with Mary as she journeys with St Joseph to Bethlehem. Here in these final days leading up to the birth of the Christ, Mary gets a major curveball thrown her way. How she responds to this contains a great lesson for us as we continue to learn from her how to prepare … Continue reading 11 – Preparing the Way: The Journey to Bethlehem →

We continue our Advent series by joining Mary in the space in between the major event of the Visitation and the time of the journey to Bethlehem. Scripture records the major events we need to know for our salvation. There is nothing recorded about what happens during those six months, and that in itself contains … Continue reading 10 – Preparing the Way: The Space In Between →

We continue with the second part of our Advent series. Today we will be learning from Mary at the time of the Visitation. The scripture for the episode can be found at Luke 1:39-56.