Podcasts about perpetual help

In this episode of Fatima Today, hosts Barb Ernster and Katie Moran explore the rich Marian devotions of the Eastern Church. They discuss the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos and the deep veneration of the Mother of God under the title of “Protection.” The conversation highlights the miraculous Icon of Our Lady of Mariapovch, which began shedding tears in 1670 and now resides in the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Vienna, with copies in Hungary and at a shrine in Cleveland, Ohio. Katie also shares the story of the apparitions of Our Lady of Hrushiv in Ukraine on May 12, 1914, where the Blessed Mother warned of Russia becoming godless and pleaded for the rosary—drawing a powerful connection to the message of Fatima. The episode concludes with a reflection on four beloved icons traditionally attributed to St. Luke: Our Lady of Vladimir in Russia, Our Lady of Czestochowa in Poland, Salus Populi Romani in Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori. These sacred images testify to the enduring love and protection of the Blessed Mother across East and West.  

St. Francis of Assisi was fond of saying that, “I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, He can work through anyone.” How true. There was a Redemptorist missionary stationed at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston who used to wear a gold watch on a key chain. He would hold the watch up to the crowds in church and say, “If anyone has a sin that I have not heard before, I will give you this gold watch.” You can imagine how long the lines were outside his confessional, but the point he made was clear. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. These thoughts come to mind in light of first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. By all measurements, Saul of Tarsus was an evil man. As he was was traveling to Damascus to continue persecuting those following the Way of Jesus, he was “breathing murderous threats.” Even Ananias, who received a vision from the Lord and eventually laid healing hands on Saul, said that Saul had done “evil things” to the holy ones in Jerusalem. Misguided as he was, Saul was on fire. Now, empowered with the Holy Spirit, he would preach before “Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel,” and, in the process, learn how to suffer for the name of Christ. The question we need to ask is, how do we keep our conversion going? The answer is in today's Gospel reading: “Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in him.” We remain in Christ by receiving him in Holy Communion, knowing that the fullness of God's presence is available only when we leave our old selves behind and take up our new lives in Christ. St. Francis and Saul of Tarsus experienced this truth daily. The Holy Spirit sinks deeply into hearts that are receptive to change. “The past is history,” a beloved Redemptorist used to say to all of his penitents, “the future is mystery. Today is God's gift to us. That's way we call it the present.” 

Bishop Scott Bullock Homily from the Mass for the Election of Pope Leo XIV Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City May 8, 2025

Bishop Scott Bullock Homily from the Novendiales Mass Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City May 4, 2025

Bishop Scott Bullock Homily from Holy Thursday Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City April 17, 2025

Bishop Scott Bullock Homily from Good Friday Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City April 18, 2025

Bishop Scott Bullock Homily from the Easter Vigil Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City April 19, 2025

Given at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Cottage Grove, Oregon

Bishop Scott Bullock Homily from Palm Sunday Mass Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City April 13, 2025

SPORTS: Perpetual Help aims for 7-0 start | March 29, 2025Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.netFollow us:Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebookInstagram - https://tmt.ph/instagramTwitter - https://tmt.ph/twitterDailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotionSubscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digitalSign up to our newsletters: https://tmt.ph/newslettersCheck out our Podcasts:Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotifyApple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcastsAmazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusicDeezer: https://tmt.ph/deezerStitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimesVisit our website at https://www.manilatimes.netFollow us:Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebookInstagram - https://tmt.ph/instagramTwitter - https://tmt.ph/twitterDailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotionSubscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digitalSign up to our newsletters: https://tmt.ph/newslettersCheck out our Podcasts:Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotifyApple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcastsAmazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusicDeezer: https://tmt.ph/deezerStitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcherTune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein#TheManilaTimes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time IFebruary 21, 2025 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time. Today's reading is from the holy gospel according to Mark     Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? What could one give in exchange for his life? Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."     He also said to them, "Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power."The gospel of the Lord. Homily As I read today's gospel, the words that pop out at me, and I think for many of us, are Jesus' statement: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” But what does it mean to deny oneself and take up one's cross? Often, the first thing that comes to mind in denying oneself are the little acts of penance, or the giving up of certain things we like or enjoy, that we are planning to do for Lent. Jesus' meaning is really much wider than this. He is asking us to stop placing ourselves at the center of our decision making, and to start thinking of ourselves as part of a larger reality where we seek the greater good in loving God and neighbor. Just looking out for number one, has no place in God's kingdom. In the same way, taking up one's cross is not putting up with sickness, loss, and inconvenience or the unwelcome acts of others, it is remaining faithful to God's word through thick and thin. If we are following Jesus, we have to take seriously his prayer to the Father in the Garden of Olives: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.” When we find ourselves in confusion and teetering on unbelief, we must pray: “Father, I do not understand, but I trust in your presence and love.” When we find ourselves overcome by hurt and anger, we must pray with Jesus: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” And while the loss of trust in an individual or a group may be impossible to restore, we must never lose our trust in God. Following Jesus also calls for compassion. If my neighbor is in need, I am called to give a response, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The neighbor may be the person next door, or a group of people whose situation somehow impacts my life. My human situation may limit my response to a kind word, an attentive ear, or just a prayer; but I can perhaps do more. The one sure thing is that in carrying my cross in obedience to the Father, I cannot simply ignore the situation. Jesus promised his listeners that among them were those who would not taste death until they had seen the Kingdom of God come in power. They saw it in Jesus' resurrection from the dead and in the miracles and community building of the Apostles. Down through the centuries we have continued to see it in the miracles that accompanied men and women of faith who dedicated their lives to serving their less fortunate brothers and sister. The first reading tells the story of the Tower of Babel and how a prideful project of building a society without God came to a halt when people lost the ability to communicate with one another. We are in a similar period today, where people cannot speak to each other in respectful and civil terms. Carrying our cross today may mean never giving up on rebuilding means of communication with one another. Think about it. May God bless you. Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsR Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help Brooklyn, NY

Bishop Scott Bullock Homily from the Vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City December 31, 2024

Saturday of the Third Week of AdventDecember 21, 2024 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Saturday of the Third Week of Advent. Our reading today is from the holy gospel according to Luke.           Mary set out in those days 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, "Most 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."The gospel of the Lord. Homily Our gospel opens with Mary rushing from Nazareth into the hill country of Judea. Why a young woman would suddenly undertake such an arduous trip is not really surprising when we remember that the angel had just told Mary that her much older cousin Elizabeth was already six months pregnant, and Mary understood that her cousin would need help in the last months of her pregnancy. Also, it would give Mary the chance to confide in Elizabeth all that the angel had told her and to take counsel. I can imagine the surprise that Mary felt on arriving at Elizabeth's house and discovering that Elizabeth already knew, because she greets her with the words we pray every day in the Hail Mary: "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” And then goes on to say: “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.” Mary also gets caught up in the joyous moment and sings: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoiced in God my savior.” Here we have two mothers-to-be at the forefront of God's in-breaking on our world, rejoicing in a moment of grace and overcome by wonder at the faithfulness and mercy of God who was undertaking the fulfillment of the age-old promises. As I meditate on this scene, I have to ask myself if that same joyful wonder fills my heart as I admire the manger scenes that decorate our churches and houses in preparation for Christmas? Or is my wonder more about what I may find under the Christmas tree? God's ardent desire to be with us is the whole reason Jesus took flesh in the womb of Mary and was born in the stable of Bethlehem. The depths of this love is brought out in the first reading from the Song of Songs. This ancient love song has been interpreted as God's untiring pursuit of his people. “Hark! my lover – here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills.” Our God wants to bind our hearts to his with bands of love: "Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come! ... Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely." Few of us would imagine God calling out to us like this, but Mary heard it, Elizabeth heard it, and they both rejoiced. Saint Alphonsus taught that to begin to comprehend the birth, life, death on the cross and resurrection of Jesus, we must understand that God is crazy in love with us. It makes sense, then, that many of our carols are love songs, and during the Christmas holidays we try to give special attention to those we love. So, instead of looking for presents, let us try to be a present to those God has placed in our lives. And, as we sing our own love songs, let us not forget the God who first loved us. May God bless you. Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsRBasilica of our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Bishop Scott Bullock Homily from the 7 a.m. Mass Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City

Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time IINovember 21, 2024 – Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke     As Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”The gospel of the Lord.Homily I have often wondered about the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple, because there is no hint of it in the gospels. The story comes from the Protoevangelium of James, a second century collection of pious stories that tries to fill in the blanks in the gospel accounts about the lives of Jesus and Mary. This document also gives us the names of Joachim and Anna, the parents of Mary. Since the liturgical feasts of Mary parallel the feasts of Jesus, I wondered if the date of this memorial had anything to do with the purification of Anna, eighty days after the birth of Mary; but no, there are only 74 days between the memorial of the birth of Mary and the memorial of her presentation in the Temple. The date celebrates the inauguration of the New Church of the Mother of God, built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the year 543 near the ruins of the Jerusalem Temple. Mary's presentation is actually a parallel to the prophet Samuel's presentation. Just as Samuel's mother Hanna, in thanksgiving for being cured of her bareness, presented him to God in the sanctuary of Shiloh, when he was three years old, so too, Mary's parents Joachim and Anna consecrate her to God at three years old in the Temple in Jerusalem. What we celebrate is not so much a historical fact, as the spirit with which Mary dedicated herself to God from her very childhood under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who filled her with grace to become the temple where the Son of God would take on human flesh. Just as Mary's cooperation with God's plan for our salvation began early in her childhood, and carried on throughout Jesus' life and ministry, passion, death and resurrection, and into the early years of the Church, so too it did not end with her life on earth. As Jesus wept over Jerusalem because its inhabitants did not recognize the time of their visitation, Mary with her son in heaven weeps over the many people who in the midst of violence, war and misfortune, continue blind to the saving presence of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. That may explain why Mary has appeared throughout the centuries in many countries across the world to call people back to prayer and faith in Jesus so that he may gather them together into God's kingdom, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. In today's gospel we hear Jesus' lament over the destruction that would overwhelm Jerusalem, because they rejected their true savior to follow a human, political one. The first reading from the book of Revelation proclaims Christ, the all-powerful and all knowledgeable Lamb of God who will protect his people in the terrible times of persecution and natural disasters they were facing. As the sacred writers encouraged their communities and us to remain faithful to Jesus in every circumstance, so too Mary by her example and intercession directs our eyes, mind and heart to Jesus, and calls us to cling to him, Son of God and Savior of the World. May God bless you.   Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsR Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help Brooklyn, NY

There is a fascinating history surrounding today's Feast of the Dedication of the St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome. The magnificent church is just down the street from our Redemptorist headquarters and our own beautiful church of San Alfonso. The Basilica of St. John Lateran was built on land donated to Emperor Constantine by the Lateran family and given to the Church in the fourth century. It was dedicated to the Christ the Savior in honor of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. It was consecrated by Pope Sylvester I on November 9, 324 and is still considered the Pope's cathedral today. The structure has survived the ravages of war, earthquake, fire, and schism. When the papacy returned to Rome from Avignon, France in 1378, the church and the adjoining palace were in ruins. Pope Innocent X commissioned the work that has made St. John Lateran one of the most imposing churches in Rome. The front of the church has 15 towering statues of Christ, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, and 12 doctors of the Church. Inside the basilica, there is a simple wooden table in the sanctuary where tradition holds that St. Peter himself celebrated Mass. The church stands as a monument to God and all the work done for God through the Church. This is also a special day for the Redemptorists. On Saturday, November 9, 1732, inspired by God and guided by the Holy Spirit, our founder, St. Alphonsus Liguori and his companions, gathered around a simple altar in the nun's convent in Scala, Italy and dedicated their lives to follow Jesus the Redeemer by preaching the Gospel to the poor and most abandoned. We Redemptorists celebrate this day as the founding of our congregation and try to continue this mission today. It was not an easy decision for Alphonsus. He had to leave everything behind. He was well known and respected in Naples; a lawyer of civil and canon law, a sought after preacher, and close to his parents and six siblings. Yet, the goat herders living high above the city of Scala on the Amalfi coast of Italy had stolen his heard. They were even poorer than the street children he evangelized in Naples. He placed his sword before a statue of Our Lady of Ransom and left the city on the back of a donkey. He met his companions in Scala. They did not stay in the Cathedral of Scala, but in a convent, praying intensely for God's will to be done. The three days prior to November 9th, they had a Eucharistic Triduum with the sisters in their small monastery church. They were given the grace by God of seeing in the Eucharistic Host a figure of Christ holding his cross. They took this as a sign of heavenly approval and, with the authority of Bishop Falcoia who was with them, they took the name of the Congregation of the Most Holy Savior, a name that linked them to the dedication of the Pope's Cathedral in Rome. The name was soon changed by Rome to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.  Today, we give thanks to God for our vocations. We renew our commitment to continue this mission as prophetic witnesses to the Redeemer, who continues to call men and women to share in the charism of the Redemptorist family. May our Mother of Perpetual Help, St. Alphonsus, St. Gerard Majella, St. Clement Hofbauer, St. John Neumann, and all Redemptorist saints and blesseds pray for us. May we continue the work they began with love and perseverance. Blessings,Fr. Kevin MacDonald, C.Ss.R.

(3:13) Bible Study: Lk 13:22-30 Why does Jesus say that people won't be strong enough to enter through the narrow gate? Eph 6:1-9 We are the temple rebuilt and restored. (24:21) Break 1 (25:23) Letters: Father answers questions about symbols for the temple in the bible, are engrams are not okay and can you keep a protestant bible? Father answers these and much more. (34:23) Break 2 (35:10) Word of the Day: Weeping (36:59) Phones: Teresita - Question about Our Lady of Perpetual Help picture used for a play, and how to complain Olivia - I have a co-worker who blames the Catholic Church for the murder of indigenous people of Mexico and took All Saints Day and All Souls. Andrew - Catechism of the Catholic Church, to train 1st communion people.  My son confirmed yesterday, but I'm telling you, that he knows next to nothing.   Is there a way, we could get the US Bishops, how we could get them, so there could a universal curriculum. Jason - If there was any possible way for me to have a girlfriend if I can't legally get married b/c they would take away most of my money, b/c I'm in disability income (I have mental illness). Regina - My husband loves playing Dungeons & Dragons, is that okay with your faith?

Jayce and James sat down with Fr. Rick Stansberry, rector of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and president of Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in Oklahoma City, to talk about the role of the faith in a Catholic high school. ************Links and other stuff from the show:Pastoral Letter, "On the Unity of the Body and Soul:" archokc.org/pastoral-lettersSign up to be an "Ordinary Missionary:" archokc.org/reddirtcatholicsRed Dirt Catholics Email Address: reddirtcatholics@archokc.orgThe Book "From Christendom to Apostolic Mission" (Digital and Print): AmazonThe Social Dilemma: https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224Daily Examen Prayer: https://bit.ly/309As8zLectio Divina How-To: https://bit.ly/3fp8UTa

Join Fr. John Boyle as he speaks about the Gospel of Life and how we are called to care for our neighbor in need with compassion and mercy. Fr. Boyle, pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cottage Grove and St. Philip Benizi in Creswell will serve as the keynote speaker at the First Fundraiser to support St. Maria's Maternity Home at Lady Hill Winery in St. Paul Oregon. Fr. Boyle also shares about the Amazing Parish program and his experience at the recent Amazing Parish Summit. For more: https://stmariashome.org/, https://amazingparish.org/, https://www.usccb.org/resources/gospel-life-brief-summary-walking-moms-need, https://olphcg.net/.Subscribe to the Morning Blend on your favorite podcast platform.Find this show on the free Hail Mary Media App, along with a radio live-stream, prayers, news, and more.Look through past episodes or support this podcast.The Morning Blend is a production of Mater Dei Radio in Portland, Oregon.

Want to listen to this episode AD FREE? Go to patreon.com/ivorytowerboilerroom to become a subscriber today! Hey, true crime friends. This month we will be looking into the murder of 12-year-old Our Lady of Perpetual Help student, Shanda Sharer. This week we are discussing the personal history of Shanda and the individuals responsible for her horrific death. Theme Song: Pisces by Anne Sophie Andersen Our Sponsors: Be sure to follow The SoapBox on IG, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thesoapboxny⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and TikTok, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thesoapboxny⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and call or message them to get your hands on their luxurious bath and body products! To subscribe to The Gay and Lesbian Review visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠glreview.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Click Subscribe, and enter promo code ITBR50 to receive 50% off any print or digital subscription. Follow them on IG, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@theglreview⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Head to Broadview Press, an independent academic publisher, for all your humanities related books. Use code ivorytower for 20% off your ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ broadviewpress.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠order. Follow them on IG, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@broadviewpress⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow That Ol' Gay Classic Cinema on IG, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thatolgayclassiccinema⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and listen here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-ol-gay-classic-cinema/id1652125150⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow ITBR on IG, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ivorytowerboilerroom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, TikTok, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ivorytowerboilerroom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and X, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@IvoryBoilerRoom⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Thanks to the ITBR team! Andrew Rimby (Host and Director), Mary DiPipi (Chief Contributor), and Christian Garcia (Social Media Intern) Sources: Melinda Loveless | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers Melinda Loveless, mastermind of 1992 murder of Shanda Sharer, released from prison | News from WDRB | wdrb.com The Hate-Fueled Murder Of 12-Year-Old Shanda Sharer | Murders and Homicides on Crimefeed | Investigation Discovery Murder of Shanda Sharer - Wikipedia Shanda Sharer Murder: Where Are Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence Today? (thecinemaholic.com) Borderline personality disorder - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

On Day 7 of the Novena for Homeschool Mothers, join Kerri, the Holy Heroes Mom, in prayer. God bless you all as you start your new school year! For more information on this novena, go to our blog at: https://blog.holyheroes.com/day-7-a-novena-for-homeschool-mothers/---We want to hear from you! Take this short form and let us know what you'd like to hear more of on the podcast: https://holyheroes.typeform.com/to/CiDPh7J8You can find resources, printables, and other things mentioned in this podcast at: https://blog.holyheroes.com/holyheroesfun-podcast-landing/.Thanks for listening and make sure you subscribe and share with a friend!---Find more great Catholic resources at: https://holyheroes.comFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/holyheroesFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holyheroesFollow us on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/holyheroes

This week's Homily Highlight is from Fr. John Boyle, Pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cottage Grove. Subscribe to the Morning Blend on your favorite podcast platform.Find this show on the free Hail Mary Media App, along with a radio live-stream, prayers, news, and more.Look through past episodes or support this podcast.The Morning Blend is a production of Mater Dei Radio in Portland, Oregon.

Roxanne Casey, a parishioner at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Old First Ward says the parish has submitted a counter proposal to the Buffalo Diocese, but it likely won't be accepted as they purposely didn't follow guidelines.

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – BJuly 21, 2024 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Our reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to Mark     The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them.     When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.The gospel of the Lord. With psalm 23 we sing “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want;” and we see that put into practice by Jesus in the gospel. Our reading there ends with the words: [When Jesus} saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. That had not been Jesus' original intention. After the apostles had returned from their mission, great crowds of people kept coming and going, and they had no time even to eat. So, Jesus invited them to go with him by themselves in a boat to “a deserted place and rest a while.” Somehow the crowd caught wind of it and knew where they were going. They raced ahead on foot and were waiting for Jesus when he arrived with his apostles at his special place. Instead of being disappointed and angry with the crowd for infringing on his plans, he sat down and patiently attended the crowds. In the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah, we heard that because God was disappointed with the shepherds of Israel, God himself would shepherd his people, and would raise up a righteous one. We know that Jesus is that righteous one, Emmanuel, God with us. He is our Good Shepherd. Jesus was a shepherd to the apostles. He not only sent them out in mission filled with the power of his spirit, but was concerned about them and took care of them on their return. The crowds, too, were the object of his concern. Even though they were demanding and not fully aligned with his message, he put their needs before his own. Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, takes that a step farther, and declares that Jesus is not only the shepherd of Israel, but the shepherd of the gentiles as well. Through his death on the cross and his resurrection, Jesus broke down the wall dividing the peoples, so that now, all are called to be one people of God in the Spirit granted by Christ Jesus, who is now the shepherd of the whole world. That is good news for us, because it means that Jesus is always with us, looking after us even when we are inconsistent and stray. Like the apostles, he invites us to spend time with him, meditating on his word and actions in the gospel and opening our hearts to him in prayer, sharing our deepest anxieties and doubts, and also our joys and concerns. And as the apostles learned to today's gospel, there will be time when we have to put the needs of others ahead of our own, because like the apostles, Jesus sends us out not only to spread the news of God's loving concern for each one of us, but to live that concern in the daily actions of our lives. Like the apostles, we will not always be consistent, but the more time we spend with Jesus, the closer we will come to his way. As St. Paul assures us, we have already received his spirit in Baptism, and he will never abandon us. He is not only our companion for the journey, he is also our food for the journey, as we will hear in the Sundays to come.May God bless you.``Fr. Karl E. EskerBasilica of Our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Given at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Cottage Grove, Oregon. Further details on the biblical allusions to Our Lady in the Old Testament can be found in "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary" by Brant Pitre, published by Augustine Institute. augustineinstitute.org/books --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fr-john-boyle/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fr-john-boyle/support

Today is Thursday, June 27, 2024, A feria, also the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a 4th class feast, with the liturgical color of green or white. In this episode: the meditation: The Mysterious Food of Jesus, news from SSPX.org: Ordinations at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, and today's thought from Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. We'd love your feedback on these Daily Devotionals! What do you like / not like, and what would you like us to add? podcast@sspx.org - - - - - - - - - - - Sources Used Today: Practical Meditations   (Angelus Press) “Ordinations at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary ”  (SSPX.org) https://sspx.org/en/news/united-states-ordinations-st-thomas-aquinas-seminary-2024-45985 The Spiritual Life - Archbishop Lefebvre (Angelus Press) - - - - - - - - - - - Please Support this Apostolate with 1-time or Monthly Donation >> - - - - - - - - - - - Explore more: Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional - it's a perfect companion! Subscribe to this Podcast to receive this and all our audio episodes Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channel for video versions of our podcast series and Sermons FSSPX News Website: https://fsspx.news Visit the US District website: https://sspx.org/ - - - - - - - - - - - What is the SSPX Podcast? The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.  - - - - - - - - - - - What is the SSPX? The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood. Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls. Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it. https://sspx.org

Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary TimeJune 21, 2024 – Memorial of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious  Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time.Today's reading is taken from the holy Gospel according to Matthew: Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be." The gospel of the Lord. In our gospel today, Jesus tells his disciples: “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” We often think of a treasure as something material, like a pot of gold or a bank account, a shiny new car or a dream house. But it could just as well be a relationship, like a very dear friend or a significant other, or something less material, like ambition to power or status within a group. And it may happen that our lives seem so scattered all over the place, or so taken up with just getting my, that we lose sight of our treasure. Jesus warns that if we do not look for and choose our treasure well, we could end up losing it and everything else. That is what we see in the first reading. There we hear the story of Athaliah, the mother of the king, who could not bear the thought of losing her position and influence when the king died. Her ambition led her to try to kill the whole king's family and become herself the queen. She almost succeeded, but one of her grandchildren escaped, and when that child grew up, those officials who had remained faithful to God's covenant proclaimed him king to the joy of the people; and Athaliah lost not only her position, but her life as well. It's a story worthy of the Game of Thrones, but here the main point is not the intrigue, but God's faithfulness to God's people. The question of the treasure is not so much what we do with it, but what we become with it. What is the value system we take on to attain our treasure? As Jesus in another part of the gospels asks: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit one's life?” By life he means the full realization of our humanity in right relationship with God and with others. So, to choose the wrong treasure is to direct our lives toward something that will not help us grow as human beings and children of God. This is where Jesus' parable about our interior light comes in. We need to cultivate a sound conscience, otherwise it will be overgrown by the tangle of our desires and we will end up in darkness. We need a good eye to see our true selves and the true treasure that may lie hidden in our heart, overshadowed by the busyness of our lives. One way would be to examine where we spend our time. Outside of work or study, how much time to I spend paging through social media? How important is it to score or give “likes?” Do I go crawling through some dark places of the Internet? Does my use of the Internet help me grow as a person, or does it just feed my curiosity and my fears. Am I becoming a slave to it? And what about the other areas of my life? To cultivate a sound conscience and discover my true self, I need to spend time with Jesus in prayer and reflecting on the gospels; I need to invest myself in my relationships with my family, my work, and my church or neighborhood. This will help me to grow as a human being. Then I will know the value of the other things in my life, because my true treasure is God's gift of myself and the ability to relate myself in love to God and to the others God places in my life. Only then can I truly be me. May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. EskerBasilica of our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Old First Ward is at risk of closing as the Buffalo Diocese continues to downsize operations. Parishioner and former employee at the church Roxanne Casey is fighting to keep the church alive.

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time IIMay 21, 2024 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time. Our reading today is from the holy gospel according to Mark.     Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.     They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent. For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”The gospel of the Lord Homily Our fifty days of rejoicing over Jesus' victory over sin and death have come to an end. We have celebrated Pentecost and the sending of the Holy Spirit, who then sends the disciples and ourselves back into the world to spread the good news that Jesus' victory is also our victory. And all of a sudden we are back in Ordinary Time. And, instead of great victories, we are made conscious of the reality of our own human weakness and sinfulness. Until we win the victory over our own self-interests, we cannot hope to win the victory over the world. We see that in the gospel we just heard. Jesus is telling them what he will have to confront when they get to Jerusalem, but they are not listening. Instead, they were arguing over who was the greatest. I guess they wanted to strut their stuff: who the greatest preacher was; who worked the biggest miracle; who expelled the most demons, who brought in the most donations. So, Jesus has to bring them back down to earth: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” They would be able to do nothing, if it were not given to them from above. If someone wants to be first, let them see a need and be the first to attend to it. And then to emphasize his point, taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” It is in our willingness to attend the least advantaged, that we become great in the eyes of God. We see the same problem in the first reading from James. He calls the community of believers to task for the battles and conflicts among them. It seems that many are seeking greater recognition at the expense of others. James reminds them that seeking one's own self-interest and satisfying one's passions is the spirit of the world, which makes one an enemy of God, because “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” And he gives them this advice: “[S]ubmit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, and purify your hearts, ... Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” This advice serves any Christian community in any age. We all know examples of people who work their way up to leadership in ministries or activities of their parish, who then try to make themselves indispensable and demand special consideration. We may even be guilty of that ourselves. So, before we start judging others, let us purify our own hearts first, recognizing that the capacity for good that we have comes from the grace of God. Let us humble ourselves, not by downplaying our abilities, but by placing them at the service of others, especially the most needy. Draw near to God in prayer. Let Jesus embrace you in his love and concern. It is only by overcoming our pride and self-interest that we can defeat the world and become great in the eyes of God.May God bless you. Fr. Karl E. EskerBasilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Brooklyn, NY.,

Given at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Cottage Grove, Oregon. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fr-john-boyle/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fr-john-boyle/support

Fourth Sunday of Easter – BApril 21, 2024 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter.Our reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to John.            Jesus said: "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father."The gospel of the Lord.Homily The principal image in this Sunday's readings comes from the gospel, where Jesus proclaims: “I am the good shepherd.” This is one of the favorite images people have of Jesus and many homes have pictures or statues of Jesus as the good shepherd protecting his flock and holding a sheep in his arms or carrying it on his shoulders. But that peaceful image does not fit well with his pronouncement today: “A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus willingly gathers us together, but at great cost to himself. And we ourselves, as his flock, are not supposed to just sit passively under his protection, but are called to actively enter into the mission he received from God the Father. That is the whole question of knowing, which in the scriptures goes beyond intellectual knowledge to include sharing of life. So, when Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father,” he is sharing his life with us so that we can enter into the same relationship with God that he has. And that, too, has its cost, because Jesus repeats: “and I will lay down my life for the sheep.” It is not enough to just follow after Jesus, we must also become like Jesus.  We know Pope Francis' famous phrase that the shepherd should smell like the sheep. Here Jesus almost turns that around; the sheep should smell like Jesus. Just as the Son of God took on our humanity in everything but sin., we need to become more and more like Jesus.  We see that in the reading from Acts. Just as Jesus was hauled before the Jewish court to give an accounting of his preaching and miracles, now Peter is hauled before that same court, the Sanhedrin, to give an accounting of his healing of a cripple and subsequent preaching Jesus' name. The same one who denied Jesus three times, now openly declares, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved," before the very ones who condemned Jesus to death. In the inspiring words of his letter, John tells the believers that they are God's children now, but more awaits them: “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as his is.” In the meantime, we are called to live, suffer and witness with and in Christ Jesus. So that we don't think of ourselves too special as Jesus' flock, he also says: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  I pray that the joy and peace of our lives in Christ be an invitation to others to know and follow our Lord and Savior. May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsRBasilica of Our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Father Brian Christensen Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City Homily from the Easter Vigil March 30, 2024

Father Brian Christensen Homily from Holy Thursday Mass Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City March 28, 2024

Father Brian Christensen Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Rapid City Homily from Good Friday March 29, 2024

Thursday of the Fifth Week of LentMarch 21, 2024 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Thursday of the fifth week in Lent.Our reading today is from the holy gospel according to John.           Jesus said to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” So, the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.' Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.' You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” So, the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” So, they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.The gospel of the Lord.HomilyOur readings today ask us to reflect on God's promise of eternal life to those who keep God's covenant, first through Abraham, and then more importantly, through Jesus Christ. Abraham and those of his day did not understand eternal life the way we do today. For Abraham, eternal life was to be remembered through the ages and to have a continuous line of descendants. When God entered into a special relationship with Abraham, God promised him: “I will make nations of you; kings shall stem from you. I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ... On your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.” When Isaac was born, Abraham knew that God would keep God's part of the bargain, but I don't think that Abraham could imagine that the very Son of God would become man, a descendant of Abraham, in Jesus Christ. Still, King David and the kings of Judah were all descendants of Abraham, and they dwelt in the land God had promised to Abraham. However, we know that neither the kings nor the people were always faithful to God's covenant; but God always remained faithful. Then, in the fulness of time, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, descendant of king David, descendant of Abraham. And in Jesus' day, people were already exploring the idea of personal immortality, that those who were faithful to the covenant would receive eternal life. This is what Jesus believed and what he preached. In our gospel today, Jesus tells the leaders of the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” Of course, Jesus' opponents ridiculed him, stating that Abraham and the prophets died. Jesus counters that Abraham lives on in God and rejoiced to see Jesus' day. In a similar discussion about Abraham and the resurrection in Mark and Matthew, Jesus says: God “is not God of the dead but of the living.” While we must all face death, through the resurrection we enter eternal life. Next week we will celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection. He went to the cross willingly because he always kept the Father's word and was convinced that God, his Father was faithful and would raise him up. And so it happened. Now, Jesus offers a covenant greater than the covenant with Abraham. Entering into a special relationship with God is no longer based on family lineage, but on faithfulness to the word and life of Jesus Christ. For us, then, the question remains: do I live as though this life on earth is all there is, or can I stake my life on God's faithfulness, making choices that may seem foolish to this world, but express my desire to be faithful to my loving God, the way Abraham did, the way Jesus did? May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. Esker C.Ss.R.Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

In this conversation, Dr. Sandra Glahn, Dr. Matthew Milliner, and Christine Calareso Bleecker discuss the absence of depicting the body of the first person of the Trinity in Christian art and how it has shaped perceptions of women. Dr. Milliner explains that early Christian art depicted the Trinity through sarcophagi and male embodiments of Christ, but the depiction of the Father went underground due to the influence of pagan depictions of Zeus. The resurgence of depicting the Trinity in art in later centuries led to the physical depiction of God and the caricature of the bearded male figure. This had ramifications for women, as it emphasized one gender's resemblance to God and undermined the understanding that both men and women fully image God. The conversation also explores the visual literacy needed to identify Virgin stories in art, such as the depictions of Agnes, Dorothy, Catherine, and Agatha. The significance of depicting the Virgin Mary is discussed, highlighting her representation of the ecclesial nature of the formation of the body of Christ and the reflection on end-of-life issues. The conversation also emphasizes the beauty and redemptive power of these art depictions. It also explores the power of images in healing and restoration, the importance of lament and hope, and the role of Mary as a symbol of healing and response to violence. Plus, the conversation also touches on the Virgin of the Passion and Our Lady of Perpetual Help as icons of love in the face of violence while addressing the power of images in overcoming pornography and the historical tradition of Mary as a leader in the church.Key Takeaways: The absence of depicting the body of the first person of the Trinity in Christian art has shaped perceptions of women.The resurgence of depicting the Trinity in art led to the physical depiction of God and the caricature of the bearded male figure.Depicting the Father physically undermined the understanding that both men and women fully image God.Visual literacy is important for identifying Virgin stories in art and understanding their significance. Images have the power to heal and restore and can meet people in surprising and unexpected ways.The Christian tradition offers a range of images that address both lament and hope.The Virgin of the Passion and Our Lady of Perpetual Help are icons of love in the face of violence.Images of the Virgin Mary can be powerful in overcoming pornography and teaching reverence.Mary has a historical tradition as a leader in the church.Misconceptions about Mary Magdalene perpetuate bad theology and demean women.Visual Museum of Women in ChristianityThe purpose of this collaborative project is to create a curated, permanent visual exhibit of women in the history, ministry, and piety of early, Byzantine, and medieval Christianity that will be available online for researchers, educators, and interested laypersons.The goal of this multi-year project is to make the visual record of women in ministry and leadership available free of charge and unencumbered by permission requirements, and to include short teaching elements to guide the audience through the constitutive and pivotal role of women throughout Christian history. Together with the visual story, the accompanying narrative will make it possible for patrons to learn about women throughout history and across the globe and their unique contributions to the life and faith of the church…A history that remains mostly untold.Follow the Visual Museum on Social Media:Instagram: visualmuseum.galleryFacebook: visualmuseum.galleryTwitter: visual_museumTikTok: visualmuseum.galleryYouTube: @VisualMuseumEpisode Sponsor: The Alabaster Jar is brought to you by The Center for Women in Leadership, a newly formed 501©3 nonprofit organization whose purpose is to equip women in a context that is biblically rooted, theologically robust, and ethnically diverse to thrive as leaders in the academy and the Church. Follow them on Instagram @leadershipwithoutapology. Learn more about The Center for Women in Leadership at: https://www.leadershipwithoutapology.org/.

Wednesday of the First Week in LentFebruary 21, 2024 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Wednesday of the first week in Lent.Our reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to Luke.While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”The gospel of the Lord.HomilyHello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Wednesday of the first week in Lent.Against the background of the leaders and people of Nineve receiving God's mercy because they had turned from their evil ways and from the violence they had in hand, and turned to God at the preaching of Jonah, we have Jesus' challenge to the crowds that are gathering around him. They have marveled at his teachings and his miracles, but their hearts have not changed. While some admire and others question Jesus, few are willing to follow and live as Jesus lived. Still, Jesus does not give up on them, but challenges them to seek the wisdom he has to offer, as the queen of Sheba sought the wisdom of Solomon. He asks them to repent and to turn to their God of mercy as the Ninevites did. And those same challenges are made to us.Those who are preparing to celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation know, probably better than we, that Lent is a time for conversion, for turning our lives more in line with the life of Jesus Christ. As they have prepared for Baptism, they have had to change certain aspects of their life-styles. And they have done so joyfully, because they have learned to confide in the Lord who calls them out of darkness into his wonderful light.We, who have grown up Catholic, have our customs of forgoing certain things during Lent, but do we really see a change in attitude or disposition that brings us closer to the way Jesus thought and acted? Because, if after Easter our lives just go back into the way we were before, then our Lenten observance will have produced no fruit in our lives. And I wonder how many of us, now, half-way into our first week of Lent, have cheated on the resolutions we made just seven days ago. Pope Francis suggests that we make our Lent more meaningful by working on our relationship with God and with others. We need to take time to pray and not just say words, but to examine our lives in the light of Christ, and, conscious of our many failings, ask God's mercy and grace to conform our lives more closely to Jesus by working on just one of them.We need to take our eyes off of our cellphones, tablets, ant TVs, so we can see those whom God's has placed near us at home, at work and in our neighborhoods and recognize in them a humanity that is equal to our own. Then we need to fast from anger, complaints and offensive words, so we can offer them patience, meekness and encouraging words. We need to fast from selfishness, bitterness and resentment, so we can offer them compassion, joy and reconciliation. We can do this, because the closer we get to Jesus, the more we discover that he truly is the greater one, greater than any earthly authority, greater even than our own sinfulness, because he offered his life for us on the cross and rose from the dead. To us, who share in his life, he offers the same victory over death and the promise of eternal life.May God bless you.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – BJanuary 21, 2024  Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.Our reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to Mark.After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.The gospel of the Lord.HomilyIn the gospel we get Mark's vision of the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Whereas John the Baptist had proclaimed a time of preparation for the coming of God's kingdom, Jesus declares: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." There is a certain urgency to Jesus' words, because John the Baptist has been imprisoned. Mark does not begin by telling us how the crowds reacted to Jesus' preaching, but he gives us a sign in the call of Simon and Andrew, James and John. They abandon their nets; leave their boats; and follow Jesus. It is the same quickness we met in the first reading. After a single day of hearing Jonah's preaching, the whole city of Nineveh believed in God, they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, did penance to ask pardon for their sins. God saw how they turned from their evil ways and granted them forgiveness and salvation. If Jonah's message of death and destruction – "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed" – could elicit a change of life that brought salvation, how much more will the preaching of Jesus – “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" – bring salvation and eternal life to those who believe. We have to keep in mind that the preaching of repentance is not directed toward feeling sorry for our sins; it is a call to radically transform our lives according to God's will and God's call. As St. Paul tells the Corinthians: “I tell you, brothers and sisters, the time is running out. ... For the world in its present form is passing away.” It is not so much that the world is coming to an end, but that with the coming of Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God has entered the world and brought a change in our relationships. We are in the world, but not of the world. Marriage is not just an agreement of mutual support between two people; they become partners in giving God's life to each other, to their family and to the world. A job is not just where one gains the means to acquire the necessities of life, but where one gives of oneself to develop one's talents and to contribute to the building of a better society. Follower of Jesus Christ do not forget the world, they become more concerned with the world, because the relationships have been raised to a higher level. Simon and Andrew, James and John did not leave their lives as fishermen because there was something wrong with being a fisherman, but because they were called to be fishers of men, to participate with Jesus in his mission of introducing their fellow human beings into the life of the kingdom of God. They would face challenges with successes and failures, but they would continue in their mission because they had opened their hearts to the love of God in Christ Jesus. We are called to do the same. And in less than a month we will hear those words again: “Repent, and believe in the gospel," on Ash Wednesday. May we dedicate ourselves to living more fully the life that leads to eternal life. May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. Esker C.Ss.R.Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

My wife and I were out for a Sunday afternoon drive, and we saw a very strange contradiction. There was this church, and there were long stairs leading up to the entrance, and one lady, all alone, at the door. She was trying every door to get in that church and they were all locked. She was frustrated. Now, what was the contradiction? Well, the name of the church - Our Lady of Perpetual Help. My wife said, "You know, this reminds me of a scene I saw when I was in Haiti." She said, "I was right near a church and there was this very gaunt woman, maybe starving to death, and weeping at the door of this church. And she looked like she was desperate to get in and every door was locked. She literally was beating her fists bloody on the door and there was no response." I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Sincerely Wrong, Eternally Wrong." Our word for today from the Word of God is sobering. It's one of the most unsettling passages in the Bible. It's in Luke 13, beginning with verse 23 - listen to these words. "Someone asked Jesus, 'Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?' And He said to them, 'Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, "Sir, open the door for us." But he will answer, "I don't know you or where you come from." Then you will say, "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets." But he will reply, "I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!" There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth there when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out." Oh man! This is the door of eternity. People are trying to get into heaven, but it says many will not be able to. Jesus will utter those sobering, chilling words, "I don't know you." They'll end up weeping. They'll end up thrown out. This is about real people locked out of heaven; people like our neighbors, our coworkers, like you and me. People who have been around Jesus a lot. They know a lot about Him, but somehow they missed the personal relationship with Him. You know, with the current demands of our lives, it's really easy to kind of neglect eternity. It's a mistake to just have Jesus in your head and not in your heart. But each of us has this non-cancellable, non-postpone-able appointment with our Creator. The Bible says, "It is appointed to man once to die and after this the judgment." And in that instant when God decides we've taken our last breath and our heart has beaten for the last time, there is only one thing that matters. It won't be our religion, won't be our titles, not our net worth, our sickness, our references, and not even our Christian activities. Only one thing will matter, "What did you do with my Son, Jesus?" Get a picture here of the greatest eternal tragedy, being locked out of heaven. God doesn't want it that way. He did all He could to remove the sin that keeps people out of heaven. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He said, "Why have You forsaken Me, God?" Why did God the Father turn His back on His one and only Son? Because He was carrying all the guilt and all the hell of my sin and yours. Your sin has been paid for so you don't have to. Jesus was cut off from the Father so you don't have to be. But you do have to take this eternal gift purchased by the blood of God's Son. You have to surrender that self-running of your life and tell God you're putting all your trust in Jesus. The Lord will come down and the gate of heaven will be wide open for you. Have you ever reached out to Him with desperate hope and faith and said, "Jesus, I'm Yours"? Would you today? We're not guaranteed tomorrow. This is the only day we know for sure. If I can help you with that, I'd just love to have you drop by our website. It's ANewStory.com. You have nothing more important, nothing more urgent to do than to be sure you have settled things with Jesus, because your forever depends on it. Jesus said there will be many who are like the lady at that church pounding on the door of heaven, desperately trying to get in. But it will be too late for them; too late to find Jesus. Please, would you open your heart to Him now?

Thursday of the Third Week of AdventDecember 21, 2023 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Thursday of the Third Week of Advent.Our reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to Luke.Mary set out in those days 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, "Most 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."The gospel of the Lord.HomilyHere we are, just four days before Christmas, and our gospels these days show us how God prepared the way for Jesus, the Son of God, to come into our world. Today we hear part of the beautiful story of Mary's visit to Elizabeth. But before we go into the gospel, I would like to spend a moment with the first reading from the Canticle of Canticles. It is one of the rare times we read from this book in our liturgies. It is a love song, which may be why some schools are banning it from their libraries, but we read it as a love letter between God and his people. First the people cry out: “Hark! my lover –- here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills,” to which God replies: ‘O my dove ... Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely.”Now, imagine Mary with Jesus already in her womb making the trip from Nazareth to a village near Jerusalem to visit Elizabeth. Jesus, the Son of God, is making his way into our world to be our Savior. And Elizabeth greets Mary: “how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” When Mary, the handmaid of the Lord and full of the Holy Spirit, heard that her cousin was also with child, the love of God impelled her to go to her cousin in her moment of need.Recognizing the grace that was before her, Elizabeth exults in the Holy Spirit, as does the child in her womb: “For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” Thus, John the herald makes his first proclamation of the coming of the savior, and it is one of joy.Many saints, including our own Saint Alphonsus heralded the Incarnation, the coming of God into our world and taking on the flesh of our humanity, as a supreme act of love by God for his creation, especially humanity. And while we consider Mary singularly most beautiful in God's eyes, we are all objects of God's love, to whom he says: “let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and you are lovely.”Our sinfulness does not take away from God's love for us. He wants us close to himself through prayer and especially through loving one another; and as we grow closer to God, we leave sin behind. God did not come down to earth to judge the earth, but because he saw our need for God. In the same spirit, Mary did not wait for Elizabeth to ask for help; she saw a need and went to do what she could. Our efforts will not always get the reception Mary's received, but as we do our part to address the human needs around us, we become heralds of God's love. And as John rejoiced in his mother's womb at the arrival of the Savior, may we and the world rejoice at the fruits of God's love in us.May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. EskerBasilica of our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time INovember 21, 2023 – Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin MaryHello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time and the Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Today's reading from the holy gospel according to Luke At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." The gospel of the Lord. Homily The memorial of the presentation of Mary is an attempt to imagine the joy with which Joachim and Ana received their daughter Mary and how they offered her to God to do the Lord's will. I am sure there were some relatives who were not pleased that Ana had given birth to a daughter instead of a son. But we believe that all things work for the good of those who follow the will of the Lord. They had no way of knowing that God had chosen Mary to be the mother of the Redeemer, to give human flesh to God's only Son. The reading from the second book of Maccabees presents one of the Jewish heroes during the Greek persecution. This old man, named Eleazar, preferred to offer himself up to death in fidelity to God and as an example for the young people, rather than go against the Law of Moses. His Greek friends thought him a fool, and kept offering him ways to save his life, but he refused; and proclaimed that he was suffering torture with joy in his soul, because of his devotion to God. In the gospel we hear Jesus invite himself to the house of Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector in Jericho. Zacchaeus had done something extraordinary. He wanted to see Jesus, but could not see over the crowd, because he was too short. So, he ran ahead and climbed a tree along Jesus' path. Jesus recognized his longing, so when he arrived at the place, he calls up to him: "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." Zacchaeus received him with joy and offered to give half his wealth to the poor and to make amends if he had defrauded anyone. Of course, there were those in the crowd who began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Jesus declared: "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost." God's ways often leave us confused, and if we listen to the nay-sayers, we will quickly become discouraged. We need to recognize God's presence and grace in our lives, as did Ana and Joachim, Eleazar and Zacchaeus, and offer ourselves in service to God. We echo the psalmist's prayer: “you, O LORD, are my shield; my glory, you lift up my head!” Our heads are raised, not to look down on others, but to recognize the grace of God in our lives. It is this presence of Christ Jesus in our lives that gives them meaning, and permits a feeling of peace and joy even in difficult times. We can follow the way of the Lord, “because the Lord sustains me.” May God bless you.   Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsR Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help Brooklyn, NY

Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time IOctober 21, 2023 Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Saturday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time.Our reading today is taken from the gospel according to Luke.Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.    "Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say." The gospel of the Lord.Homily In the gospel, Jesus tells his disciples and us: “everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.” When Luke wrote his gospel, there was real danger in being a Christian. They were being hauled before magistrates and judges and told to renounce their faith in Jesus. Many did renounce their faith to preserve their lives and families, but many others were faithful to the end and gave up their lives and possessions in witness to Jesus. These we call the martyrs. Today it seems like few of us will be called to be martyrs; however, how are we supposed to acknowledge Jesus in a world torn by division, rivalry and hatred? Just saying that one believes in Jesus Christ is not enough, because even those who profess Jesus' name are divided into warring camps. And Jesus would certainly not agree with those using his name for political or material benefit. Jesus refused to be drawn into the political posturing of his own day. He would sit down at table with his friends; he accepted invitations from tax collectors and sinners, and even from pharisees, who were his greatest opponents. He challenged all of them to open their minds and their hearts to the mercy and love of God. To the despised and the outcast, he was a friend who showed them their worth. For the simple and oppressed, he favored loosening the rules to make their life easier. And to the self-righteous, he held up a mirror to their hypocrisy. Still, he did not stridently favor one side or condemn the other. He used funny little stories, we call parables, to get people to think beyond their own horizons. Of course, that did not save Jesus from the cross. And I wonder: knowing today how we stick to our tribes of like thinking people and condemn or even demonize anyone who is different, if Jesus returned to earth in human form, would we welcome him, or would we probably just nail him back up on the cross. That thought should make us pause. Church people are moaning over the fact that so many people, especially the young, are abandoning the Church. They talk about the sexual and financial scandals, which certainly contribute, but I think that the problem lies much deeper. Too many people are using Jesus' name, but too few are living as Jesus lived. The remedy lies with each one of us. I don't think I would bring these questions up at the dinner table. I am not good at making up funny little stories, so I would probably just get booted out of the house. However, we all need to break out of the confining boxes of our own certainties and try to put on Jesus' way of welcoming the outcast, lightening the load of the oppressed and questioning our own self-righteousness. That way we will acknowledge Jesus as Son of Man and Son of God before the men and women of this age.May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. Esker C.Ss.R.Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Given at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Cottage Grove, Oregon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fr-john-boyle/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fr-john-boyle/support

Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelistSeptember 21, 2023Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and evangelist.Today's reading is taken from the holy gospel according to Matthew.As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."The gospel of the Lord.Homily Matthew is mentioned in the lists of the apostles in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts. Only the gospel of Matthew has Jesus calling him from the tax collector's post, as we just heard. Mark and Luke call the tax collector, Levi, and Mark says he was the son of Alphaeus. This is all we know about Matthew from the New Testament. But because he was an apostle, we know that he accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry, witnessed Jesus' death and resurrection and went out to preach that Jesus was the Son of God and Savior of the world and to form communities in Jesus' name. He was faithful to Jesus to the end and most likely died a violent death in imitation of his Master. It was this desire to spread the Good News more effectively that lead Matthew to write the gospel that now bears his name. From the way the gospel is written, we can deduce that Matthew was a devout Jew who wrote for a Jewish-Christian community. They were comfortable with celebrating high feast days in the temple and frequenting the synagogue on Saturdays. But they were all Baptized and on Sunday they would meet in a house to celebrate the Eucharist. Of course, all this would change with the destruction of the Temple and the subsequent expulsion of the Christians from the Synagogue.  That a former tax collector was one of the leaders of this community is amazing. It shows what a tremendous effect associating with Jesus and heeding his call had on Matthew. It brought him back to his roots in the Old Covenant and then beyond into the New Covenant of water and the Spirit. Matthew lost no time in spreading the word. As soon as he was called, he invited his friends to a banquet in his house, so they, too, could come and meet Jesus. Of course, the Pharisees objected and asked the other disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard and bluntly replied: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” Years later, the memory of those kind and saving words would lead Matthew to begin writing his gospel. Paul, a Pharisee, was also transformed by his encounter with the Lord, as we hear in the letter to the Ephesians. He urges his listeners to “live in a manner worthy of the call [they] have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” And he makes his profession of faith: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Matthew and Paul, each in his own way, built up the Body of Christ. By reading and meditating on their works, we draw closer to Jesus Christ, and receive the call to recognize God's infinite mercy towards us, and to do our part in spreading the word.May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. Esker CSsRBasilica of Our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Our reading is from the holy gospel according to Matthew.      At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. Jesus' disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.The gospel of the Lord. Our readings today tell us that God's love and mercy is greater than anything we can imagine; and we are called by God to enter into and participate in God's love and mercy. It is a lesson we find difficult to learn and Jesus, in his humanity as he carried out his mission of teaching and healing, also had to learn it. At first reading, many of us are shocked by what seems to be Jesus' initial callous treatment of the Canaanite woman who came asking for a cure for her daughter. At first he ignores her, then he rebuffs her request implying that she is worth no more than a dog. All this reflects the attitude of the Jews toward their pagan neighbors in Jesus' time. But this was not God's attitude, as we hear from the prophet Isaiah in the first reading. The prophet envisions foreigners coming to worship the Lord in Jerusalem. As long as they love the Lord, keep the sabbath and hold to the covenant, their prayers will be heard, their sacrifices accepted and they will even minister in the temple, because God's “house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” In closing the infancy narrative of his gospel, Luke tells us that “Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.” We often forget that, in spite of being the Son of God, Jesus was a true human being and had to grow and learn. His encounter with the Canaanite woman was a growth experience. When she first cried out to him, invoking his title as Messiah, he ignored her. As she kept crying out, his disciples asked him to please give her what she wanted, just to get rid of her. It was not Jesus' way to simply make a miracle, it had to be within his preaching of the kingdom of God, so he explained to his disciples: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." At least that was his understanding up to that point.  Finally, the Canaanite woman, a foreigner, comes up to him, kneels before him and says: "Lord, help me." Then come the words that grate in our ears: "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." But the woman is not to be put off: "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." to which Jesus replies: "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." In all the gospels, only two people got the better of Jesus in an argument, and both were women: Mary, his mother, at the wedding feast of Cana, and this Canaanite woman. And in both cases, it came after a profound expression of faith in Jesus. Jesus learned that the gift of faith was open to all, and so was the Kingdom of God. Saint Paul would learn the same lesson. He became the apostle to the Gentiles after his message was rejected in the synagogues and could only conclude: God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. Today we need to learn the same lesson. The demons of war, violence and corruption are forcing millions from their homes. They knock on the doors of other countries, where politicians and influencers try to give them horrible and prejudicial labels, so that we all might turn our backs on them. But that is not God's way. God's kingdom is open to all who seek it in faith and good will. May God's love and mercy reign in our heats, and may God bless you. Fr. Karl E. Esker Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help Brooklyn, NY

Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time IJuly 20, 2023Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time. Our reading is taken from the holy gospel according to Matthew.Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."The gospel of the Lord.The gospel, as well as the first reading today, ask us to reflect on how we see our God. The ancients thought they had to perform extended rituals to get their gods' attention. The moderns think that, if there is a God, God created the world and then wandered off to do something else, leaving mankind to its own designs. We Christians believe in a God who cares about us human beings. We see that in both readings today. Jesus, in the gospel we just heard, calls us to himself: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” And in the first reading, God says to Moses: “I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt; so I have decided to lead you up out of the misery of Egypt into ... a land flowing with milk and honey.” The one thing God did not tell Moses, was how long it would take to get to the land flowing with milk and honey. The Bible tells us that it took forty years; and through it all, God accompanied the people. God gave them the Passover as a memorial and the ten commandments as a code of conduct that would identify them as God's people. They would pass through times of doubt and conflict and their faith would have its ups and downs, but God remained faithful to the Promise, and always accompanied and protected the People.There is a similar journey to Jesus' offer of rest. As Jesus gathered his disciples into the new People of God, he asked them to take his yoke upon them and learn from him. Jesus had already given them the Beatitudes as the code of conduct for his disciples and later would declare the great commandments of loving God with one's whole heart and loving one's neighbor as oneself. The disciples did not fully understand, but were willing to follow Jesus. Then just before his death on the cross, he gave them the Eucharist as a memorial of his saving actions. It was only after Jesus' death and resurrection that they understood that taking his yoke upon themselves and picking up their cross and following him were the same thing.I am sure the disciples wondered, as we do today, how all of this is an easy yoke and a light burden. The secret is in learning with Jesus to do God's will. He is the fulfillment of God's promise and just as God promised to be with the people always, Jesus promises to always be with his disciples.Once they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, they discovered their identity as God's children, and began to live Jesus' example. And there was a joy in their living because they were united with Jesus. The yoke is easy and the burden light because Jesus carried it with them.And the same is true for us. When we can place our cares and worries with the Lord, our problems don't go away, but we find a clearness of mind and heart that allows us to deal with them and still find peace. I am sure you have met and admired people who have found that peace. I know I have. It is the effect of love, love for Jesus who first loved us and gave his life for us.May God bless you.Fr. Karl E. Esker, C.Ss.R.Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Given at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Cottage Grove, Oregon, on July 2nd, 2023 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fr-john-boyle/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fr-john-boyle/support

Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time.Our reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to Matthew.Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."The gospel of the Lord.Homily“So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Did Jesus really say those words ... to me? My heart cries out: “I can't; I'm not Jesus Christ.” And my heart is right, if I expect to try to be perfect in spite of my own human weakness and limitations. But Jesus is asking me and you to open our hearts to him and allow the power and grace of his Spirit to shore up our human weakness and limitations. That is the only way we can fulfill Jesus' great commandments: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” What does it mean to love God with every fiber of our being? It means to orient our lives, not according to our personal needs, but according to God's love and mercy. It means treating every person we meet with dignity and respect. Jesus explains this love of God for everyone with an image: “he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” God's perfection is in treating everyone equally, without our human distinctions.We have a hard time doing that even with people we have just met and especially with people with whom we may have had difficulty. But Jesus does not let up on his demands and tells his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.”Here is where some people just give up. I have lost count of the number of people who have said to me: Father, I cannot forgive, I cannot love my enemies; I am not Jesus Christ. And yet, we are like Jesus Christ; he calls us children of our heavenly Father, and children learn to be like their parents. We look to God in all our needs, because God is almighty, and Jesus is our savior. We confidently ask for so many blessings for ourselves, our families and our friends. We also need to ask God for the difficult graces, to forgive, to love the unloving, to enter more deeply into the spirit and life of Jesus.There are times I manage to summon the courage to make this prayer, but always with trepidation. I know that to share in the glory of Jesus' resurrection, I have to first share in his passion. There is a cost we must pay when we truly try follow Jesus. That cost is our very selves. Loving those who love us and being on good terms with those who agree with us is easy, Jesus tells us. Pagans and sinners can do that. But to love one's enemies and pray for one's persecutors, that is a special grace that Jesus freely bestows on those who truly ask to follow him. Humanly speaking, this should be impossible, but Jesus reveals God's love for us and makes us children of God in the Spirit, so we can love God above all things and our neighbor as our self – even our enemies.May God bless you.Rev. Karl E. Esker CSsRBasilica of our Lady of Perpetual HelpBrooklyn, NY

Merry Christmas to you and yours!Our guest to close out the season of Advent is friend of the podcast, Matthew Milliner, Professor of Art History at Wheaton College. His new book is Mother of the Lamb: The Story of a Global Icon. Mother of the Lamb tells the remarkable story of a Byzantine image that emerged from the losing side of the Crusades. Called the Virgin of the Passion in the East and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the West, the icon has expanded beyond its Byzantine origins to become one of the most pervasive images of our time. It boasts multiple major shrines on nearly every continent and is reflected in every epoch of art history since its origin, even making an appearance at the Olympics in 2012. Matthew Milliner first chronicles the story of the icon's creation and emergence in the immediate aftermath of the Third Crusade, whereupon the icon became a surprising emblem of defeat, its own fame expanding in inverse proportion to Christendom's political contraction. Originally born as a Christian response to the Christian violence of the Crusades, it marked the moment when Mary's ministry of suffering love truly began. Having traced the icon's origin and ubiquity, Milliner teases out the painting's theological depth, and continues the story of the icon's evolution and significance from its origins to the present day. As the story of the icon moves well beyond Byzantine art history, both temporally and thematically, it engages religion, politics, contemporary art, and feminist concerns at once. Always, though, the icon exemplifies dignity in suffering, a lesson that--through this image--Byzantium bequeathed to the wider world. Encapsulating eleven centuries of development of the mourning Mary in Byzantium, the Virgin of the Passion emerges as a commendable icon of humility, a perennial watchword signaling the perils of imagined political glory. The Virgin of the Passion, emblemizing political humility, the powerful agency of women, and the value of inter-Christian and extra-Christian concord, is an exemplary Marian image for the fledgling twenty-first century.