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This blogcast explores “St. Philip Neri: Patron Saint of JOY!" written by Annie Harton and read by Brian Rhude.In this blog post, Annie reminds us of our call to exude joy in our daily lives following the example of St. Philip Neri. In the last days leading up to His passion, Jesus said, “So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (Jn 16:22). In the wild times we live in, joy sometimes can be hard to find. Discouragement and confusion are often tools of the devil as he tries to distract us from this promise of Christ: joy can ALWAYS be ours. Jesus used the most unimaginable instrument of torture as the awesome instrument of salvation. On Good Friday, the Devil thought he won. On Easter Sunday, God turned the Cross into a gift. If you want to confuse the devil, be joyful. When St. Paul was imprisoned in Rome, one could think his ministry would cease. Instead of giving into discouragement, St. Paul wrote the Epistle of Joy to the people of Philippi thanking them for the blessing that they were to him and encouraging them in their faith. St. Paul stared death in the face a number of times before his beheading in Rome, but we don't have to have these dramatic experiences to embrace our mortality. St. Philip suggests that we “prepare for death and live each day as if it were our last. Fill up days with goodness and don't let them be squandered.” When asked what time it was on his deathbed, St. Philip said, “It's eight… in an hour it'll be nine, then ten, eleven, and midnight.” His companions responded by giggling before going to sleep. His legacy even in his last moments is joy! How can we be apostles of joy today? St. Philip suggests, “Have all the fun you want, but just don't offend God.” He also suggests, “Cast yourself into the arms of God and be very sure that if He wants anything of you, He will fit you for the work and give you strength.” St. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:4-9). ​Let us ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with an abundance of the spiritual fruit of joy! We pray for the intercession of St. Philip and St. Paul to show us how to radiate joy no matter the circumstances around us. Author:Annie Harton is a proud alumna of Saint Mary's College and the University of Notre Dame. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist, author, and speaker. Her self-published book, Single Truth: You Are More than Your Relationship Status, inspired her to start a business called You Are More. She specializes in helping singles and couples explore how they're more than their diagnoses, their pasts, their jobs, and their relationship statuses while also reminding them that God is more than any problem they bring Him. You can find out more about Annie and inquire about working with her at youaremore.org and annieharton.com Follow us:The Catholic Apostolate CenterThe Center's podcast websiteInstagramFacebookApple PodcastsSpotify Fr. Frank Donio, S.A.C. also appears on the podcast, On Mission, which is produced by the Catholic Apostolate Center and you can also listen to his weekly Sunday Gospel reflections. Follow the Center on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and YouTube to remain up-to-date on the latest Center resources.

St. Felix publicly declared that he believed with 79% probability that COVID had a natural origin. He was brought before the Emperor, who threatened him with execution unless he updated to 100%. When St. Felix refused, the Emperor was impressed with his integrity, and said he would release him if he merely updated to 90%. St. Felix refused again, and the Emperor, fearing revolt, promised to release him if he merely rounded up one percentage point to 80%. St. Felix cited Tetlock's research showing that the last digit contained useful information, refused a third time, and was crucified. St. Clare was so upset about believing false things during her dreams that she took modafinil every night rather than sleep. She completed several impressive programming projects before passing away of sleep deprivation after three weeks; she was declared a martyr by Pope Raymond II. https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/lives-of-the-rationalist-saints

When St. John's fans found out cameras would be following Rick Pitino's year 2 St. John's team they were excited. When the Red Storm started having a season that made everyone's eyebrows raise, anticipation rose. But as a ranked St. John's team beat ranked Marquette and UConn in early February back-to-back the debut episode of Pitino: Red Storm Rising on Vice on February 11th couldn't come fast enough. Joining the podcast is the man behind the docu-series that is making waves all over social media and beyond, CEO and EP of The Workshop, Tom Farrell.We discuss the genesis of the series, what it's been like capturing so many amazing moments during an unprecedented run by St. John's, and what it's been like being the fly on the wall of a Rick Pitino coached team.Catch Pitino: Red Storm Rising every Tuesday on Vicehttps://www.vicetv.com/en_us/show/pitino-red-storm-risingFollow the podcast on Twitter:@EyeonStormPod = Eye on the Storm Podcast#sjubb

A Sermon for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany Romans 12:6-16 & St. Mark 1:1-11 by William Klock The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, God's son.   With those words, Mark launches into telling the story of Jesus.  It's gospel.  It's good news.  Good news as in “Ding, dong, the witch is dead!”  Good news as in “Aslan is on the move.”  Good news as in the war is over and now we'll know peace.  Good news as in the old tyrant has been run out and a new, good king has taken his place.  That's what good news means.  Everything has changed because of it and life will never be the same.  Good news stand in contrast to good advice.  Try the new burrito place.  Go for a walk on the new trail.  Buy a Honda.  Maybe.  Probably.  But none of the burrito place, the trail, the Honda won't change your life, let alone the world.  Good advice?  You can take it or leave it.  Good news?  Good news can't be ignored. And this good news, says Mark, isn't any old good news.  It's bigger than “the war is over”.  It's bigger than Caesar has defeated his rivals.  This is the good news that in Jesus the promised and long-awaited Messiah has come.  And, Mark adds, that he's the son of God.  To Jews that meant something different than it does to most of us.  To us it sounds like a statement of Jesus divinity.  But for Jews—well—“son of God” was Israel's title—one the Lord had given them when he demanded Pharaoh let them go, one that he'd given them again at Mount Sinai.  So Mark's announcement is that Jesus has come to represent his people.  That's what king's do.  And Jesus is the Messiah—God's anointed King. So right at the outset Mark tells us that this good news is the story of the Messiah, the King, who has come defeat the enemies of his people and to set everything wrong to right.  This good news is that the King has come and so has his kingdom and because of that, everything has changed.  And because of that both Israel and the gentile nations face a choice: Will they come in faith to the king and give him their allegiance or will they stand as enemies of his kingdom? Centuries before, the prophet Isaiah declared, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace…happiness…salvation…who announces…“Your God reigns.”  When St. Mark thought of those beautiful feet he thought of John the Baptist.  He quotes another passage from Isaiah—one about the Lord sending a messenger to prepare his way.  And he quotes the Prophet Micah, too: “A shout goes up in the desert.  Make way for the Lord!  Prepare the way for him!” That was John.  John had been sent to prepare Israel.  The Lord had heard their cries, as he'd heard them crying out from Egypt and from Babylon.  And he was coming to visit and to deliver again—this time once and for all.  The world was going to change forever.  And so, says Mark, John led the people out into the desert, to the banks of the Jordan River, and summoned them to be baptised as an act of repentance and a sign of forgiveness.  Picture  John, out in the desert, on the banks of the Jordan with all those people.  It was a prophetic reenactment of the crossing of the Red Sea.  And as so many people do when they're sure the Lord is drawing near, the people confessed their sins.  And John baptised them.  Because they knew the God of Israel was about to do something amazing.  He was about to fulfil his promises. The new exodus had begun.  And lest the people think that it was John who would lead them in this new exodus, he also announced: After me comes one who is greater than I.  I'm not worthy to kneel down to untie his sandals.  I've plunged you into the water.  He's going to plunge you into the Holy Spirit. And there it is.  That, Brothers and Sisters, changes everything.  Picture Israel again in the desert, their tents pitched in neat formation around the tabernacle.  Picture the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night at the centre of the camp.  Picture the cloud of his glory resting on the ark in the holy of holies.  God in the midst of his people.  But now John points to something even greater.  Instead of God living in our midst, but living over there in the tabernacle—and, more particularly, in the holy of holies where none of us can actually go because we're not holy enough, God is now coming to live not just in our midst, but inside us.  As St. Peter writes, he's building a new temple for himself and we ourselves are the blocks of stone he's carefully cut and carefully fitted together.  In the first Exodus, the Lord took his people through the water, he gave them a law written on stone tablets, and he gave them priests to tell them to do it.  And most of the time they weren't particularly good at living out that law.  But in this new exodus, Jesus leads us not only through the water, but in doing so he plunges us into his own Holy Spirit.  Instead of giving us the law on tablets of stone the Spirit writes God's law on our hearts so that it's not only internal, but so that we'll actually be in love with it and motivated by it and want to do it—that's the significance of it being written on our hearts.  And so we don't anymore need priests urging us to do it, because we'll have the Lord's Spirit himself in us, making his desires our desires as we steep ourselves in his word. This was the baptism Israel so desperately needed.  And so it was a surprise to John when Jesus came to him and asked to be baptised.  Jesus didn't need to repent.  But as the King, as the representative of his people, he did need to go before his people—to lead where they would follow.  And so John agreed and Mark then writes in verses 10-11: Immediately, as [Jesus] was getting out of the water, he saw the heavens open, and the Spirit coming down like a dove onto him.  Then there came a voice, out of the heavens, “You are my son!  You are the one I love!  I am pleased with you!”   Another epiphany!  For Jesus this was divine confirmation that he was who he'd come to believe he was.  It confirmed the words of the angel to Mary and to Joseph, it confirmed the song the angels sang to the shepherds, it confirmed the prophetic words of Simeon and Anna, and it confirmed the worship and the gifts of the magi.  It was an epiphany for John, too.  Jesus really was the Messiah he'd been sent to announce.  And it was an epiphany for the crowd, for the people of Israel.  In Jesus, the God of Israel was truly visiting his people.  As surely as John had plunged them into the water, this Jesus would plunge them into God's Spirit—and when that happened, nothing would ever be the same again. For that brief moment, Mark says, the heavens were torn open and Jesus, John, and everyone else there had a glimpse of what was to come—of the kingdom, of God's new age, of new creation.  It was like getting a glimpse into the closest where your mom had all the Christmas presents stored away—and you catch your breath and you get excited to think of what's to come when the time is right to bring it all out.  Like Christmas morning—but Christmas morning is just a dim comparison—this was a glimpse of God's coming kingdom—heaven come to earth—finally! Brothers and Sisters, consider that the church—redeemed by Jesus and plunged into the Spirit—the church is now—or it should be—we are now that vision into heaven, we're now that little pocket of God's new age, his new creation—his future right here in the present.  We're God's new age in the midst of the old.  That, I think, is why the men who selected our lessons for the Epistles and Gospels put today's Gospel from Mark with our Epistle from Romans 12.  Paul doesn't put it quite this way, but what he describes in the Epistle is what it means to be on-earth-as-in-heaven people. Today's Epistle begins at verse 6, but I want to back up a few verses.  (We would have read verses 1-5 last week if we hadn't shifted our observance of the Epiphany to Sunday.)  Paul starts out appealing to the Christians in Rome to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  Why?  Because that kind of worship, he writes, is what line's our minds up with God's.  It's a commitment to live as light in the midst of darkness.  It's a commitment to live as the people of God's new age in the midst of the old.  So he goes on in verse 3: “What's more, don't let yourselves be squeezed into the shape dictated by the present age.  Instead, be transformed by the renewing or your minds, so that you can work out what God's will is—what is good, acceptable, and perfect.” Brothers and Sisters, be the people of heaven who have been plunged into the Holy Spirit.  Be the people who embody God's new world in the middle of the old one—because it glorifies God and because it witnesses his goodness and his faithfulness to everyone around us.  And what does that look like?  It's going to be different in different circumstances.  This is something we have to work out for ourselves, but Paul shows us that we're to work it out in light of what Jesus has done for us.  The Romans were struggling to be united.  Jewish and Gentile believers were turning away from each other and in doing that they were living like people of the old age, not the new.  So Paul writes to them: “As in one body we have many limbs and organs, you see, and all the parts have different functions, so we, many as we are, are one body in the Messiah, and individually we belong to one another.”  We can't be the church Jesus has called us to be if we don't offer ourselves humbly to each other.  Brothers and Sisters, what Jesus has done for us, we do for each other.  So, for example, think of the gifts that the Spirit gives us.  Paul writes starting in verse 6: We have gifts that differ in accordance with the grace that has been given to us, and we must us them appropriately.  If it is prophecy, we must prophesy according to the pattern of faith.  If it is serving, we must work at our serving; if teaching, at our teaching; if exhortation, at our exhortation; if giving, with generosity; if leading, with energy; if doing acts of kindness, with cheerfulness. The list could go on and on and on, but this is enough for Paul to make his point.  The Spirit has worked in us—sometimes working with our natural gifts and abilities and sometimes giving us gifts we don't naturally have—and he's brought us together like a body.  Each of us has an essential part to play.  Arms and legs, hands and feet, eyes and ears, hearts and voice all working together towards one gospel purpose.  Think of Peter's illustration again of the temple not made with hands, a temple with each stone carefully cut by the Spirit for a unique spot, and all of them—all of us—assembled together with Jesus as our cornerstone.  If we don't all do the part we've been given and equipped to do, the body can't function, the temple falls apart. The prophet must prophesy and the teacher must teach.  The server must serve and the exhorter must exhort.  The leader must lead, the giver must give, and the doer must do—with cheerfulness and everything according to the pattern of faith.  In other words, remember that it's all gospel work rooted in Jesus and the Spirit and the amazing, loving, gracious, and merciful work he has done in us.  Sometimes we forget the gospel as we work and the work becomes a chore and a burden.  There are all sorts of things in ministry that can be discouraging and we can be tempted to give up.  And so Paul reminds us to keep our eyes on the gospel—on the good news that the king has come, that he has made us part of his kingdom, and that we have the joyful privilege of being his stewards and heralds. But there's more to life together than spiritual gifts.  Elsewhere Paul writes about the fruit that the Spirit causes to grow in us.  In other places he talks about being conformed to the mind of the Messiah.  There are lots of ways we can describe the Christian life as we live it out together, but ultimately what we need to recognise is that being in Jesus and the Spirit changes us and living as changed people is part of being kingdom people.  Think again about being a little kid and getting a glimpse into the closet where the presents are stored until Christmas morning.  When the world looks at us—as individual Christians but even more important, as the church, as a group of Christians living together—it should be like seeing that closet full of Christmas presents.  Except in our case, it's not a bunch of nicely wrapped packages; it's a glimpse of God's new creation—of his world set to rights.  Seeing the church ought to make people eager to be part of God's new age.  Seeing us should make them long for Jesus and the Spirit too.  So Paul goes on in verse 9: Love must be real.  Hate what is evil; stick fast to what is good.  Be truly affectionate in showing love for one another; compete with each other in giving mutual respect.  Don't get tired of working hard.  Be on fire with the Spirit.  Work as slaves for the Lord.  Celebrate your hope; be patient in suffering; give constant energy to prayer; contribute to the needs of God's people; make sure you are hospitable to strangers.   Bless those who persecute you; bless them, don't curse them.  Celebrate with those who are celebrating; Mourn with the mourners.  Come to the same mind with one another.  Don't give yourselves airs, but associate with the humble.  Don't be wise in your own sight.   We don't have time to cover each of these in detail, but again think of them in terms of giving the world a glimpse of Jesus and the kingdom.  We've seen real love in Jesus.  In him we've seen what it looks like to abhor evil and hold fast to good.  In him we get a sense of what it looks like to show honour to others rather than grabbing it all for ourselves.  We see in him what humility and lowliness toward others look like.  We—especially Gentile believers—have seen what Jesus' hospitality looks like as he welcomes us in to Abraham's family.  In Jesus we've seen the greatest example ever of what it looks like to bless those who persecute us.  And Paul ends this list in verse 21, writing, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Brothers and Sisters, this is what it looks like to be faithful stewards of the grace of God and heralds of the gospel.  This is what it looks like to live the life Jesus has given us.  This is what it looks like to be people who have been plunged into the Holy Spirit.  This is what it looks like to be the new Israel, rescued from our bondage to sin and death and given hope for a new life.  We love each other as Jesus has loved us and as he specially equipped us to love, and as we do so we show our love for him, because in loving each other we are loving the people whom Jesus loves.  But it's not just the Church we love.  Jesus was sent to redeem because “God so loved the world”.  We witness what love looks like as we love each other, but we also witness the love of God as we give ourselves for the sake of the world, as we give ourselves to be light in the darkness—even when the darkness is hostile and seeks to snuff us out.  In Jesus, God overcame evil with good and we are called to be his witnesses by doing the same.  And so let us proclaim the good news: Repent, for the kingdom of God has come.  But let's also show the world that this is good news, not just good advice.  Let's ourselves live in light of the knowledge that Jesus and the Spirit have changed everything.  Let us be heaven-on-earth people so that when the world looks at the church, it sees heaven torn open, so that it has a glimpse of God's new creation.  May the life of the church, redeemed by Jesus and filled with the Spirit, cause everyone around us to give glory to God. Let us pray: Heavenly Father, in the baptism of Jesus you revealed him to be your Son and you anointed him with the Holy Spirit.  May we who are born again of that same water and Spirit, we ask, be faithful to our calling as your children by grace, living and manifesting in our lives the love and mercy you have shown to us as we proclaim your kingdom.  We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

When St. Paul commands us to "pray always" in his first letter to the Thessalonians, we tend to let it go in one ear and out the other. "Of course, he can't possibly mean that! He really just means to pray a lot." We so easily filter the words of Scripture based on what we think God wants from us, but then we end up missing his true message. God actually wants us to always be praying, just like St. Paul told us!Our readings today point towards this vision God has for us, particularly when Jesus gives us the image of the vine and the branches. He promises that if we remain in him, we will bear much fruit. If always staying connected to the Lord seems out of reach, then let's remember that when God gives a command he always gives us the grace to respond. How can we stay attached to the vine and learn to pray always? Watch Opening the Word on FORMED.Get a 7-day free trial of FORMED.Support this podcast and the Augustine Institute on the Mission Circle.

When St. Joan of Arc was confronted with a tribunal made up of the best theologians in France, she didn't stand a chance. However, her answers were so profound and clear, that she baffled all those who were trying to prove her wrong. Her answers were examples of the gifts of the Holy Spirit—particularly that of Wisdom—put into action. In this episode we speak about the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are given to us in Baptism. They are “habits” infused by God in Baptism that enable us to be receive and be docile to the actual graces given by the Holy Spirit. Listen in to get a glimpse of these amazing gifts and be inspired by the examples of the Shepherds of Fatima, and St. Joan of Arc! - The topics discussed can be found in the Catechism, numbers 1830-1832. - You should definitely read the Encyclical “Divinum illud munus” (On the Holy Spirit) by Pope Leo XIII. - Fr. Patrick Wainwright is a priest of Miles Christi, a Catholic Religious Order. - Visit the Miles Christi Religious Order website: https://www.mileschristi.org - This Podcast's Website: https://www.forcollegecatholics.org - To learn about the Spiritual Exercises (silent weekend retreat) preached by the Priests of Miles Christi, visit: https://www.mileschristi.org/spiritual-exercises/ - Recorded at our Family Center in South Lyon, Michigan. - Planning, recording, editing, and publishing by Fr. Patrick Wainwright, MC. - Gear: Shure MV7 USB dynamic microphone. - Intro music from pond5.com

When St. John's needed their best game of the season, they got it. Behind 27 points from Daniss Jenkins and 18 points from Jordan Dingle, the Red Storm took down #15 Creighton inside Madison Square Garden. It was a complete game, one where they had a halftime lead and never let it go. A complete game, with tough defense, and performances that stood out beyond the box score. Simeon Wilcher, Glenn Taylor Jr. and more powered St. John's to a season saving win.Joined by Kevin Connelly of Stormthepaint.com to help break it all downFollow the podcast on Twitter:@EyeonStormPod = Eye on the Storm Podcast#sjubb

When St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura Jones visits Jefferson City today, she will discuss the city's priorities.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

St. Paul City Council has approved a budget for next year. It includes a tax hike of 3.7% and money for a host of programs and city services. The budget also funnels $1 million in leftover pandemic relief money from the federal government to a non-profit firm that will help residents who are saddled with medical debt. When St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter announced this proposal back in August, he said about 43,000 people could benefit. So now that a plan to partner with non-profit RIP Medical Debt has been approved, how will it work? Mayor Carter joined Minnesota Now to talk about it.

Have you wondered why the Church does not allow women to become deacons or priests? Do you have loved ones who are upset about this teaching? Be sure to check out this episode of The Cale Clarke Show and share with them! Cale brings up a reference from St. Paul's letter to the Romans, where Phoebe is mentioned as a deaconess. This has led many to believe that there were female deacons in the early Catholic Church. However, Cale points out that Pope Francis and Pope John Paul II have both stated that the Church cannot sacramentally ordain women. Pope John Paul II's 1994 letter emphasized that the Church does not have the authority to ordain women, a stance which Pope Francis has consistently supported. Cale also differentiates between the title "deaconess" and the Sacrament of Holy Orders. When St. Paul refers to Phoebe as a deaconess, he uses the Greek word "diakonos," which means servant. This term can sometimes refer to ordained deacons but also to general servants. Cale then cites Dr. Peter Kreeft, who co-wrote a book with Dr. Alice von Hildebrand titled "Women in the Priesthood." Kreeft humorously points out that only men can be fathers and only women can be mothers, highlighting distinct roles. Both Kreeft and C.S. Lewis have noted that in Jesus's time, other religions had female priests, but Jesus chose not to ordain women. Lewis even wrote an essay on this topic, challenging the argument that Jesus refrained from ordaining women due to societal constraints. Cale also highlights that labeling Jesus as sexist for not ordaining women goes against the belief in his sinless nature. Regarding deaconesses, Cale clarifies that their role in the early Church was not equivalent to the sacramentally ordained deacon. They primarily assisted in baptisms, ensuring propriety when people were baptized, often done naked. These women were more akin to early nuns, with many taking vows of virginity. Cale recommends works by Cardinal Gerhard Mueller and Fr. Martimort for those seeking a deeper understanding. Concluding his discussion, Cale refers to a 2002 Vatican document that reaffirms that deaconesses in church history were not equivalent to the sacramentally ordained deacon.

Rebuilding a Missional Church-Part IV - This week, Peter and Leslie continue their series of broadcasts, Rebuilding a Missional Church! When St. Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, he took the first step necessary to follow Jesus. But that would only be the beginning. Following Jesus would mean developing a personal relationship with Him. This would take place on the Lord's terms and not Peter's. So, too, with us, we are called to not only an initial commitment to our Lord, following the pattern we see in St. Peter. We are also called to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through the patterns we see in Sacred Scripture and the Saints' lives. The Lord is a builder and a rebuilder. His plan is to rebuild His Church as a "missional church" by creating a company of Catholic disciples who have a deep and profound personal relationship with Him!  

When St. Peter answered Jesus' question, little did he know that it would be a hinge-moment in his life. Everything would be different and he would be given the strength to continue forward in his confession.Image: The Delivery of the Keys to Peter, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication Image location: https://picryl.com/media/the-delivery-of-the-keys-to-peter-3c9abf

August 1, 2023Today's Reading: Romans 8:28-39Daily Lectionary: Judges 14:1-20, Galatians 3:1-22What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?  (Romans 8:31-32)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Romans 8 is a favorite chapter of so many Christians. And why not? It says so clearly what we need to hear from our Lord about living safely in God's hands.But what if it was the other way around? What if St. Paul had written: ‘If God is against us, who can be for us?' What a despairing thought! How horrible! If God himself turned against us in wrath, who would be able to save us? Certainly none of the comic book heroes, not one created being would be able to stand before God in his full wrath.And that's good, because He wouldn't be God if one of His creatures could win against Him. Because there once was a time when God was against us, and that was when all of our sin was piled high upon Jesus.When St. Paul says “He who did not spare his own Son,” He gives it away. That was the moment when God stood against not only you, but against all of humanity. God did bring His full wrath and anger down, like a bolt of lightning, like a slamming hammer, but not upon us, but upon Jesus for us.The very Son of God was the only one who could withstand such an onslaught. The God-Man endured, even though He died, and brought salvation to you. The God-man passed from death to life to rescue you, having satisfied God's anger and wrath.Yes, it is a frightful thing to consider Almighty God being against you. And maybe things have happened in your life to make you think He is against you, that He is angry with you. But that's when you go back to this chapter of Romans and read it once again to see that no, God's Word itself promises that He is not against you, He is not punishing you.He has done all of that in Jesus, who endured His cross knowing that by dying for you, you wouldn't have to suffer eternally. Sure, this life will bring suffering. Any sinful world will. But even in all of that, nothing will separate you from the love of God, because He is on your side; He is for you. And all things are yours, all of eternity is yours, because of that love He has for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord, when the tempest rages, I need not fear, For You, the Rock of Ages, Are always near. Close by Your side abiding, I fear no foe, For when Your hand is guiding, In peace I go.  (LSB 722:2)-Pastor Duane Bamsch is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA  and the President of Higher Things.Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.

Walking with the Saints Podcast | Feast of St. Alphonsus De Liguori, Patron of Confessors and Moral Theologians| August 1   St. Alphonsus de Liguori, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer or the Redemptorists.He was endowed with a well-rounded talents so much so that he was also a composer, musician, artist, poet, writer, lawyer, philosopher and theologian. St. Alphonsus was born, eldest of seven children, in Marianella, near Naples, Italy, of a noble lineage on September 27, 1696. His father sent him to study as a lawyer. Before entering the university he was taught by tutors. At 16, he graduated from the University of Naples with doctorates in civil and canon law. When he was 18, he joined the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy to assist in caring for the sick at the hospital. Meanwhile, he was also practicing law, which according to him was full of difficulties. After eight years of practice, losing for the first time an important case at age 27, he resolved to leave the legal profession. That was when he heard a voice saying: “Leave the world and give yourself to me.” Soon, he decided to become a priest and entered as a novice at the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, but his father allowed him as long as he would not become an Oratorian. He was ordained on December 21, 1726 at the age 30. He spent his first years as a priest with the homeless and marginalized youth of Naples. He became very popular due to his simple and down-to-earth preaching. He was heard saying: “I have never preached a sermon which the poorest old woman in the congregation could not understand.” That was why his sermons were very effective and they converted many who had gone away from the faith. He founded centers of prayer, preaching, community social activities and education for the youth. They called them Evening Chapels. There were thousands active members and participants. In 1729 Alphonsus left his family home and resided in the Chinese Institute in Naples and began missionary work in the interior regions of Naples. There, he found people who were much poorer and much more abandoned than those in his first missionary territory. In 1731, while ministering to earthquake victims in Foggia, Italy Alphonsus said he had a vision of the Virgin Mary who appeared as a girl of 14. This vision and his scruples about sin, led to a greater intimacy with God and an ardent desire to serve Him unreservedly. Thus, on November 9, 1732, he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. The charism of the congregation is to preach in the cities and the countryside, in the slums and other poor places. Besides preaching, the members of the newly founded congregation fought against Jansenism, the heresy that preached a very excessive and strict morality which did not consider forgiveness. The Redemptorists rightly believed that: “penitents must be treated as souls to be saved rather than as criminals to be punished.” The Redemptorists specialized in hearing Confession. In 1766, St. Alphonsus founded also the Redemptoristine nuns in St. Agatha. When St. Alphonsus was already sickly, he resigned his post as Bishop and he continued to live with the Redemptorist community in Pagani, Italy where he died. St. Alphonsus was beatified on September 15, 1816 by Pope Pius VII. He was canonized on May 26, 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI. He was named “Patron of Confessors and Moral Theologians” by Pope Piuys XII on April 26, 1950. His voluminous writings are still extant today and a famous Christmas song in Italian is still among the favorites: “Tu scendi dalle stelle” (From starry skies descending). In 1949, the Redemptorists founded the Alphonsian Academy for the advanced study of moral theology. St. Alphonsus is a Doctor of the Church and his greatest contribution were his writings on moral theology. The devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help was begun by his followers in 1923.      

What is the basic direction and orientation of a truly human life? When St. Ignatius of Loyola had written his Spiritual Exercises, he added a short preface, a skeletal summary of the inner journey to be made through his Exercises. Later commentators called this preface ‘The First Principle and Foundation'. It has been compared to … Continue reading "I Choose What Deepens God's Life In Me" The post I Choose What Deepens God's Life In Me appeared first on From Silence+Something To Say And To Do.

Walking with the Saints Podcast | Feast of St. Vincent Ferrer, Patron Saint of all Construction Workers l April 5 You must have seen statues of St. Vincent Ferrer with wings. Well, it is just a representation to symbolize his swiftness and eagerness to answer the call of anyone in need. Tradition, however, recalls that one day while he was preaching, the people saw him flew away, with wings like an angel, but at the same time he continued his sermon. Afterwards, it was revealed that he went to a certain place to cure a sick person. Many more miracles are attributed to him even now. St. Vincent was a Dominican friar, born in Valencia, Spain on January 23, 1350. He was brought up as a devout Catholic so much so that even as a child he would fast on Wednesdays and Fridays and distribute alms to the poor. At eight he began his classical studies and at fourteen, he studied philosophy and theology. Then, he entered the Dominican Order when he was eighteen. After religious profession, he dedicated three years in reading and studying the Scripture. He was ordained a priest in Barcelona in 1379. Eventually, he earned his Masters and then Doctorate degrees in theology. For some years St. Vincent preached the word of God and other theological subjects. Many people came to listen to him. As a noted preacher, he travelled to England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Switzerland Italy and other Spanish cities. It was also said that he converted 25,000 Jews to Catholicism. One of the rabbis whom he converted became an archbishop and former Jewish synagogues were transformed into Catholic churches. He also converted Mohammedans and heretics. During the lifetime of St. Vincent, two scourges devastated the Church. First was the Black Death or Spanish flu which killed many people in Europe including clergy and religious. In order to fill up the needed priests in the parishes, even those with no vocation were admitted into the seminaries. This resulted in so much irregularities and laxities in the practice of religion. St. Vincent worked hard to instruct the people and to reform the clergy and the religious orders. The second scourge was the Western Schism, when the pope moved to Avignon due to political problems and urged by the influence of the King of France. The absence of the papacy from Rome for 67 years is called the “Babylonian Captivity.” St. Vincent worked very hard to influence the pope to end the schism. But all these had negative effects on him that he got seriously ill. His room was suddenly filled with heavenly light and Jesus Himself shining like the sun, surrounded by a multitude of angels, together with St. Dominic and St. Francis, came and made known to him His desire: “My will is that you preach the Gospel to Gaul and Spain, reprove the sins of men and bid them prepare for the great judgment. Though wicked men will oppose you, fear nothing. I will be with you.” Thus St. Vincent was miraculously healed and continued to preach in France and Spain and in some parts of Europe for many more years. When St. Vincent preached to the nuns of Colette of Corbie, Sr. Colette prophesied that he was going to die in France. And indeed, it happened. While in Brittany, he got very ill and unable to return to Spain, he died in Vannes, Brittany on April 5, 1419 at the age of 69. St. Vincent was buried in the Basilica Catedral de San Pedro, Vannes, France. He was canonized by Pope Callixtus III on June 3, 1455. He is invoked in many difficult circumstances in life. His outstanding Virtues are:   piety, humility, charity, bravery, fidelity, obedience, generosity and fortitude.  “St. Vincent, please assist me in all the works I do, deliver me from all dangers, and help me to love and help the poor and the needy.”

A decade ago there were only a handful of craft spirits producers in the state, and those doing business did so under strict guidelines. When St. Augustine Distillery opened, making hand crafted bourbon, rum, gin & vodka was only half the task. Lobbying politicians to slowly loosen the laws was critical to success for the up & coming operation, and the industry. In this episode, JBJ Editor in Chief Tim Gibbons welcomes Co-Founder & CEO Philip McDaniel to share the story. 

When St. Johns County sheriff's deputies arrived at the St. Augustine home of Jeremy Banks on Sept. 2, 2010, they found his 24-year-old girlfriend Michelle O'Connell lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head. Authorities initially concluded it was a suicide, but O'Connell's loved ones felt her abusive cop boyfriend likely had a hand in the crime.References:https://allthatsinteresting.com/michelle-oconnell20/20 Episode: “Secrets Six Feet Under” https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/mysterious-death-michelle-oconnell/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/us/michelle-oconnell-death-ellie-washtock.html Support the show

When St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he told them,He was impressed by three qualities that they demonstrated:your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 1:3)- faith, love, and hope – essential building blocks of a Christian lifeSo now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13)• Paul may have looked for evidence of these traits in the churches he visited• do they walk by faith, hang onto hope, and do everything in love?- "Hope" is the Advent theme for this Sunday

Archbishop Naumann is interviewed by Deacon Bill Scholl about the Kerygma and an initiative in the Archdiocese for all the priests and deacons to preach the Kerygma during advent. They base their discussion on Fr. John Riccardo's book Rescued: The Unexpected and Extraordinary News of the Gospel Fr. Riccardo teaches that, "Kerygma is the Greek word for “proclamation.” It refers to the basic message of the gospel. But “basic” doesn't mean “ordinary.” When St. Paul says that the gospel is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16), he doesn't mean Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He means the proclamation of all that God has done for us in his Son, Jesus. He means the kerygma.  

When St. Alexander Parish in Farmington Hills closed in 2014, a former parishioner resolved to carry on its legacy of service. Show notes: (0:01) Todd Lipa describes growing up at St. Alexander Parish in Farmington Hills. It's where his large family was baptized, and where his mother was buried in 1968. The parish, led by Fr. Jim Wright, was also a lifeline when the Lipa family fell on hard times, providing food, clothing and a caring support system. (2:01) When St. Alexander closed in 2014, Lipa realized he was in a perfect position to carry on the parish's legacy of service. As director of Farmington and Farmington Hills' Youth and Family Services, Lipa was well-acquainted with the needs of the community. (4:22) Despite its reputation as an affluent community, Lipa says poverty does exist in the Farmington Hills area. Together with Mayor Ken Massey and former Mayor Jerry Ellis, Lipa set out creating a new nonprofit, CARES — an acronym that stands for Community Action Resources Empowerment Services. (5:21) On July 1, 2017, the 501(c)3 purchased the former St. Alexander church for its headquarters, and began expanding its services to include groceries, hygiene and household items in a supermarket-style service center, complete with community support services such as AA and outreach coordinators to help guests secure health care, transportation and other needs. Lipa describes the incredible support CARES has received from the community, including local business owners who have donated services. (8:36) Recalling his own experience growing up in need, Lipa talks about the satisfaction he receives seeing how CARES restores the dignity of those in poverty. (10:16) Lillian, a CARES client and an immigrant from Nigeria, talks about the help she's received from CARES. In a new country without any support system, Lillian says the nonprofits volunteers “took us in like family. Taiwan, a single mother of two, discovered cares when she moved with her children to Farmington Hills. She describes her experience with gratitude. “I really, really love CARES,” she says. (13:45) CARES volunteers Carol and Michelle say Fr. Wright would be proud of how the nonprofit has carried on the mission of St. Alexander in caring for the community. (14:20) Lipa talks about his vision to expand CARES by partnering with neighborhood health care providers, as well as renovating seven acres of land into a baseball diamond “that anyone, no matter your ability, can play on.” Lipa marvels at how far CARES has come in just five short years, and expresses hope that like St. Alexander Parish, it can continue to be a beacon of Christ's love for all those in need. Reporting by Gabriella Patti; narration and script by Casey McCorry; production by Ron Pangborn This episode is brought to you by the PIME Missionaries - Catholic priests and brothers, evangelizing in 19 countries around the world and celebrating 75 years of service in Detroit. Visit pimeusa.org to learn more. Listen to ‘Detroit Stories' on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Fireside. Podcasts also will be posted biweekly on DetroitCatholic.com.

Summary -- It is so common for Catholics (and others) to reject the love of God, to not let that love in.  Join Dr. Peter for this episode where we explore in depth the eight natural, human formation reasons why we refuse God's love. We also look at what Hell really is and why it really exists.  Through examples, quotes, and an exploration of Dr. Peter's own parts, listen to how this critical, central topic comes alive.  And then Dr. Peter presents the an action plan for accepting and embracing God's love.   Lead-in “It's very hard for most of us to tolerate being loved.” ―Psychiatrist and Harvard Professor  George Vaillant (need description)  The Hardest Thing about love for many of us Catholics -- is to be loved.  To tolerate being loved first.  We can't love unless we take love in first.  We can't generate love out of nothing on our own, we don't have that power.     Many Catholics make sacrifices great and small in an attempt to love others.   Many Catholics go to great lengths to try to please God and to love their neighbor -- very busy people, most parishes have a few of these -- always volunteering, working, making things happen, St. Vincent de Paul, soup kitchens, corporal works of mercy -- working so hard to live out the Gospel as they understand it, but it's all external -- they are very out of touch with their internal lives.  Their prayer lives are shallow and sketchy and they are uncomfortable in their own skin and they will not tolerate silence.   The vast majority of us Catholics will not tolerate being loved deeply or fully.  We shy away from receiving love.  We get so uncomfortable, we skirt around the edges of being loved Or we allow love into us only so far.  Only so far.  We won't let real love permeate all of our being.  We let the quote acceptable unquote parts of us be loved, those parts we allow in our shop window.  Those parts we believe others will accept.   But to allow someone to love all of you -- your nasty parts, your shameful parts, your disgusting parts, your hidden leper parts, your sinful parts -- those tax collector parts, your inner prostitutes and blasphemers, your Pharisee parts, the parts of you that are so lost and so isolated and so angry and hateful?  Those parts?  Most of us will say -- No way -- no way does anyone get to see those parts if I can help it, let alone love those parts.  How about your terrified parts, your desperate parts, your wounded, traumatized parts, the ones no one wants, the parts of you that have been rejected by everybody, including yourself.  This podcast is for us Catholics who understand at least intellectually that we have those parts.  And that those parts need to be loved.  Those parts also need to be redeemed.   For anyone out there who is saying "Well, I don't think I have any parts like that, Dr. Peter. I don't have any problems being loved."  My response to that is one of two possibilities -- either you are: 1 -- A very special person, who has been freed from our fallen human condition and you've achieved an extraordinary degree of perfection in the natural and spiritual realms -- and if so, congratulations to you.  You don't need this podcast and you don't need this episode, you are so far above the rest of us.  I'm in awe of you.  You don't need what I have to offer.   Or 2 -- you don't know yourself very well.  You are out of touch with yourself and your parts, disconnected inside.   It's especially hard for us to tolerate being loved by God.  That's the primary reason we don't love God back and we don't love our neighbor and we don't love ourselves. We won't be loved first.  God loved us first.   It all starts with God's love -- not our love.  God loved us first.   Heisman Trophy Winner Tim Tebow in his Book Shaken  “We were created by Love, in love, and for love.”   Paul tells us in Romans 5:8  But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.    God loved us first.   1 John 3:1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. The world does not know God.  Christianity is the way to discover who God actually is.  To discover what Love actually is.   John tells us in 1 John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.  This is what I want you to remember.  From St. John, 1 John 4:19:  St. John tells us:  We love because he first loved us  And it's up to us to take that love in, to let it reach to every corner of our being.  That doesn't sound easy.  And it's not as easy as it sounds.    Intro I am Dr. Peter Malinoski, a.k.a. Dr. Peter, clinical psychologist, trauma therapist, podcaster, blogger, cofounder and president of Souls and Hearts -- but most of all I am a beloved little son of God, a passionate Catholic who wants to help you to experience the height and depth and breadth and warmth and the light of the love of God, especially God the Father and our primary Mother Mary. What I want for you more than anything else is that you enter into a deep, intimate, personal, loving relationship with the three Persons of the Trinity and with our Lady. That is what this Interior Integration for Catholics podcast is all about, that is what Souls and Hearts is all about – all about shoring up the natural foundation for the spiritual life of intimacy with God, all about overcoming the natural human formation deficits and obstacles to contemplative union with God our Father and our Lady, our Mother  We are on an adventure of love together. Episode 94 of this podcast focused on the primacy of love in the Catholic life. Episode 95 focused on trauma's devastating impact on our capacity to love. Episode 96 discussed how trauma hardens us against being loved. Episode 97 discussed how trauma predisposes us to self-hatred and indifference, a refusal to love ourselves.  And episode 98, the last episode was all about ordered self-love, how we need to love ourselves in an ordered way in order to love God and neighbor, to carry out the two great Commandments. Today were to take a step back were to look at the most critical prerequisite for loving God and others. We are going to discuss being loved the first, accepting the love of God first. This is absolutely essential. The most critical mistake that most Catholics make is to refuse the love of God. Let me say that again.  The most critical mistake, the most devastating, catastrophic mistake that most Catholics make is to refuse to allow God's love to transform us entirely, to make us into new men and women.  Let us start out with The order of Loves God leads with love -- he goes first.  God makes the first move.  He moves toward us, we who He created, and who have fallen from grace because of original sin.  We don't make the first move.  God does.  He loved us first, and he continues to love us first  Sean Mitchell -- We Love Because He First Loved Us -- Those Catholic Men.   “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).  These words from the first letter of John beautifully and succinctly sum up the origin and end of the Christian life—which, in a word, is love.  “Being Christian,” said Benedict XVI, “is…the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 1).  That “encounter” is our experience of God “first loving us.”  The “new horizon” that it opens up, the “decisive direction” that it gives to our lives, is love—our love of God and our neighbor because of His prior love of us.  To participate in that endless exchange of love is what it means to be a Christian.  It is the center from which all other aspects of the Christian life emanate.  I fear that a significant number of Catholic men miss this point and regard something other than love as the central point of being a follower of Christ. What I did not include from Benedict's quote above is what he says being Christian is not.  It is not, he says, “the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea” (Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est).  To state that more generally, being Christian isn't primarily about my will or my intellect and what I do with them (i.e., make “ethical choices” and assent to “lofty ideas”).  Rather, it is first and foremost about my heart, my whole person in all its mystery, and what has been done to it by God.  Is it not the case, though, that so many of us fail to understand this?  If we're honest with ourselves, I think we would have to admit that it is, that we ourselves are among those men who place something other than love at (or at least close to) the center of our “Christian” life…even if we don't realize it. Comment on this Edward Vacek:  Love, Human and Divine: The Heart of Christian Ethics.  The sequence in loving and being loved.    (1) God affirms us; (2) God receives us; (3) we accept God's love; (4) we affirm God; (5) God forms community with us; (6) we cooperate with God in loving God in the world; and finally (7) we grow in a limited co-responsibility with God. p. 177 Genesis 3.   The trauma of original sin.   God comes looking for them -- God seeks them out -- hiding, fleeing from him in their shame and confusion and bitterness, in the trauma of original sin.   God calls out to them -- example of His gentleness.   No cursing of Adam and Eve.  The serpent is cursed, the ground is cursed.  Not Adam and Eve Provides clothing for them to help them with their shame.   Protects them from the Tree of Life.  Banishing them from the garden was an act of love -- if they had eaten from the tree of life, the Genesis 3:22- 24 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—  therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.  God making sure that they won't be separated from Him forever. St. Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis, 122 explains, “God did this lest this life-giving gift that they would receive through the tree of life become misery, and thus bring worse evil upon them than what they had already obtained from the tree of knowledge.  From the latter tree they obtained temporal pains, whereas the former tree would have made those pains eternal.  From the latter they obtained death which would have cast off from them the bonds of their pains.  The former tree, however, would have caused them to live as if buried alive, leaving them to be tortured eternally by their pains.”   The basic problem with the sequence -- not tolerating enough contact with God  to be affirmed, for Him to receive us. to understand Him in a radically different way.   And what kind of love is God's love for us?  God Himself tells us:  I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Jeremiah 31:3.  God is faithful to us.  He loves with an everlasting love.  Isaiah 54.10  For the mountains may depart     and the hills be removed,but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,    and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,    says the Lord, who has compassion on you. How steadfast is God's love:  Deuteronomy 7:9 tells us.  Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations Psalm 86:5 For thou, O Lord, art good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on thee. God requires a response from us.  -- abounding in steadfast love to all who call on thee.  We have to call on him, we have to respond to the love.   That is what this episode is all about.  This is episode 99 of the Interior Integration for Catholic podcast, released on November 7, 2022 titled IIC 99 Why We Catholics Reject God's Love for Us and How to Embrace that Love  CCC 221 But St. John goes even further when he affirms that "God is love": [1 John 4:8, 16] God's very being is love. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.  We have to take him up on that.   How do we know we are loved by God? -- 2 ways.   Faith and lived experience Faith  Infused virtue  CCC 150   Faith is first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed. As personal adherence to God and assent to his truth, Christian faith differs from our faith in any human person. It is right and just to entrust oneself wholly to God and to believe absolutely what he says. It would be futile and false to place such faith in a creature. CCC 153  When St. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared to him that this revelation did not come "from flesh and blood", but from "my Father who is in heaven".24 Faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him. "Before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him; he must have the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and 'makes it easy for all to accept and believe the truth.'"25  Lived experience of the relationship with God.   2 Timothy 1:12 But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Can feel it in consolations.   We don't want to engineer emotional experiences of closeness, manipulating emotions -- Concern about Catholic youth events, hyper emotional, noisy and using psychological techniques of influence to generated contrived emotional  experiences.  Hyping people up, getting them out of their window of tolerance.   We don't want to rely on our subjective experience of lived relationship Because the subjective experience of connection with God can vary way too much.   Von Hildebrand writes, “Our confidence in God must be independent of whether we experience His nearness, whether we sense the enlivening touch of grace, whether we feel ourselves being born on the wings of His love.” (p 210).  Mother Teresa 1957 confided to spiritual director:  In the darkness . . . Lord, my God, who am I that you should forsake me?  The child of your love — and now become as the most hated one. The one — you have thrown away as unwanted — unloved. I call, I cling, I want, and there is no one to answer . . . Where I try to raise my thoughts to heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul.  Love — the word — it brings nothing.  I am told God lives in me — and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul.  David Scott in chapter 17 of his book The Love That Made Mother Teresa wrote:  For more than fifty years following her initial visions and locutions, Mother Teresa was wrapped in a dark, pitiless silence. She only once more heard the voice of God, and she believed the doors of heaven had been closed and bolted against her. The more she longed for some sign of his presence, the more empty and desolate she became.   Needs Weekly Reflection:  from September 6, 2022:  The Top 10 Needs That Fuel Modern-Day Idol Worship  go to soulsandhearts.com/blog   Integrity Needs My need to exist and survive  My need to matter  My need to have agency  My need to be good  My need for mission and purpose in life   Attachment needs  --Brown and Elliott (2016) Felt sense of safety and protection -- have to go through the valley of shame, fear, anger, grief  Feeling seen, heard, known and understood -- have to tolerating being in relationship, being present.   Feeling comforted, soothed and reassured  Feeling cherished, treasured, delighted in  Feeling the other has your best interests at heart   Resistance to being loved Weaving in Integrity needs and attachment needs.   Main themes Limited vision and lack of imagination, leading to a refusal to be transformed by God  We don't understand God's love  The Costs of Being Loved by God  Poor God images  Poor Self images -- Shame  Refusal to be vulnerable, to be exposed, to be revealed to God.  Lack of courage.  Anger at God -- rebellion   Limited vision and lack of imagination, leading to a refusal to be transformed by God -- unhealthy satisfaction in far more limited spiritual goals -- a willingness to settle.  Von Hildebrand According to von Hildebrand, the vision of most Catholics is way too narrow – our sights are set way too low. We are satisfied with too little in the spiritual life – we are like chickens pecking at the ground when we are called to soar as eagles.  We may be content with merely avoiding sin, overcoming vices and developing virtues. Some of us may pursue the spiritual life as a self-improvement project, satisfied with incremental gains  Weekly reflection October 26, 2022 -- Why we resist change – and especially radical transformation.  Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children character Jacob Portman “One day my mother sat me down and explained that I couldn't become an explorer because everything in the world had already been discovered." Love, in some sense, is nothing other than an invitation to great joy and suffering, so they shy away from it.  Paul Catalanotto Refusal to love is also refusal to live  The Catholic Weekly John 6: 41-42 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven'?”  John 6: vs. 60 and 66  Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. We don't understand God's love Isaiah 55:8-9  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Sharon Jaynes When Love Hurts April 17, 2018.  Proverbs31.org   “Mommy, Mommy,” Steven cried. “Don't let them hurt me!”My son, Steven, was about 3 years old when he contracted a severe case of the flu. His slumped body snuggled listlessly like an old, worn rag doll.When I carried him into the medical clinic, the doctor quickly diagnosed dehydration and immediately sent us to the hospital.My heart ripped apart as the nurses strapped my little boy onto a table and began placing IVs in his tiny arms.“Mommy, Mommy,” Steven cried. “Make them stop! They're hurting me.”“No, honey,” I tried to assure him. “They're going to make you all better.”“Mommy, help me!”Steven cried. I cried. The nurses cried.I could only imagine what was going through Steven's little mind. Why are these people hurting me? Why doesn't Mommy make them stop? She must not love me. She's not protecting me. If she loved me she wouldn't let them do this. She must not care about me.Standing in the corner watching my little boy cry, I wondered if that's how God feels when I'm going through a painful situation that's for my ultimate good. I cried out, “God, why are You letting this happen? Don't You love me? Don't You care about what's happening to me? Why don't You make it stop?” Can see the need to exist here being threatened.  I might be very injured, I might die.  Integrity need No felt sense of being protected -- attachment need.  In fact, just the opposite.  The little child was being protected, but didn't understand, didn't feel it.   No felt sense of being comforted or soothed, child not open to it.  Third primary condition of secure attachment No felt sense of support for his highest good.  Fifth condition of secure attachment.   Parts of us very young, like this 3-year-old.   Hebrews 12:11  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Poor view of discipline Bad experiences of being disciplined -- not having been disciplined out of love  But rather out of anger or inconvenience or frustration.   Freud -- gratification and frustration to grow.   The Costs of Being Loved by God  Real love, agape or charity, is always given freely -- we understand that much But real love, agape, charity -- real love is never received freely in this fallen world.  There is a cost to allowing real love into our lives.   Very little discussion about the costs of being loved by God.  I find that so strange.  So many Catholics don't think this way. It is as though Catholics have parts that believe that being loved by God is one of two things Being loved by God should easy, delightful, peaceful --  like being the lead character a Hallmark movie  Romance novels.  Easy love that just come naturally.    Emotional Junk food that nourishes illusions.   and when it's not, they conclude that God isn't loving them, or that they are excluded from His love Being loved by God is terrible Echoes of Hebrews 10:31    It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.   Burning away Real love -- Agape -- burns away things that are sinful within us -- it doesn't coexist with the vice within us.  Real love also purifies us from anything that is not morally wrote, but that is disordered or dysfunctional or imperfect  Real love is the greatest good.  And because it's the greatest good, it requires us to give up lesser goods.  Perceived good and actual goods.   Coping strategies, crutches that helped us in the past Analogy of the safe -- limited room, silver and gold.  1 Peter 1:7 So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.   Zechariah 13:9 And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people'; and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.'”  Proverbs 17:3  The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.  Job 23:10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.  Integrity needs I exist  I matter  I am good   Attachment needs Felt safety and protection  Felt comfort and reassurance  Felt sense of being cherished and delighted in.  No experience of that while being corrected, perfected.   xThe cost is up front -- the benefit in the future.   Poor God images We don't understand God.  We don't know who he is. -- reflected in the Sharon Jaynes' story of her son at the doctor's office.    Lack of confidence in God.  Lack of Faith   God Images =  My emotional and subjective experiences of God, who I feel God to be in the moment.  May or may not correspond to who God really is.  What I feel about God in my bones. This is my experiential sense how my feelings and how my heart interpret God. Each part, not in right relationship with the innermost self, has a distorted God image.   God images are often unconscious.     Initially God images are shaped by the relationship that I have with my parents.     My God images are heavily influenced by psychological factors  Different God images can be activated at different times, depending on my emotional states and what psychological mode I am in at a given time.   God images are always formed experientially; God images flow from our relational experiences and  Also how we construe and make sense of those images when we are very young.  My God images can be radically different than my God concept.  We all have heretical God images.   Differ from  God Concept  = What I profess about God.  It is my more intellectual understanding of God, based on what one has been taught, but also based on what I have explored through reading.  I decide to believe in my God concept.  Reflected in the Creed, expanded in the Catechism, formal teaching.   Can take a while to get to these God images -- not on the surface  We don't know God very well.   We refuse Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons And Everyday Spirituality :  Allow people to love you as they must love you, not as you want them to love you. Even God does not love us as we wish Him to. Learning to love is learning to accept love as it comes. I will lose the relationship with God that I have if I push the envelope And you will.  That is true.   Episodes 37-49 on God images.   Really hits on attachment needs.   Poor Self images -- Shame Self-images are much more emotionally driven, much more intuitive, subjective, and they vary a lot more from moment to moment.     Each part, not in right relationship with the innermost self, has a distorted self image.   Pastor Jonathan Edwards  Sinners in the Hand of an angry God, 1740s    “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire ... you are ten thousand times so abominable in his eyes, as the most hateful and venomous serpent is in ours.”  Hiding from God.  Genesis 3.   I don't want to find out I am unlovable.  I can't bear that.   Episode 24 of this podcast, God images and self images.  Really hits on integrity needs.  Especially the need to be good.   Refusal to be vulnerable, to be exposed, to be revealed to God.  Because for love to be real, for love to be agape means me allowing you to love all of me.  All my parts.  My entire being Not just the acceptable parts of me in the shop window, those that I allow others to see.   Fears of being hurt one more time -- Fears of betrayal  Fears of abandonment   We think we can hide.   Self protection -- need to survive.  Need to be good.  Lack of courage. Philophobia -- fear of love  All of us have parts that fear love.  Comfort in the familiarity of the dysfunction we know.   Predictability Change is scary  Maureen Brady, Beyond Survival: A Writing Journey for Healing Childhood Sexual Abuse “For change to occur in us, we must be willing to enter the wilderness of the unknown and to wander in unfamiliar territory, directionless and often in the darkness....We do not need to keep every little thing under control. In fact, we find ourselves only by allowing some falling apart to happen.” Erica Jong:  I have accepted fear as a part of life - specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back. Nelson Mandela:  I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Anger at God, Rebellion against Him. secondary to poor God images.  Anger is the ordered emotion in response to injustice.   What is a part?  Separate, independently operating personalities within us, each with own unique prominent needs, roles in our lives, emotions, body sensations, guiding beliefs and assumptions, typical thoughts, intentions, desires, attitudes, impulses, interpersonal style, and world view.  Each part also has an image of God.   When parts are not integrated, under the leadership and guidance of my innermost self Self:  The core of the person, the center of the person.  This is who we sense ourselves to be in our best moments, and when our self is free, and unblended with any of our parts, it governs our whole being as an active, compassionate leader.   Parts in greater detail -- discussed my parts in Episode 71 A New and Better Way of Understanding Myself and Others.   Good Boy Evaluator (formerly "the Critic") Melancholio Adventurer (formerly my "part who holds fear") Feisty One (formerly my "angry part") Challenger (formerly "the Rebel") Lover Part Collaborator Parts (formerly my Competent Part) Guardian (formerly "the Intimidator") Creative Part Consequences -- Hell Nothing can separate us from God's love.   Romans 8:38-39 For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can separate you from the love of God, not even demons -- angel and principalities.  Nothing can separate you from the love of God.  With one exception.  You.   Only you can separate you from the love of God.  Only you have the power to do that, by refusing to let that love come it. That's what sin is.  It's separating ourselves from God.  Sin is damaging our relationship with God.    Separation happens  Jesus weeping over Jerusalem Luke 19:41-44  And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side,  and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation. It's not that God won't protect Jerusalem.  It's that he could not protect the Israelites, not without violating their freedom, not without forcing Himself on them.   Matthew 7:13-14   “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Pope John Paul II  in a 1999 audience, God did not create Hell.  Hell  “… is not a punishment imposed externally by God but a development of premises already set by people in this life.” Catechism of the Catholic Church edited by Archbishop Rino Fisichella 2019 by Our Sunday Visitor Louis Ladaria:  To be precise, God did not make Hell.  His free creatures make it, inasmuch as they separate themselves from Him. Nor does God send anyone to Hell: it is the damned one who separates himself and does not want to enter into the Father's house. God, St. Irenaeus said, does not really look to punish the damned, but as they are deprived of all good things, it is the penalty that pursues them (Adversus Haereses, V. 27, 2; a similar idea in St. Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, 5, 10: God abandons the sinner to his evil, he does not, properly speaking, give evil to anyone). Because of this, and despite what is said sometimes, we need to insist on the fact that Hell does not say anything against the infinite goodness of God. (p. 863).  Dean Koontz: The Book of Counted Sorrows:  “We make Hell real; we stoke its fires. // And in its flames our hope expires.   CCC 30 Although man can forget God or reject him, He never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness. CCC 1037  God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance. Not trying to catch us, not with a hand on the trap door to hell.   Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC  “Ask a Priest: If God loves us so much, why does hell exist?”  An analogy might help. Imagine you are on a ship that is searching for survivors from a sunken ocean liner. You see a passenger struggling in the waves behind you. You throw a lifeline to him, but he refuses to grab it. You beg him to take hold of the lifeline, but he ignores your plea. Eventually, he sinks below the waves and drowns. Does his drowning indicate that you were indifferent? When you begged him to grab the lifeline, were you displaying hate? Was his drowning your fault?  The answer to all these questions is: no. The person in the water, for whatever reason, refused your help. His drowning was the consequence. It doesn't matter why we flee from God and why we flee from His love.   Hell as isolation -- cut off from everyone.   Images of hell   Hell as isolation Tekla Babyak in 2018 article Dante, Liszt and the alienated agon of hell writes:  Dante Alighieri's Inferno portrays Hell as an alienated realm in which the doomed spirits must spend eternity in isolation and regret.  Deepest level of hell, the ninth circle:    "The treacheries of these souls were denials of love (which is God) and of all human warmth. Only the remorseless dead center of the ice will serve to express their natures. As they denied God's love, so are they furthest removed from the light and warmth of His Sun. As they denied all human ties, so are they bound only by the unyielding ice." John Ciardi, Inferno, notes on Canto XXXII, p. 248 Satan encased waist deep in ice.  Not fire.   Celeste Ng  Little Fires Everywhere character of Mia Warren “In all her years of itinerant living, Mia had developed one rule: Don't get attached to any place, to any apartment, to anything. To anyone.”   In Hell on earth Fragmentation of Dante's inferno -- lived now.   Dietrich Bonhoeffer  Life Together  “Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he comes involved in it, the more disastrous his isolation.”  Sharon M. Draper  Out of My Mind  character Melody Brooks  “It's like I live in a cage with no door and no key. And I have no way to tell someone how to get me out.”  Sue Johnson Hold Me Tight   “Isolation and the potential loss of loving connection is coded by the human brain into a primal panic response.”  C.S. Lewis:  The Great Divorce:  “That is why, at the end of all things, when the sun rises here and the twilight turns to blackness down there, the Blessed will say, “we have never lived anywhere except in heaven,' and the Lost, “We were always in Hell.” And both will speak truly.”   Action Plan  Pray Set aside the time.  First thing  Personal Prayer: A Guide for Receiving the Fathers' Love Fr. Thomas Acklin and Fr. Boniface Hicks.  Benedictines, very wise, good grasp of psychology.   Prayer Primer or Fire Within Fr. Thomas Dubay   Read the first letter of John. Lectio Divina Dan Burke Spiritual Direction.com Lectio Divina, A Guide: What it is & How It helps Prayer Life  Appendix on Lectio Divina in Fr. Jacques Philippe's book Called to Life  Section on Lectio Divina titled "mediating on Scripture in Fr. Jacques Philippe's book Thirsting for Prayer   Nike Model -- just do it.  Set aside perfectionism, desire to do it well. You're not going to do it well.  You're going to do it badly.   The most important things in life we either do badly or we don't do at all.   St. Therese of Avila. says: “He who neglects mental prayer needs not a devil to carry him to hell, but he brings himself there with his own hands.”   St. John of the Cross says: “Without the aid of mental prayer, the soul cannot triumph over the forces of the demon.”  St. Teresa of Avila “Prayer is an exercise of love.” (Life 7:12)   Do your human formation work Relational spirituality -- about relationship  Any difficulties you have in relationships in the natural realm, here on earth -- you are going to bring into your spiritual relationships.   Interior integration  Why is interior integration crucial for union with God?  Weekly reflection October 12, 2022  soulsandhearts.com/blog.   Get to know your parts Reason for not praying   Jay Earley -- Self Therapy Vol. 1.  Now in the Third Edition.    Bonnie Weiss Self-Therapy Workbook.   Means Therapy or counseling -- especially Internal Family Systems therapy with a therapist who is Catholic or who at least respects your Catholic Faith and will not undermine it.   Experiential Exercise -- November 21.  Splitting those out.   Resilient Catholic Community -- you do not have to be alone.   Reopening December 1 -- new cohort Get to know your parts I've brought together the best Wait list -- email on November 10.  Sign up soulsandhearts.com/rcc If interested, contact me.   Crisis@soulsandhearts.com 317.567.9594 conversation hours 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM Eastern Time Every Tuesday and Thursday.  (not November 17 -- online conference).   Pray for me  Sent the word out.  Let people know about our offerings at Souls and Hearts, this podcast, the weekly reflections.  Sign up for those - email.  Can see the archive at soulsandhearts.com/blog   Patroness and Patron  

Questions Covered: 06:12 – How do I understand Mary from a Catholic perspective compared to an American Baptist? 13:20 – Why did God make poison ivy? 18:55 – What was Jesus's vocation if he was high priest, carpenter ect? How does that compare to our understanding of our personal vocation? 29:09 – How do I respond to a protestant who holds Martin Luther in high regards in Christianity? 36:03 – When St. Paul was traveling around the world, did he do anything that today would be considered Catholic practices? 42:30 – Why are there so few canonized Latin American saints compared to European saints? 52:00 – Is there a difference between getting baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit verses in the name of Jesus? …

When St. John Chrysostom describes the continuing ministry of Christ through the Apostles as seen in Acts chapter 5, he says that "Earth was becoming like heaven". The same ministries Jesus did while on earth continued through Christ's Holy Church and they continue today. In 1 Corinthians 12, St. Paul describes the continuing ministry of Christ through the Church as He discusses the spiritual gifts that are ordered and distributed by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of all. Christ's desire has always been to continue, through every living stone in His Church, His ministry of bringing the souls of mankind to Himself so that He can grant them salvation and the experience of every benefit of His Kingdom.

Questions Covered: 01:25 – Are we able to pray the rosary while driving with the aid of audio, or would we have to do it again later for it to be valid? 03:33 – When St. Paul was Saul and was persecuting the Christians, what gave him the authority to do what he did? 06:19 – My friend was Atheist and now Protestant, but she's very hostile towards Catholicism. What would be a way to help her not be so hostile towards it? 11:09 – Can you obtain forgiveness for something you don't truly regret? 13:45 – Are there limits on plenary indulgences and do they generally fall under binding? 18:33 – I recently have been meeting with Mormon missionaries and they use Ezekiel 37 to defend the Book of Mormon. Could you elaborate on this passage and why it does or doesn't defend Mormonism? 23:15 – Would the Roman Pontiff be able to reinstitute the Tridentine Mass? 28:59 – Why does actual grace need to be present for good works to happen or at least be meritorious? 34:35 – Is it true that Judas was condemned to hell because of his actions towards Jesus? 40:54 – People point to Matthew 16:19 being the point at which Peter was given the keys. However, it says, “I will give you the keys”. Wouldn't that mean he was going to be given the keys later? 46:56 – During mass, the priest at my church sometimes asks the congregation to extend their right arm towards a particular person they want to bless. Is that a licit thing to do? If not, how can I approach the priest in a charitable way about it? 50:26 – Is it ok to receive Communion on the tongue if it's not from a priest? 52:18 – Is farming the ideal way for Catholics to get their food? What does the Catholic Church teach about mass food production and factory-made food? …

When St. Peter arose to address the people of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, he explained that the Resurrection of Christ was the fulfillment of prophecy. This was the first sermon to proclaim the gospel to the masses, delivered on Pentecost, the "birthday of the church." Peter's sermon, and other speeches in Acts of the Apostles, expressed and preserved crucial early Church traditions of how the crucifixion and resurrection were foretold by the prophets. It provides a snapshot of how the apostles evangelized their fellow Jews and provides important lessons for us as well

When St. Peter arose to address the people of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, he explained that the Resurrection of Christ was the fulfillment of prophecy. This was the first sermon to proclaim the gospel to the masses, delivered on Pentecost, the "birthday of the church." Peter's sermon, and other speeches in Acts of the Apostles, expressed and preserved crucial early Church traditions of how the crucifixion and resurrection were foretold by the prophets. It provides a snapshot of how the apostles evangelized their fellow Jews and provides important lessons for us as well

When St. Peter arose to address the people of Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, he explained that the Resurrection of Christ was the fulfillment of prophecy. This was the first sermon to proclaim the gospel to the masses, delivered on Pentecost, the "birthday of the church." Peter's sermon, and other speeches in Acts of the Apostles, expressed and preserved crucial early Church traditions of how the crucifixion and resurrection were foretold by the prophets. It provides a snapshot of how the apostles evangelized their fellow Jews and provides important lessons for us as well

If you're launching a moonshot, success depends on how you manage the trajectory of risk. When Stéphane Bancel became Moderna's first CEO, the biotech start-up was chasing a way-out idea many experts thought was impossible. Stéphane built a culture of calculated risk-taking to create a platform for extraordinary leaps — one that enabled life-saving mRNA vaccines when Covid-19 struck.Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.comSubscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dlirtXSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Gospel of the Kingdom-Part II - This week, Leslie and Peter discuss the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. When St. Paul and Silas declare that there is another King, Jesus, in Acts 17, they cause a riot in Thessalonica. What is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and why is it so important to understand? When Jesus first appears in the scene in Mark, chapter one, He tells us the way into this Gospel of the Kingdom. He calls us into a threefold response just as He did to the Apostles-Repent, Believe, and Follow! In seeking the Kingdom of God, we discover a Kingdom Mentality that brings transformation into our personal lives, our families, and our parishes!

One of the things that would set St. Louis on its path toward being world renown in medicine, was the arrival of Antoine Saugrain. A doctor who, among other things, gave the first small pox vaccines west of the Mississippi. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------ Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Health and Wellness, Medical, People of Note, Science and Technology, Podcast Transcript: I'm Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here's History on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ——— When St. Louis was established in 1764, it was a small trading outpost. Its founders had grand visions for what that trading outpost might become, but one thing that they probably never imagined is that St. Louis would become a home of world-class hospitals and cutting-edge medical and pharmaceutical science, the way it is today. That's because, for over twenty years after St. Louis was founded, there were no doctors in St. Louis. ——— That all changed in 1799, when the Paris-trained physician and chemist Antoine Saugrain chose to move here. Soon after Saugrain arrived he was performing surgeries, diagnosing illnesses, and prescribing cures for the ailments of St. Louisans and folks from the surrounding region. While Saugrain had many medicines shipped in to St. Louis, he also hand-made many treatments out of the medicinal herbs and plants that he grew in his own garden. In addition to offering medical treatment to the city's residents, Saugrain also helped trappers and traders heading west to stock up with the medical equipment they would need on their journeys. Most notably, Saugrain helped to outfit the Lewis and Clark expedition with medical provisions—even hand-making and calibrating the thermometers they would use as they traveled to the Pacific and back again. The tools Saugrain provided to Lewis and Clark proved invaluable to the expedition. ——— Dr. Saugrain was also well known in St. Louis for his charitable spirit. One of the best-educated early St. Louisans, Dr. Saugrain had a huge private library of over 450 books. He often opened that private library to the public, so that citizens of St. Louis could read the latest cultural and scientific texts from around the globe. But he began performing his most charitable act in 1809. That year, Saugrain began administering the smallpox vaccine in St. Louis, the first time the vaccine had been available west of the Mississippi River. In an act of charity, Dr. Saugrain advertised that he would administer the vaccine to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. His selflessness saved many lives as people traveled from all over the territory to receive the vaccine. Saugrain died in 1820, but the city he called home continued to lead the way in the medical field long after his passing. ——— Here's History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I'm Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

After a concert at the St. Augustine Amphitheater in 2010, Michelle O'Connell and Jeremy Banks headed home with some friends. Minutes after their friends left, Banks claims that Michelle found his service weapon and shot herself with it.**Sponsor is Caraway Home https://carawayhome.com/crime Use Discount Code crime for 10% off your order. Subscribe to Autumn's Oddities on iHeart - https://ihr.fm/3uQVaK2Subscribe on Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/3tUZrLLSubscribe Everywhere else - https://bit.ly/3I9rvQXWhen St. John's County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene, they recognized Banks as one of their very own deputies. This is another case where there was very little investigating done and extremely questionable circumstances surrounding a death.SOURCEShttp://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2017/03/two-doctors-disciplined-in-michelle.htmlhttps://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/michelle-oconnell-mom-world-golf-village-father-killed-days-after-bombshell-records-request/930734259/https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/03/02/killing-of-michelle-oconnell-case-researcher-remains-unsolved-more-than-2-years-later/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/us/florida-rusty-rodgers-jeremy-banks-lawsuit-dismissed.htmlhttps://www.scribd.com/doc/219466713/Michelle-O-Connellhttps://www.scribd.com/document/272978822/Investigative-Report-SCANNED-O-Connell~~~~~~~~~~~Indie Drop-InAll content legally licensed from the original creator. Thank you to Autumn's Oddities for the great episode. You can find Indie Drop-In at https://indiedropin.comHelp Indie Drop-In support indie creators by buying us a coffee!https://buymeacoffee.com/indiedropinBrands can advertise on Indie Drop-In using Patreonhttps://patreon.com/indiedropinTwitter: https://twitter.com/indiedropinInstagram: https://instagram.com/indiedropinFacebook: https://facebook.com/indiedropinAny advertising found in this episode is inserted by Indie Drop-In and not endorsed by the Creator.If you would like to have your show featured go to http://indiedropin.com/creators~~~~~~~~~~~#podcast #truecrime #toptruecrime #truecrimepodcast

After a concert at the St. Augustine Amphitheater in 2010, Michelle O'Connell and Jeremy Banks headed home with some friends. Minutes after their friends left, Banks claims that Michelle found his service weapon and shot herself with it.**Sponsor is Caraway Home https://carawayhome.com/crime Use Discount Code crime for 10% off your order. Subscribe to Autumn's Oddities on iHeart - https://ihr.fm/3uQVaK2Subscribe on Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/3tUZrLLSubscribe Everywhere else - https://bit.ly/3I9rvQXWhen St. John's County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene, they recognized Banks as one of their very own deputies. This is another case where there was very little investigating done and extremely questionable circumstances surrounding a death.SOURCEShttp://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2017/03/two-doctors-disciplined-in-michelle.htmlhttps://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/michelle-oconnell-mom-world-golf-village-father-killed-days-after-bombshell-records-request/930734259/https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/03/02/killing-of-michelle-oconnell-case-researcher-remains-unsolved-more-than-2-years-later/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/us/florida-rusty-rodgers-jeremy-banks-lawsuit-dismissed.htmlhttps://www.scribd.com/doc/219466713/Michelle-O-Connellhttps://www.scribd.com/document/272978822/Investigative-Report-SCANNED-O-Connell~~~~~~~~~~~Indie Drop-InAll content legally licensed from the original creator. Thank you to Autumn's Oddities for the great episode. You can find Indie Drop-In at https://indiedropin.comHelp Indie Drop-In support indie creators by buying us a coffee!https://buymeacoffee.com/indiedropinBrands can advertise on Indie Drop-In using Patreonhttps://patreon.com/indiedropinTwitter: https://twitter.com/indiedropinInstagram: https://instagram.com/indiedropinFacebook: https://facebook.com/indiedropinAny advertising found in this episode is inserted by Indie Drop-In and not endorsed by the Creator.If you would like to have your show featured go to http://indiedropin.com/creators~~~~~~~~~~~#podcast #truecrime #toptruecrime #truecrimepodcast

After a concert at the St. Augustine Amphitheater in 2010, Michelle O'Connell and Jeremy Banks headed home with some friends. Minutes after their friends left, Banks claims that Michelle O'Connell found his service weapon and shot herself with it. When St. John's County Sheriff's Office arrived on the scene, they recognized Banks as one of their very own deputies. This is another case where there was very little investigating done and extremely questionable circumstances surrounding a death. SOURCEShttp://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2017/03/two-doctors-disciplined-in-michelle.htmlhttps://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/michelle-oconnell-mom-world-golf-village-father-killed-days-after-bombshell-records-request/930734259/https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/03/02/killing-of-michelle-oconnell-case-researcher-remains-unsolved-more-than-2-years-later/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/us/florida-rusty-rodgers-jeremy-banks-lawsuit-dismissed.htmlhttps://www.scribd.com/doc/219466713/Michelle-O-Connellhttps://www.scribd.com/document/272978822/Investigative-Report-SCANNED-O-Connell

The word Rigid or rigidity has become something of a buzzword and specifically a hammer to use, indiscriminately against orthodox or traditional Catholics who want to hold fast to the teachings of the Church, without compromise. I've heard pastors and bishops using it a lot these days and what I find interesting is that this term doesn't appear among lists of sins in scripture or in tradition. When St. Paul enumerates who will not inherit the kingdom of Heaven in 1 Corinthians, the rigid don't appear there. When we think of the 7 deadly sins, it doesn't appear there either, so it raises the question, is this something new or. The first thing to notice about it is that the word rigid, is a metaphorical word. It doesn't describe a literal trait that someone could have, unless you're talking about diseases like Parkinson's… but I doubt that's what clerics mean when they are accusing people of being rigid. Now, the thing about metaphorical language is that it is drawn from objects which are not human and is therefore, imprecise when it is applied to us… which means, it needs a lot of clarification when it is used. It needs to be related back to traits that are, literally, human traits. This is the thing about metaphorical language. It can help expand our understanding of something literal, by providing references and associations to other things that we might already be familiar with. Because, as Catholics, grounded in the knowledge of scripture and revelation, as well as the great wisdom of the tradition of reason which gave us virtue ethics, we have a fairly comprehensive list of qualities that we can be confident are precise and accurate in defining good qualities, what we might call virtues, and bad qualities, what we might call vices. If we want to use metaphorical words like Rigid to expand or enhance our understanding of a literal vice or virtue, then it can be a welcome rhetorical device as long as it's accurately applied in a way that brings clarity rather than ambiguity and confusion. Unfortunately, when I've heard this term used by Catholic leaders, it often appears divorced from the kind of clarity that I think is necessary. It's tossed out in vague allusions which can be seized on by anyone who wants to use it to condemn people they don't like. So, I think we need to be more precise with this term by clarifying what literal vices or sins we are associating it with or stop using it altogether because of how easily it can be associated with qualities that are not only not sins, but virtues, in fact. As a side note, notice that the definition of virtue is, a stable disposition to good. The catechism substitutes stable for firm but whichever word you use, it means unfaltering.

When St. Louis gastroenterologist Dr. Leonard Weinstock realized how much long-haul COVID-19 had in common with a little-known syndrome, he snapped to attention. He and a patient discuss how his research has led to a potential breakthrough in treating her long COVID.

Alvin “Creepy” Karpis once said, “Of all the midwest cities the one I knew best was St. Paul and it was a crook's haven." In this episode Jennie and Dianne visit the mausoleum of Police Chief John J. O'Connor in Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota. They delve into O'Connor's plan to fight "organized crime with organized intelligence", and how this led to creating a sort of gangsters' paradise during the age of prohibition through the mid-1930s. Join us for this ordinary, extraordinary story of power, lawlessness, glamour and downfall with a visit to one of St Paul's oldest cemeteries.Resources used to research this episode include: "Calvary Cemetery." https://catholic-cemeteries.org/. catholic-cemeteries.org/calvary/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022. "An Early History of Saint Paul ." https://www.visitsaintpaul.com/. www.visitsaintpaul.com/blog/an-early-history-of-saint-paul/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022.Ratsabout, Saengmany. https://www.mnopedia.org/. 18 Dec. 2018. www.mnopedia.org/immigrants-and-refugees-minnesota-connecting-past-and-present. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022. "John J. O'Connor St. Paul's Chief of Police ." http://www.spphs.com/. 1 Jan. 1919. www.spphs.com/history/1919/oconnor.php. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022.Steenberg, Edward J. "John Joseph O'Connor and the "Layover Agreement" (One Person's Observations) ." http://www.spphs.com/. www.spphs.com/history/oconnor/index.php. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022.Reicher, Matt. "When St. Paul — officially — served as a safe haven for criminals ." https://www.minnpost.com/. 29 July 2014. www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2014/07/when-st-paul-officially-served-safe-haven-criminals/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2022.Society, Minnesota Historical. "St. Paul: Gangster Haven." https://youtu.be/, 6 Dec. 2010, youtu.be/oVgrhFOiVS4.Underworld Compilation, The Criminal . "Gangster History of St. Paul, Minnesota." https://youtu.be/, 30 Mar. 2020, youtu.be/MGjwIyzlG5U.History, Travel Thru. "Wabasha Street Caves - St. Paul, Minnesota - Travel Thru History." https://youtu.be/, 24 June 2014, youtu.be/SM0bbzo_zxM., C-SPAN. "C-SPAN Cities Tour - St. Paul: Gangster Era in St. Paul." https://youtu.be/, 19 Sep. 2014, youtu.be/v3WrckIXpY4.

When St. Francis created the original Christmas nativity scene in the year 1223, he insisted that there be an ox and a donkey. Here's why. The post Where the Food Is appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

Episode 077 of That Was Disappointing is Live. Shitter was full, ya filthy animals. Yippie-Ki-Yay, Movie House! Today's Theme: It's our Awkward Office Holiday Party. Come for the hot chocolate, stay for the heavy petting. It's that time of the year again, boys and girls. When St. Nick sticks his merry old fat-ass down the chimney and gifts the lot of us a bevy of sweet swag like new socks and unstained undies. Hey, maybe he'll actually bring us something good this year… like a 2022 that doesn't suck. Nevermind. He just looked at our internet search history and put us on the naughty list for the remainder of the decade. *sad trombone*

Homily for the Monday of the Third Week of Advent "Those whose hearts are pure, are temples of the Holy Spirit." St. Lucy, vowed at an early age, to live her live in service of Christ. This meant that Lucy was not interested in marrying, especially to the man her family had chosen as a spouse. When St. Agatha appeared to Lucy in a dream and confirmed that her mother's illness would be cured, this experience helped her convince her mother that she was only destined for only one spouse: Christ. St. Lucy was a martyr for her faith who gave up her goods to the poor and reverence for her became so widespread that she made it into the Roman canon. Like the early Christians, we are pressured in all sorts of was to worship other things such as materialism and consumerism. Today, may we draw upon the inspiration of St. Lucy in these times.

Read Isaiah 25:1-12. Do you ever get obsessed by something that really doesn’t matter very much? Or do you overreact to something that someone said or did and you can’t shake it off, even though you know deep down that it isn’t as serious as you’re making it out to be? When St. Bernard of Clairvaux was faced with the ups and downs of life – the daily problems, cares and hindrances – he would mutter under his breath, “What does it matter in the light of eternity”? In other words, will any of this matter in the end? Maybe it’s something we should mutter under our breath, rather than whatever we usually mutter when things go wrong! He used to say it in Latin, of course: “Quid hoc ad aeternitatem”? Practice it this week! Repeatedly in Scripture, the Kingdom of God is presented to us. Jesus used stories, parables and metaphors to help explain what he knew but what we find more difficult to understand. Others did too, including the prophet Isaiah in today’s passage. The Kingdom of God is the big picture of Scripture that tells us what life is really all about and what will really matter at the final reckoning. Jesus invites us to let go of the daily dramas we face, the hurts and slights we endure and our own agendas and to live in the Kingdom of God, to find ourselves in the final and full picture. Will you join me in this great feast of life as envisaged by Isaiah? Let the passing things of life do just that – pass by – and eat at the Kingdom’s Great Banquet in God. THINK IT OVER Think about the following: • What trivial thing are you fixated about that you need to challenge with the question, “What does it matter in the light of eternity”?

When St. Paul instructs us to put on the armor of God, he is revealing a powerful and mighty truth to us that is vitally relevant even today as we continue to contend with the Devil.

When St. Francis-Mountain View pulled off its seismic 31-28 victory over De La Salle-Concord on Friday night — becoming the first Northern California team in 30 years to beat the Spartans — hosts Chace and Ben decided an emergency podcast was in order. The hosts welcome old friend and colleague, Damin Esper, who has spent the past three seasons as the primary color analyst on the De La Salle TV internet broadcasts. Esper shares his take on the game and what the atmosphere was like at Ron Calcagno Stadium. The three guys also share thoughts on the West Catholic Athletic League finally getting its upset, how the NorCal pecking order shakes out in the aftermath, and what's next for the North State's most famous program.

When St.Paul was showing gratitude for being a preacher of the New Covenant, what did he mean by that? What is the letter and the spirit? Listen to this episode and find out! If you would like more information about God, His Kingdom, and His Son Jesus Christ, please check out these resources: Our Youtube channel, It Pays to Fear God: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0WKONmKoTFwezN0a3kkVNg/ Our Book: https://www.amazon.ca/Gods-Unfolding-Government-ATTESTING-INAUGURATION-ebook/dp/B086T4XYVQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=god%27s+unfolding+government&qid=1586357200&sr=8-1 Our Website: https://ewaenruwa.wixsite.com/itpaystofeargod Questions about God? Email them to (itpaystofeargod2@gmail.com).

Good Morning it's Saturday May 22nd, and this is The Wenatchee World's newest podcast, Slices of Wenatchee. We're excited to bring you a closer look at one of our top stories and other announcements every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.    Today - Lisa Martinez was just a young girl when she first came to St. Joseph's Catholic School in Wenatchee. Years later, Martinez came back to the school as a teacher and now she's set to lead the school as principal.   This episode is brought to you by Equilus Group Incorporated. Equilus Group, Inc is a Registered Investment Advisory Firm in the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Equilus Group, Inc- Building Your Financial Success. Learn more at Equilusfinancial.com. Member SIPC and FINRA.   -   Now our feature story...   When St. Joseph's Catholic School started in Wenatchee in 1955, it was run by an order of nuns. That continued until just two years ago. The church moved the order out of the area and Deacon Robert Turner was brought in as interim principal while the search began for a new principal.   But the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the search process. Now, Lisa Martinez is set to become principal at the preschool-to-fifth grade school.    She's taught there for the past 10 years.   Carrie McCarthy, director of Religious Education for the parish, was part of the seven-person selection committee. And Martinez was one of 4 finalists.   McCarthy said she just blew them away with her vision for the school. They were all pretty excited.   It was clear Martinez was uniquely qualified.   Martinez said she's super excited about the opportunity to continue at St. Joe's. The school is a special place for her.   She noted that parents, staff, and students all support each other in faith and in other areas.   St. Joseph's currently has 120 and 19 other teachers.   But Martinez says it's different now than when she was in school. Still, the faith is strong and the Catholic identity is strong.   Deacon Robert Turner, who was the interim principal, said that Martinez's No. 1 strength for the job is her faith and her commitment to the school's mission.   He said she's incredibly well organized in both her daily performance as a teacher and her ability to take charge of extra, especially something as large as the school accreditation process, which took a couple years. She is very selfless. She gives of herself to kids after school and before school. He finally noted that she has served selflessly for years and continues to do so.   Turner said Martinez is also technologically strong. He said the decisions she makes will be data driven because she knows how to look at and analyze data.   Plus, she is an experienced teacher who has taught at multiple grade levels. Her peers have absolute respect for her.   For Turner, Martinez is just the person to uphold the traditions of the past and lead the school into the future.   For the school it was important that they find a person who has that deep-rooted commitment to Catholic education.   So how did Martinez go from teacher to principal? Well, recently she went through the accreditation process for the first time through the Western Catholic Education Association. She is also going to Loyola Marymount University where she'll receive her Catholic School Leadership Certificate in June. Martinez also plans to get a master's degree in school leadership.   For her - she's learning exactly what she needs to know to be a Catholic school leader.    You can also stay up to date with this story at wenatcheeworld.com.   - Before we continue, a special thanks to our friends and sponsors at Confluence Health. The team at Confluence Health is grateful for the trust the community puts in them every single day. They are diligently working to improve the health and quality of life for our friends and neighbors. They are Grateful | They are Confluence Health.  Learn more by visiting them at ConfluenceHealth.com -- Also, did you know that Eastmont seniors will have a …. somewhat … normal, in-person graduation ceremony on June 4th? Well, normal meaning families of up to 4 will be able to attend.   Last year's Eastmont high school graduation, like many events in the Wenatchee Valley, took on a new and different shape in light of the pandemic. Graduating seniors last year walked across the stage in front of an uncrowded parking lot during a drive-thru cap-and-gown ceremony.   But this year's ceremony will be at Eastmont's football stadium. Space capacity will be limited to 50%.   Eastmont will email out seating and ticket information to families. But other questions can be answered by the school's admission office at (509) 884-7169.   --   Next, our weekly profile of one of the World's 30 Under 35 award recipients.    This week - Ana Gonzalez. Gonzalez was 22 when she returned to college. Born and raised in the Wenatchee Valley she got her associates degree from Wenatchee Valley College and was working at a job she enjoyed… but realized she wanted more.   So she enrolled at Central Washington University and completed her bachelor's degree in sociology in 2014. Then, she got a master's degree in mental health counseling in 2016.    From there she was hired as a child and family therapist at Catholic Charities. There, she helped children, adolescents and families in the community with counseling services tailored to specific behaviors, emotions and thought processes.   But she didn't stop there. Gonzalez earned her national counselor and mental health professional certifications in 2017. And earned her mental health counselor license in 2018.   Then, when Catholic Charities' Trueblood Diversion program was established, she was one of five team members. The program helps provide outreach services to individuals experiencing acute emotional crises. Their goal is to divert people from incarceration or hospitalization.    In 2020, she moved into the role of manager and continued to build the program, working with the court, jail, attorneys and law enforcement agencies to bridge the gap between mental health and government agencies.    Through her persistent efforts and relationships with community partners, she helped restructure the program. She helped them gain additional funding too. She's also been able to support local law enforcement through a co-responder model. When we asked Martinez what accomplishments she's most proud of she said that it would be rebuilding and maintaining a multi-million dollar program for this Valley.   She's also proud of what she's built in partnership with the Chelan County Sheriff's Office. She started development of the Behavioral Health Unit, where mental health providers ride in police vehicles, with the goal of reaching individuals who may benefit from additional support and guidance in navigating access to social services. Martinez says she's often referred to as the “broker to social services” among law enforcement agencies.   We also asked her what inspires her, and Martinez told us it was her family, and her son. She's a first-generation college graduate, and the only one in her large extended family to receive a master's degree.   Her father immigrated to the United States at the age of 14 from Mexico, where he laid new roots and a foundation for our family.    Martinez's parents both became citizens and have worked their entire life in the agriculture industry.   Her father always instilled the values of being a hard worker and humility. So she always knew she wanted to pursue a career in social services.    Congratulations Ana!   - Support the show: https://www.wenatcheeworld.com/site/forms/subscription_services/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When St.Paul warned us to not "grieve the Holy Spirit", what did he mean by this? Was he describing the Holy Spirit as a physical person who would walk with us, which we can grieve with disobedience? Or was he describing something more spiritual, but something very common in our physical, daily lives? Listen to this episode and find out! If you would like more information about God, His Kingdom, and His Son Jesus Christ, please check out these resources: Our Youtube channel, It Pays to Fear God: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0WKONmKoTFwezN0a3kkVNg/ Our Book: https://www.amazon.ca/Gods-Unfolding-Government-ATTESTING-INAUGURATION-ebook/dp/B086T4XYVQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=god%27s+unfolding+government&qid=1586357200&sr=8-1 Our Website: https://ewaenruwa.wixsite.com/itpaystofeargod Questions about God? Email them to (itpaystofeargod2@gmail.com).

When Stève Sfartz joined Cisco's DevNet after decades of experience in technical programs management, enterprise transformation, and software architecture, he was skeptical about the value of establishing standards and scoring for API developers. Today, he is a passionate advocate of the value and long-term benefits to be gained from building not one- but two-level standards to ensure consistency, enhance API value, and optimize developer community experience.  In this episode, Stève explains how cloud computing changed the landscape of API development by breaking traditional silos and forcing developers to think in terms of sustainable project and industry growth instead of remaining focused on a single API project.He also shares insight into both the long-term benefits of establishing internal development standards and scoring as well as some tips on what to measure and how to measure it.Do you have a question you'd like answered, or a topic you want to see in a future episode? Let us know here:https://stoplight.io/question/

When St. Philip gets to ask Jesus for the thing he most wants, he asks Jesus, "Show us the Father." He asks to see God. Not a bad request. The post Show Us the Father appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

When St. Paul was professing that he "pressed toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ", what did he mean by that? Is he pressing by continuously running around? Or is he talking about it in a spiritual sense, a sense that applies to all Christians today? Listen to this episode and find out! If you would like more information about God, His Kingdom, and His Son Jesus Christ, please check out these resources: Our Youtube channel, It Pays to Fear God: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0WKONmKoTFwezN0a3kkVNg/ Our Book: https://www.amazon.ca/Gods-Unfolding-Government-ATTESTING-INAUGURATION-ebook/dp/B086T4XYVQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=god%27s+unfolding+government&qid=1586357200&sr=8-1 Our Website: https://ewaenruwa.wixsite.com/itpaystofeargod Questions about God? Email them to (itpaystofeargod2@gmail.com).

When Stéphane Allix set off for a retreat in the Amazon Rainforest to unwind and take a look at his life, he never imagined that he was about to face the unthinkable. During meditation, he had a vision: a Second World War soldier was hit in the throat and was dying. The man's name and other information were also revealed to him. The experience was extremely puzzling. Why did he feel so intimately connected with this person? Obsessed with this compelling vision, Stéphane launched into a meticulous investigation and was amazed to discover that the soldier had really existed. Thus, began an astounding adventure into the past and beyond his present life. I've read some extraordinary stories in my time, but the one that Stéphane Allix relates in his book When I Was Someone Else - The Incredible True Story of Past Life Connection tops everything I've ever read about Past Lives. If you're looking for proof of the afterlife, this book's evidence cannot be ignored. Stéphane shares details of this story along with the 10 Spiritual Books that influenced him the most in this episode of the No BS Spiritual Book Club's video series. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sandie-sedgbeer/support

When St.Paul told us that Satan has been transformed into an angel of light, what does it mean? Is it that Satan is producing light for the Earth? Or is it that Satan has became a righteous angel? Listen to this episode and find out what 2 Corinthians 11:14 means! If you would like more information about God, His Kingdom, and His Son Jesus Christ, please check out these resources: Our Youtube channel, It Pays to Fear God: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0WKONmKoTFwezN0a3kkVNg/ Our Book: https://www.amazon.ca/Gods-Unfolding-Government-ATTESTING-INAUGURATION-ebook/dp/B086T4XYVQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=god%27s+unfolding+government&qid=1586357200&sr=8-1 Our Website: https://ewaenruwa.wixsite.com/itpaystofeargod Questions about God? Email them to (itpaystofeargod2@gmail.com).

http://plectrumelectrum.3rdeyegirl.com/ (Prince )discovered Paul Peterson, aka “St Paul,” at the age of 17. He enlisted him as a keyboard player in http://morrisdayandthetime.com/ (“The Time”) for the movie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Rain_(film) (“Purple Rain.”) Paul took the lead vocalist spot in the Prince produced group http://www.fdeluxe.com/ (“The Family” )before becoming a solo artist and scoring hits for http://www.discogs.com/St-Paul-St-Paul/release/711894 (MCA) and http://www.amazon.com/Down-Wire-St-Paul/dp/B000008L2K (Atlantic Records.) St. Paul has recorded, toured or written with http://www.stevemillerband.com/ (Steve Miller,) http://www.frampton.com/ (Peter Frampton), https://www.hallandoates.com/ (Daryl Hall,) http://plectrumelectrum.3rdeyegirl.com/ (Prince,) http://www.georgebenson.com/ (George Benson), http://www.oletaadams.com/ (Oleta Adams,) http://www.georgebenson.com/ (The Corrs), http://www.kennyloggins.com/ (Kenny Loggins), and http://www.morrisdayandthetime.com/ (Morris Day and The Time) to name a few.  His band, http://www.fdeluxe.com/ (fDeluxe) (formerly The Family) is celebrating the 35th anniversary of their Prince produced record with a few select shows around the country. Paul has recently put together "http://www.mplsallfunkallstars.com/ (St Paul and the Mpls Funk All Stars)," consisting of musicians and producers who helped to create the Mpls Sound.  He also hosts a hugely successful video podcast "Music On The Run". When St. Paul isn't recording, he runs http://www.petersonmusicandevents.com/ (Peterson Music and Events), a music and event consulting service originally started by his father Willie Peterson back in the 1940's. He also has a 16 piece orchestra that plays at many of the top galas in the Mpls/St Paul area, appropriately titled the http://www.paulpetersonorchestra.com/ (Paul Peterson Orchestra). 2018 Highlights include playing in Australia twice! Once as the musical director of Nothing Compares 2 Prince, an all-alumni tribute concert to the one and only Prince. He played two sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House, and one in Melbourne. St Paul returned to Melbourne and played Birds Basement with his band The http://www.mplsfunkallstars.com/ (Mpls Funk All Stars) 2017 highlights include touring with his new band, http://www.mplsfunkallstars.com/ (St Paul and the Minneapolis Funk All Stars )in Australia and Maui, where Mick Fleetwood and Steven Tyler sat in. 2016 Highlights include a summer tour with classic rocker http://www.frampton.com/ (Peter Frampton), and a #1 Smooth Jazz penned hit with http://www.brianculbertson.com/ (Brian Culbertson.)  www.paulpeterson.com www,joekelleyradio.com Originally aired March 9th, 2020

Today we celebrate St. Martin de Porres, We play Dimelo Alexa and What's Trending con Moka Laguna. Padre Pio Letter: ¡Oh, cuán pesada es esta vida mortal para los hijos de Dios, mis queridísimas hijas, pero, oh Dios, cuán deseable es la vida del más allá, que la misericordia del Señor se complacerá en concedernos! No debemos dudar en lo más mínimo de poseerlo algún día, aunque seamos indignos, y si no seamos completamente indignos, eso es sólo porque Dios ejerce misericordia hacia aquellos que han puesto su esperanza en él. Cuando San Carlos Borromeo estaba al final de su vida, llevó consigo un crucifijo para endulzar su partida al contemplar la muerte de Nuestro Señor. El mejor remedio, entonces, cuando te encuentres en algún tipo de prueba, ya sea material o moral, física o espiritual, es pensar en Aquel que es nuestra vida y no pensar nunca en la prueba sin pensar también en Él. Oh, how burdensome is this mortal life for the children of God, my dearest daughters, but, oh God, how desirable is the life that is beyond, which the mercy of the Lord will be pleased to grant us! We should not be the least bit doubtful about possessing it one day, even though we are unworthy, and if we are not completely unworthy, that is only because God exercises mercy toward those who have placed their hope in him. When St. Charles Borromeo was at the end of his life, he carried a crucifix with him to make his departure sweeter by gazing on the death of Our Lord. The best remedy, then, whenever you find yourself in some kind of trial, be it material or moral, physical or spiritual, is to think of the One who is our life and to never think about the trial without also thinking of him. Please follow us on instagram as @SomosIncorrupto

Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and MartyrIn one of his letters, St. Boniface writes, “In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life's different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.” At the time of St. Boniface, the missionaries in Germany had a difficult time evangelizing because the pagans were worshipping an oak tree. When St. Boniface arrived, he saw that the tree was in the way, so he cut it down. He got rid of the obstacle that prevented the people from getting closer to God and knowing the Truth. What are the obstacles in our lives that keep us from receiving that great peace? Let's ask the Lord to give us the strength to chop down the trees that block the light of truth from shining through.Click here for today's readings.

When St. Louis resident Elsie McGrath became an ordained female priest in 2007, her defiance angered local Catholic officials. Though she was later excommunicated by a St. Louis archbishop, McGrath has continued to lead a small Roman Catholic congregation. She's now feeling hopeful that the church may eventually allow women to join the ministry.

Summary: The church in Corinth was going through an identity crisis, comprised of people going through their own identity crises. We too live in a culture that obsesses over identity. Who am I? How do I fit in this world? "Identity" language is the heart language of our culture. We base our identity on our sexuality, politics, dietary preferences, work out routine. We want to be known for our education, career accomplishments, where we live, what we own. The Apostle Paul addressed the Corinthians with relevant lessons for us as well.Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit Mosaicboston.com.Hello, welcome to Mosaic church. My name is Jan, I'm one of the pastors here at Mosaic. If you're new, if you're visiting, welcome. We're so glad you're here, and we'd love to connect with you if you'd like to connect with us. We do that officially through the connection card in the worship guide. If you fill it out legibly and then toss it into the offering basket after, we'll be sure to get in touch with you over the course of the week. Also, if you today for the very first time, respond to the gospel and choose to become a Christian, you can check that off and let us know. If you're interested in baptism, if you have any prayer requests, that's the place to do it.One announcement I will highlight, we have a members meeting today. If you are a member of Mosaic or becoming a member today and you've been notified by us, we have the meeting from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. If you had no idea, then you clearly haven't been listening for awhile.But still, glad you're here and you have time at the end of the service. It's a potluck, really important. You got to bring a meal. If you don't have one, you can run to Whole Foods. Five minute walk, rotisserie chickens, $7.99. If you choose, there's an organic version for $9.99 and people would really appreciate that. With that said, would you please pray with me over the preaching of God's word? Heavenly Father, I pray that you today remind us that if we are your children, if we are Christians, if we are blood-bought, sanctified, set apart for you, that you have given us your name, the name above all names, the name of Jesus Christ, that we carry Christ in our name, that we are Christians. I pray, Lord, that you remind us that though the world bombard us with ideas of who we are, who we should be, how we should live and try to form and shape our identity, I pray that you remind us that your voice is authoritative over all voices. Because we are yours. We are defined by you. You love us. Therefore, when you tell us how we are, to live who we are, it's because you want the best for us.I pray Holy Spirit, as we hear perhaps some hard truths, that we do wrestle instead of just rejecting it and perhaps walking out. I pray that we wrestle with these truth, and wrestle with the foundation what is truth? Whose truth is more authoritative than another's truth, and that all trues are not equal. I pray that you show us that your truth is above all truth, and that we are to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Holy Spirit, come prepare our hearts to hear, to think, to meditate, to ruminate, and to be transformed by your word. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. So we're beginning a sermon series, which will take us through the end of the summer, in the epistle to the Corinthians, First Corinthians, and we are calling this series Prodigal Church. Why Prodigal Church, why that name? It's because the church in Corinth is a brand new church that Saint Paul had planted in the year 49 AD. His strategy was to go to city centers. He believed that if you reach the city center, which is most influential, you can actually transform not just the city, but all of society. As the city goes, so does the nation. So does the society, the culture. So he planted that church. Then he goes to Ephesus, spends three years in Ephesus. As he's in Ephesus, he hears that the church in Corinth isn't doing well. They have begun to capitulate to the culture. The voices of the culture have begun to become authoritative in the church. Instead of creating a new culture, and transforming and redeeming the culture from within, they're beginning to look like the culture. So he writes this letter. Just to set the context. Corinth, though millennia removed from us, is very similar to Boston. Why? Because though we have advanced in technology, education and medicine, the human heart has not changed. The human heart still has the same sinful tendencies and proclivities. Something about Corinth that we are to know, it's incredibly diverse, incredibly influential. It's thriving into world-class city. It's the center of education, of commerce, of educational and technological advancement. It's very sophisticated. It's a place of excellence, where people go, and because of the high level of competition, they need to up their game and level up. It's also a place of mobility and transients. People come and go. People coming from all over the world, and bringing new ideas that vie for the attention of the people that live there.One ancient visitor described the city of Corinth by saying, "The sordidness of the rich and the misery of the poor were extraordinary. Abounding in luxuries, but inhabited by an ungracious people." That sounds familiar. It's people from all over the Roman Empire, coming to make a name for themselves, to make a life for themselves. Like Boston, there's only a small percentage of Christians. It's largely a Godless city.It's a city that is, has been inundated with materialism and consumerism, worship of sports and entertainment. There's games very similar to the Olympic games. There's lots of competing religions and ideas. There's a postmodern pragmatism there, were universals don't matter. That truth doesn't matter, it's all relative as long as you make a living for yourself, make a name for yourself. When people have affluence, when they have money and they have margin in their life, what happens is, they sometimes are prone to substance abuse and drunkenness. We see that in this city, and even in the church itself. It's also a city that was largely dominated by sexual morality and all kinds of debauchery, sensuality of city life. There's a great temple of Aphrodite at the top of the Hill, where the priestesses were actually prostitutes. Below was a temple to Apollo that celebrated homosexuality. The word Corinthianize became a verb, to describe all kinds of perversion.So, the Christians are under immense pressure. "How do we live out our faith in this place? Do we leave? Do we move out?" Saint Paul says, "No, I want you to stay here. I want you to influence the city. But first of all, you need to be influenced by something other than the city, other than the voices around you. You need to be influenced by God's word. Let God's word shape you, transform you from the inside." So, today we're going to look at First Corinthians chapter one, verses one through nine. Would you look at the text with me?"Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both our Lord and theirs:"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge. Even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. " This is the reading of God's word, is inerrant, infallible, authoritative word. May He write these truths upon our hearts. We'll frame up our time with three points. We'll talk about an identity of received, not achieved. Then an identity received, not attained. And then finally, Identity received, but not alone. First, identity received, not achieved. We live in a culture that obsesses with identity. Identity language is the heart language of our society. We begin to look at desires within, and as we express those desires, begin to think that's who I am and take on a certain label. Be it our sexuality, our politics, dietary preferences, workout routine, straight, gay, bi, male, female, other, liberal, libertarian, environmentalist, vegetarian, vegan, carnivore, runner, CrossFitter, what have you.We want to be known for our education bumper sticker. We want to be known for our career. Check out my resume, the companies I work for or have worked for. Where we live, my zip code. What I own, the car, the brand that I drive. The brand name clothes that we wear. How many followers we have on social media. How big our cloud and our platform. After a while we become products of the names that we attached to ourselves. Like your neighbors Subaru, with all the bumper stickers on the back. You don't even know what half of them mean. They define us. We long not just to make a name for ourselves, we long to name ourselves. We long to define ourselves. Why? Where does that impulse come? It's from our culture. Our culture says, "Repudiate any oppressive voices that tell you who you are and how you should live. Reject all that you find your identity by looking deep inside of yourself. Construct your own identity." By the way, this starts really early. I've got four daughters and they watch the Disney movies. Sometimes you sit through them with a worldview analysis, and you're like, "Huh." Hey, look, every single one of these new Disney movies, the message is, "Don't listen to Mom and Dad, listen to yourself. Listen to the voices within. You do you. You become what you want to be." Frozen, Moana and et cetera, et cetera. "Don't listen to mom and dad. Listen to us, Disney. Buy more." That's really the goal. It doesn't matter what your community says. It doesn't matter what your loved one say. If you read stories and watch movies from even a couple of decades ago, the narrative of a heroic story, the heroic narrative was a person sacrifices themselves for a group of people, for family or a team or a community. Now the heroic narrative is, "I'm going to sacrifice my family, and my relationships and my community to be the person who I want to be to express myself."That's one of the reasons why families, communities and the country is eroding. In the past, people would have sex and make a lot of money in order to build a family in the community. Now you do in order to express yourself, at the expense of whatever. Be true to yourself, be your authentic self. What do you want to do? Who do you want to be? You do you, unless you're a serial killer. That's always the big unless, don't be that person. You can be anything you want to be. I used to listen to that in elementary school. I'm like, "Yeah, I'm going to be anything I want to be." Then I found out that to be president of the United States, you've gotta be born here. I was like, "What else is left?" Vice-president, can't do that either. I can't be Tom Brady. You cannot be anything you want to be, that's a lie. So we set out on a path to find ourselves, obeying our desires. I told my dad when I was in college, said, "Pop, I think I'm going to take a year off and go find myself in Europe. I'm going to backpack through Europe." My dad's super old school. He's from the Soviet union. His name's Vladimir. He said, "Find yourself? What you say? You right here, I found you and I save you the $30,000. Get back to work." That's my dad. My dad, Vlad, and I worked in Vlad's painting, his company. "If your house looks bad, don't get mad. Call Vlad."Here's the problem. The problem with finding yourselves by looking within, and looking at the desires within, "What do I want to do," is we have competing desires. Often contradictory, incompatible, they don't harmonize. On the one hand, you want to be married. On the other hand, you want to be single. On the one hand, you want to have kids. On the other hand, you want to travel the world. Those don't mesh together. If you have this pipe dream of traveling the world with your kids, I'll give you my youngest. Drive around with her around Brookline for 20 minutes. You'll come back and like, "No. No more contradictory desires. I only have one, not kids." I want to be fit. I also want to eat pizza. I want a six-pack and I want a six-pack of beer. Contradictory, they don't work together.Then also, our desires are not stable. They change with time. Who am I? Who am I now? Who do I want to be in five years? In 10 years? When I was 20, I would look back at myself when I was 15 in high school. There was this whole thing about being a skater or a rollerblader. Later the skaters wore JNCO jeans, the rollerbladers wore tighter jeans. I was like, "Yeah, I'm a rollerblader, that's the way it is." That's I look back, I'm like, "What an idiot. That's such a terrible idea."When I was in college, I looked back on myself when I was in high school. My high school senior picture, it's a picture of me with frosted tips, because that was all the rage. I look back and like, "What an idiot." When I was 25, I looked back at myself in college. I'm like, "No, what were you thinking?" Some of you, do that experience, you look back just five years. That keeps going. When you're 30, you look back at your time in college. I'm like, "Why did I major in art history? Why did I take on so much debt, et cetera, et cetera." That doesn't stop. You know what the common denominator in all of those is? It's you, and you're an idiot. You're your own problem. I'm my own problem. Therefore, we can't find the identity by looking within. You can't attain a stable identity.Here's what happens when we look to something for our identity, to answer the question, who am I? When we idolize an identity, it becomes an idol. You would get to sacrifice everything there is: time, money, health, relationships. In order to get that thing, attain that thing, it becomes a tyrant over your life. You're enslaved to it. Here's the problem. Problem is, if you get it, you realize it's dissatisfying. This is the whole midlife crisis. What's that all about? It's a lot of people, who have given themselves to pursue an idol that is an identity. when they get it, they realize it doesn't satisfy. "Now I need to upgrade my spouse, my car, my career." It doesn't satisfy. If we don't get it, then we are absolutely crushed, and we exchange one yoke for another. This is where the gospel of Jesus Christ comes in and says, "Your truest identity, who you are, can never be achieved. You can't do enough. It must be received as a gift by the grace of God. You can't name yourself. You're not autonomous. You're not an island unto yourself. You are derived. This is what 1 Corinthians 1:1 begins with. "Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle."Who's Paul? Was that his birth name? No, his birth name was Saul. He used to be Saul of Tarsus, and he worked hard to build an identity in two cultures. He was a citizen of the Roman Empire, and then he was also a Hebrew of Hebrews, as he says. He was Jewish, and he pursued an identity through education. Ends up getting the highest form of PhD that you possibly can, studied under Professor Gamaliel in Jerusalem. He looked at culture for his identity, his nation, his achievements, his education. Philippians 3:4-6, he says, "Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh," I can look within to justify myself, to build an identity. He says, "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day," So, fulfilled all the laws, "Of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless." That's my identity. Then he persecutes Christians terrorizes the church. Jesus Christ meets him on the road to Damascus, saves him. Says, "You are mine." "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Not just my church, but me. That's how intimately Jesus connects Himself to the church. Saves him. Blinds them for three days, so Saul has time to think and repent. Finally, gives him vision, both spiritually and physically. He named him and then he renamed him. This is what God does. Whom are we allowed to name? I can't just walk around to you guys and be like, "I got a new name for you. I got a nickname," to you. You'd be like, "You have no authority over me." We get to name dogs and children, that's about it. In the Bible God names people, and then He renames them. Abram, your Abraham. Sarai, you're Sarah, Jacob, you're Israel. Peter, you're no longer Simon. Now you're Peter. Saul, you are Paul. Which shows us that the most significant question when it comes to identity, is not, "Who am I?" but, "Who's am I? To whom do I belong?" John 10:3, Jesus said, "The sheep, my sheep, hear his voice. The voice of the good shepherd, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." Our names matter to God. God knows our names. God says that our names, once we are his children, once we are saved by grace through faith, our names are graven on his hands with what? With nail marks. That our names are written in the Book of Life, in pencil? No, in the blood of Jesus Christ. He knows our names.He changes our identity when we come to Him. I can't wait in heaven to know when my real name is. I despise my name. It's Jan, spelled J-A-N. It's bad in any culture, it's so bad. I would go Dunkin donuts, they don't ask your name. But the coffee's terrible, so I got to keep going to Starbucks, and they keep butchering my name. The mobile ordering is really helping, but still.Scripture says that salvation and a rightful relationship with God, is allowing God to define you. It says, "I define you. I'm your Lord." Therefore, sin? Sin is when I defined myself. Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian, he said this, that sin is building your identity, your fundamental identity, the core of who you are. You build it on anything, other than God. What it means is, you find your greatest meaning, significance, security, worth and value in something other than God. Your whole life revolves around that, and you're willing to sacrifice anything to get that. Scripture says when we come to God, we can throw off our functional saviors.We all have, and have had, functional health. A functional hell of joblessness. If I get this job, it becomes a functional savior. It becomes your ultimate. A functional hell of singleness. If I find a relationship, a spouse, then that's a functional savior. You can fill in the blank.God says, "Stop. Stop pursuing things that won't satisfy. Receive a name." When we come to Jesus Christ by grace through faith, we received the name above all names, an everlasting name, the name of Christ. We are now called Christians. When we're born again, we're adopted into the family of God. If you're adopted, whose family do you take? The family name. Jesus is the bridegroom, we are the bride. Whose name do we take? His name. We weren't a people. Now we become God's people. 1 Corinthians 1:2-3, he reminds them what happened to them. "To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus," and the word here for sanctified isn't referring to sanctification, progressive holiness. It's referring, to you've been set apart. Therefore, he calls them to be saints. "You're saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours."So how our sins forgiven, how are we redeemed? How are we justified and sanctified? How does God atone for our sins? How does He make us his? Through the call upon Jesus Christ. "Call upon Christ, "he says. It doesn't take much work to call. He says, "Just look to Christ in prayer. Call out to him, ask for forgiveness, repent of sins. Then He gives you grace, and he gives you peace." And now we're saints.It used to take work to call people. You watch movies from the '50s and '60s, it took a lot of work to call people. I remember growing up with a rotary phone, with the little circle, and you hated the people with the zero in their phone number. Like, "Yeah, yeah." you gotta go all the way. Nowadays, you open your phone, you hit the app. Call, got it. He says, "Call." Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how salvation happens. He redeems us from all our sins. Gives us a brand new heart. Once he gives us that new heart, then the next process comes at this point too: identity received, but attained. We can't achieve salvation. We can't redeem ourselves. We can't pay for our sins. He gives it to us by grace through faith. Scripture talks about the fact that we're born of a sinful nature, and apart from Jesus Christ, we have a rock of stone. It's numb toward God, desensitized toward God. When we come to Him, through repentance and faith, He gives us a brand new heart. He fills it with the Holy spirit. Then the rest of the teaching is, that we are to allow that heart to permeate, to transform every aspect of our being.The Psalmist says in Psalm 119:32, "I will run in all of your commandments, if you enlarge my heart." This is the next step. What's the basic human problem? What's wrong with us, basically? whatever. Whatever you think is fundamentally wrong with us, and it's absolutely clear that something is, then your solution is an answer to that question. If you think that the basic problem with us is intellectual, then the basic solution to that problem is education. If you think that the problem is psychological, then it's counseling or therapy that's the answer. If you believe that basic problem is physical, we need a prescription, we need some pills. If you believe that the basic problem is ethical, well, we need to teach people morality. If you think it's circumstantial, that it's a person circumstance that shapes who they are fundamentally, then we just change all of that.We just need a little TLC, a slap on a fresh coat of paint, change the law, fix the curb appeal. Scripture says from a biblical perspective, no, it's deeper. That our house, the house of our life, is rotten to the core. We don't just need a paint job. We need to be transformed from the inside out. We need to be gutted down to the studs. We need a rewiring from the very inside. We need a new heart.God gives us that new heart, and then He says, "Now allow it to take over. Fill it with the Holy Spirit. Fill it with God's word." How? How are we transformed? Biblically speaking, it's by knowing Christ, loving Christ, deepening our affections for Christ. That's ultimately what allows us to attain who we are, be who we are. How does St. Paul help the church in Corinth be who they are? Live out their new identity. If you read the epistle to Corinthians, and we will read it, there's some really crazy stuff that goes on. You're like, "I can't believe that's going on in the Bible." You get to chapter five, and a guy is sleeping with his mom. You get to chapter 11, and he says people are getting drunk at the communion table. What is going on in this church? St. Paul from the get-go, he doesn't start by giving them a list of how to fix themselves. He's not saying, "Cut it out. Stop it, period!" He says, "No." He says, "You haven't understood who you are. You haven't allowed the gospel to take root in your heart." I don't know if you noticed, in the first nine verses, he uses the name of Jesus Christ nine times.He flips it around every once in a while, so it's not too redundant. It's Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, Lord Jesus Christ over and over. The first chapter, 21 times. Because, what's he saying? He's saying, "Your problems are within. Your solution is outside of you." We live in a therapeutic age, more so than any other age. I'm not knocking therapy. Therapy often is needed, and counseling is needed. But fundamentally, the solution to our problems is not within, no matter how complex, no matter how intractable. Sometimes our greatest need is to take our gaze off our needs, and we looked at Jesus Christ. So God's agenda in this book, is to strip out all the old tangled, confused wiring that the world has implanted. And rewire our spiritual systems entirely, with the clear truth of the gospel. Who was Christ? He is God. He's man. He's come down, lived the perfect life that we could not live, would not live. Then he goes to a cross to atone for our sins, comes back from the dead to verify that his atonement was accepted. When we realize that's what it took to save us from our sins, to save us from everything that's going on. And that God's willing to take it, his love fills our hearts, begins to melt away the hardness.What he's saying here in the very beginning is, it's pointing to their identity. "You've been sanctified. You are saints. You have called upon God, continue to call upon God. Therefore, dear Christian, you are not fundamentally a sinner. You are fundamentally a Saint." Martin Luther encapsulated by saying, "[foreign language 00:26:27]." You're simultaneously justified, though a sinner. He doesn't start with the center part. Fundamentally, our nature has changed. Now, be who you are. Before St. Paul gets into the criticism, he spends time just thanking God for them. Verse four, "I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all..." He's giving thanks to God, even for the Christians who are not living like Christians. We'll get to them later. As I was preparing, I was like, is that like saying, "No offense," and then you proceed to say something really offensive. Or, "With all due respect," then, here's the insult. Or down South it's, "Bless your heart." Is that what he's doing? No, he starts off with saying, "Look, I thank God for you. I just want to recognize the work of God in you. I see God's fruit." Before the criticism comes.This is a huge lesson here. Every time after I preach, my wife comes up to me. She comes to the first day, comes up to me with a list. I'm like, "Baby, I know the list. I can tell you the list myself. I already..." She said, "It's great sermon." I'll take that. But before we go in with criticism, "I love you. I care about you. That's why I'm saying this." That's how God speaks into us. His love is not diametrically opposed to his truth. They're together, it's a loving truth and a true love. He begins by saying, "God saved you. The grace of God was given to you in Christ, in every way. You are enriched in Him. You're not lacking in any gift whatsoever." In verse eight, he says one of the most profound truths in all of Holy scripture. He says, "God will sustain you to the end. God will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." It's a doctrine of perseverance of the saints. Once you're saved, you're always persevering to the end. That God will not let you go. God, the Father, doesn't lose any children. Jesus Christ, the bridegroom, doesn't lose his bride. Even when she goes wayward, He continues to pursue.How does he do this? Well, he begins by saying in verse six, "The testimony about Christ was confirmed among you." What's the testimony about Christ? It's God's word. It's the gospel. It was confirmed among you, meaning it self-authenticates. So sometimes people ask, "How do you know that the Bible is God's word?" Well, if you read it with a receptive heart, the Holy Spirit speaks to you, self-authenticates. He confirms that among you. Then verse eight he says, "Who will sustain," the word confirm and sustain is the same word in the Greek. So what are you saying St. Paul? Paul is saying, the same word that God used to save you, is the same word that God uses to sustain you, to keep you in the faith. That's how faith came in, the implanted Word of God, and that's what sustains our faith. Jesus Christ said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."In Roman Catholicism, what's at the center of the worship service? It's mass. Why? Because they believed that's what changes you, that's what transforms you. You go to a charismatic church, what's at the center of the worship service? It's worship song, after worship song after worship song, and then there's a 15 minute sermon, and then more worship. Why? Because they believe what transforms you is an ecstatic experience.At Mosaic, if you haven't noticed, and in like-minded churches, we believe that person is transformed by the living word of God. This is why we focus on the preaching of God's word. Holy Scripture says, this is the emphasis, God is at work by his word. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Jesus Christ said, "Sanctify them with the truth. Your word is truth."The Westminster Larger Catechism and point 155 says this, "The spirit of God makes the reading but especially the preaching of the word an effectual means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners, of driving them out of themselves, drawing them into Christ, of conforming them to his image. Subduing them to his will, strengthening them against temptations and corruptions, of building them up in grace, establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.He uses the word to save and to sustain. And, what's the basis for the promise that once you're a Christian, God will get you to the end. God is going to save us in the end. 1 Corinthians 1:9, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."Why is the faithfulness of God at stake in the perseverance of those whom he calls? If the call to Christ is an open invitation, like coming to a wedding, then God isn't obliged to keep you from leaving if you don't like it. He connects the call with God's faithfulness, because his call is the outworking of his choice that we should be brought to his glory. His call is an effectual call. When He calls you, we can't but respond. Because he has sovereignty over the call, he has sovereignty over sustaining us.This is Romans 8:29-30, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son." Before the foundation of the world, Ephesians says. That God predestined us, He elected us, "In order that we might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined," past tense. "He also called," past tense. "Those whom He called the also justified," past tense. "And those whom he justified, he also glorified," past tense.When does glorification happen? It happens in heaven. Why is it used the past tense? Because he says it's that sure. When God saves us, he saves us for life and that's an incredible word of blessing. Jesus Christ is our Lord. He defines us. He owns us. He loves you. He knows you. He knows what's best for you. Therefore, when He speaks with an authoritative voice, it's a voice of a father. It's a voice of a father who has given everything, in order to pour out his love in you. How does God tell us what he wants? How does God help us attain who we are? By his Holy spirit, through his Holy scriptures? Case in point, verse one, 1 Corinthians 1:1, what does Paul begin with? And he doesn't begin every epistle like this. He says, "Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes."First thing he begins with, is his credentials. He contrasts his credentials, "Called to be an apostle by the will of God," with a brother named Sosthenes. Meaning we're both Christians, on the same level as Christians, but God has different levels of authority. Why Paul, are you an apostle? Who made you an apostle? It's the will of God. He's saying, "God told me who's I am, who I am and what I am to do."What he's saying is that, "As I speak to you, my words are not equivalent to the words of just a friend in an email, where it's just an opinion." It's not a text message from a guy named Paul. What he's saying is, "I am a mouthpiece for God himself. Therefore, be careful in just rejecting it as an opinion. Rejecting it as an interpretation." I say this, because this is important. When I, when I get up to preach God's word and Boston, Massachusetts, 2019 I know that many of you do not agree with me. I know some of the first service people got up during the service. Now my question to you is, when you say, "I don't agree with what Pastor Jan said," was that pastor Jan's opinion, or was that from God's word? If it's from God's word, then we need to humbly submit that's the ultimate authority. If we don't want to submit, you're submitting to some other voices, the voices of the culture, we're all being discipled by some... There's actually a lot of churches, and I say this, there's a lot of Christians and there's a lot of so-called churches that that reject Paul's writings.Case in point, there's a church on St. Paul Street, called St. Paul's Episcopal Church. I know they reject Saint Paul's writings, because the Reverend, Reverend... I won't say names, you can Google it later. It says that the Reverend there and his husband live in Brookline. It's clear that that church rejected the writings of St. Paul, and instead has replaced it with authoritative voices from the culture, from society. So the question, whatever sins you're wrestling with, be it same sex attraction or any kind of sin. When we talk about looking inside to develop your identity, to figure out who you are, if you are not taking God's word as authoritative to filter which desires are from God and which aren't, which desires are to be commended and followed, and which art to be repented of, than something else is more authoritative. This is why Saint Paul begins there. Then finally, an identity received, not alone. Here's what I mean. Sometimes we don't realize how much our culture has impacted us, because it happens unbeknownst to us. Our community affects our identity much more than we think. Sometimes we think that we develop our own identity, and we don't realize that we're actually influenced by the people around us. Since we have many desires, competing, contradictory, why are we choosing to express some and suppress others, and who gets to decide.Case in point, Tim Keller wrote this book recently called Preaching to a Skeptical Culture. He's got this example about how culture influences the desires that we pursue. He says, "Imagine a Viking in the year 800 AD living in a warrior honor-shame culture." Whenever I imagine Vikings, I imagine beautiful beards, flowing locks, walking around with a sword. "And he's got two contradictory impulses inside. One is aggression. The culture that he's in says, "Yes, that's who we are. We raid, we pillage, we're Vikings," Then he's got another desire and impulse, and it's same sex attraction. His culture says, "No, that's not who we are. We suppress that."Now imagine the same person in Boston, Massachusetts, 2019." Same beard, probably same outfit, same hairstyle, lumbersexual. "Imagine that person has the same two impulses, aggression on the one end and our culture says, 'No, that's wrong. You need therapy and counseling for that.' And same sex attraction on the other hand. The culture says, 'No, that's who you are.' And he says, 'That's who I am.'"We are not authoritative when we say, "This is who I am." Actually, when we looked into ourselves, we're influenced actually more by the culture and our peers. This is why peer groups, friend groups, often look very similar. Why? Because we're social beings. and our identity is shaped by our community. This is the irony. In an attempt to find our unique, authentic self, we begin looking like everybody else. We began thinking like everybody else. Thinking the same about sexuality, gender, politics, finances, et cetera, et cetera. Meaning, life and death. that's what happened with the church in Corinth, and that's why Saint Paul writes this letter, not to individuals. He writes the letter to a church and he's saying, "You have been individually influenced, and as a church you've been influenced by the culture. You've been influenced by the people around you, instead of helping one another be accountable to the teaching of Holy scripture." That's why in verse two, he says, "The church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ." He talks about the church, universal. He says, "The church, all those who call on the Lord." This is all Christians that have ever existed, will ever exist and currently exist. But then he also says, "There's a church locally," express locally. He says it by saying, "That church of God in Corinth," in this particular city, "And the saints who are in every place." What he's trying to say is, that our identity needs to be shaped by the gospel and by one another. As Christians covenant together, they hold one another accountable to God's scriptures.So the question that's before us is, do we love God's church universally? But then also, in the local expression uses the word ecclesia. This is the assembly, this is the church. He doesn't say the church of St. Paul and Corinth, the church of the leaders in Corinth, the church of the members in Corinth. No, it's God's church. Therefore, God gets to set the agenda. And they're called to be Holy. Separately, yes, but also together. "You together call upon the name of grace." If some Christians believe that they were Christians in Corinth, and were not part of this congregation in a meaningful covenantal way, they would've missed God's word for themselves, would have missed this letter. The doctrine of the church is called ecclesiology. Many of us don't have a good ecclesiology because we actually don't even know what that word means. It's doctrine of the church. At Mosaic, we believe in teaching theology as we teach Holy scripture, and using hard words because you guys are wicked smart. Then, also, if Starbucks can teach you to order a frappuccino, then we can teach you some words like propitiation and ecclesiology. What does ecclesiology? It's the study of the church, and this is really important. Why should the church locally and universally be important to us? Because Jesus is important to us. What's important to Jesus, what Jesus loves, should be important to us. Jesus Christ, the scripture says, founded the church. Jesus Christ didn't just found the church, he marries the church.There's a lot of Christians who today say, "I love Jesus. I don't love his bride. I don't love his wife." Can you imagine anything more insulting? That's like saying, "Jesus, you're the man. Let's hang out. Your wife, what were you thinking? I know it seemed like a good idea at the time, but man, she's got personality issues. No." Jesus says, "I know, working on it."Purchased with his blood, it's intimately identified with him. "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting my... no. Why are you persecuting me?" The church is the body of Christ. The church is the dwelling place of the spirit. It's the instrument to which God gets the gospel out, and glorifies him. Jesus prays for the church. He sacrifices himself for the church. He serves the church. He attends the church, Revelation says that he attends through the gospel ministry in every church, and he builds it up. Do you?Is the church as important to you, as it is to Jesus Christ? If I'm a child of God, then I have brothers and sisters who are different than me. Regardless of worldly status, gender, race, nationality. Christian formation cannot happen, apart from Christian community. If you're not growing in your faith, you say, "I'm really having a hard time." I'll ask you a couple questions. "Are you reading God's word on a regular basis, and are you plugged into a gospel proclaiming church?" Community isn't optional, it's essential. I've never met a healthy, maturing, strong Christian who cares nothing for God's church locally. I've never met that person. God gives us the church, in order to form our personal and corporate identity. One of the problems with talking about church, and talking about the identity that's formed corporately, the disservices from the English language when we read the gospels for the word you, there's only one word. You singular, you plural, it's one word. Other languages, Russian, the romance language, it's helpful, that differentiates. When you read the gospel, you're like, "Oh, God's talking to everybody." Other parts of the country are really helpful here. Here we have you, down South we've got all y'all. Other parts of the country, you've got yous guys. When St. Paul is writing this letter, it's plural you, plural you, plural you. If he wants to call someone out, he calls someone out by name, plural you. He's writing this letter to you who are being sanctified. To you, who together call upon the name of God. Jesus Christ said, "I will be with you in the great commission, when you together go baptizing, preaching the name of Jesus Christ." Christian proclamation makes the gospel audible. But the gospel community, the church makes it visible. I hear this, people come to Mosaic. You look around, you're like, "There are so many Christians, and they look sane. They look normal. They're not crazy. They're worshiping Jesus. Huh." It's one of the greatest apologetics, that we have in our culture. If you say, "Look, I'm just looking for a good church, I'm just shopping around." My question is always, "What do you mean by a good church?" Usually people mean a church without defects. Whenever I go into a church, I've got this problem and perhaps you do too. You go in, and you notice the defects immediately. If that defect is all that you focused on, obviously you're going to have to go somewhere else, and there's defects there too. You don't do this with human being. You don't go up to a human being, and there's a glaring defect. You're like, "Yeah, I don't like you because of that. When people go up to me after the service, and they say, "Oh Pastor Jan, can you pray for me?" Or, et cetera, et cetera. The very first thing that they noticed, and I can tell because they're staring at it, is my huge crooked nose. I've got a massive nose, and it's crooked because of rugby accident in college. It didn't look better before that. My youngest daughter has inherited the same nose, and my wife said, "Do not elaborate that theme, so I won't." But, that would be rude. In the same way, God knows our glaring faults. But God is a good God, and he's working on that.Finally, I'll ask the question, "What qualifies as a church?" Perhaps you're here in the city, your church shopping or you're gonna move somewhere else. What qualifies as a church? Kanye West, I don't know if you noticed recently, he's holding up pop-up church service experiences. He called it Sunday Service. He had one on Easter Sunday, the last day of the Coachella Music Festival. His wife Kim Kardashian describes it like this. "There's no praying, there's no sermon, there's no word. There's just music, and it's just a feeling." Obviously, he's promoting his new album. It's more promotion than piety. NPR had this thing on him, and this is what they said. "There's always the sense though, that he might worship God but never serve him. He always seemed like God in the end, would always serve him. He is the church. He is the text of the sermon. It's just his songs. He is the worship. He is creating a church in himself, and selling it."Selling Holy scripture gives us marks, of what a true church is. Does the church systematically preach God's word? Does the church attempt to live out God's word, not read it and say, "Yeah, we don't agree with that." Does the church practice the sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper? Does the church have qualified leadership? 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1.Hebrews 13:17 "Obey your leaders, submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." Now, he's not saying obey every spiritual authority. Because we've got to test the spirits, and discern if that authority is from God. But every Christian needs to be under spiritual authority, every single Christian. If you're not under spiritual authority, I would ask, why? Usually, when people don't want to commit to a church, and don't want to commit to a community of believers, it's because they know that their sin will be exposed. But that's God's grace, to expose our sin, and to give grace to help us repent and be transformed. Are you your own spiritual authority? If so, you've usurped God's authority, and you are speaking as God.Then finally, an objection that I hear often about joining a church and committing is, "I don't learn anything new. I don't learn anything from the people in the community group. I don't need them. I've grown past that point." Well, first of all, if you have grown in your maturity in the faith, the most important thing you could do is help someone else mature in the faith the most. You're like, "They're not meeting our needs." Sometimes our greatest needs is to lose focus, and stop being preoccupied with our needs.Then finally, we do need community. Every single one of us, no matter how mature you are. Hebrews 3:12-13, "Take care, brothers," he's talking about Christians, brethren. "Less there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart," Christians, "Leading you to fall away from the living God." How do we fight that evil, unbelieving heart? "Exhort one another every day, as long as it's called "today" that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."God knows where week, and in his grace, in his kindness, He says, "Well, you don't have to do it alone." So what's your next step in growing in greater community involvement, and perhaps at Mosaic. Now, Mosaic will help you find a great church here, or wherever you're moving. Perhaps it's regular attendance. We need God's word and we need fellowship with other Christians. Perhaps it's joining a community group, perhaps it's serving and perhaps it's membership. I'll close with this. John Calvin said, "Nearly all wisdom we possess, that is to say true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts. The knowledge of God, and the knowledge of ourselves." Some of us, we can't get over what's happened to us in our past, and our past is defining our present. Some of us willing to live in the present, and who we are, is who am I today? Then the future catches me off guard.The way that we establish a true, robust, solid, stable identity, is by knowing God, and knowing ourselves as we know God. He says, "I am who He says I am. 1 Corinthians 1:7, "So that you are not lacking in any gifts, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ." Don't look to your past, don't look to your present. Look to your future, when Jesus Christ will be revealed. When he's revealed, we'll see him face-to-face, know himself perfectly and ourselves. But in the meantime, he's given us his Holy Spirit, his Holy scriptures and his Holy Church, for to know him and to know our selves. Amen. At this time, we're going to transition to celebrating Holy Communion. Holy communion, we celebrate once a month on the very first Sunday of the month. This is a celebration for Christians, to remind ourselves and commemorate that Christ died for our sins. His body was broken, symbolized by the bread. His blood was shed symbolized by the cup. If you are not a Christian, if you're not sure where you are on your relationship with God, call out to God today, and then you're welcome to partake. If you're not a Christian, we ask that you refrain from this part of the service. It'll do nothing for you. This isn't some kind of magic. We're saved by grace through faith, and this is a way we remind ourselves of what happened. When you receive the elements, please hold onto them. Then we'll partake together we pass out the elements through little dishes, trays. Once you get the tray, take the element and then pass it on to someone next to you. With that said, would you please pray with me over Holy Communion.Heavenly Father, we thank you for the reminder that we by grace through faith are yours, and that you empower us by the spirit through grace to live out the calling that you have upon us. Jesus, we thank you for dying a gruesome death, and bearing an infinite weight of God's wrath upon yourself to save us, to make us yours, to put your name upon each one of us.I pray that you bless our time in Holy communion, send us deep repentance for all of our sin. We're all sinners. We all need grace. We all need you. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

When St. Paul went to Mars Hill, located in Athens, Greece to preach Christ to the Greeks (Gentiles), he did so by a alluding to the fact that the Greeks had a place in their temple dedicated to the unknown God. (Acts 17: 22-31) St. Paul preached that the unknown God is in fact Jesus Christ. After he preached, there were three categories of hearers: 1) those that rejected 2) those that have to think about it more 3) those that accepted. Here, we observe that St. Paul did his job, that is, preached Christ, and it was up to the hearers to respond.

Attitude is a settled way of thinking. Often when we say the word attitude, we attach a negative connotation. Attitude is not always a bad thing. It is simply a way of thinking or feeling. We express our attitude through what we do and how we react to things. There is a huge correlation between attitude and success. It is often very difficult to change our attitude. Note that the definition of attitude includes that it is a settled way of thinking. There is a work that has to be done to keep our attitude positive. The world and life will challenge our attitude daily. It is better to maintain a good attitude than to regain one. Some things in life are beyond our control. While we cannot control the things that happen to us, we can control our attitude about those things. Our attitude about these areas that we cannot control will be the difference maker. Sports teams know that keeping a positive attitude toward the game is critical to winning. When the children of Israel, became disgruntled and complained about their situation, they displeased God and ultimately were denied entry to the promised land. Except for Caleb. Caleb went to scout out the land and brought back a good report. Caleb’s attitude was good in the face of all the others who were grumbling and murmuring in their tents. The other men saw defeat, but Caleb saw a land that was just as God had promised. We can easily see how important an attitude is in living for God. The bible is full of stories of people with horrible circumstances, but their attitude in the face of those circumstances remained good. It was the attitude of Abraham, Joseph and David and many others that made the difference. Mary and Martha were both trying to serve Jesus, but they had different attitudes about what they were doing. One had a vision of the big picture, and her attitude was much better. Our attitude about the work being done for God is more important than what we are doing. We have to do what we are doing for God with the right attitude. Are we just doing job, or are we seeing the bigger picture and participating in the much larger work of building God’s kingdom? In Genesis 4, Cain presented some of his crop to the Lord. The command was to make offering to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift; the best portions of the first born of his flocks. God accepted Abel and his gift, but He did not accept Cain or his gift. Both presented gifts, but it was the attitude with which they were presented. Because of the difference in their hearts, one was rejected. The difference was their attitude. When St. Paul’s cathedral in London was being built, the architect talked with some of the workers and noted a marked difference in their answer to the question “What are you doing?” Some replied, “I am laying bricks” Others who had a better attitude replied “I am building a beautiful cathedral” THe latter group had a sense of being part of something larger than themselves. They were in deed laying bricks, but the second group had the attitude that they were creating something while the first group was simply performing task. How are we living for God. Are we just going through the motions? Are we simply responding out of habit? Is our offering to God more like Cain’s or Able’s. Are we simply laying bricks, or are we building a cathedral?

Summary of today's show: Who is Pope Francis? Scot Landry and Fr. Roger Landry talk about the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, who he is, how he was elected, what he was like as a Jesuit priest and archbishop in Argentina, and what we can expect from him in the future. Plus, how to address all the supposed controversies that will be dragged up to try to throw doubt on him. Listen to the show: Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: Today's host(s): Scot Landry Today's guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry Links from today's show: Today's topics: LIVE from Rome: Who is Pope Francis? 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show. Last night we heard the announcement of Pope Francis and he said it was a great honor to be in the crowd. He thinks the Church is going to love Pope Francis. He has lived a simple life as archbishop of Buenos Aires. HE thinks he will be a pope of signs and gestures. He welcomed Fr. Roger to the show. Fr. Roger said he was on live with Fox News and while Megyn Kelly was hesitant to say it was white smoke, he said it was clearly white compared to the previous black smoke. As soon as he was done, he ran down the stairs to the street and ran the blocks to the St. Peter's Square so he could do a live video on his iPhone so his parishioners back home could experience it. Fr. Roger said he'd originally thought after five ballots, the odds were high it was Cardinal Scola or maybe it was Cardinal Dolan. He said when Cardinal Tauran came out and said “Georgium”, he quickly ran through the handful of Georges among the cardinals and then was stunned to hear “Bergoglio”. Scot said he and George Martell were up front among young people and young sisters. They couldn't hear clearly and so when he heard Franciscum, he thought maybe he'd misheard earlier and it might be Cardinal Seán. There was a long wait for the Holy Father to come out and they saw the new Pope Francis. Scot said he was very quiet and he paused for a long time looking out on St. Peter's Square. He might have been reflecting on his awesome new responsibility. Fr. Roger said he has a beautiful smile but his reputation is that he doesn't let it erupt very often. Fr. Roger said his Italian is beautiful because his parents were Italian immigrants to Argentina. His first words were simple and humble. He addressed everyone as brothers and sisters. He immediately said, “Rome has her bishop.” He was making a connection to one of his principal duties. Today, he went over to St. Mary Major to pray before an image of Our Lady. There was a fire in the 6th century that would have destroyed a major part of the city and Pope St. George carried the image in procession through the fire and extinguished it. It was made famous again in 1940 when Pope Pius XII processed with the image all night to pray that Rome would be spared from Nazi carpetbombing. Huge cloud cover came over and instead the bombs dropped on a huge cemetery outside the city. Scot said two things stood out to him. The first was that he kept calling himself Bishop of Rome, not Supreme Pontiff or Pope. Something else that stood out to him was that he asked everyone to pray over him before he blessed the crowd. Fr. Roger said it shows that he's first a man of prayer. He suffered in the Church in Argentina as the Jesuit order there had been taken over by those who believed in a Marxist Gospel. He was or less banished to be a simple chaplain, but he ended up becoming a great confessor and spiritual director. So his first act as pope was to lead everyone in prayer for Benedict XVI. Fr. Roger made the distinction that he asked us to pray for God to bless him. What moved Fr. Roger was how profoundly he bowed during the prayer to receive the strength to do what he's been asked to do. Fr. Roger gave him his priestly blessing just like newly ordained priests give their bishop a blessing during their ordination Mass. Scot asked the significance of the name Francis. He's very popular in Italy and one of the two patron saints of Italy with St. Catherine of Siena. Fr. Roger said St. Francis was praying in the dilapidated church of San Damiano and heard Christ speak from the crucifix to rebuild his church. At first he thought it meant rebuild that chapel, but then the Lord made it clear to rebuild the church of men, women, and children, the living stones. When St. Francis came to Rome, on the eve of his appearance, Pope Innocent had a dream of a man in a burlap sack holding up the corner of St. John Lateran Church, the pope's cathedral. The next day he saw this friar from his dream came in. He had been there to ask to start a religious order, which wasn't being done any more because they thought there were too many already. Pope Francis knows that the reform begins with each of us living our faith, living stone by living stone, this is how Christ's whole Church will proclaim that is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. Scot asked the significance of a Jesuit taking the name of St. Francis. Fr. Roger said he shares St. Francis' love for the poor and his personal simplicity. He thinks it's a unifier in that St. Francis is the one human being, no matter what religion or no religion, consider the one saint. There is universal reverence for St. Francis of Assisi. Pope Francis, if he lives up to the standard, will unite the Church in prayer and simple, humble service. Scot said he's likely to be a pope of symbols. As archbishop, he gave up his mansion and moved into an apartment, gave up his limo and rode public transportation, and gave up his cook to make his own meals. Even last night, he eschewed the papal limo and took the cardinals' bus back to the Casa S. Martae. He preached that he didn't need any of the fancy things of his office. Fr. Roger said there's a distinction between symbols and signs. Symbols are arbitrary, like a stop sign. Smoke is a sign of a fire which points naturally to what it's related. So his actions are signs pointing to a real connection. It was far more symbolic, but signs of who he is and who we as Christians ought to be. When he invited the ailing emeritus archbishop to live with him in that apartment and cooked meals for both of them, he invited in a very poor community to use the episcopal residence. He's trying to live as Jesus would live. You can't preach the Gospel to the poor arriving in a Mercedes-Benz. In the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, information came out that Cardinal Bergoglio was runner up and had 40 votes in the second to last ballot. It's also reported he stood and asked his supporters to vote for Ratzinger. It shows he's had strong support from his brother cardinals and he wasn't gunning for the job. Fr. Roger said for all the cardinals all who participated in 2005, about half of those still in this years' conclave, Pope Francis wouldn't have lost any of those qualities. He is a teacher who teaches by his lips and life; he's a reformer who reformed the Jesuits in Argentina and the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. That means he's a man who could clean up the Roman Curia. Scot said he's the first pope from the Americas, first Francis, and first Jesuit. Scot said Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said Pope Francis comes from the new heartland of the Catholic Church. Forty-two percent of Catholics come from Latin America. Fr. Roger said he's thrilled to have the first American pope. We've been formed by the European missionaries and now Europe needs to be re-evangelized. Italians noted how well Pope Francis spoke Italian, a native son who brought back real gifts from abroad. Scot said in the US we call ourselves Americans, but everyone in North, South and Central America are Americans. In the eyes of the Church, America includes all three. He said if you measure from the tip of Alaska to the tip of Chile, Mexico City where our Lady of Guadalupe appeared is dead center. We should be proud of him as a native son. Scot said he's pleased to see that Pope Francis asked someone to send out a tweet at the @Pontifex Twitter handle with the simple Habemus Papam Franciscum. Fr. Roger thinks he will continue to use media. Pope Francis knows the importance of using every pulpit possible to reach the people where they are. We'll see the continuation of this path in new media as a priority. Scot noted the Holy Father's sense of humor in toasting the cardinals and saying, “May God forgive you” for electing him. Fr. Roger talked about the Holy Father's emphasis in his ministry on God's forgiveness and merciful love. They noted his episcopal motto translates as “Needing mercy and being chosen”. Scot and Fr. Roger discussed the controversies the media will latch onto. First, there is the claim of complicity with the military junta in Argentina. Second, supporting the Church's teaching on contraception, and Third, supporting the church's teaching on the family. On the first, two of his Jesuit priests wanted to advocate violence to overturn the military junta. When they were arrested, they asked him, as provincial minister, to lie to protect them and he refused. Later he also stood up for them and put his life on the line to ask for them to be released. But he didn't lie. On the teaching on contraception and condoms, it's said he advocated the use of condoms for the prevention of disease. Most Catholics don't know the Church's teaching with regard to contraception. Pope Paul VI said it's immoral for a married couple to use it to prevent conception. But in regards to acts of violence, like marital rape by a husband with AIDS, that's different. Scot said some of the media have talked about how the new Holy Father could change the doctrine of the Church, which isn't possible. On the third element, he taught what the Church has always taught about the family and the rights of children to be raised in the context of mother and father. Fr. Roger said Pope Francis defies categorization as a moderate, conservative or liberal. Catholics are to be 100% faithful to the Good News and 100% faithful to the Lord's command to love one another. He's 100% orthodox and 100% charitable. He has said that same-sex activity is sinful, but those with those attractions are to be loved and afforded all their human rights, which don't include the right to marry another of the same sex or to adopt children along with someone of the same sex. Pope Francis said children have a right to be raised by a mother and father, and children raised by two men or two women often report as adults that they have suffered as a result. It's child abuse when we say a child doesn't need both a mother and father, which is different from saying that if circumstances require they can be raised by one or another of their parents. It's about saying a child doesn't need a mother and a father. Fr. Roger said the evil of sexual abuse of minors is horrible and disgusting. When Jesus was talking about the worst imaginable sin, he said one who hears what I says and teaches other to fail to live it is fit to be tied to a millstone and thrown in the sea. As evil as sexual abuse of minors is, this type of poison of false teaching that leads people away from heaven is even worse, if we can imagine it. Our culture can't pretend that there isn't real truth or that all paths lead to heaven. Pope Francis has fought that and the Church has fought it. We need to understand the importance of communicating the Good News even when we are signs of contradiction. Scot said we look forward to Pope Francis' first few days. He's going to meet with Benedict XVI, meet with journalists, and on Sunday give a blessing at the Angelus, and on Tuesday morning there will be the Mass of inauguration and installation. Fr. Roger talked of what he thinks we'll see from Pope Francis soon. He believes the Roman Curia reform will begin soon through his preaching and actions. He will lay the foundations over the next few days.