The Deacon Dave & Layperson Lisa Show: Recent Episodes
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This episode is specifically for people from the spiritual mentors program being invited to join a new 12 week program called Reach More. If you are interested, it is okay that you have not been through the mentor program. Just reach out to Deacon Dave for more information.
There is a lot to cover in this episode. One of the main points is not to be so theological and to meet people in their heart. We can so often gain knowledge but we miss the importance of this knowledge moving to our heart which can ultimately move our soul. It is not good enough to just know things but they must become a part of who we are.
The Lord provides us with all the grace we need to live our lives according to His Will. Often, in times of silence, the Lord will purify our hearts and minds.
What does it mean to live abundantly in spite of the responsibilities we have in life. No matter how busy we are, we can always make time for the silence which is where we find God. In spending this quiet time, we are able to see Him more clearly even in the daily tasks of life.
In this episode, we talk about our spiritual journey towards God. Sometimes we reach plateaus in this journey. These times allow for reflection of the journey completed and preparation for the next ascent. Everything is in God's time.
Prayer is a powerful tool for those who are suffering. And this works two ways. We can offer prayers for the one who is suffering but we can also ask the one who is suffering to pray for us. In many ways, prayer changes each one of us regardless of whether or not God answers our prayers for healing.
Community is so valuable in helping people through their suffering. Those who suffer are not a burden when they ask for help. In fact, grace is unleashed when we ask for help from others. The greatest of gifts are then opened and the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are an instrumental part of this. Essentially, we encounter Christ in one another.
Today Cardinal Sarah talks about how Christ assumed human form to confront us with his absolute love. I have been confronted by a human being but not confronted with Love. It is hard to comprehend that, but it is true.
Cardinal Sarah goes on to say that God’s only power is to love in silence. That brings me to immediately think the passion of Jesus, where he remained silent even when he was being questioned by Pilot. That was the silence of his love, the love that bore our sins and died for our transgressions.
But that is not all, Cardinal Sarah then talks about how St. Augustine and St. John of the Cross went through their own desert experience where they encounter God’s love; they were confronted by God’s love in this silence.
Take away: When you arevconfronted by God, are you like I used to be and ran away? Or do you allow him to walk with you during your desert experience allowing him to love you through your struggles?
Where in your life do you need God to confront you?
Jesus worked many miracles through His ministry while here on earth. He continues to do the same today. However, it will always remain a mystery as to why God chooses to heal some people in this time and others He does not. We are ultimately all healed through the death and resurrection of Jesus who is our hope. While we may not always receive that one big miracle, there are many smaller miracles that occur when we embrace our suffering.
Today Cardinal Sarah talks about how in the presence of God, everything disappears, that nothing compares to the silence of Heaven. When he says silence of Heaven, I see this to mean the Heaven that God created in my heart. Where he and I meet daily, hopefully more than once a day, to exchange joys and sorrows.
Heaven, to me is anywhere where God is present. It can be in nature, it can be in our loved once, but it most importantly resides in the silence of our hearts. If we have come to the point in our lives where we can silence the distractions of this world and how it tries to entice us into doing things that are not holy, that my friends if HEAVEN.
Heaven to me is peace, joy and love..that is God!
Take away: Do you allow yourself to disappear in the presence of God in your heart? If so, please consider sharing your thoughts with us in the comments section below. If not, what is preventing you from it? (you don’t have to share those if you don’t want to) But do share them with God, he can help you though.
Today Cardinal Sarah talks about the fact that silence nourishes the heart. When I think of nourishment I think about sustenance and being sustained. Often when were hear sustenance we think about food but here the food that Cardinal Sarah is talking about is the love of God.
As we mentioned yesterday, it renders us speechless because speech is not required.
Cardinal Sarah goes as far as to say that not even the sweet sound of the Gospel, can express the magnificent silence of God.
I feel that is why I am so comfortable in adoration now. I feel his love regardless of what brokenness I bring to him that day. He holds and loves me, most often times without even having to say a word. For me it is the calmness and feeling that fills my heart that tells me that God is present.
Take away: Are you allowing God to nourish you in the silence of your heart? Are you sitting close to him in silence to allow him to nourish you? If not, what is preventing you from it?
It may be hard to imagine that suffering can be beautiful. Even more so, there is an intimacy that can be found as we unite our sufferings with those of Christ. AJ and Deacon Dave share stories that exemplify this point. Often, suffering does not look beautiful, but just like God, we must look into the heart of the person. When we do, we are able to enter into the sufferings of others.
Today I hear Cardinal Sarah talk about how when we advance in the mysteries of God the more, we tend to lose our speech, we become mute. Because in this intimate relationship no words are required. Cardinal Sarah goes on to say that we disappear in this greatest of silence.
This is very true for me; I have become so comfortable in sitting in silence with him that I lose tract of time. This type of relationship you are comfortable sitting in silence because no words are required.
I have a friend who told be about a couple friend of his, they had been married for many years and when they hosted dinner it was like an orchestrated event as they worked together in the kitchen either prepping or cleaning up. Each new what they had to do and the task was completed without a word.
Our live with God could be that way, if we allowed God to orchestrate and we completed daily tasks in a mute state because words were not necessary. We know what God wants from us, because he currently does not NEED any thing from us. That kind of relationship would be the so desperately needed peace and joy in our lives, the one we all truly want.
Take Away: How does God speak to you? Can you sit with him in silence with the love and presence of his peace that renders you speechless? If not ask for his divine assistance to help you accomplish this.
Joy is the permanent disposition of a disciple of Jesus. In this episode, we distinguish the difference between happiness and joy. Suffering and joy may seem like a contradiction being said in the same sentence. But on the cross, Jesus found great joy in dying on the cross for our salvation. We can also find joy in the midst of our suffering.
In this paragraph Cardinal Sarah quotes St. Augustine “All voice must decrease in the measure that one advances in the knowledge of Christ.” And the scripture passage from John 3:30 immediately came to mind: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Said by St. John the Baptist.
This does not mean that we as a person lose our value to God and that we lose our identity. It is the opposite.
As we put God at the center of our whole being, our value increases because if we are one with God, we will increase with him. However, we do not want to think that anyone or anything is more important than us.
We allow the voice in our head to tell us that there is nothing better than us. That is the voice of the evil one, the voice in our head that does not reach our heart which is where God waits for us.
This takes me back to the litany of HUMILITY. The part that says “that others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should”.
The voice of God should the loudest voice that we hear. The voice of despair, criticism, anger can be drowned out by God’s voice.
Remembering and accepting God’s voice as he tells me “Alicia you are my beloved child”.
Take away: What voice are you allowing to speak to your heart? Is it God’s voice? If not, why?
Healing is something we all hope for when we have a suffering, and this is always a possibility. Ultimately, God wants to heal our souls which are at the very center of where God resides. In this episode, we talk about the mystery of healing and how God's divine providence and will may not always lead to a healing.
In today’s reading Cardinal Sarah talks about spiritual faculties, and he refers to St. John of the Cross. St. John of the Cross defines faculties as: Faculties of the soul are merely qualities or properties, modes through which the soul acts. Faculties explain well the changes of consciousness, the essentially different kinds of consciousness, and the variations in capacities or powers, all proceeding from the same soul.
Yes, a really deep definition but what I get from this is that St. John of the Cross is saying is that though my faculties are qualities and properties of who I am, but great faculties come from the soul and those come as a gift from God.
The Spirit of God dwells in us and if we allow that dwelling to become fruitful, then we will have faculties pleasing to God. Those fruits are evident to those around us.
How would you define the spiritual faculties that St. John of the Cross is referring to?
Romans 8:11 says “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.”
Take away: What are you good/bad facilities, how can you covert the bad into the good with the Help of God in the silence of your heart?
Jesus leaves the garden. Although He is taken away (arrested), He went willingly. He conformed His will to God because it was necessary for our salvation. We can do the same. We can conform our will to God and leave the Garden to willingly take up our crosses. Crosses that are made lighter by Jesus becoming human, suffering for us and showing us how to suffering for ourselves and others. The resurrection brings us hope. Hope for an eternal life with God.
Today I hear Cardinal Sarah say love talks about burnt offerings and about meek, humble, and silent love. The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord comes to mind, no one has ever been as meek, humble and self-giving than our Blessed Mother. The three-letter word “Yes” says it all, she then gave everything of herself to care and love God’s Son. I could only dream of having an ounce of that self-giving love that Mary has.
Can we ever have enough self-giving love for God? Maybe not completely in this life but we can try with the help of our Blessed Mother as our intercessor.
The prayers that we say with humility and meekness in the silent of our hearts, will get to Jesus faster than if we light that incense then waiting for the fire to rise to the heavens.
Hebrews 10:8, say’s “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in." All Jesus wants is our total and complete self, to do the will of the father. That can only be done with humility and meekness.
Take away: I challenge you to reflect, do you humbly and meekly accept God’s will as Mary did? If not, what is holding you back? Sit with God in the silence of your heart and ask him to help you if your answer was no.
Faith is the belief of things unseen. Our faith teaches us that suffering has great power as demonstrated by the cross of Christ. It is easy to doubt when suffering becomes a part of our human experience. It is exactly in this suffering that our faith can grow to greater depths. It can also be an instrument by which others can grow in their faith as well.
Today I hear Cardinal Sarah say love consumes without burning and yet says nothing is the greatest Love. He goes on to say that that same love without words consents.
Consent means to give permission or to agree to allowing something to happen or to do something.
When we give God permission to enter into our daily lives of struggles and challenges we consent to his will. We don’t have to say anything, we can simple open our hearts up to him and allow him to abide in us.
Jesus consented to die on the cross for love of me, that is “The Greatest Love”. John 15:13 says it best “no one has greater love than to lay down his live for his friends”.
Giving God the love he gives me is the best way I can consent to his presence in my life.
This day’s reflection immediately brought me back to the many funerals I have had the honor of attending. Funerals are difficult and we don’t ever know what to say. I have learned that saying nothing are the best words. Being present amid the loss is a great gift to the family. The family opens themselves up to the pain that comes with each condolence as it arises memories of their loved one.
A hug or handshake can bring lots of comfort to those that grieve.
I feel that this is the silent love that Cardinal Sarah is talking about. True love is not flowery words or outlandish gestures. It is being present when needed the most!
Silent presence is very powerful.
JP II refers to the Gospel of Suffering. What this means is the Good News of Suffering. As we look at the meaning of suffering in the light of Christ, we understand that it was through the cross that Jesus redeemed the world. From this, we can see the value of suffering. Those who are sick and dying are powerful, like Jesus on the cross powerful. A privileged vocation. An election to something special.
On Day 75 we talked about noise, on day 77 we talked about sound, yesterday we talked about melody and today is song, and yet the title of the book is “The Power of Silence”. The first time I read the book I thought, okay Cardinal Sarah help me connect the dots?
It was only after reading the book for the third time did, I connect the dots. I came to the understanding that the most beautiful song is the song of God’s love for me, and I hear the song loudest in the deepest recesses of my heart.
Today, Cardinal Sarah points to St. John of the Cross and one of St. John’s many quotes about God’s love says, “Silence is God’s First Language”. I immediately thought about the moment I held my children for the first time. We looked into each other’s eyes and w/o words God’s love spoke.
God’s love does not require words, just presence! Sitting in silence with him in my heart is the best song I will ever hear!
When did you first hear God’s love song for you? What was it like?
Take away: Are you speaking God’s love language? I challenge you to look into God’s eyes and hear is love in silence.
Today Cardinal Sarah relates the melody with incense ascending in silence. Incense makes no noise, but it is obviously present. I am one of those people who loves incense and the smell, to me is all about being at church. When you see the smoke of incense rising, I imagine my prayers being lifted to heaven into the hears and heart of God. As Cardinal Sarah says, “melody for the heart of God.”
This may be why when I pray, my habit is too lite a candle, most of the time it is scented because I want to smell something that brings be back to the presence of God, just like the incense.
I think the same can be said for prayers, this same melody can be used in prayer, think about the rhythm of the Our Father, or the Hail Mary, especially when praying the rosary. The sense of comfort that these prayers bring to a me when I am in adoration stays with me the rest of the day.
My sense of smell and hearing goes into overdrive and takes over your brain for the day.
Incense is used in many ways during mass. Deacon:
Incense was used in ancient times as the smoke of the incense was a sign of God’s constant guiding presence to the people.
Let the melody of God’s love bringing you closer to him and prayer in the silence of your heart.
I feel that this is a continuation for yesterday, yesterday we talked about letting God in. Today I hear Cardinal Sarah say that once we let God in, we then must collaborate with him.
Last week we talked about monologue and the one-way conversations we tend to want to have with God and others. I see collaboration as the opposite of monologue. Unless you work completely alone on a desert island, I would venture to guess that you at will have to collaborate with others.
When my kids were young, there was not much collaboration going on (no doubt they would agree), where I said what was going to be done and “most” of the time they did it. But now that they are adults the collaboration process had to change.
The same could be said about the collaboration we have with God in our hearts. We spend time with him, we listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Collaboration takes understanding the other person, we must understand God, and understand him by getting to know him. I come to God in prayer asking him for help/advise when I am struggling with a particular situation. When I sit with God, we collaborate because we have the same common goal, for me to share in eternal happiness with him. If he was not concerned about me, he would not call me to prayer, to share is love with me.
Take away: Do you collaborate with God or do you have your own agenda and execute it without consulting with God in the silence of your heart, during prayer?
You come one with God when you strive to live your life for the love of God, without expectations. God does not disappoint as humans do.
We always have expectations from one another and are disappointed when those expectations are not met. However, when entering in a union with someone else there should be no expectations because it should be out of love that you enter into that union willing the good of the other expecting nothing in return.
With that, uniting ourselves with God in silence, bringing our brokenness to him in our heart, we experience love not disappointment.
Take away: Today Cardinal Sarah asks the question, “How do we let God enter into us?”, encourage you to reflect on that question, how do you let God in?
I am hearing Cardinal Sarah talk about the fact that if we do not let God penetrate our innermost regions of the soul for me this means my heart, then we can not her him and if we cannot hear him then he cannot get in to transform us.
Webster defines penetrate as “successful in forcing something in”.
God does not force himself into our hearts. He was there from the day he created us and lives in our hearts whether we acknowledge him or not.
As I reflect on what Cardinal Sarah was trying to say here, it reminded me of when I was trying to teach my children how to ride a bike. They were afraid of falling so they built a wall around their mind where the fear lived and no reassurance from me would dispel that fear. We practiced every day and every day the fear was being penetrated (even only a little bit) with confidence and skill, one day the wall was penetrated completely and fall to the ground.
The same can be said for our heart where God lives. Often, we have built a wall around our fear and the one who is trying to penetrate that wall is God.
It takes practice and perseverance to hear the voice of God in our hearts. He is trying to tell us that we are safe with him and if we fall and hurt ourselves, he will be there to pick us up and care for us.
Take away: Ask the listeners to examine their hearts for any walls that God is waiting patiently to penetrate. If there are any walls, ask God to help bring the walls down, because only through God’s help will the walls be penetrated.
Today is the last day of the Women’s Cursillo weekend. I ask that you pray for these women that they allow the love of God to penetrate their hearts, that he take residence in that heart and they take him with them when they leave today.
Today Cardinal Sarah asks the question “How can we express in concrete words a “silent music?”
I immediately thought about Angels in heaven but not as a harp like Cardinal Sarah talks about but like church bells. A call to worship or during the Eucharist. The bells telling us it is time to wake up, still our hearts and quiet our minds because something important is happening or going to happen. Sometimes I need that wake-up call. Maybe I should buy myself a small bell and keep it on the table next to my prayer chair. Ring it when my mind begins to wonder during my Jesus time.
Take away:
Today is the third day of the Women’s Cursillo weekend. I ask that you please pray for these women so that they can hear the sound of angels signing during their time in adoration.
Jesus experienced immense pressure and despair in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew everything that was going to happen. His apostles - his friends - were not even able to stay awake with him. He must have felt so alone. Just like us, he prayed to God “if it is possible, let this cup pass from me”, but He was able to surrender it to God, “yet, not as I will, but as you will”.
Today, Cardinal Sarah talks about how we as humans will avoid the battle what will ensue in the face-to-fact encounter with God. Why? Because we think that we will lose our self, our identity if we become silent and sit in silence with God.
From my many years on Active Duty in the Marine Corps, the strongest and successful leaders prided themselves in keeping the unit operating in harmony. Confrontation was not something they entered freely and without long contemplation. When entering a battle to resolve conflict the result had to be worth any potential lose.
That is truly the opposite of what will happen because the result is worth the lose of our earthly identity which will replace it, the identity of being a child of God.
There is no battle on this earth that we can fit alone and if we do think like that we have already lost; John chapter 15 says, “I can do nothing without God”. The fact of the matter is, it is not if we will experience a spiritual battle but “when” we do, dawning the Armor of God is our best defense.
Take away; Sit and medicate on Ephesians chapter 6 10-18; it tells us about the amor of God, consider how you can employ this armor when the time of battle presents itself.
Today is the second day of the Women’s Cursillo weekend. I ask that you please pray for these women as they battle for find their identity as beloved children of God.
Today Cardinal Sarah says that there is no silence in schools and wonders how you can read or even concentrate in all that noise.
This reflection made me immediately to think about my daughter. My daughter is an avid reader, wonder where she got that from . From the time she was young she carried multiple books with her everywhere we went, because “you never know when you may have an opportunity to read”, like in a line at the grocery store, yes true story. Well, after a while I would catch her sitting in the middle of the room reading, during a family gathering. What I did not know until many years later was that she sat with her fingers in her ears, she was trying to drown out the noise. After many years of practice, she no longer puts her fingers in her ears but can read undisturbed in the middle of a crowd. This is how she learned to read in a loud cafeteria or classroom. So, the answer to Cardinal Sarah question would be, practice, as my daughter did.
It comes from practice and will, how about that in our prayer life, in sitting with God in the silence of our hearts, in the middle of a loud department store. Yes, it can be done, through faithful practice.
In Jeremiah 7 people could not hear God and Jeremiah says “This is the nation that does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.” They could not hear God because they were allowing the noise of the world to harden their hearts.
Cardinal Sarah also talks about how the mastery of silence is like a fragile flame in a raging ocean.
Take away; Once you have mastered the gift of silent with God, how can you keep that flame alive in the midst of the noise in your life?
Today a group of women will be arriving at the retreat center to attend this weekend’s Cursillo. I ask that you please pray for these women that they are able to silence the noise in their heart, that they be open to the Holy Spirit in whatever why it may move them.
While Jesus was fully divine, he was also fully human. Jesus was like us in ALL things except sin. He came into the world in the most humble way and was totally dependent on his human parents. His experience of human physical needs, human emotions and human suffering allows Him to fully understand our suffering.
God wants to draw us into a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him. While we search for purpose in our lives, our suffering and our service, remembering God’s ultimate purpose for us can help us find meaning in our suffering and all that we do.
Today I hear Cardinal Sarah say that our world if full of noise, night and day is a constant stream of noise and there is no getting away from it. This constant noise can lead to false sense of tranquility. It is like having a one-way conversation with the world, It is talking to you and you have no way of getting a word in edge wise.
I have had a one-way conversation with Jesus several occasions, many more than I care to admit. It has happened with I am not happy with something in my life, and I am Telling Jesus how upset I am. A one-way conversation is not prayer, prayers is a two-way conversation.
Have you ever had a one-way conversation with someone? How did it turn out?
I have, I said what I needed to say, then I walked away. After some time of reflection, I would think to myself, well that did not solve my problem or answer my question, what a waste of time. Well, what did I expect, I was not listening.
This reminds me of a recent experience I had at the grocery store. I had my ear buds in my ears and a lady was speaking to me, but I could not hear her. She tapped me on the shoulder and said, “excuse me, did you hear me?” boy, I sure was embarrassed, she was asking for help to get an item from a shelf too high for her to reach.
Does this happen when God is talking to us? I can often become deaf to what God is trying to tell me because I allow the noise of the world to distract me. I need to remember to remove my ear buds and listen to his call.
Take away: Is your prayer live a monologue or a dialog?
The story of Job - a righteous man who lost his family and possessions and then endured extreme physical ailments – can be troubling. However, Job is an example of faithfulness. He never turned away from God. While Job questioned God, his “humility returned”, and he came to realize that God’s ways were beyond his understanding.
What I hear Cardinal Sarah tell me on this day is that if I want to pray, I must withdraw to a remote place wo that I can be alone with the ALONE. Of course he is talking about God..in the silence of my heart. He talks about this will bring us peace and joy however our self-centeredness prevents us from this. Asceticism means severe self-indulgence and avoidance of all forms of self-indulgence, which is not bad in of itself, however, we as humans tend to go overboard, and we do not always practice moderation well. Removing temptations from our daily life may be the only option we have when tempted with self-indulgence. We are tempted because we do not see self-indulgence binge watching tv when we can be doing chores, or social media when we should be working. Those may be the worst kinds of indulgences that take over our lives. These types of indulgences keep us from strengthening our relationship with God in the silence of our hearts.
Take Away: Are there things in your life that you over indulge in, if so, ask God to enter into your heart and help you get rid of those things.
Often the purpose of our suffering remains a mystery to us. Jesus showed us the power of divine love and how powerful suffering can be. As Richard Rohr said, let our wounds become sacred wounds. It was said of St John Paul II that “he found the strength to transform his righteous rage into a fiery, divine love. The pain he encountered opened an immense spiritual depth in him.” His strength was Jesus.
Cardinal Sarah says that “This is the silence of eternity, the union of the soul with God.”
First thing that came to mind was the mansion mentioned in John chapter 14 and how that mansion could me my heart. The room that can, should be filled with God but isn’t always. Being in union with God means being one with God and aligning my will with his, regardless of my expectations. We become one with God when we participate in the sacraments where we have a person encounter with him. That is what it means to participate, not just simple go to go, but be one with God in that moment, then take him with you when you go home.
What I understand Cardinal Sarah to mean is that we can encounter God every day in the silence of our hearts allowing him to simple love us. We become one with God when we find and see God in ALL things.
Take away; Cardinal Sarah talks about mortifying ourselves, adoring and loving him to become one with him. I challenge you to pick one of these three things and practicing that act for Love of God. Maybe even make it part of your Lenten practice.
As humans we have a need to understand the meaning of suffering. Knowing there is a purpose makes it a bit easier to deal with suffering. Mary may not have known the exact purpose for her son’s suffering, but she was able to trust God and knew He had a purpose for it. While most answers to the meaning of suffering are inadequate, St John Paul II encourages us to look to Jesus. “Divine love is the ultimate meaning for everything that exists.”
Today Cardinal Sarah talks about many of the Saints experienced the intense love of God. The further they ascended in his presence the mor intense it got.
The extreme size and scale of God’s love is unbelievable, but we can be immersed in his love or in disappear because we are afraid of that immensity, and we doubt it sometimes. Exodus chapter 17 is about Moses and the in the desert “the people grumbled against Moses” why because they did not have water. They could not fathom why Moses had taken them out into the desert to suffer, but in God’s immensity and love for his people he instructed Moses and there you go, they had water.
For me, walking into the kitchen I can find my glass of water. Sometimes the distractions of this world lead me into another room, and I never get my glass of water. But it was more than water that God gave them. He was trying to show them how extreme his love is!
God’s love and power cannot be measured. We get so wrapped up in the grand things in life, and the prayers that were not answered, that we fail to see the miracles in our daily life. We grumble about what wasn’t done and fail to see what was.
When I come to him with a sincere heart I can easily get lost in that grand space of his love!
Take away; Do you see how immense God’s love is for you in the simple things in life, like providing water?
In this paragraph Cardinal Sarah is talking about being our true homeland and that is with God and when we are in the presence of God in our hearts we are separated from this earth.
This reminds me of John 14 where Jesus comforts his disciples and tells them “My Father’s house has many rooms”, this passage is common at funerals to remind us that we inherit eternal life through Jesus at Calvary. Our homeland is not on earth, we are simply passing through, with the ultimate goal is to dwell with God for eternity in his Homeland. We meet this homeland at mass, where heaven and earth are united.
I remember the first time I expected the feeling of being one with God. It was after a long time of feeling unworthy and not feeling the presence of God in my heart. No matter how much I tried and how much I longed for the feeling it just wasn’t there. Anyway, I was attending morning Mass at St. Gregory several times a week before going to work. I had a vision of the Blessed Mother in the garden of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I heard her calling to me and telling me that God was with me in my trials. I felt so much peace at that moment. I feel like that is what Cardinal Sarah is trying to tell us. That when we feel that joy we don’t ever want to go back to the emptiness that we feel when we think only of this world.
Take away; Are you living for this world or are you striving to reach your ultimate homeland to dwell with God for all eternity?
Suffering can challenge our level of trust, especially our trust in God. However, suffering can be an opportunity to allow our trust to reach a new level with those close to us, with those in our community and with God. We can help each other grow in trust and therefore faith in God.
Cardinal Sarah says, I do not think it possible to approach God’s majesty without trembling in dread and astonishment. This brings to mind the gift of Fear of the Lord, which is being aware of the awe and wonder, the astonishment that is our Powerful God. Fear of the Lord creates a deep reverence in our hearts towards God. I think Cardinal Sarah touches on fear vs fear of the Lord. Silence can frighten us, because it may take us places we are scared to go, memories, past experiences, etc. but for me, I think God brings these things to the surface so that He can heal them. In silence we can grow in the gift of Fear of the Lord, grow in a greater awe of our God, a greater reverence of Him. Love drowns out fear, so when we grow in Fear of the Lord, our fears of the world dissipate.
Suffering can easily bring us to a point where we feel like giving up. Surrender is not giving up, but rather giving over to God. God is already present in our suffering. Realizing this, we can be encouraged to surrender and thus allow God to be fully immersed in our suffering. In surrender, the fruits of the Holy Spirit such as joy and peace are present.
Cardinal Sarah describes how man find it difficult to be in silence and that used to be true for me. Not hard to be alone or without noise but to be alone in my head. Then silence was forced upon me when my children left the nest, and with a husband who works all the time, I was home alone, and it was REALLY quiet. I lived with the TV or radio on, anything to drawn out the silence. That is until one Lent I gave up noise. That was not easy but so rewarding. I learned to embrace the silence and I love it!
Cardinal Sarah used the analogy of the skiff being pushed into a shore that is still feared, feared because of it was on unfamiliar land. That is what silence was for me until I became familiar with the land and realized how beautiful it was. Because I was not alone on that skiff, Jesus is with me.
Jeremiah 17 says “I, the Lord, alone probe the mind and test the heart,” Jeremiah is challenging us to get out in the skiff and allow the Lord to transform our hearts, especially during the scariest time of our lives.
Take away; if God were to probe your mind and test your heart, what would he find? Would he find you fitting the silence because it was difficult for you, or would he find you embracing it. Embrace it..it is beautiful.
The Brave Little Soul described by John Alessi volunteers to go into the world and suffer to unlock love for the good of all humanity. People gave their hearts while caring for the Brave Little Soul and lives were changed forever. The world was a better place.
Despair can leave us feeling that nothing will ever change and can cause us to lose hope. Jesus is our eternal hope. One way to regain our hope and pull ourselves out of despair is to reach out to others as Mother Teresa did. Even during her time of darkness, she saw Jesus in those she served.
Cardinal Sarah talks about how we need to stop encountering ourselves to make God present, no longer hear ourselves, to hear God speak to us. We need to continuously empty ourselves. We are own worst enemy, our own obstacle to living a life of grace. As I prepare to help lead a retreat, I am thinking of how can we remove the obstacles that prevent us growing closer to Christ. I think we need to ask Him out loud in prayer, Jesus, what do you need to empty me of so I can grow closer to you. I think of Peter walking out to Jesus on the water. Peter is looking at Jesus, keeping his eyes on him and walking towards Jesus. But then the obstacle of fear comes, Peter looses focus and starts sinking and panicking. Fear is such a huge obstacle that prevents us from living out our faith fully. The noise of the world, through news, through chatter, through gossip are all obstacles. Keeping our eyes on Christ allows us to fill up our world with His Presence. What obstacles are keeping you from growing closer to Christ?
Cardinal Sarah talks about the homilies of Isaac the Syrian who wrote to love silence above all things, because it brings near to fruit that the tongue cannot express. Silence allows us to grow in humility. Being present to God without words is a beautiful prayer! Cardinal Sarah says in the silence of humiliation and self mortification, the turmoil of the flesh is tamed. I was listening to a talk about feedback which really resonated with me recently. Someone made a comment that better communication was needed. I was offended by this feedback because I had made an effort and reached out to this person several times asking for information in order to provide effective communication. The person who was speaking about feedback that you found untrue, as I had in this situation, said just to accept it humbly. That what is important is our response, whether we feel the feedback is wrong or right, to accept it humbly. This speaker’s point has helped me recognize I need to tame my response, and be humble not defensive as the turmoil with me flesh would cause me to do.
Cardinal Sarah tells us that prayer consists of listening to God speak silently with us. Christ is the Master who can teach us to pray and to pray is to love and to be present to Jesus. When we are present to Jesus, and He is present to us, that is solitude, a oneness with Him. He calls us to pray unceasingly. Often, I find solitude sitting outside, enjoying the sounds of nature, the beauty of God’s creation, watching the clouds in the sky, the birds glide through the sky, the breeze making the water move. Jesus is present in nature, and I am present to Him.
Anger is a natural response to challenges that occur in our lives. It is OK to be angry and to take our anger to God. He knows our pain and understands. He can protect us from being consumed by our anger. He will forgive us if we blame Him and He will help us forgive ourselves and others.
Cardinal Sarah talks about connection between prayer and the Word. The key here is word with a capital W. First question for me would be, what does connection mean? “A relationship in which a person, thing or idea is linked or associated with something else.” So, there is connection between us to God in prayer.
We are linked to God through Sacraments, and through prayer. The connection if through interaction with him. We speak, He speaks, not necessarily in words, it’s more like a feeling of peace in my heart.
Cardinal Sarah also talks about “imagining the Lord at our side” when we reflect on his Word.
Being able to relate scripture to current life situations helps understand and imagine the Lord at my side. However, the only way I can do that is to empty myself of the external noise and unite myself with God.
Take away: How do you connect with God? What is your link?
Suffering can cause isolation. Loneliness can develop if we feel no one else understands what we are enduring or if our suffering hinders or prevents us from engaging in activities as we normally would. We can increase our feeling of loneliness if we shut others out, especially God. Isolation does not have to be lonely if we allow God to be present with us.
Cardinal Sarah says if we remain ourselves, we are full of noise, conceit and anger. One way to surrender more fully to God, is to prostrate ourselves. Lay down in front of the Tabernacle, lay down in front of Jesus in the Monstrance on our faces and surrender fully to Him. This posture is one that I often take during Adoration, to lay down at His feet. I have prayerful experiences while in this posture. One was Jesus was standing in front of me and I laid down prostrate at His feet, grabbing His ankles with my head touching His feet, just telling Him I give You my whole self. He grabbed my hands and had me stand up so He could embrace me. I think sometimes when we are struggling and are having a hard time surrendering a situation to Jesus, taking on this posture can help us do it. We are opening ourselves up to surrendering to Him through prostrating ourselves. What do you need to fully surrender to Jesus?
Entering the suffering of others can be uncomfortable and even painful. So why would we want to enter the suffering of others? St Pope John Paul II said, “The distinctive mark of the Christian, today more than ever, must be love for the poor, the weak, the suffering.” We are called to love. And in our loving care for those suffering, through God, they have the power to transform us and the world.
Letting others know we are suffering is very different from letting them INTO our suffering. Allowing people into our suffering may mean being vulnerable with them. Vulnerability does not mean weakness or loss of dignity. Our dignity is found completely in Jesus. So, our suffering obtains its full value by letting God and others into it.
Today Cardinal Sarah talks about renunciation and asceticism. In other words, self-discipline and avoidance from the things that keep us from being with God. How often do we want to indulge in things of this world to make us feel better?
During Lent we are called to abstain from eating meat on Fridays, we can also deny ourselves from something that we enjoy and lift that sacrifice up for God. But, it shouldn’t only be during Lent, we should deny ourselves from the things that separate us from God, such as sin.
Cardinal Sarah also states that if man does not mortify himself, he remains outside of God.
The most common definition of mortification is embarrassment and shame. However, that is not what Cardinal Sarah is talking about. He means subduing one’s bodily desires, the desires of the flesh which separate us from the love of God.
Why is mortification so hard? For me because I want what I want, and I often forget the consequences of those earthly desires. You see it on tv, you can have the best, newest and most expensive things, but does it really fulfill your desires. Maybe for the moment but the love of God can fulfill that desire for ever.
Take way; What keeps you outside of God? How can you practice self-discipline in order to enter into the silence of your heart with God?
If we can acknowledge our suffering (say it) and own our suffering (admit it is now part of our lives), we can then begin to work on embracing our suffering. This process may look different for each of us, but if we are able to lean into our suffering, it becomes possible to ask God how He wants us to use this suffering.
Cardinal Sarah talks about how during Liturgical Feasts we often are not allowing Christ to dwell in our hearts. He mentions a passage from the Imitation Christ talking about getting our hearts ready. I feel like this is how we are called to prepare for Mass so that Christ can fully dwell in our hearts. We are called to make our bodies an abode for Him. To make ourselves a home for Him in our hearts, minds and souls–fully united! So that He satisfies all our wants and needs.
Rituals were created for us to grow closer to God, but often we allow them to become routine rather than intentional.
Cardinal Sarah talks about the “ritual” in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Everyone was so excited but at the end of the day, yet Jesus was not offered a place to sleep in the city. Cardinal Sarah goes further by saying that Jerusalem did not understand the profound significance of the visit. It brought to mind the “rituals” that we are part of during the sacraments and I think do we know why we do what we do or are we just participating with the crowd like that Palm Sunday when everyone was so excited and yet did not understand.
What significant rituals do you find most confusing?
I hear people talk about why we sit, stand, and kneel during mass. They each have a purpose and the posture required to show reverence for the particular part of the mass.
I ask myself, am I loyal to Jesus even when there is so much commotion and activity in my life?
Take away: Do you know why you do what you do? If not, there are resources to answer your questions. Why do we do what we do? Is it just a process or are we getting something out of what we do?
There are many reasons it can be difficult to share our suffering with others. Perhaps we don’t want to be a burden to others, we don’t want to feel vulnerable, we think our suffering is not significant, or we try to “protect” people from our suffering. However, sharing our suffering with others can have value for us and them.
We may pretend to be OK, because we WANT to be OK, because we don’t want to dwell on our troubles or because we think there are so many “greater” issues in the world. Instead of minimizing our suffering, we should work towards acknowledging it and owning it. By doing this and by not comparing our suffering to that of others or to that of Jesus, we can ask God how He wants us to use our suffering.
Being inundated with God's Love allows us to be flooded with His Love. When we are flooded with His Love, we become His vessel, pouring out God's Love. Spending time with God's Word helps us to grow closer to Him, grow in intimacy with Him. When we take the time to really dive into His Word, to use imaginative prayer, picturing ourselves alongside Jesus, witnessing His miracles, we can more effectively hear Him speak to us. We become more open to hearing His Voice, more open to receiving His Love.
Denial can serve a purpose especially when we are first faced with difficult news. Often, we need time to process what has happened while we figure out how to move forward. Over time, we need to move out of denial so that it does not block us from God’s grace or cause us additional suffering.
What struck me the most about this reflection is where Cardinal Sarah says “silence is a divine liberation that unifies man and places him at the center of himself, in the depths of God’s Mysteries.” The depths being the depths of God, because when you become one with Him, the things of this world do not matter. Jesus died to liberate us from ourselves. We are our own worst enemy, and when we turn into God, he frees us from ourselves. Being in silence with God in our hearts is not restricting, it is much the opposite. He frees me from the storms raging around me, to save me from myself and show me that if I allow myself to be to totally and completely reliant on him, my soul will be saved.
When I reflect on this paragraph, I hear Cardinal Sarah express the great gift of the Eucharist. I immediately thought about the video “The Veil Removed”. If you have not watched it, I encourage you to do so. I see Jesus on the altar reciting the Words of Consecration as He offers Himself to us in the form of bread and wine, notice the drop of blood that falls into the chalice from the cross. In today’s gospel Mt 4 it says, “One does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”. The Blessed Sacrament nourishes our body and it became the food that feeds our soul so we could live with Him forever. Mary at the foot of the altar fills my heart even more each time I watch the video. Mary encourages us, begs us to come with her. To come to the foot of the Cross, the Cross of Salvation, where her Son died for us. She prays that we can be as close to Him as she is, in love and self-sacrifice. Cardinal Sarah emphasizes that it is “necessary to plant our life firmly on three great realities: the Cross, the Host, and the Virgin."
Jeff Cavins in his book When You Suffer describes a beam which is 25 feet long, 1 foot wide and 1 foot tall. He provides several scenarios for the placement of this beam and what might motivate us to walk across this beam. It brings up questions about fear, faith, trust, and sacrifice.
Cardinal Sarah talks about devoting time with Jesus to be nourished ABUNDANTLY. Meaning in large quantities/plentifully
Mt 6:21 says “where your treasure is, that is where your heart is” I have mentioned in earlier episodes that I was not always so devoted to prayer. My time was spent being a taxi for my children driving them from activity to activity and when not doing that I was working. Not a good excuse but that is what I told myself. It was during Lent that I would try to do better but not always successful. However, as my relationship with God grew my devotion also grew and He showed me that He was always with me, giving me courage to do things I never thought I could do, like a podcast where I shared my faith with you. He became my Light in the darkness; Is chapter 58 says “Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always”. St Augustine said “since love grows within so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul” Do you feel God’s beauty and love in the silence of your heart?
How much time do we devote to God? If you knew that God would bless you abundantly would the time you spent with Jesus grow? He already did, by dying on a cross to save us from death. Now consider how much time you spend devoted to your hobbies?
Day 4: Why Me? Why This?
It is natural to ask why me and why this, especially when we are blindsided by the difficult circumstances in our lives. It is OK to ask these questions and to take these questions to God. It seems impossible to make sense of suffering and in particular of evil – suffering that is the result of something that someone else has done to us. Looking to Jesus and his own questioning of God in the Garden of Gethsemane, may we begin to shift our questions to how we can grow closer to God and how God wants us to use our suffering.
Why does an all loving, all powerful and all-knowing God allow suffering? While God is not the cause of suffering, He did allow suffering to enter the world. God is love and He wanted to share that love with us. In order for us to respond to that love, we need the freedom God gave us in order to choose love. Through that freedom, sin entered the world. According to St Pope John Paul II, suffering is inseparable from man’s earthly experience, and it remains and will remain a question and challenge for humanity. St Pope John Paul II also says “But in order to perceive the true answer to the ‘why’ of suffering, we must look to the revelation of divine love, the ultimate source of the meaning of everything that exists.” God asks us to trust that He can bring meaning to our suffering even if we do not see the meaning in this life.
Today Cardinal Sarah narrates a visit that St. Teresa of Calcutta had by Angelo Comastri who is now the Cardinal Archbishop of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. When the priest first called requesting to visit St. Teresa, he was told no, because she did not have time. He went anyway, was again told that St. Teresa was too busy to see him. He was persistent and eventually St. Teresa came out to see him. He was a new priest and wanted St. Teresa to pray for him.
She asked him a question that surprised him, how much time did you spend in prayer each day? He began to rattle of everything he did: Mass, Rosary, Divine Mercy…
He was surprised when St. Teresa told him that that was not enough. He thought she would have told him to do acts of charity, but she told him, he need to pray more, to give God the maximum.
Without God present in our hearts through prayer, all the actions that we do are meaningless.
St Teresa’s giving was not of monetary donations but of her love and time for those around her. She once said, “Do ordinary things with extraordinary love.”
She also said, “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put into action that we do.”
Matthew chapter 25 says “Truly I tell you, whatever you do for the least of my brothers you do for me.” But we can do nothing without the help of God. And how do we ask for the help, in prayer.
Take away: how much time do you spend in prayer?
Today Cardinal Sarah talks about being swallowed up in God. And boy, how I sure fall short, I find myself being swallowed up by the world around me. I picture myself walking into a dark cave or falling into a dark pit and there is no way out. But the more time I spend with God the more I feel his presence surround me. We have talked about adoration many times since we began but not enough! Sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament and thinking about how much God loves me is the best place to be.
Take Away: Do you allow Christ to surround you and allow yourself to be swallowed up by his love?
Day 2: Forms, Causes and Reactions to SufferingSuffering comes in many forms and there is so much suffering where we feel we have no control. However, there are causes of suffering in which we do have some control. For example, the way we respond to our suffering can easily cause us additional pain. If we are able to effectively process our pain and work through the natural responses of anger, denial, withdrawal, etc. then we have the opportunity to reduce the level of suffering we experience.
Cardinal Sarah talks about St. Teresa of Calcutta and describes her humility and devotion to prayer. In the Missionaries of Charity chapel is inscribed “I thirst”.
What does it mean to thirst for the love of God? For me it means not being able to get enough, to keep wanting more. The saints are great examples of what is meant to be completely in the presence of God. She was filled with God in her service to the poor not only by giving them drink but by giving them Jesus in each action she took to care for their needs. Sadly, I fill myself with other things and when God is ready to provide this heavenly water, I have no room.
Take away: How do you thirst for God? And when Jesus says “I thirst” how are you satisfying him?
All of us suffer and all suffering matters. At times we may feel that our suffering is not significant compared to what others might be enduring, but the pain caused by all forms of suffering is real. Whether our suffering is internal (mind/soul) or external (body), we can use that suffering. Saint Pope John Paul II endured many forms of suffering throughout his life and gave us an example of how to transform suffering.
Today I hear Cardinal Sarah talk about the fact that if our hearts rest in Jesus, we would relieve ourselves from our “miserable human sentiments” and “and have the sentiments of Jesus”. Philippians 2:4-5 says “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus”.
With Jesus in our hearts, we can love like Jesus, and we forget about what the world tells us about love.
The love that Jesus felt when he died for us.
Sirach chapter 2 says “Be sincere of heart and steadfast, incline your ear and receive the word of understanding, undisturbed in time of adversity. Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not; thus will you be wise in all your ways.” To me St. Teresa of Calcutta modeled the love of God when she cared for the poorest of the poor.
Take away: You don’t have to go across the world to give of yourself, expressing the sentiments of Jesus starts in our own home. How do you express the sentiments of Jesus to the people around you?
On this day, Cardinal Sarah talks about a mysterious journey that leans to silence.
Journey – an act of traveling from one place to another.
Often when we hear mystery, we think of something scary, but I don’t think that is what Cardinal Sarah was talking about.
During a mystery movie you often hear eerie music, and everything is quick when the detectives are getting closer to find their answer. I feel that as I get closer to God, the mystery of his love is more apparent to me and though the music is not eerie it is more peaceful, and it renders me speechless.
The journey to God in our heart may be mysterious but not because it is scary but because we don’t always want to let go of control.
Take Away: Since you began working on your journey to God in silence, how are you doing? Are you making progress, Great be proud of that. If not, what changes can you make to get closer to God in the silence of your heart.
Cardinal Sarah describes how St. John leaned into the heart of Jesus. He allowed God to work in his heart and their hearts beat as one. 1 Cor chapter 3 says “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” If God dwells in you, then his heart is in your heart they are one.
Jesus calls us to do the same, to lean into Him, to allow Him to hold on to us, to be in intimate proximity of Him. What is your physical proximity to God in your heart? Can you get closer to him?
Through our Baptism we receive the same ability as Jesus had. His divine powers live within us. Often, we allow them to lie dormant, not aware they even exist. The heavens are open above us, we have the ability to be vessels for signs and wonders, just like the Apostles. When we graft our hearts to God’s, we become more aware of His Presence around us, within us. We hear His voice more consistently, more clearly. We become stronger in faith by taking risks that come with trusting Him on a new level. When I see God glorified because I trusted Him, and I surrendered to Him, to act as His vessel, it is a very humbling experience. It is a very powerful experience.
Have you ever had to travel away from home, maybe to a country that did not speak English and you found yourself not being able to communicate with the local people? Even in the same country words and symbols may not represent the same thing. This can cause confusion and disorientation. Effective communication and patience are key in situations such as this. The same can be said for the communication for the brain and the heart. We know what we want to say, and we say it, yet the heart that is receiving our words is not receiving them with an open heart. In today’s gospel, Mk 8, Jesus says “whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” That is my intent every morning when I get up and head to my prayer chair with my cup of coffee and then it happens, my brain gets distracted with the things of this world and the long list of things that need to get done and there begins the tug of war. My heart knows what it wants but my brain wants something else. Cardinal Sarah talks about how it is hard to a line human love to God’s love. I wonder, is it possible to love like God does? Maybe not, or maybe so, that would require that my heart must control my brain and not the other way around. Because God’s love flows from my heart, my heart must be in control. This will be a daily power struggle that can put me in a state of confusion, but with God in my heart, and my total surrender to him will provide clarity to what my heart needs, and that is God’s love. Is there confusion between your heart and your brain? Are they in line with God’s Love?
Cardinal Sarah quotes Isaiah, Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand…For this people’s heart has grown dull.The influence of the world, struggles that we try to take care of ourselves can all cause our hearts to be hardened and dull. This has happened to me. I was going through a period of time when I felt very angry. I didn't understand what was going on with me. Everything bothered me. I thought I should just go back to my old ways of not caring about anything. I felt my heart harden. I knew that is not what Jesus wanted for me, but yet I felt it was easier to dull myself from pain others were causing me. I had a wonderful experience during Adoration. I had an understanding that wounds from long ago were causing this anger and I felt Jesus say, I am bringing the anger to the surface so I can rid you of it. I am the wound vac that will heal you of this. He allowed me to renounce the anger and be delivered from it. Since then, I have not had such problems with anger, my eyes and ears are more open to seeing and hearing Jesus.
Cardinal Sarah talks about how images are drugs that we can no longer do without because they are everywhere. It makes me think of how often we are more present to the screens around us than God’s Presence or the people that God puts along our path to encounter. We are assaulted by images everywhere we go. At restaurants there are sporting events on the screens around us, we go to the gym and there are various screens turned to random channels. We eat dinner with our families with the news on. We go to get our car serviced and the news is blaring there too. We constantly are scrolling, checking social media and texts, and playing mindless games on our little screens. We can’t help it, it has become part of our society, part of our lives, it is hard to give it up. Images have assaulted our society. God calls us to close our eyes, to shut off the devices, to unplug and be more present to Him in the Abyss of His Love. Some of my deepest times of prayer were in Spain when I would close my eyes and contemplate God. Since I don’t understand Spanish, I think I was able to fall deeper into the personal abyss that Cardinal Sarah talks about. One time, when I received Jesus in the Eucharist, I don’t know what happened other than I had closed my eyes, my mind went blank, I had a deep sense of peace that was only disturbed by the proclamation of the word Oremos! Once I opened my eyes, it took me a while to figure out where I was. But the opportunity for that interior silence allowed me a deeper solitude with God.
Our society is overloaded with images. Cardinal Sarah talks about our how eyelids remain incessantly open and are forced to look at a dictatorship of images that detest silence. What works for me is to close my eyes so that I can more clearly hear and see God. Sometimes during Mass, when I am feeling distracted, I will close my eyes during the homily so that I can just focus on the teaching that is being proclaimed. Sometimes when I am in prayer and closing my eyes, I will see images from God–Pieta image. When we are practicing our EM school prophetic word, I will close my eyes to more clearly see an image or hear a word from God. But when my eyes are open, it is harder for me to be open to receiving the message of God. He calls us to see the brilliance of the stars He has created around us, are you taking the time to see them?
Cardinal Sarah is speaking specifically to the point that we have lost our awareness of the seriousness of sin and much of this has to do with the inundation of what we talked about in the last episode. Our eyes no longer can find restful areas of darkness. In fact, we have become so use to the light that darkness, that quiet time with God, can feel uncomfortable! I was driving home the other day, and it seemed really odd as I was only a few miles from my house. Everything was so dark and did not seem right. I quickly realized there was a power outage. It seemed almost uncomfortable to be driving through this dark are that is normally lit at night. Getting away from the light and the noise and spending time with God, allows us to see who we are in the light of God. This light is often convicting
and purifying. I love adoration in the dark where the only thing that is lit is the monstrance. There, the silence and darkness are very comfortable.
In this segment, Cardinal Sarah is talking about the onslaught to purity of heart through our sight. I immediately think of Time Square in New York City, where is it just flashing lights and signs everywhere. We were recently in Madrid Spain over the summer and in the busy downtown district it was exactly the same! So much noise through our eyes! There is a subversive vibe to everything we watch especially with sexual overtones. Pornography is rampant in our country. We are often dazzled by what we see and we feel like we are having a heightened experience, but the reality is we are being consumed by the noise which attempts in many different ways to drowned out the voice of God VISUALLY. Our inner dwelling place is being contaminated by this onslaught of imagery that is made available to us. There seems to be a serious lack of chastity and self-control which is increased by our desires to take in what is visually appealing. The subtlety with which sexuality is being exploited is no longer that subtle. We are creating a society that objectives other human beings for self gratification versus the beauty by which God has created them.
Layperson Lisa calls me Docile Deacon Dave Delights Deos. It truly does delight God when we spend time in silence just listening to Him and letting Him fill us with His Wisdom and Knowledge. Cardinal Sarah mentions that God is the Potter and we are the clay and that he can mold us if we do not put up obstacles or refusals. We can even create obstacles and refusals even in the midst of trying to enter into silence with distractions, cell phones, to do lists, etc. We need to settle ourselves down in order to let God form us. Otherwise, our clay will become hard and rigid. We need to allow ourselves to be immersed in our baptismal waters each time we enter into silence with God so he can mold us, mold our conscience. God has often formed my conscience in the silence of time with God to a new level - He has convicted my heart.
Jesus frequently withdrew from the crowd and went away by himself to pray and be with Father God. He would go into the desert without food or water and many times alone. Have you ever had to be alone, hungry, and thirsty? I have and it was not fun. The thirst and hunger pain consumed my thoughts, and I could not concentrate on anything else. But eventually there came a point where those thoughts went away. I had to become comfortable with my surroundings before I could control my feelings. But unlike me, Jesus went willingly, I would not go into the desert empty handed willingly. Why? Because I think of my physical state and not my spiritual state. We are called to withdraw during Lent and enter the desert with Jesus, fasting and praying with the sole intention of converting our hearts and making them one with God. But if we enter this desert thinking about how uncomfortable we will be, we run the risk of losing the true results that will come in the end, the conversion of our soul and the intimacy that we gain with God. Withdrawing with Jesus into His desert we have no want or need for food or drink as he feeds us with his word. I look forward for opportunities to withdraw from my environment and reconnect with Jesus each day. I find that my Lenten preparations are much more fruitful because I do not see entering the desert alone, I have Jesus with me and we withdraw together. How do you withdraw from exterior distractions and reconnect with Jesus? Do you go willingly or avoid it at all cost? If you avoid it, why?
Have you ever played the game Jenga? This game is a tower of stacked blocks where each player takes turns removing blocks from the middle of the tower without allowing the tower to topple over. It calls for thought, patience and understanding the foundation. Players are not allowed to remove blocks from the top of the tower only from the middle. So, each player works to pull blocks without the tower, hoping that it does not fall over because if it does, they lose the game. So, imagine that tower being your heart and the blocks and the glue that keeps that tower together is your relationship with God. Each distraction such as anger, pride, resentment pulls a block from your heart leaving holes in it, allowing your heart to crash to the ground. Only when you mend your foundation through the grace and relationship with God can you put the pieces of your heart back. Each piece can be labeled by humility, prayer, service, kindness. Putting the pieces of your relationship with God together requires total surrender to God and aligning your will with His. Understanding the foundation that our faith was built on…on love of God and Neighbor. Take away; What does your foundation look like? What is it lacking?
Cardinal Sarah reflects on the powerful prayer of our Pope Emeritus Benedict 16th. He refers to the term adoration - deep love and respect and worship. For me, adoration is a very important part of my faith where I spend time with God just giving Him thanks and praise. But I am often reminded that in these same moments, He is gazing on me, spending time with me in this very intentional way. I was at adoration right after a penance service this past Advent and beautiful advent piano music was being played. I find myself captured within the silence of the melody as I looked upon the Lord - it was crazy powerful and the Lord spoke to me in this silence - He said, “Love on my people, David.” I knew exactly what He meant as He was reinforcing something He had been telling me for months amidst the noise of my everyday life. But in that time, on that night, in the precious silence of the melody, I heard HIM in a real and substantive way. In His own way, He was calling me to be a pillar like we discussed yesterday in very simple ways to everyone I meet. God knows what charisms I have, He knows what charisms you have - we just have to let Him use them.
In this section, Cardinal Sarah continues to talk about those whose sole mission is to pray as pillars of the church. In this context, those who pray are supporting the work of the church and its mission through their constant intercession with God. This made me think of the many ways we are all called to be pillars in different aspects of our life. As a son, father, deacon, business owner, I am called to be a pillar. In reflecting on this, I can look at times in my life where I was a very shaky pillar at best and the primary cause of this was the lack of a prayer foundation in my life. There was too much self reliance and frankly not any God reliance. I thought my strength came from myself instead of from God. I did not realize that the foundation is built on spending time with God in silence. When I started to spend more time in prayer, the cement inside my pillar became stronger through the presence of Christ. I have a lot of cracks in my pillar, but God actually uses these visible cracks to help heal other people. Through more real prayer time, God has shown me I am not defined by my mistakes but by Him. I have especially learned that being a praying pillar is the best thing I can do for situations I have no control over. I have to let Jesus take care of those things I have no control over so they don’t take control over me. I used to spend a lot of time regretting the past or wishing I could of done things differently. Things I now have no control over because they are in the past. Through spending time in silence, God keeps me focused on the present because that is exactly where He is.
Those called to the contemplative life, often live behind the scenes. Contemplative nuns are silently praying for the world throughout each day, but most of the world does not even know of their vocation. Who are the people in our lives, that work behind the scenes? Let's give thanks and praise to God for them and the love they have for the Body of Christ through their humble acts of love. By having contemplative time each day, we become more aware of encountering Jesus in our daily lives, especially through others.
I may be aging myself when I say that I have been fouled by a door-to-door salesman. No, they do not do that anymore, but they did when I was less experienced. These nifty salesmen would talk all about how great their product was, how it would change your life. They got you full line and sinker. You would agree to purchase the product, sign on the dotted line. The salesman would leave your house as happy as a clam. After they left you would turn on the light and read the entire document that you agreed upon only to realize that you did not see the fine print. The print that is hard to see with the naked eye. You realize that you have been fooled and you did not see the full picture. The salesman was only showing and telling you what you wanted to hear. How often do we portray a picture of ourselves that we want others to see? Maybe because we are embarrassed or ashamed of what people may see. It takes more effort to be someone that we are not than to work on improving our weaknesses. God wants our whole being, the good, the bad, and the ugly because he can work in each one of those areas. And let’s be honest, God sees it all, so who are we really fouling, only ourselves. I find that when I feel good on the inside, the outside falls into place. I watched my father fix cars when I was growing up and the first thing he did was take it apart and figure out what was broken, he fixed the inside then put it back together, more often than not, the outside did not look any different than before the inside was fixed, but after it was fixed the car ran smoothly. On day 13 we talked about friendship and the love of our Friend Jesus and how it is unconditional. Allow your Friend, Jesus, to work in the silence of your heart and mend what needs to be mended, so everyone around you can see the full picture of who you are, a loving and kind child of God.
A balance of silence and speech is necessary. Too much talking can lead to ineffective listening. Often when we talk too much, we fail to effectively listen and not just hear words, but understand the meaning of the conversation. Have you ever spoken to someone, and they look at you and say, Excuse me what did you just say? Or they say, sure, and they did not comprehend a word you said. As a working mother, it was not always easy to balance my time with my family and my work and still have time for self-care. My self-care always seemed to come last, and my prayer life was part of that self-care time. I would pray in the car running around taking the children where they needed to go. I thought that putting prayer on my schedule was offensive to God. I would pray when I could and figured God would understand. Don’t get me wrong I do think he understands and knows where our heart is. But imagine if God only half listened to our prayers or not at all. Anyway, I was participating in a training session and a military chapel came in to speak to us, I remember him saying that NO God would not be offended if you put prayer on your schedule, He would accept that with open arms. After that day, I added prayer time to my schedule, allowed a balance in my life. I further broke down that balance with conversation prayer and silent pray on the day that my mother passed away. I had no words in my most painful loss and had no words to tell God how much I was hurting, just sitting with him brought me more peace than had I had a conversation with him. I new then that I would rather just sit and listen that do the talking. How do you or can you balance your silence with God in your heart?
So often I put my trust either in myself or in the hands of the world as if it is going to get me somewhere - and it does, but it is not eternal. Cardinal Sarah points directly to the idea that we should fall into the arms of God because he is all we really need. That all things should point directly toward God and an ever deepening relationship with Him. I was recently meeting with a group of men and this is exactly what God placed on my heart to tell them! We meet every few weeks and we go through what we did or did not do in our spiritual lives but often it feels like we are going through a menu and checking boxes. In the silence of my heart during this meeting, I could feel God saying to tell these men what He really wants is a DEEP RELATIONSHIP with each one of them. He does not care about all the things we do but the quality time that we spend with Him in reflection and recollection. This is what brings about conversion in our hearts - a real and substantive change that only God can make within who we are. We continued to talk about the barometer by which we can measure this change - it can often be measured in very little ways where our response has become one of love, one of silence, one of detachment, one of God Himself. I had someone say they are working on their relationship with God. I said that is good but what is really required is just to be open - it is God that does the work with us.
It is very easy for me to want to talk and often hard for me to just remain silent. Today Cardinal Sarah is reminding me that prudence in speech, prudence in the situations I place myself, are so very important to the spiritual life. It is easy for us to offend our soul or the soul of others - to disrupt the flow of grace. More times than not it is better to remain silent within a conversation, to redirect the course of the conversation through the quiet wisdom of the Holy Spirit. To not enter into something that will not bear fruit although it seems very enticing to do so. It immediately reminds me of the forbidden fruit. Through spending time with God in silence, our souls are tuned to prudence and turning away from these situations of temptation. Many are very subtle but they harm our souls and the souls of others. Just the other night I was in a conversation at church that started to turn toward what another person was doing. It did not really matter that the comments seemed justified - there was not fruit in the conversation. The silence of the Spirit said “Walk Away” - and so I did with a gentle hand on the shoulder saying, Let’s move on before we begin to gossip. Many times have I failed at this, but God continues to give me the prudence to respond only to that which is fruitful
It is one thing to tell others how to live their lives according to the Truth Who is Jesus, but we too must live out OUR lives in this same way. What goes on in the secret of our hearts is always known to Jesus. What is silent in our hearts and goes maybe unknown to others, Jesus knows. As the silent presence of God is immersed into who we are, we become more aware and are convicted in our own heart in those times where we know we have fallen short of what God is calling us to. For me, now spending more time with God, this produces a hurt…an ache that is unlike what I felt earlier in my spiritual life. There is a connection with the presence of God that goes beyond words yet produces a response deep within my soul. More now than ever, when I am tempted to not practice what I preach, I can hear His voice in the silence of my soul saying, What AM I calling you to do David? When we speak of “being convicted”, it refers to a deeply held belief that we have strayed away from. These convictions always correct me and then point me to the sacrament of reconciliation - back to the love of the Father.
Cardinal Sarah strikes hard at a critical point in the church today - the desire to change the Truth as found in Jesus Christ and handed down through the Magisterium of the Church. This is creating great turmoil on a variety of different fronts. As I reflected on this, this great turmoil likely starts in the heart of each person and is then fed by the noise of the world that seeks to inflame these agendas that are contrary to the One Truth. Before I really had a relationship with God, my understanding of right and wrong was certainly jaded. My conscience had not been fully formed. Since converting to Catholicism, the forming of my conscience has been a slow and gradual process which I have increasingly participated in over the course of the last 28 years. Gradually the light of Christ continues to illuminate areas in my life that were previously darkened. It would be easy to turn away from this process and back to the relativism of the world but there comes a point where this is not an option. This is the case for me. It does not mean there are not struggles, but it does mean there is no going back. I would also emphasize that in our vigor to exercise and bring others to the truth, we must proceed with a pastoral understanding - even more so, an understanding that even for us it is a long journey and a process. One that is only found in spending quality time with Jesus Himself in silence.
Some of the greatest examples I have received in my life have been in the silence - without words. I was on a retreat one time and we were having adoration and there was this one lady that just lingered and gazed at the blessed sacrament for quite a bit longer after everyone had left. This was eight years ago and I have never forgotten that moment because she spoke to me in the silence of that moment as I looked at her gazing upon Jesus Himself. There was something deep within her gaze that was just captivating. I could see how important God was in her life. I do not know what she was thinking. I never said a word to her about it for the entire weekend. But God spoke to me through her that night. We all have these moments where silence reclaims its nobility from the noise of the world. These moments often go to the very depth of who God has created each one of us to be.
We go to God with praise and thanksgiving for using us as a vessel to do good works on His behalf. The whole process of doing good should help us grow in sanctification and not in pride and ego - therefore, keeping silent is an effective way to internalize what God is doing through us. But this battle may still rage on even in the interior of who we are. There is what we present to people and what we still feel in our hearts
Seems like we have this disordered desire to be heard which is often vanity and the disordered desire to comment on the actions/words of others which often brings no value to the situation - in fact, it lessens instead of increasing. Imagine prayer time where we do all the talking where we are asking God to conform things to our will. I have certainly been guilty of this in the past. More listening to God in silence changes our conversation with Him to something that is fruitful.
Things of the world tend to influence us to become more selfish and less selfless. Time spent in silence with God does exactly the opposite. We become more selfless and our true identity is revealed instead of being covered up by the noise of the world. Silence forms our conscience in a way that helps us to see the beauty God has created in all people and things and to reorder are thinking toward love - willing the good of the other,
Cardinal Sarah talks about silence being our greatest freedom. Through God’s attentiveness to all we do, He is constantly inviting us to experience the fullness of freedom which is time with him in hte silence. As I reflect on this reading this morning, the sun is rising but glistening off the clouds which are moving quickly by in the silence. Yet the message is one of great power - the power of God to move all things, His desire to move all things, especially each one of us. We are not too small for God to keep a watchful eye on us.
Interior rest and harmony are found in silence. Cardinal Sarah provides beautiful examples of how the very outpouring of nature is done in silence from the baby’s womb to an underground river. As I sit in my prayer room reflecting on the reading for today, I glance at my statues of the many different saints in the quietness of this room. And each statue, without sayings word, brings to mind a story of how their lives continue to echo throughout the ages because of the presence of God. I imagine Saint Padre Pio or Saint John Vianny as they sit in the silence of the confessional as penitents approach and because of their own interior silence could see the souls of those seeking to reconcile with God. This is truly a harmony with God that cannot be found in the noise.
Seems like we are always on the go looking for the next new thing. We are always in a hurry and we can be this same way when spending time with God. We need to practice waiting. Maybe pick the longest line at the grocery store. It is amazing what God can reveal to us when we slow down experience our surroundings.
In our world today, noise seems to be the new standard that we cannot do without. Everywhere we go, we have to have the TV or radio on so there is something in the background. It is like a drug we cannot live without which make it difficult to enter silence because of the shock
Our ability to love in a world full of noise and difficulty first starts with US spending time with God in silence. Learning to hear his voice in the quiet so that when the storms of life ensue, we can still hear HIM. In hearing His Voice, we will respond or act in charity producing the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives and the lives of those around us.
From Cardinal Sarah's book , The Power of Silence. he states, “within silence there is a demand placed on each one of us.” “Interior silence is the end of judgements, passions, desires.” This is only deepened when we spend more time with God. In this episode, we talk about the importance of thinking before acting, especially in any situation where we are having some level of difficulty. It is in that silence, we are the voice of God who directs us in how to respond, if at all.
In this episode, we talk about that place where we get away to spend time with God. And spending time with God is not about how many things we get done but the quality of the time we spend with Him. With God, less is more. He seeks intimacy with us, and He does not want us to be exiled from His Love.
Divine love pulls us into God’s embrace making us holy through the revealing of HIS holiness. It is this love that saves us. Inside this love, greater things about who we are and what we need to work on is revealed. As I grow closer to God there are more things that are revealed that need to be reconciled. We must allow God to enter our innermost closets. This allows us to be sanctified and this reveals any false truths we may be holding on to, especially about our identity!
Our spiritual growth is directly proportional to our growth in humility. It is very easy for God's work in and through us to become OUR work. Spending time in silence with God, maybe praying the Litany of Humility, gives us a renewed perspective that God IS the source of all good things we do. Spending time with God helps us to recognize that our growth in the Spirit must be cultivated, which is our word of the day.
In today's episode, we hear about Martha and Mary and how Mary has chosen the better part by sitting at the feet of Jesus. Martha was doing things in preparation to feed Jesus. However, she was a bit upset that Mary was not helping - this is where the rub is! Martha had lost her peace of heart. How often can this happen to any of us when it does not feel like others are carrying their own weight. Ultimately, the Lord is calling us to do all things with Him in mind and this includes enjoying the Fruit of the Spirit.
Life is so full of noise. We are often not present to God, neighbor or self. I would say that slowing down is a friend to silence. And busy is a friend to noise. We can walk right by a person and not pick up on “the silence” of a person we are right next to or talking to because we are too busy or self-absorbed – but this is exactly where God is in the silence of the person. God often places these people into our heart and mind.
The big takeaway from this section is that silence is the manifestation of presence. And I would like to make a special point here – we should enter the silence without expectation. Trying not to qualify the level of presence at any given time. It is better to just “be” with an open heart. We may not “experience” and physical sensations, yet we are “stilling” our hearts.
The source and summit of our faith is the Eucharist which is the true and real presence of Jesus - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Each time we receive Jesus, we are incorporated into HIM! During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the bread and wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Jesus Himself. This is a powerful reality whereby the complete openness of our heart is so important to our spiritual lives.
When we are immersed in Jesus, we realize that being a disciple is not something we do, but it is who we are. Jesus wants to immerse Himself into every aspect of or life because He knows this will help us to BE Jesus to the world. The word for today is "immersion."
God achieves everything but it is done when we wait for him in silence and recollection. The development of grace usually comes from silence. Think about the decisions we make that are important – we take time to consider them in silence. We do not rush to decision making and when we do it often does not turn out well. The Sacraments, for example, make visible what is invisible. Silent yet with great power. Any external transformation produces great noise like the waves crashing against the rocks in Portugal. But the silent power of God transforming our hearts wells up in silence. I have felt this way many times during adoration. The word of the day is "Transformation."
Jesus is the Word made flesh. In this episode we talk about the person of Jesus and how His life is the ultimate example of how we too are to live. He is the Logos. He poured Himself into our humanity elevating who we are as well. We talk about the power of speech as a double-edged sword. Are we speaking the Word which is Jesus OR are we speaking the word which is not of God? The word of the day is "Logos."
We must leave our inner turmoil in order to find God. Even in the greatest of commotion, we can remain silent because of the depth of our relationship with God. I thought of an “opposite analogy” whereby when we are going through a period of sadness, we do not hear what is going on around us – everything else seems to stop. The same is true even in the everyday busyness of life. God can keep us keenly aware of His presence during the commotion and reminding us of how much He loves us – His voice speaks from within. The word of the day is "turmoil."
Jesus would often withdraw to the desert. This was so he could spend time in prayer with the Father. Often we have deserts in our life that we did not choose, but Jesus is still there and He awaits us in our perceived loneliness or isolation - where we find Him is a place of solitude and peace. Our word of the day is "desert."
Welcome to Day 4 of Silence in a Year. The word for today is solitude. Solitude is different than being alone or lonely. Solitude is quiet, peaceful one on one time WITH God. It is important for us to recognize the need to withdraw during times of difficulty to hear the voice of God or to draw into deeper relationship with him by actually placing ourselves in the scriptures.
Hello and welcome to day 3 on The Power of Silence. The word for today is discover. Webster defines discover as “the action or process of finding/locating/uncovering” something. How do we discover God in the silence of our heart? Well, let me answer that question with another question; How do you discover a friend? You would spend time with them, getting to know them, their likes/dislikes, what their hobbies are and what the two of you have in common. This creates a bond between the two of you and the longer you spend time together the more you will discover interesting facts about your new friend. So, that is how we discover God in our hearts. We do that by discovering God in the Sacraments by attending Mass, Adoration, Reconciliation. We discover God and who his Son is through his Word, in Scripture and prayer. We discover God through community when we love our neighbor as ourselves.
Word of the Day is "Discover"
Hello and welcome to day 2 on The Power of Silence. The word for today is love and I would like to start today with a question: Do you know love? If you do, you know God because God is Love. Love lives in the silence of our heart and if that is where love is, that is exactly where God will live, if you make room for Him. We are all created in the image and likeness of God. God created and adopted us all as His children and He wants to know us intimately and that means being one with us.
God abides in our innermost being – one in being with us is the implication. First recognition of this was in the vine and the branches scripture. The Lord wants intimacy with us.
Word of the Day - Love
Have you ever heard someone say, God told me, Or I heard God say, or maybe God spoke to me? And did you wonder, well how does that happen? And why have I not heard God speak to me? Does God love you more than me that He speaks to you and not me? To those questions I would say, Yes! God loves us ALL totally and unconditionally. And yes, He speaks to all of us. But are you listening with an open heart and peaceful heart? Are you listening only when you want something from God or when things do not go as planned.
Word of the Day - Image
In this episode, Deacon Dave completed the second of two podcasts leading up to Silence in a Year starting on January 1, 2023. Deacon Dave reflects on the birth of Jesus and the two homilies he heard today.
In this episode, we introduce the Silence in a Year for 2023. We talk about the format for each day which includes a word of the day, reflection on the reading, stories, reflection question and a closing prayer. Please join us as we begin this journey!
In this episode, we talk about the first 12 in overcoming an addiction. This series is also for our students in the Spiritual Mentors Program
In this episode, we talk about doing the will of God - choosing Him over things of the world.
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about challenges we may have with Church teaching and how we can work to reconcile ourselves to the Truth who is Jesus Christ.
Keeping our eyes focused on Jesus from the very beginning of our day can help us remain in His love!
In this episode Deacon Dave talks about the Lord preparing a place for us. Is our suitcase full of things eternal or full of things of the world.
In this episode Deacon Dave talks about burying the dead and how we need to live out the resurrection
Peter tells the Sanhedrin they are called to serve God and not man. We have so many opportunities to do the same!
In this episode, we talk about the miracle of the loaves and fishes and how God can do great things with the smallest of offerings from us!
In this episode, Deacon Dave reflects on the sacrament of reconciliation and how we need to step into the light.
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about US being bold in sharing the love of Jesus with others.
In this episode, Deacon Dave shares his homily about the woman and the well and how are identity is not found in the circumstances of our life but in Jesus Himself.
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about noise in our lives AND about how we can build walls in our relationships.
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about how we all have a purpose and the undercurrent should be Love.
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about our disposition in relationships and the sacraments.
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about a card he received from the technicians, an encounter with the lady who greets patients, and about our human dignity.
In this episode, Deacon Dave shares a few encounters and talks about our desire to control what we cannot control. Also, if you have not subscribed to our podcast, please do so!
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about "leaven" and "worry." Two different topics inside of one episode!
In today's episode, Deacon Dave talks about picking up our crosses and following Jesus in terms of mortification
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about how we can be "a dusting of Jesus" to the world that saturates. Please subscribe and share with your friends and family. I have been overwhelmed in my own life with how God is using this time to bring about His glory.
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about the importance of HUGS. This is one of the most fundamental ways we can say I love you - no words required. Please check it out!
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about putting on the garment of love which is lined with gentleness
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about God's grace and how He can do so much more in our lives then what we might think.
In this episode, Deacon Dave talks about the importance of taking time for prayer - prayer in silence. We can make time for some many other things in life, we should make time for our God who wants to abide in us.
In this episode, Deacon Dave reflections on Day 1 of radiation treatments. The main theme for today is that God's perfect love casts out all fear.
Join Deacon Dave on his radiation treatments for recurring Prostate Cancer. He will reflect on his journey each day sharing stories of his encounters with God.
In this episode, we have finally made it into the Sanctuary. We start going over the Introductory Rites in this episode.
In this episode, we talk about the colors and vestments the clergy wear including the prayers that are said while vesting.
In the last episode, we talked about obstacles to paying attention in Mass. In this episode, we talk about how to overcome those obstacles.
In this episode, we talk about preparing for Mass and getting in the right frame of mind to worship and adore the Lord.
Listen to Deacon Dave Homily as he talks about our role in turning water into wine and how we should live out our lives in expectation "to the brim."
2 years ago, Deacon Dave and Layperson Lisa held a weekend Mass Retreat. In this series of podcasts, they revisit the details of the retreat and breakdown the different parts of the Mass.
We continue with the bread of life discourse from John chapter 6. Today we talk about two things derived from our Friday morning group.
In the episode, we talk about Patience, which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Please also note our nifty intro music!
Based on our Friday morning bible study group, Deacon Dave shares 2 key take points derived from our discussions!
In this episode, we talk about two gifts of the Holy Spirit. Piety and Fear of the Lord!
This is a reflection based on discussion from Friday morning discussion on the readings for this upcoming weekend.
This reflection is based on our Friday morning bible study which focuses on the upcoming Sunday readings. Information contained in this podcast is based on compiled discussions from the group. Thanks to all!
Please note the beginning of this podcast was not recorded. It starts about 5 minutes into the show. We apologize for any inconvenience!
This is episode 4 in our 9 part series on the angels. This episode is about the Powers.
Guardian Angels—angel choir
Here to guard/help us
Strong and intelligent
We can ask them for help in getting along with others. Greet the person’s guardian angel in your heart before you greet them. You will have 2 angels and yourself help you get along
Fr Chad Ripperger:
“God created something above you for you.”
Developing a special bond with your guardian angel helps deepen our internal life and helps us grow in holiness.
Guardian angel chose us. They knew us before we were created and out of love and obedience to God, said yes to His offer to protect us. They have had full knowledge of our temperaments, the sins we would commit, and all the good we would do. They know us better than we know ourselves.
Pray to our guardian angels to help us grow in holiness. Ask GA to reveal our primary defect to us so we can identify it and know what we need to change to grow in holiness. (Our Lady of Sorrows, also). Ask GA to show us our weaknesses and how our spiritual growth is affected and hindered.
Ask GA to humble us daily. Pray for interior humiliations. GA knows best and surest way to heaven is humility. We will discover surprising ways our ego was injured or pride shattered. All angels are perfect in all virtues. But primary way of serving God is thru humble submission to His will.
Combat evil and strengthen us. Many exorcists say, in their experience, we may have guardian demons—those that said no to guarding us. Satan mocks God, so he assigned us a demon. This diabolic spirit tries to dissuade us from getting closer to God, is an agent of temptation. GA with us always. Pray that our GA keeps us strong in times of temptations, assists us with holy thoughts and influences our imaginations, especially when under intense attacks. GA can sway us to heavenly things when we ask by influencing our senses, intellect and will. GA illuminates the truth and can intervene miraculously.
Padre Pio:
“…the GA is our most sincere and trusted friend and even when, through our own fault, we sadden him with our own bad behavior.”
Had people send him their GA when they needed guidance. We can send our GA to others in need.
In this episode, we talk about the choirs of angels. This is the introduction to our new 9-part series on the angels where we will dive deep into each choir!
In this episode we talk about apparitions of Mary in Fatima and in America. Check it out!
In this episode we talk about conversion. In particular, we talk about Saul who becomes Paul.
It has been awhile since we have been able to receive the Eucharist. Lisa and I share some of our stories and ask you to do the same.
In this episode, we talk about the Annunciation of the Lord and how we can say yes to God.
Many of you may not have made it to Mass this weekend due to the current virus. Therefore, I am uploading my homily from this weekend.
This episode takes place from the Washington Retreat House next to the Saint John Paul II Shrine in Washington DC. Deacon Dave and Layperson Lisa talk about their trip to the Shrine!
Deacon Dave talks about the 40 days of Lent and the 40 days of Life. How can we use Lent to pray for respecting life from the moment of conception to natural death.
Deacon Dave and Layperson Lisa talk about getting ready for Lent and some ways we can enter into the Lenten Season and make it a permanent part of our faith journey.
Deacon Dave and Layperson Lisa talk about this past weekends retreat and their pilgrimage to Portugal in May.
This podcast is for those going on the retreat in January 2020. It is an intro into the weekend!