Oro Valley Catholic: Recent Episodes
Fr. John Arnold
“If other ages felt less, they saw more, even though they saw with the blind, prophetical, unsentimental eye of acceptance, which is to say, of faith. In the absence of this faith now, we govern by tenderness. It is a tenderness which, long cut off from the person of Christ, is wrapped in theory. When tenderness is detached from the source of tenderness, its logical outcome is terror. It ends in forced-labor camps and in the fumes of the gas chamber.” - Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners
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Every new technology provides challenges. The presence of Artificial Intelligence is another example. What good can come of it? What should we be wary of? What role does transhumanist thinking play? This week on OVC along with Lazarus and the rich man. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092825.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The tragic death of Charlie Kirk and all those victims of evil in the recent history of our country might bring us to wonder what is going on. The perpetrators are all young men in their early twenties. Why is America so toxic? This week on Oro Valley Catholic.Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294Readings for the Exultation of the Cross: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091425.cfm
The Ark of the Covenant, thought to be lost at the time of the Babylonian Conquest, is as it turns out, not so lost. Read Revelation 11:19 and following. Learn about the scriptural basis for the dogma of the Assumption.199. In what way is the Blessed Virgin Mary the eschatological icon of the Church? Looking upon Mary, who is completely holy and already glorified in body and soul, the Church contemplates in her what she herself is called to be on earth and what she will be in the homeland of heaven.Music "Ave Maria" performed by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License A-726294.
Prayer for the dead and expiation of sin is a Jewish practice continued by Christ and the Church. Learn more about Purgatory on this week's OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081025.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Martha and Mary - anxiety and contemplationReading: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072025.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Julian Osborn, a first year seminarian, discusses the call to priestly vocation and the seminary life this week on OVC.Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Feast of Corpus Christi where Christ takes, blesses, breaks and gives his body and blood to his disciples ... you and me. What does it mean? This week on OVC.Readings:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062225.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294Chalice: German ca. 1230–50
Jackson Landers, a member of the St. Mark teen group describes his pilgrimage to Rome and attending Pope Francis' funeral. What did he think? This week on OVC.Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Their is no up or down, only closer to Jesus or further away. Why is that important? Because eternal life in heaven is about relationship to God through Jesus. This week on Oro Valley Catholic.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060125-Sunday.cfmLicense w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of the Early Church's proclamation of God's Will and the Church. You cannot love Christ and despise his Kingdom - you cannot put a wedge between Christ and His Church. This week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052525.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
What does it mean to be a 'self'? Am I the result of social pressures? Is my true self to be found in my emotions? Am I a creature made in the image and likeness of God, whatever that means? Oh, yes! It means quite a lot. The Acts of the Apostles, early Christian preaching and my true self, this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051825.cfmPortrait of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Augustin de Saint-Aubin French After Maurice Quentin de La Tour French 1777Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Book of Revelation is mysterious, unless you know the code. The secret code is the true worship of God. Revelation is based on the liturgy of the Mass. Through all the ups and downs of life, Catholics are called to true worship.Art: The Last Judgment, Master of the Orléans Triptych French ca. 1500Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051125.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Greco-Roman world had very dark understandings of death and the possibility of continued existence. The Jews, late in their history, came to a belief among, at least the Pharisees, that a resurrection of the dead would happen at the end of time. The Christians upended all of that - Christ is risen and the tomb is empty. Deal with it!Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050425.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
In the Gospel for the Second Sunday of Easter, St. Thomas doubts the Resurrection. What is the difference between a difficulty, a doubt and skepticism? Important distinctions in the quest for truth. This week on OVC.Art: Portrait of Blaise PascalAugustin de Saint-Aubin French, After Augustin Pajou French, 1802Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042725.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Tenebrae is a Christian remembrance of Christ's crucifixion. The music and scripture chosen commemortes the darkeness that seeks to overcome the inextinguashable light of the Son of God. Tenebrae prepares the Christ for the darkness and hope of the Paschal Triduum. Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The sin of Adam and Eve leads to the travesty of sinful worship of God and the death of their son Abel at the hands of Cain, the older brother. The tragedy arises out of false worship. Another eldest son, Jesus of Nazareth will worship God in spirit and truth. He teaches His followers to do the same. The salvific value of true worship this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041325.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
What is sin? A weight... a debt ...disconnection from the divine. This week Christ is called to judge a woman caught in the very act of adultery? Should she be stoned? A trap? To be sure. By the end of the chapter, the powers of this world threaten Jesus with stoning. Adultery is an example of sin, but what is sin?Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040625-YearC.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Our world is pretty fragmented and it more difficult to build community. Catholics in their 20-30s are defying the trend and working to build a healthy, respectful community at St. Mark parish. Here the leadership team for St. Mark Young Adult Ministry describe their effors and successes in this week's OVC. Remember, we are in the process of moving to Podbean. Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Kairos is the right time, the time of opportunity. In the Gospel, Jesus references death, guilt and the time for a decision. His parable? A fig tree that bears no fruit - it gets one more year!Readings for the Third Sunday of Lent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032325-YearC.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294 Fig Tree (Figuier)Aristide Maillol FrenchPublisher Philippe Gonin French1937–50
Romans 10 says, "for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lordand believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,you will be saved." What does one of the most controversial passages in scripture mean? Simply put, 'faith that works.' You can oppose belief in your heart, this week on OVC. Please not that OVC is moving to a new platform on Podbean. Please subscribe there!Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030925.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Oro Valley Catholic is moving to Podbean at https://pastoruc.podbean.com/?customizing=1. Join me there. Fr. John
The Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time brings us stories of discernment. How do I follow God's will? Holy Orders or Matrimony. This week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020925.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Much controversy between skeptics and believers. It is one thing to say that, as a materialist, I do not believe in the Resurrection. It is another thing to claim that the Gospel writers were anonymous, didn't know Jesus and made the story up years later. You can have your own dogma, not your own evidence. Listen about St. Luke's concern for historicity, this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012625.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294Art: Medallion with Saint Luke from an Icon Frame, Byzantine, ca. 1100
The Old Testament describe Israel as an unfaithful bride. Ezekiel, a prophet, proclaimed that God would form a New Covenant. Jesus in the Gospel of John acts as the Divine Bridegroom calling his people back to the Father. That Divine Wedding is consumated at his crucfixion. Lean more this week on OVC.Art: The Annunciation, Hans Memling Netherlandish, 1480–84Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
This week on OVC I discuss Baptism and Remembering the past. The Gospel from Luke, "After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon himin bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;with you I am well pleased.” Remember that you are dust, that you were slaves and don't look back! Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bi:ble/readings/011225.cfmArt from the Met:The Baptism of Christ from a set of The PassionDesign based on an engraving by Martin Schongauer, German 15th CenturyMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Feast of the Holy Family, The Book of Sirach has this to say about a Holy Family. "God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them.When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother.Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard.Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother." Sir 3How is a family formed in holiness. This Week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122924.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth is described in the Gospel of Luke, "Mary set outand traveled to the hill country in hasteto a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariahand greeted Elizabeth.When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." We recite these words when we recited the 'Hail Mary." How should we think about the Visitation? This week on OVC. The Visitation, Anonymous, German, 15th century GermanReadings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122224.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Third Sunday of Advent brings us the story of St. John the Baptist telling those to be baptized to put sin behind them, be generous, don't abuse others or take advantage. It is very different from self-help as the next thing St. John says is to prepare for the one that will baptize with water and fire. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121524.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Gospel of Luke tells the story of St. John the Baptist on the Second Sunday of Advent: A voice of one crying out in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”Help always comes from the boonies, the outsiders. Learn more this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120824.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. ""My kingdom does not belong to this world.If my kingdom did belong to this world,my attendants would be fightingto keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." John 18How is Jesus a king as David was king and God is king. This week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112424.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Spiritual, but not religious is to be alone in a dangerous neighborhood. Christ is both the Messiah and the New Temple. Why does he answer our human needs for security. This week on OVC.Architectural model of the temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem After a design by Thomas Newberry British (1883) On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 554 This monumental nineteenth-century architectural model of Solomon’s Temple exhibits skilled craftsmanship and exquisite artistry, as well as architectural ingenuity and conceptual brilliance.Readings 33rd Sunday in OT: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111724.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
In the image, Melchizedek lays his hands on Abram. The Book of Hebrews looks at this moment in Genesis as the origin of the priesthood of Christ. "Brothers and sisters:The levitical priests were manybecause they were prevented by death from remaining in office,but Jesus, because he remains forever,has a priesthood that does not pass away.Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7. What does this have to do with Jesus and the Temple Mount in the Gospel for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time. This week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110324.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Ambition, glory and honor - is the desire for these things evil. Jesus doesn't say that. Instead, to be ambitious in service, to be the least of all and the servant of all, this is ambition, glory and honor in God's eyes. ""You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentileslord it over them,and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you.Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be servedbut to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10Readings for the 29th Sunday in OT: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102024.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Prudence is good judgment expressed in the choices you make. The grace of prudence is to choose wisely about matters eternal. In this week's OVC, the Lord teaches this lesson to a wealthy young man. "I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her, nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. Yet all good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands." Wisdom 7Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101324.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
"But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and motherand be joined to his wife,and the two shall become one flesh." Mark 10. This week, Jesus on Marriage and Divorce on OVC.Art: Marriage Contract: Late Period, 380–343 B.C. Dating to the 30th Dynasty, just before the conquest of the Persian Empire and hence of Egypt by Alexander the Great, this papyrus records a marriage contract. It is written in Demotic, which refers both to the language itself (a late form of Egyptian) and to the script.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100624.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
For some people tatoos are personal expressions, windows to the soul. Can you recognize someone's true self through a tattoo? Flannery O'Connor says yes! Tatoos are subjective expressions of the human interior life. Sacraments are visible expressions of the reality of divine life. This week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092224.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
God's love is unconditional. Discipleship is not. "You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble." James 2: 19 What are the conditions of discipleship? Listen this week to OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091524.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Supernatural events both holy and demonic. What to do about them? The Vatican has some new instructions, this week on OVC.Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Eucharist and the power of God. "Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ: for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. 12:9. Power in our weakness, John 6, this week on OVC.Readings for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082524.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Fr. John' homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081824.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
We are saved by faith, not by sight. Sin disintegrates the human integration of body and soul. Sin teaches us to love the corruption of evil instead of the holiness of God. The Eucharist is the remedy for our sin sick souls. More this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080424.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
This weeks Gospel from John 6 tells the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in the desert. It is the beginning on Jesus' discourse on the Eucharist. "Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you." John 6:53. Catholics understand that Christ is substantially present, body, soul, divinity in the Eucharist - we call this the real presence. Why do we differ, however, about receiving in the hand or on the tongue? Lots to talk about there in this weeks OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072824.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
In the Gospel from Mark 6, Jesus sends out the twelve apostles with authority over demons, to anoint with oil to cure the sick and the power to preach the good news, "Repent." In short, go beyond your mind (metanoia) and change how you think. We tether our spiritual life to reality when we meditate on the circumstances of our upcoming death and what it says about our life in the here and now. Take courage and follow 'the Way.'Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071424.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Jesus comes home to Nazareth in Mark 6. He is met with skepticism and rejection despite all of his signs and teaching. Dr. Carlos Eire of Yale University has written a book challenging the ubiquity of modern skepticism. In They Flew: A History of the Impossible, Dr. Eire discusses levitation and other preternatural phenomenon amongst three Catholics, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Joseph Cupertino and Ven. Maria Agreda. Multiple witnesses and many fantastic experiences open up a discussion of what is possible in reality. Eire challenges the comfortable skepticism and its foundations with a discussion of the history of the impossible. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070724.cfmArt: Saint Teresa of Avila Interceding for Souls in PurgatoryWorkshop of Peter Paul Rubens Flemish (public domain)Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
What is love? Is it based on the qualities another has, or the length of a relationship, or just something inside me? St. Thomas Aquinas maintains that all love is love of God according to our deepest desires. Learn more about love in this week's OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062324.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Tree of Life is an old, universal mythological symbol. It appears in Genesis 3 and Revelation 22. It is the center of the mystery of the Cross of Christ. Hear the story that contains all other stories - the tree of live this week on OVC.Readings for 11th Sunday: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061624.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul. Blasphemy is attacking the work of the Holy Spirit and consists in a lack of a sense of sin or 'hardness of heart' in the words of scripture. Mark 3, this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060924.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
This week on OVC Sr. Therese Wong's mom, Sharon, gives her perspective on supporting the vocations of children. You are right! It involves prayer and some great stories. Art: Mother and Daughter in Prayer, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld German; Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld Austrian, ca. 1811–17Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Feast of the Most Holy TrinityThe Trinity is the central mystery of Christianity. The nature of God, one what and three divine persons or who's is the most important revelation of Christ. Go out, he told his apostles before he Ascended, to the whole world and baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Most Holy Trinity, this week on OVC. Art: Allegory of the Catholic Faith Johannes Vermeer Dutch, ca. 1670–72Music: Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052624.cfm
The Feast of Pentecost and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051924.cfmArt: Plaque with the Pentecost -South Netherlandish - ca. 1150–75The Acts of the Apostles recounts how they were infused with the Holy Spirit fifty days after Easter, an event celebrated by the feast of Pentecost. In this plaque, the use of gilding and of enamel over metal foil creates a shimmery effect appropriate to this mystical scene. Along with others of the same dimensions— including three in the main building of the Metropolitan Museum—it once decorated an imposing church furnishing, such as an altar, candlestick, or large cross.Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
This is a reboot of a pocast from the past about the Ascension. Miracles, like the Resurrection and the Ascension, are doors out of this world. Dr. Peter Kreeft, Ph.D, professor of Philosophy at Boston College and a prolific writed wrote. "When you think about it logically, there are two and only two philosophies of life. For either there are or there are not doors in the walls of the world. Either there is Nothing or Something outside Plato’s Cave. That sounds very abstract and philosophical. Let me make it very concrete. Two people are walking down a street together. There is an old stone wall on their left, too high to see over. As they approach an intersection, the sidewalk and the wall curve around to their left. As they approach the curve, the first walker is absolutely certain that when they turn the corner they will not see an angel walking through the wall. The second walker is not. Which walker are you? Which would you like to be? Kreeft, Peter. Doors in the Walls of the World: Signs of Transcendence in the Human Story (p. 8). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition. Met, public domain - ist: Related to Ascension tapestry, Vatican Scuola nuova set by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) (Italian, Urbino 1483–1520 Rome)Well, who do you want to be? The readings for the Ascension are found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052123-Ascension.cfmMusic: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Sr. Therese Wong, CFR is my special guest on OVC. Sr. Therese is a professed member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal. " The aim of the Community is to live the Gospel in simplicity according to the ideals of Saint Francis, as handed on by the Capuchin tradition. The values uniting the sisters include a strong Eucharistic prayer life, an emphasis on a common life marked by a warm family spirit, joyful imitation of Saint Francis and Saint Clare, faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Church and loyalty to the Holy Father." Her family are parishioners at St. Mark. here is her story.Here is more about the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal:https://www.franciscansisterscfr.com/Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Vatican's document "Dignitatis Infinita" is a statement on the nature of and the threats to human dignity. It is well worth meditating on during the Easter Season.The Fifth Sunday of EasterJesus, at the Last Supper, said that he is the vine and we are the branches. We are rooted in him or we die. The body of Christ is Jesus' historic body, it is also the Church and it is also the Eucharist. Each roots the Catholic in the dignity that grace and God give. The Vatican's recent article on human dignity, Dignitatis Infinita, identifies the various modern challenges to the dignity. I explain further in the podcast at OVC.Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294Art: Public domain: The Man of SorrowsItalianlast quarter 14th century Not on viewA monk and a hooded figure, his back bared so that he can whip himself in penitence, kneel before a dreamlike vision of Jesus rising from his tomb. This plaque, with an inscription naming the society of Saint Dominic, was probably intended for private prayer by a member of a Dominican brotherhood.Focus on the crucified Christ and his suffering was widespread in the 1300s. Pope John XXII (reigned 1316–34) declared that the Imago pietatis should be evoked during the celebration of the Mass. Pope Innocent VI (reigned 1352–62) affirmed that devotion to the Instruments of the Passion would reduce punishment for sin after death; seen here are the vinegar-soaked sponge that was offered to Jesus on the cross and the lance that pierced his side.
How does the concept of human dignity helps us to discuss current social issues in America. Part One of a two part podcast. Read Dignitas Infinita here: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/04/08/240408c.htmlMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294Two Young Peasant Women. Camille Pissarro French 1891–92 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 820By virtue of their size, placement, and quiet dignity, these youthful laborers dominate the landscape setting—an open field near Pissarro’s house at Eragny. Sympathetic to anarchist ideals, the artist wanted to preserve the values of agrarian society that were being threatened by the rapid industrialization of France. He began this picture in summer 1891 and completed it in mid-January 1892, a month before the opening of a major exhibition of his work organized by his dealer Joseph Durand-Ruel. Many of the fifty paintings were sold from the show, but Pissarro kept this canvas and gave it to his wife.
Tenebrae, the hour of darkness, was celebrated at St. Mark the Evangelist on the Wednesday of Holy Week. Ancient hymns, scripture readings, prayers and a meditation are offered to feed the reverence of the faithful during this holiest time of the year. Art:The CrucifixionPietro Lorenzetti Italian1340s On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 635Lorenzetti imbued this familiar biblical subject with a new sense of pathos and dramatic intensity. Details such as the piercing of Christ’s side with a spear, the breaking of the legs of the thieves, and the Virgin swooning into the arms of her companions ensure an emotional response from the viewer. Lorenzetti creates a strong sense of shared human experience by placing his figures in pairs or groups, allowing us to imagine the various reactions that were felt by witnesses of the Crucifixion.Music: Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
"Jesus said to Nicodemus:“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” John 3 If we are not fulfilled in this life, maybe it means we are made for another like. God loves us in while in our sins. Can we respond and begin the journey home? This week on OVC.The artwork is Greek and Roman Art, aCarnelian ring stone with Asclepius, the god of medicine, Roman, ca. 1st century BCE–3rd century CE, On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 166This Roman intaglio is engraved with the bust of Asklepios, the hero and god of healing. As on this gemstone, he generally appears as a mature, bearded man accompanied by a snake.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfmMusic: Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
"Brothers and sisters:Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." 1 Cor. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294View of Jerusalem with the Temple of Solomon, Philippe de Champaigne French. 17th century
Drug addiction is the scourge of families. PALs, "Parents of Addicted Loved Ones" is a Christian based, non-profit support group for parents. Rehab programs have there place in the care of addicts, but relapse is also part of the process of recovery. How can parents help their children when it seems hopeless. Here are three parents, Penny, Bill L and Bill S to tell you about their experience and how PAL helped them through a dark time in their lives.Website: https://palgroup.org
Genesis 22 brings us the story of God's command to Abraham to sacrific his only son, Isaac. Another weird story! So what is going on? What choice do you really have in life? This week on OVC.Reading: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022524.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294Art: Abraham and Isaac before the Sacrifice, School of Rembrandt van Rijn ca. 1644–45
"Christ suffered for sins once,the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous,that he might lead you to God.Put to death in the flesh,he was brought to life in the Spirit.In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,who had once been disobedientwhile God patiently waited in the days of Noahduring the building of the ark,in which a few persons, eight in all,were saved through water." 1 Peter3 Who are the 'souls in prison' and what is Jesus preaching to them? This week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021824.cfmArt from Met "Satan bound for a Thousand Years, from the Apocalypse"Jean Duvet FrenchMusic: "My song is love unknown" by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Purgatory is where many of us first taste the joy of Heaven because we start to learn to understand our lives lived here on Earth and our great dependence on the love of God and neighbor. A beginner's guide to purgatory is part of an introduction to heaven, this week on OVC.Readings for the 6th Sunday of OT: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021124.cfmEverything You Ever Wanted To Know About Heaven: But Never Dreamed of Asking, by Prof. Peter Kreeft:https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Ever-Wanted-About-Heaven-ebook/dp/B002UZ5K08/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1707594278&sr=8-2Music: Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Barbie movie is one of the highest grossing pictures of all time. Nominated for best picture, it's director, Greta Gerwig, and the leading actor, Margot Robbie, were both snubbed. The movie is remarkable, though, for several reasons that are explored in OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020424.cfmMusic: Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Sr. Sydney Moss, a Salesian sister, is this week's guest on OVC. When do you have to decide what to do with your life? Sr. Sydney's advice is to explore, learn about yourself and then you will know when it is right. As the heart of vocation is the divine call to love, whether in marriage or religious life. Listen to Sr. Sydney's great story and apply it's lessons to your own desire for vocation or your hope of living your vocation more abundantly.
The Thirds Sunday of Ordinary Time is Sunday of the Word of God. Catholics think about the Word of God differently than some other Christians and Islam. Learn more about the Word of God this week on OVC.Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson on the Bible by Dr. Christopher Kaczor: https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/sam-harris-and-jordan-peterson-on-the-bible/Readings for the 3rd Sunday in OT: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012124.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
John the Baptist was asked in the Gospel for the 3rd Sunday in Advent, "Who are you?". He answered, "A voice crying in the wilderness..." How would you answer that question? That very question was asked our our priests in America. There answers were thoughtful and not altogether surprising. You can read about them here: https://catholicproject.catholic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Catholic-Project-Final.pdfThis week on OVC.Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121723.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Sloth, the spiritual sin of thought, word and deed. How to combat sloth in our lives? Perseverance! Show up on time - practice care in speech - be intellectually curious about important matters. Avoid silly, time-wasting diversions. Welcome to life! Jesus says in today's Gospel - "Watch!"Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120323.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The Feast of Christ the King describes what eternal life is like. Ultimately, how we treat the least of God's people is how we treat God. Christ is a very different king who gives eternal life. Compare him for instance to the Epic of Gilgamesh, a far more ancient story about a king who searches for and loses eternal life. This week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112623.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Matthew 25 is all about the last things; death, judgment, heaven and hell. If we are like the wise virgins from last Sunday, we are prepared. If we are like the wise investors from this week, we show a return to the master. So much depends on whether we see God as a loving Father or as a harsh and calculating master. This week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111923.cfmMusic: Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
The powers that be question Jesus authority to teach. Jesus answers by affirming the Pharisees authority to teach, but more importantly to practice what they teach. If you are going to talk the talk, walk the walk - right up Mr. Calvary. Matthew 23 this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110523.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Hey guys ... do you love anyone enough to be moved to tears? What does it means to love with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength? Vulnerability! You got lots to lose. More this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102923.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Jesus is asked by the Pharisees and Herodians if he pays the tax to the Emperor of Rome. A coin stamped with Caesar's image is produced. Jesus then asks whose image appears on the the human person. God or the Evil Empire? A timely discussion for the chaos of today. This podcast refers to a program aired on 10-18-23 on the Catholic University Vimeo channel entitled "Weird Religion" that can be found at https://vimeo.com/873835633. Highly recommended!Readings for the 29th Sunday: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102223.cfmMusic "Alleluia" by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Marriage in the Catholic Faith is a sacrament that points towards and makes present the union of Christ and the Church. In this podcast, I talk about the meaning of the sacrament. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101523.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Chaos reigns! Israel invaded, Iran calls for a Islamic uprising, China more aggressive, Russia and Ukraine in stalemate. In Washington, the Speaker of the House is overthrown for no particular purpose - just devilment. The Lord talks about a vineyard and firing the tenants who mismanage God's world. Jesus came to save us from something more that the world is not nice enough. Evil is having its day. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100823.cfm
St. Therese of Lisieux was a playwrite within her own convent. One of her last plays was, "The Triumph of Humility." The real drama was the role of humility in her own life. More on that in this episode of OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100123.cfmMusic "Alleluia" by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Jesus uses a vineyard as a metaphor to describe the New Jerusalem and eternity. St. Augustine said that, for the workers in the parable, they all received the same pay because eternity is incapable of being subdivided. So what is the eternal City of God?Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092423.cfmMusic: "Alleluia" by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Psychedelics and bellbottoms are back. Is God just a brain event or are we encountering the reality of God's presence in the the natural world. OVC says God is not a trip, good or bad, but eternal life. "Wrath and anger are hateful things,yet the sinner hugs them tight.The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance,for he remembers their sins in detail.Forgive your neighbor's injustice;" Sir. 27Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091723.cfmMusic "Alleluia" by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
In October, 2023 the final phase of the Synod on Synodality will occur in Rome. There is a lot of controversy surrounding it. The Gospel for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time is a very topical Gospel. The level of distrust that the German Synod has cause has inflamed what otherwise would appear to be an exercise in Church listening and communion. What separates conflict between friends and domination. The difference between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091023.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Last week Christ gave the keys of the kingdom to St. Peter and told him that the power of the netherworld would not conquer the Church. This week, Jesus says that he will, himself, conquer sin and death on the cross. Peter has objections. We might also. Why should we trust the Lord, this week on OVC.Readings for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090323.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Ideology is an idea about how the human world operates. By its nature, it is directed towards this world. Communism, liberalism, nazism, conservative, progressive and liberal are all ideologies - some better, much better, that others. But the Catholic Faith is not an ideology - Catholics may have hopes for this world, they might even be arch ideologues - but the Faith entrusted to St. Peter promises triumph over death, not an increase in the GDP or a global order.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082723.cfm
Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Jesus travels to the land of the Gentiles to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants— all who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." Is. 56 The journey to God ... is it some far away place or is he already present within each of us?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082023.cfm
Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Hundreds of teens, including our St. Mark LifeTeen group, had the opportunity to attend Steubenville back in July. Listen to our teens tell their story about how much they loved the weekend and how they've created long-time bonds with God and friends!
All the Gospels tells stories of Jesus doing what God does. This Sunday, Jesus is transfigured before the disciples. It is, however, not the only time where Jesus does what the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob does. This week on OVC.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080623.cfm
"My Song is Love Unknown" by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Wisdom and the Kings of Israel? In Deuteronomy 17, God warns Israel about kings, wives, money and horses - read power, sex, money and war. Some old problems, same old results. Is there a different way? Think about God's kingdom and earthly politics this week on OVC.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073023.cfm
Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Matthew 13 has Our Lord's parables about the kingdom of heaven being a sower sowing seed. In one story, weeds grow up among the weeds. Should they be destroyed? Jesus and the American author Nathaniel Hawthorne question the wisdom of bringing final judgment to Plymouth Colony and the world.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072323.cfm
Music by St. Mark Choir - "Adoramus te Christi" by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
'Furry' is a term that describes that role play anthropomorphized animal character (fursona) with that serves as there identity and avatar within the community. What makes is so hard for people to hear the Gospel of the Crucified Christ? Well, look at all the ways people are disconnected from the reality of human existence by any number of difficult circumstances. This week on OVC - the sower of seeds and the Furries.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071623.cfm
Music: "I sing of love unknown" by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294
Tara Isabella Burton's new book, "Self-Made: Creating Our Identities from Da Vinci to the Kardashians" explores the western concept of the self-made person. Hollywood celebrity culture and internet influencers are examined. Burton argues that people still believe in God, but have relocated the divine to within themselves. Christ offers a different perspective that has the advantage of being real and true. We bear his yoke or we are lost. Increasingly, Americans are wandering into chaos, but we don't have to. More on this week's OVC.
Readings for the 14th Sunday of OT: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070923.cfm
Music by St. Mark choir under license from One License annual license for podcasting.
On the Second Day of Creation, God separated the waters by inserting a dome between them so that Creation of life and the human could take place. By Chapter seven of Genesis, God regrets this and opens the floodgates of chaos. When we are baptized we are baptized into Christ's death and called to support the work of the Church to hold back the waters of chaos. The 13th Sunday of Ordinary time this week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070223.cfm Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
This week on OVC I speak about the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, human sin and the T.S. Eliot poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock
Readings for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time and the Solemn Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062523.cfm https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062423-Day.cfm
Music: William Byrd - Civitas Sancti Tui by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License. COMPOSER: William Byrd
Orvieto, Italy is the shrine to a Eucharistic miracle from 1263 - the relic is a bloody corporal. The Feast of Corpus Christi is rooted there as are various Eucharistic hymns composed by St. Thomas Aquinas. Why is the Eucharist the "source and summit" of faith, tune into OVC and hear about the miraculous, everyday, supernatural Eucharist.
Readings for Corpus Christi: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061123.cfm
Music by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there and proclaimed his name, "LORD."Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out, "The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity." Ex. 34.
Dr. Steven Hawkings, the atheist and cosmologist defended his atheism as follows: "We are such insignificant creatures on a minor planet of a very average star on the outer suburbs of one of a hundred thousand million galaxies. So it is difficult to believe in a God that would care about us or even notice our existence."
Later he said, "What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?" Still, as from the beginning of time, the answer is a who, not a what - this week on OVC.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060423.cfm
Music: "I sing of Love Unknown" by St. Mark Choir under One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
How would you describe yourself? We should be able to do that as we know ourselves intimately. Or do we? "Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified." John 7 How to think about the modern self this week in OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052823-Day.cfmMusic: "Holy God we praise they name" by St. Mark Choir under One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294 for Aug 10, 2019 - Aug 09, 2020.
The Feast of the Ascension. Miracles, like the Resurrection and the Ascension, are doors out of this world. Dr. Peter Kreeft, Ph.D, professor of Philosophy at Boston College and a prolific writed wrote. "When you think about it logically, there are two and only two philosophies of life. For either there are or there are not doors in the walls of the world. Either there is Nothing or Something outside Plato’s Cave. That sounds very abstract and philosophical. Let me make it very concrete. Two people are walking down a street together. There is an old stone wall on their left, too high to see over. As they approach an intersection, the sidewalk and the wall curve around to their left. As they approach the curve, the first walker is absolutely certain that when they turn the corner they will not see an angel walking through the wall. The second walker is not. Which walker are you? Which would you like to be? Kreeft, Peter. Doors in the Walls of the World: Signs of Transcendence in the Human Story (p. 8). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition. Well, who do you want to be? The readings for the Ascension are found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052123-Ascension.cfmMusic: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
All through Easter, the second reading has been drawn from 1 Peter reminding us of God's call to each of us. The First Letter of Peter 3, "Beloved: Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope..." What it means to dwell in God, this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051423.cfmMusic: 1 - Ave Regina Cælorum – Peter Philips (1560-1628) by St. Mark Choir under One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
May is the Month of Mary - why? Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. wrote "The May Magnificat" to answer that question - it is a great answer!This ecstasy all through mothering earthTells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth To remember and exultation In God who was her salvation.Learn more about the Month of Mary, Our Lady of Fatima and, surprisingly, the meaning of liturgical and Marian processions all on this week's OVC.Music: Ave Maria by St. Mark Music Ministry pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Jesus is God's voice, the gate to eternal life and the Good Shepherd. We have many goals in life, but only one goal that is The Goal. To the extent that our many goals don't line up with our One Goal, eternal life, we experience the anxiety that comes with busyness. Think of St. Augustine's Confessions and my ordination story. Plenty of busyness to be sure, but ... A vocation story for Good Shepherd Sunday.Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/043023.cfmMusic: Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Cleopas and his friend meet the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Using the Old Testament Jesus explains the new and prepares us for the Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist and encountering Him at Mass.Readings for the Third Sunday of Easter: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042323.cfmMusic: Adoro te devoted by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
On the evening of that first day of the week,when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,for fear of the Jews,Jesus came and stood in their midstand said to them, “Peace be with you.” John 20Readings for Second Sunday of Easter: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041623.cfmMusic: Bach Prelude & Fugue 5 by John Lewis Grant is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
God makes all things new. The Resurrection of Christ from the dead reveals the Father's saving purpose. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040823.cfmMusic: Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Here is a lovely soundtrack from the St. Mark Tenebrae service in Holy Week 2022. Please join us this year live!
How does the manner of Jesus of Nazareth's death fulfill the Old Testament revelation and complete it? Listen to this week's Oro Valley Catholic. Readings for the Sixth Sunday of Lent - Palm Sunday https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040223.cfmMusic by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Tenebrae, a time of darkness, goes back to the Medieval Church. The music celebrated at Tenebrae directs us the the mystery of Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum. Learn more about the history and music of Tenebrae from Dr. Jeff Vanderlee, the St. Mark Director of Music. The music performed on this podcast is under license from One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294.
The Gospel of John is written around the interplay of light and darkness. The Light lifts us out of the Darkness through water, wine, bread and death. The journey that joins the material to the life of God. The raising of Lazarus, this week, on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032623.cfmMusic: Sepulto Domino by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294 from OneLicense
In John 9, the Lord heals a man born blind. The Pharisees, the man's parents and the man are thrown into the struggle to clearly see what is happening in their midst. God is visiting his people.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031923.cfmMusic by the St. Mark choir pursuant to Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Lots of discussion lately about changes in the Mass from Latin to English. Listen to a priest who lived through it all, Fr. Al Laubenthal of the Archdiocese of Cleveland. A seminary rector, a parish priest and a child of the Church before the Second Vatican Council. Take a step back and listen to someone who lived through all the changes of the last 85 years.
The Lord meets a Samaritan woman at a well. The Divine Bridegroom and the Bride. Learn about the purgative, illumative and unitive way in the spiritual and the moral life. Readings for the Third Sunday in Lent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031223.cfmMusic performed by St. Mark Choir pursuant to Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Carolyn Simpson was born into a Christian Science family and always thought herself the right kind of Christian. Her life journey to the Catholic faith involves a skyjacking, a great Episcopalian community and unexpected encounters with grace. Learn more on this special edition of OVC.Music: "My Song is Love Unknown" by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Patriarchy has gotten a bad rap and reduced to the image of an abusive male. Patriarchy, however, means the rule of the family, that is, the order of love between mom, dad and child as it grows and changes over time. This weeks OVC is about the Transfiguration, Abraham and light in the world. This weeks readings for the Second Sunday of Lent can be found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030523.cfmMusic by the St. Mark Choir "My Song is Love Unknown" by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
“It is better to be young in your failures than old in your successes.” “Accepting oneself does not preclude an attempt to become better.” “Grace changes us and change is painful.” What happens when we don't want to change, but would rather change the world to suit us? Bad things. The First Sunday of Lent and the Temptation in the desert. We are in the desert that Jesus was tempted in and have much to learn and require lots of change. Readings for the First Sunday of Lent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022623.cfmMusic: Pizzetti - Dies irae - Messa di Requiem by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License.
Charles Baudelaire, the famous debauched French poet, wrote in 'The Voyage' about exhausting pleasure in life and finding something new. He is the godfather of the modern transgressive artist. "The Voyage" ends:Pour out your poison that it may refresh us!This fire burns our brains so fiercely, we wish to plungeTo the abyss' depths, Heaven or Hell, does it matter?To the depths of the Unknown to find something new!"— William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954)Jesus begs to differ in the Sermon on the Mount. Heaven is objectively and infinitely more valuabe than some new experience or thing. Novelty is overrated, which could be a quote from St. Therese of LIsieux. Maybe heaven is just getting our lives back and understanding perfection for the first time.Readings for the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021923.cfmMusic: My Sweet Liberty | Freedom = Responsibility by John Lopker | Popular USA Majority is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This week on OVC, Fr. John discusses Benjamin Libet's experiment on the brain that has been used to argue against human free will. Are we completely free? What about involuntary and non-voluntary acts? What does this have to do with our capacity for science and a life of faith. Listen to the discussion on OVC and what free will means and doesn't mean for a human being. The readings for the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time can be found here:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021223.cfmPizzetti - Dies irae - Messa di Requiem by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License.
The Sermon on the Mount calls us to be salt, light and a city on a hill. In this episode I will discuss the Sermon on the Mount, the famous philosopher Elizabeth (G.E.M.) Anscombe and what it means to be a metaphysical animal infused with the sanctifying grace of God. How does Christ direct the purpose of moral action and the meaning of human existence.Anscombe's obituary in The Guardian after her death in 2002 said about her opposition to honoring Harry St. Truman,"Two years earlier, in 1956, she had demonstrated in a very practical way her opposition to consequentialism. When it was proposed that Oxford should give President Truman an honorary degree, she and two others opposed this because of his responsibility for the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although overruled, they forced a vote, instead of the customary automatic rubber-stamping of the proposal. "For men to choose to kill the innocent as a means to their ends is always murder," declared Anscombe's pamphlet, Mr Truman's Degree. It sarcastically condoled with the Censor of St Catherine's for having to make a speech "which should pretend to show that a couple of massacres to a man's credit are not exactly a reason for not showing him honour". Elizabeth Anscombe -An exhilarating philosopher, she took to sporting a monocle and smoking cigars , Guardian (UK)Book: Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life - Kindle Edition by Clare Mac Cumhaill (Author), Rachael Wiseman (Author) Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020523.cfmMusic: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
In Genesis 12: 1-3 God promises Abram, soon to be Abraham, "The LORD said to Abram: Go forth* from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you." In Matthew 5, the Sermon on the Mount, Abram's descendant Jesus of Nazareth begins to teach, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, their's is the Kingdom of God," There is the Kingdom of God again and God can take one off his bucket list!Readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012923.cfmMusic: Rejoice Handel - Rejoice by Advent Chamber Orchestra is licensed under a Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
How to evangelize your parish with the Word of God? Meg R. discusses her experience starting a bible study program in her parish.Can't Keep My Eyes Open by The Paperhead is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Matthew's Gospel quotes Isaiah 8 "First the Lord degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the end he has glorified the seaward road, the land west of the Jordan, the District of the Gentiles." What is God's response? He sends his Son there first. Why does Jesus talk about the kingdom of Heaven in a land that has experienced such misery?Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012223.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir under license for podcasting from One License A-726294
The readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time are about the old world giving way to the New Creation. We are called to be fellow workers with Christ, the gardener of the New Creation.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011523.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to OneLicense for Podcasting A-726294
The Story of the Magi from the east is an echo of the ancient, pagan world. We take Christian history for granted and forget the power of the ancient, pagan world and the influence of the East on the Western World. A good example is that the ancient Babylonians named the weekdays after the five planetary bodies known to them and the other two days they dedicated to the Sun and Moon (Sunday and Monday). The Jews, of course, explained the seven days of the week differently. The Romans followed the Babylonian example, not the Jewish, and the Emperor Constantine established the seven-day week in the Roman calendar in 321 A.D. designating Sunday and Monday as the first two days of the week. The names of our days of the week came later in European history. The other English weekday names were derived from Anglo-Saxon names for gods from Teutonic mythology. Tuesday comes from Tiu, or Tiw, the Anglo-Saxon name for Tyr, the Norse god of war. Tyr was one of the sons of Odin, or Woden, who in turn gave his name to Wednesday. Thursday originates from Thor, the god of thunder. Friday is derived from Frigga, the wife of Odin, representing love and beauty. Saturday comes from Saturn, the ancient Roman god of fun and feasting. We kept Sunday in honor of the Sun and Monday in honor of the moon. The echoes of the pagan world are all around us. A blast from the past. This episode played three years ago. The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the mass conversion of the pagan world to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The worship of the Creator, not the created.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010823.cfmThe music is licensed under One License and is performed by the St. Mark Choir.
This is the homily delivered by Fr. John on New Year's Day 2023.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010123.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir, pursuant to One License # A-726294
C.S. Lewis wrote his book, "Miracles" to defend the work of God in the world against Naturalists, that is thinkers who limit reality to only what can be observed by the five senses. What makes the miracle of the Incarnation particularly bothersome, "“An 'impersonal God'-well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads-better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap-best of all. But God himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, King, husband-that is quite another matter.” ― C.S. Lewis, MiraclesToday on Oro Valley Catholic we are going to discuss C.S. Lewis reflections on the greatest miracle of all - the Incarnation. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122522-vigil.cfmMusic: "The Holly and the Ivy" performed by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to OneLicense # A-726294
How to understand the Christian concept of God versus the pagan gods. Pope Benedict XVI (emeritus) wrote "Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives." In it he discusses the difference between mythic conceptions of divine birth, like the rape of Europa by Zeus and the Matthean and Lukan accounts of the virgin birth. Comparing the two, he focuses on how differently the divine is understood. He writes, "The difference between the concepts involved is so profound that one really cannot speak of true parallels. In the Gospel accounts, the oneness of the one God and the infinite distance between God and creature is fully preserved. There is no mixture, no demi-god. It is God’s creative word alone that brings about something new. Jesus, born of Mary, is fully man and fully God, without confusion and without. " Pope Benedict XVI. Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives . The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. We will explore this and more on Oro Valley Catholic for the Fourth Sunday of Advent. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121822.cfmMusic by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License for podcasting, # A-726294
John the Baptist in prison, sends messengers to Jesus to ask him, "Is he the one who is to come into the world?" Jesus' cryptic answer has a far deeper significance related profoundly to the Immaculate Conception. What is going on? Find out in the week's Oro Valley Catholic. Readings for the Third Sunday of Advent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121122.cfmMusic: The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came – Trad. Basque, arr. Jeff Vanderlee (b. 1989) pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
John the Baptist, one of the most important figures in history, may have been part of the ancient Essene community that shared so many basic understandings of Israel's dilemma with him. John knew the answer - the Messiah. Advent begins with the preaching of John and Christmas ends with John baptizing Jesus of Nazareth, his cousin. Consider Dr. John Bergsma's book, "Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls" as we wonder about the background of John and the problems of God's wounded people. The readings for the Second Sunday of Advent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120422.cfmFor more about "Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls" by Dr. John Bergsma, go here:https://tinyurl.com/wb9rjubuMusic by Michael Kollner and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294.
St. Paul writes his letter to the Roman instructing Christians to put off the 'works of darkness' and put on 'the armor of light.' Probably he was referring to dark and twisted pagan rituals such as the Cult of Dionysius and Lupercalia. Donna Tartt's 1992 novel "The Secret History" plays with these understandings in her murder mystery at an Ivy League school. In OVC this week, Fr. John explores St. Paul, Euripides' play "The Bacchae" and Tartt's novel. See more at: https://stmarkov.com/events/the-bacchae-christ-and-the-secret-historyReadings for the First Sunday of Advent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112722.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License for podcasting, # A-726294
Divine Order always challenges human chaos. In the classic Clint Eastwood film "Kelly's Heroes" Donald Sutherland's character's 'Oddball' speaks for many sinners, "In chaos, there is profit." What good does it do to profit at the expense of your soul and the destruction of others? Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112022.cfmMusic by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One LicenseAnnual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
G.K. Chesterton's great book, "The Everlasting Man" penned in 1925 as a response to H.G. Well's atheistic take on human history effectively explains how Christ, born in a cave, is God reaching out to humans who first gave evidence of culture through primitive cave paintings. The four last things, death, judgment, heaven and hell are the Christian witness to the Divine plan for all of creation, but just human life. OVC discusses "The Everlasting Man" and Christ's prophecy about the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the Cosmos. Readings for the 32nd Sunday: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111322.cfmMusic: "Sepulto Domino" by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to license OneLicense Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Marriage, the single life, and the committed celibate life. Where is it all going? Like rings upon a husband and wife's fingers, our bodies give testimony of their purpose. St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body explores the filial, nuptial and procreative meaning of human bodies. The readings for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time are found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110622.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294, One License
This Feast of All Souls, pray for the poor souls in Purgatory, especially the ones you love. Prayer is confidence in the mercy of God and our continued fellowship with those we love who are separated by death. Are you wondering about the biblical roots of Purgatory in both the Jewish and Christian Faith. Join Oro Valley Catholic. Be a subscriber and learn about them mystery of God's saving action in our lives. John Donne, the English Divine, wrote: No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103022.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to OneLicense # Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Why go to Mass? Isn't it the same as praying at home or while driving down the road? Mass is the Church's worship and the Church is the body of Christ. Mass transforms us in a way that individualized spirituality cannot. Why do modern humans reject the Mass? Because they don't think understand worship's role in sacrifice. Readings for the 30th Week in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102322.cfmMusic provided by the St. Mark Choir - Adoro Te Devote, One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
God is revealed through His Creation. Psalm 19 sings, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." God also reveals himself in history through His Words and Deeds. Finally, God revealed Himself in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture and Tradition are the effects, not the cause, of God's revelation. What does this mean? Is the Word of God a Jigsaw Puzzle or a game of Scrabble? Readings for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101622.cfmMusic by the St. Mark Choir for Tenebrae pursuant to One License, we #A-726294
Jesus heals ten lepers between Galilee and Samaria and accomplishes what the Old Testament Prophets Elijah and Elisha could not. How does he do that? The Lord invites us into God's mercy. Readings for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100922.cfmMusic: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
The Bible is full of examples of magical thinking. Eve eats and apple thinking it will make her divine. Gen. 3 The Babylonians build a ziggurat thinking it takes them to heaven. Gen. 11 Judean soldiers where amulets into battle for protection, but are slain. 2 Macc. 12. We think war, material goods and getting what we want will bring divine rewards - eternal life and happiness. Magical thinking is the belief that you can use a material cause to cause and divine effect. Sacraments are just the opposite. Magic, faith and the sacraments, this week on OVC.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100222.cfm
Music: Adoro te devote, St. Mark Choir pursuant to OneLicense Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
"They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the best oils; yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph!" Amos 6:1-7. Jesus does not condemn the good things of this world, but he does condemn our blindness towards one another - The Story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
Readings for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092522.cfm
Music:William Byrd - Civitas Sancti Tui by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License. COMPOSER: William Byrd
Dogma speaks to our intellects and erects the boundaries of understanding expressed in the Nicene Creed and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Poetry, a much more ancient religious language, speaks to us in delight, the experience of beauty and is capable of touching us very deeply. Why should we meditate on the poetry of the great Catholic poets in prayer and adoration? So that we might overcome the inertia that hampers our ascent to the Father.
Poems discussed by Dana Gioia are "The Burning Ladder" and "The Seven Sins" by Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. " “As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame” Readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091822.cfm
Music by St. Mark Choir, " \Title: Regina caeli, H 32 - Antienne à la Vierge" Composer: Marc-Antoine Charpentier; Once License # Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294
Napoleon gifted a beautiful papal tiara to Pope Pius VII - but it was too small for the pope to wear? Read about papal power, intimidation of the Church and God's mercy in this edition of Oro Valley Catholic.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091122.cfm
Music: William Byrd - Civitas Sancti Tui by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License. COMPOSER: William Byrd
In Luke 14, Jesus tells his disciples "“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." Remember that in Exodus 20 honor your father and mother is the fourth commandment, the first three are about the love of God; a love Jesus claims as his own. How do we love rightly? This week on Oro Valley Catholic. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090422.cfm Music:Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011 by Colin Carr is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
"Frankenstein, or a Modern Day Prometheus" is one of the most popular stories of all-time. There have been about 76 film adaptions, not counting plays and derivative stories, that have featured the characters created by Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley in 1818 when she was about 18 years old having just lost her child. What does this story have to teach the modern world about humility. The Gospel from Luke is for the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time. For more information about the books mentioned in this podcast go to: https://stmarkov.com/news/the-gospel-frankenstein-and-humility
Readings for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082822.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
"God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth." Rev. 11:19-12 The scriptural basis for the feast of the Assumption is found principally in the Book of Revelation. In this blast from the past, consider the scriptural underpinnings of Catholic Faith and the Assumption.
The Ark of the Covenant, thought to be lost at the time of the Babylonian Conquest, is as it turns out, not so lost. In what way is the Blessed Virgin Mary the eschatological icon of the Church? Looking upon Mary, who is completely holy and already glorified in body and soul, the Church contemplates in her what she herself is called to be on earth and what she will be in the homeland of heaven.
Music "Ave Maria" performed by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License A-726294.
St. Anselm said, "For I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe—that unless I believed, I shall not understand. —Saint Anselm
Human beings wonder about God. How do we understand who God really is as opposed to making up our own gods who meet our needs. Jesus came to bring fire, water and division - the things of God.
Readings for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081422.cfm
For extra credit read: Sullivan, Meghan; Blaschko, Paul. The Good Life Method (p. 153). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Music: Title: Regina caeli, H 32 - Antienne à la Vierge Composer: Marc-Antoine Charpentier Pursuant to One License # A-726294
"Brothers and sisters: Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested." Heb. 11. Pope Benedict, relying on Paul Claudel, writes that the modern experience of Faith is like being lashed to a mast, floating in the midst of a stormy sea. St. Paul offers examples of Faith to his fellow Jewish believers in his Letter to the Hebrews.
Readings for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time may be found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080722.cfm
Music: William Byrd - Civitas Sancti Tui by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License. COMPOSER: William Byrd
Generosity is more than writing checks - it is our attention to the needs of others. Learn a little Christian history, something about generosity and the good life and take ways something to think about. Jesus urged his listeners to "not store up treasure for themselves" but to become "rich in what matters to God.”
Readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/073122.cfm
Music: William Byrd - Civitas Sancti Tui by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License. COMPOSER: William Byrd
The disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray as he prays. The Jewish people prayed the Shema and the psalms. Clearly, they know how to pray. But Jesus prays with an intimacy and relationship to God that the disciples yearned for. It is an intimacy pointed directly towards the Eucharist.
Readings for the 17th Week in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072422.cfm
Music: Adoro Te Devote by the St. Mark choir pursuant to license from One License: A-726294
St. Martha the Dragonslayer is a story told in the 13th Century 'Golden Legend,' a medieval text telling stories about the saints. St. Martha, who figures in the Gospel of Luke this weekend, slays the dragon with holy water and the cross. What is the dragon represent? Find out in this week's Oro Valley Catholic.
Readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071722.cfm
Music: Title: Regina caeli, H 32 - Antienne à la Vierge Composer: Marc-Antoine Charpentier by St. Mark Schola
Rene Girard (1923-2015) a French polymath, anthropologist, historian, literary critic and philosopher described how human beings clash because they desire the same object. Historically, something was sacrificed to resolve the conflict. Since Jesus' Resurrection, however, we side with the victim, but do not accept that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross atones for sin. Thus, the hunt for scapegoats continues without the possibility of resolution, but the certainty of destruction.
Why does Jesus hold up the outsider, the Samaritan, as the model of faith? More on Rene Girard, mimetic desire and scapegoating on this week with Oro Valley Catholic.
Readings:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/071022.cfm
Music: Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011 by Colin Carr is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Elmer Gantry was a novel written by Sinclair Lewis in 1926 exposing so much of the preaching culture that thrived on hucksterism and hypocrisy; hell-fire, damnation and sweet salvation. It was made into a 1960 film that garnered several Academy Awards and was condemned by a variety of Protestant church leaders. All religious people, Christian and other traditions, we need to be kept honest. So if we know what hypocritical evangelism looks like, what about the real thing? This week, Jesus of Nazareth and his 72 disciples.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/070322.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
"But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD, your God, is giving you as a heritage, you shall not leave a single soul alive." Deuteronomy 20:16 Violence in the Old Testament and now. Does God will us to destroy one another? Jesus response in today's Gospel from Luke 9:51-62 is an emphatic no. Then how are we to understand God's call to violence in the Old Testament? Through the lens of the Gospel.
Readings for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062622.cfm
Music: Pizzetti - Dies irae - Messa di Requiem by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License.
The sacramental imagination is Christ's gift to the Church. The Eucharist is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ Jesus Risen from the dead. Marriage is the sacramental image of Christ and His Church. Human love, justice, prudence, courage and fortitude participate in the goodness of God. God is present, immanent and transcendent. When we eat bread and wine, it becomes part of our body. When we eat the Body and Blood of Jesus, we become part of His Divine and Glorified Body.
The Readings for the Feast of Corpus Christ: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061922.cfm
Music provided by Russ Ronnebaum in cooperation with St. Thomas Aquinas, Tantum Ergo.
To think about God as unity in diversity, one God, three Divine Persons - the Holy Trinity is to accept that, at some level, God is not completely comprehensible. We are made in the image and likeness of God and so in some sense we should be able to see his imprint in each of us. What does it mean to believe in the incomprehensible God? His unity, his simplicity, his love for us is the basis of our meditation about God in our own life - especially procreation.
Readings for the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061222.cfm
Music: Bach Prelude & Fugue 5 by John Lewis Grant is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Holy Spirit is the Love of God. To love God, you must love the good. To love the good is to pursue excellence. Excellence leads to human flourishing, the life of virtue. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) argued that the rights of women and men depended on a shared life of virtue. Double standards would degrade human life and undermine human flourishing. The Holy Spirit is the love of God. We experience that love when we are fully alive living and loving virtuously God and neighbor.
The readings for Pentecost are found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060522-day.cfm
Music: Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
Mysticism is the numinous experience of the Divine. In one sense, mysticism is an esoteric, interior experience. Mysticism is also the experience of the exoteric, Mass and the Eucharist. The esoteric and exoteric are always in tension with one another - my interior experience of the Divine is challenged and is formed by my exoteric experience of Christ's Body, the Church. The Ascension, Christ in his glorified body at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, is the end and purpose of all life, the goal of both the esoteric and exoteric experience, especially made manifest in the anointing of the sick and the funeral liturgy.
Readings for the Feast of the Ascension: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052922-ascension.cfm
Music by Russ Ronnebaum, Tantum Ergo. # A-726294
The Council of Jerusalem, the first Church Ecumenical Council, set the tone for how the Church resolves difficult decisions. Do Christians need to be circumcised? Abstain from meat with blood in it? The Council of Jerusalem, the 15th Century Council of Florence (Basil) and even Trent, Vatican I and Vatican II are legacies of the first council recounted in Acts and Galatians. "‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us..." Words that have guided the Church to the present time.
Readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter are found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052222.cfm
Music: Thrusly_Marylin.mp3 by Koi-discovery is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License.
In Revelation 21, "I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." John compares the Whore of Babylon to the Bride of Christ and Babylon doesn't come out well. This week Oro Valley Catholic discusses the Book of Revelation and the contrast between the City of Man and the City of God.
Readings for the Fifth Week of Easter: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051522.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Paul and Barnabas evangelize towns dominated by various mythic beliefs. They meet opposition from the synagogues and pagan power brokers. Why are they successful? They understand and eat with the people. Jesus in the Gospel says that he is the Good Shepherd; that his sheep hear his voice, he knows them and they follow him.
The Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050822.cfm
Music: Blackbird (1226) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The only specific mention of what Resurrection looks like comes from the Book of Daniel. "And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." Dan. 12:4. The Book of Revelation uses that image in John's vision of the Risen Lord. In Revelation 1:12-16 it says, " Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, wearing an ankle-length robe, with a gold sash around his chest. The hair of his head was as white as white wool or as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. His feet were like polished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing water. In his right hand he held seven stars.* A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth, and his face shone like the sun at its brightest." So why do the four Gospels tell a very different story of the Resurrection? Because the Risen Lord was not a vision. They described what they really saw.
The Readings for the Third Sunday of Easter are to be found at: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050122.cfm
Music by Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011 by Colin Carr is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his great book, "Introduction to Christianity" "Fastened to the cross—with the cross fastened to nothing, drifting over the abyss. The situation of the contemporary believer could hardly be more accurately and impressively described." In the Gospel from John 20 the disciples believe and doubt, are afraid and rejoice. Jesus of Nazareth has been transformed into the Cosmic Christ. What is the relationship between Divine Mercy and Divine Justice in the crucifixion and the Resurrection? Fr. Serge Propst, O.P. and Fr. John discuss the Resurrection, Doubt and Faith.
Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) 1954 Salvador Dali
Music "Adoramus te Christi" is performed by the St. Mark Schola Cantorum pursuant to OneLicense # A-726294.
Tenebrae is a para-liturgical service in the Roman Catholic Church that contemplates the darkness surrounding evil in the world with particular attention to the passion of Christ Jesus. St. Mark celebrated Tenebrae on the Wednesday of Holy Week including readings from scripture, choral responses from traditional music and a reflection on the darkness of our world by Fr. Serge Propst, O.P.
Music provided by the St. Mark Schola Cantorum.
In this Oro Valley Catholic, Fr. Serge and I discuss Phillipians 2, possibly the earliest catechism in the Church. Also, I examine the Passion of the Christ in light of the Old Testament, especially Genesis, 2 Samuel and Isaiah. Holy Week is the tale of three Gardens - Eden, Gethsemane and Paradise.
The readings for this episode are found at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041022.cfm
Music: Bach: Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011 by Colin Carr is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
The Fifth Sunday of Lent gives us the woman caught in adultery and St. Paul's faith in grace. Jesus came not to condemn sinners, but sin, according to St. Augustine. The early Church didn't like this story, apparently, because it appears God goes soft on adultery. But there is much more going on in John's Gospel and St. Paul's Letter to the Phillipians. Join Fr. John and Fr. Serge Propst, O.P. in their discussion of the readings for this Sunday.
Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040322-YearC.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
We encounter the echo of God's voice in our conscience. Sometimes, in an act of conscience we have conflicting duties. How do we know how God sees us when we make difficult decisions that leave us unsatisfied somehow. Are you making the Father's voice up for yourself? Is your Father a slave driver? Or are you His beloved who seeks to do HIs will?
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032722-YearC.cfm
Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
Aristotle argued that God as the final cause of all of reality attracted us and the cosmos as the 'final cause' of existence. God, like a beautiful piece of spiritual apple pie draws us to himself in through beauty, truth and goodness. In the Book of Exodus, God used a burning bush. Perhaps God spoke to you powerfully through your newborn child or other undeserved gift. Grumbling destroys the spirit of thanksgiving and deadens our response to beauty, truth and goodness. The secret to a happy life? Learn to sacrifice!
The readings for the Third Sunday of Lent are found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032022-YearA.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
The Second Sunday of Lent has readings reminding us of God's promise to Abram and the work of Moses and Elijah in salvation history. Peter, James and John witness Christ's transfiguration. Meaning in life comes from our past, our present and our hopes for the future. Remembering the story of salvation history, we experience ourselves in the present and hope for the future. Experiencing meaning ever ancient, ever new. “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.” - St. Augustine
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031322.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
“The naked truth is always better than the best-dressed lie.” ― ― Ann Landers
Prudence is the virtue that protects us from being sucked into false promises - lies and lying liars - like Satan. Prudence is a necessary virtue to a happy and sane life. The First Sunday of Lent, Jesus is tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. 1 John 2:16 describes the nature of the satanic temptation - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of the world. All lies! They were Adam's temptations in the Garden of Eden. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeds by seeing through all the temptations and satanic distortions. Prudence is the acquired virtue by which we make sober and sound judgments in the face of life's challenges. It is how we avoid the lies.
The readings for the First Sunday of Lent are: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030622.cfm
Music: Pizzetti - Dies irae - Messa di Requiem by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License.
Ash Wednesday is beckoning us to joy. The Book of Sirach says, "As the test of what the potter molds is in the furnace, so in tribulation is the test of the just." This week Oro Valley Catholic discusses how the virtue of temperance brings joy from pleasure and protects them both from our passions, appetites and tendency towards self-destruction.
Readings for the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022722.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood ran on Canadian and the American television from 1962 through 2001. Children are open to Mr. Roger's appeal to be his neighbor because we are made for friendship. This episode of Oro Valley Catholic explores friendship with God and with one another. I conclude that being Mr. Roger's friend is a good idea, but even better to be God's friend.
Readings for the 7th Sunday: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022022.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
The fastest religion growing in American is that of self-invention. Harry Potter fan fiction, polyamory, yoga and Satancon are examples of making up reality for oneself. Why? T.S. Eliot said that "human kind cannot bear much reality." How do you make Hell inhabitable, at least for a while. This week on Oro Valley Catholic.
Readings for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021322.cfm
Music: Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
Online dating is becoming a more serious option for Catholics actively seeking the vocation of marriage. As a pastor, I have met more couples seeking a wedding date that met on Catholic Match than ever before. I asked one couple, Christina and Allen to share their experience. Something to think about.
In Luke 5, Jesus calls Simon to follow him. Peter experiences a tremendous catch of fish, but, after all, he is a fisherman. Why does a boatload of fish compel him to describe himself as a sinful man. A mystical experience transforms how we see reality, opening our eyes to the presence of God, hiding in plain sight.
Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020622.cfm
Music: Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
If your sense of meaning in life reduces to your personal success, then your success dies with you. Jesus' first homily in Nazareth bombed big time. St. Peter hit it over the wall in his first homily in Jerusalem. A lesson about the love of God and why an unknown nun in France became one of the best selling authors in publishing. Lots to learn for all of us.
Readings for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/013022.cfm
Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Blombos Cave is an archaeological site in South Africa where evidence of humans using abstracts symbols to express meaning were found. Our ability to reason, use metaphor and create symbols makes poetry, science, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Mass, possible. But there is a dark side!
The readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012322.cfm
Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
Our navels are a sign of our dependence on our mother's, our connection to all of life going back through the ages. Marriage is the sign of the Divine Bridegroom's love for his spouse, the Church. Navel gazing get's us nowhere; following sacramental signs sure does. Marriage and Celibacy in this episode of Oro Valley Catholic.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011622.cfm
Music Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
The Baptism of the Lord brings the Christmas season to an end. The scriptures counsel patience with God, one another and ourselves as God works to rebuild his image in each of us through scripture, sacrament and a life of virtue.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010922.cfm
Music provided by the St. Mark Festival Choir pursuant to One License # A-726294
The village atheist is right - I don't believe in the gods of myth either. The Uranian gods, the Titans, the Olympians, Marduk, Tiamat and the Avengers. None of them exist. God exist only in the now - there is no time or space in God - he is not part of Creation. Learn more about Mary's smackdown of the mythic gods this week in Oro Valley Catholic.
The readings for the Feast of Mary, Mother of God and the Epiphany can be found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010122.cfm https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010222.cfm
Music provided by the St. Mark Festival Choir pursuant to One License # A-726294
Gnosticism is the ancient foe of Christ. God revealed himself publicly and sent out apostles to publicly preach the good news. Angels publicly announced the birth of the Messiah. God came not to help us escape bodily existence, but to raise our tortured human world into Divine life. That is the message of Christmas forcibly preached by St. Ireneaus. Still, the heresy of gnosticism remains, entrapping human freedom in the tiny prison of our minds aided by secret knowledge and shadowy elites.
The readings for Christmas can be found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122521-dawn.cfm
Music provided by the St. Mark Festival Choir pursuant to One License # A-726294
Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin - to two last born sons of Jacob and Rachel, the wife of his heart. Explore the connections between Rachel's son Joseph and Mary's Son Jesus and Rachel's son Benjamin, her youngest, and her son, the Beloved Disciple.
Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121921.cfm
O Come All Ye Faithful by Roger McGuinn is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
"Hookup culture is about much more than the quest for pleasure. It offers an easy way out of real communication and lasting relationships. It also teaches us to treat each other as objects for personal satisfaction. Even those who reject the hookup culture can still be negatively affected by it and develop poor habits of relating to others." Timothy O'Malley, Off the Hook
What does studying the ritual of Catholic Marriage have to offer people caught up in the Hook Up Culture? Passion, tempered by virtue and infused with Grace! Today in Oro Valley Catholic, Fr. John discusses marriage and the hook up culture.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121221.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
In 1822 William Wordsworth, the famous romantic poet wrote "The Virgin", about our Blessed Lady:
The Virgin BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost With the least shade of thought to sin allied. Woman! above all women glorified, Our tainted nature's solitary boast; Purer than foam on central ocean tost;
But is the Immaculate Conception in Scripture. The answer is obviously yes according to how the early Church Fathers read and understood Genesis, John, Luke, Acts and Revelation, not to mention St. Paul in Romans and 1 Corinthians.
Music by the great Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License # A-726294.
As religious practice declines the culture tells religious stories in distorted ways. The proliferation of zombie movies in that last two decades showcases dehumanized creatures, devoid of meaning, endlessly and mindlessly consuming and can only be destroyed, ironically, by destroying the organ of meaning - the brain. As the culture of death gains steam, the capacity to understand the meaning of life, absent consuming, declines.
The readings for the First Sunday of Advent: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112821.cfm
Music: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by Clive is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
“A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death - the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.” ― Czeslaw Milosz
The Feast of Christ the King was proclaimed by St. Piux XI in response to the rise of nationalism before and after the First World War. The bloody, cruel and brutal events of the 20th century would prove him prescient. What happens when government has no fear of judgment. In John's Gospel, Jesus is tried by Rome, a government:
"So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice." John 18
Readings for Christ the King: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112121.cfm
Art: Medallion with Christ from an Icon Frame ca. 1100 Byzantine
This medallion of Christ is from a group of twelve that once surrounded an icon of the archangel Gabriel. The medallions may have been sent as a gift from the Byzantine court to the neighboring Christian state of Georgia.
Music: Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time “All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” ― Cormac McCarthy, The Road
The Road, Cormac McCarthy's dismal story of post-apocalyptic destruction is just the most recent retelling of the Gospel in Mark 13. McCarthy imagines that when all human institutions are destroyed, life become unbelievably grim - cannibals, roving armies of brigands, nothing to eat. McCarthy's writing is beautiful:
“Years later he'd stood in the charred ruins of a library where blackened books lay in pools of water. Shelves tipped over. Some rage at the lies arranged in their thousands row on row. He picked up one of the books and thumbed through the heavy bloated pages. He'd not have thought the value of the smallest thing predicated on a world to come. It surprised him. That the space which these things occupied was itself an expectation.” ― Cormac McCarthy, The Road
In Jesus' story, the institution of the Temple will be destroyed and cosmic destruction will follow. McCarthy's story just fleshes out the prophecy of Jesus. Both Jesus’ prophecy and The Road end on a note of hope.
“Carry the fire.” ― Cormac McCarthy, The Road
"And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds' with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky." Mark 13
Help is Coming!
The readings for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time are found here: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111421.cfm
Music: O Fortuna by MIT Concert Choir is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
God as revealed to Israel is recapitulated in the Gospel of Mark. Like a closing argument, Mark's Gospel focuses on the nature of God revealed in the passion, death and resurrection of His Son. Men and Women are also revealed in the Gospel of Mark. Take a peek at yourself!
The readings for the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110721.cfm
Music: Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
Jesus calls us to be his friends. Here is how a friend prays, "Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices." - Prayer of St. Theresa of Avila
The readings for the 31st Sunday are here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103121.cfm
Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.
Mark 8-10 is a teaching about discipleship bracketed by the healings of two blind men, that last of whom, Bartimaeus follows Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. Surrounded by enemies who would kill him, Jesus leads his disciples through a world where God is marginalized. Want to read the scriptures?
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102421.cfm
Music, Traveling Riverside Blues by Don Bikoff is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
For the 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time the Lord instructs the disciples on servant leadership rooted in his example of leadership on the cross. He came to give his life for many as prophesied in Isaiah 53 - "Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear."
The Sunday Readings are here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101721.cfm
Music from Arthur's Dream by Nutmeg is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
These three features of parenting—providing, guiding, and protecting—are essential for the flourishing of children. Christian parents, especially fathers, bring transcendence to the natural beauty of marriage. How children think about God, love and family is rooted in their experience of loving committed Catholic parents.
Readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100321.cfm
The music is this podcast, by Ricard Wagner: Bridal Chorus from the opera Lohengrin is performed by Kevin MacLeod and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Dante's Divine Comedy is celebrating it 700th anniversary. Dante' unforgettable take on Gehena, sin and redemption has formed Catholic imaginations about Hell for centuries. Learn more about Our Lord's teaching of Gehenna, child sacrifice and Dante's imagination of Oro Valley Catholic.
The image is from a tomb at the site of the Tophet in the Gei Ben Hinnom Valley in Jerusalem. Read Edwin Black’s perspective on the Gei Ben Hinnom Valley - https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/08/29/hell-on-earth/a2777d75-cfa6-4325-814a-0a26c83086c5/
Here are the readings for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092621.cfm
To read Dante's Commedia, I recommend Mark Musa's translation at Amazon.com.
The music tract, "Unhallowed chant" is used pursuant to license from Free Music Archives.
In the Gospel, Jesus describes the attitude of his disciples - like children, trusting and following. Obsessions are thoughts that constantly trouble us. The disciples are constantly nagged by their envy, pretensions to greatness and desire to control Jesus. Interestingly, the stories preceding and following this Gospel in Mark 9 are all about how demons operate. What does this have to do with Symphonie Fantastique? Learn more on Oro Valley Catholic. The image is of Harriet Smithson in Othello. Harriet was idée fixe, that is obsession, of Hector Berlioz. Listen and consider the way that the demonic enters human life.
Readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091921.cfm
Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique 4th Mvt by Bruno Walter is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0
"You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble." James 2:19. God is unconditional love. Even the demons believe that. Discipleship, however, has conditions. Both the Gospel of Mark and the Letter of James witness to the cost of discipleship.
The Readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091221.cfm
The music Attende Domine is sung by Ms. Gina Mcann and accompanied by Mr. Russell Ronnebaum under One License # A-726294
Political Science professor Dr. Jason Blakely, Ph.D wrote "We Built Reality: How Social Science Infiltrated Culture, Politics, and Power", published in 2020. A great read. It asks the question, in whose image are we made? Computers, machines, or I would add, in the image of God. This pandemic has brought into sharp focus the great benefits of science and the dangers of scientism, a materialist philosophy of the human person. The Letter of James has something important to say in this regard.
Music provided courtesy of Beethoven, Symphony No.9, 2nd Mvt by Felix Weingartner is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Frederick Nietszche was a 19th Century philospher that was much more popular after his death than he was in his lifetime. His legacy appears to be the denial of God and the utter meaningless of existence. Jesus of Nazareth disagrees. We can assume that the Lord and Nietszche are sorting it out right now.
The music was provided from Free Music Archives, Life and Times by Derek Clegg, licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Romeo and Juliet, the classic Shakespearean play, has been retold as the essential romance. Franco Zefferelli's 1968 film told the story in a modern romantic sense. Shakespeare's play is much more critical of this "star crossed" pair. What does love have to do with virtue? Why is marriage like the Eucharist?
Music is provided by the MIT Symphony The songs in this album are licensed under: Attribution-NonCommercial Romeo et Juliette, Juliette Waltz (Gounod) MIT Symphony Orchestra
The Ark of the Covenant, thought to be lost at the time of the Babylonian Conquest, is as it turns out, not so lost. Read Revelation 11:19 and following. Learn about the scriptural basis for the dogma of the Assumption.
- In what way is the Blessed Virgin Mary the eschatological icon of the Church? Looking upon Mary, who is completely holy and already glorified in body and soul, the Church contemplates in her what she herself is called to be on earth and what she will be in the homeland of heaven.
Music "Ave Maria" performed by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License A-726294.
We all live, the faithful and the faithless, in an imminent world dominated by nature. The transcendent world, the world of God, is not this world. There is a gap, really an abyss, between this world and the one to come. How should we live?
The art is from 'God Judging Adam' ca. 1795 the British artist and poet, William Blake. A nude and aged Adam, newly aware of his own nakedness and mortality, hangs his head before a fiery chariot bearing the divine maker whom he resembles exactly.
The Music is from the Free Music Archives, On the Road by The Bowmans is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. In order to listen to the entire album, copy and paste this link in your browser: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Bowmans/Far_Fom_Home
Lots going on in the Church this summer. Consider the Bread from Heaven, Ecclesial Communion and our Bishops.
The Book of Exodus recounts that, after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, God nourished his people with quail in the evening and manna, a white bread-like substance that miraculously fell from heaven. Here, men carry their shares to a tent. A second panel (2020.21.1) shows Moses, and his brother Aaron behind him, watch as the Israelites gather up the food and, in the panel at the right, The compositions of these panels, with their idiosyncratic figural style, animated faces, verve of line and form, and narrative charm, are attributed to Jan Pollack, the preeminent Munich panel painter of the time, while the execution of the glass with its accomplished painting and vibrant palette is given to Friedrich Brunner and his workshop. The church of the Savior was turned over to the Greek Orthodox community in 1829; these panels were removed from the church by 1906, eventually entering a private collection. The rest of the stained glass was mostly destroyed during World War II.
Music Go down Moses (Negro Spiritual) by Les Petits Chanteurs de Montigny is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.
The Prophet Jeremiah prophesied that God himself would come to shepherd his people. Jesus of Nazareth himself shepherds the people and appoints his Twelve Disciples to carry out the same work. The music is performed by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License A-726294.
The Church is a mystery. When I was younger the Church was considered to be the Democratic party at prayer. Now, we seem to be viewed as part of the Republican right wing. Does this do the Church justice given the teaching of Christ and the Apostles?
Music provided by Free Music Archives - . Nutmeg - Arthur's Dream demo 00:04:21 - The songs in this album are licensed under: CC BY-NC-SA
You cannot explain the fascination with Jesus of Nazareth absent his miracles. You can't explain Christianity absent the Resurrection. What do miracles mean. What are they a sign of? Learn more by listening to Signs, Hope and Disbelief.
The music in this podcast islicensed under CC BY-NC-ND - Album: CAVE OF MIRACLES, Lobo Loco - Back to Hometown (ID 760) 00:09:14
The art is in the public domain - The Marriage Feast at Cana ca. 1500–1504 Juan de Flandes Netherlandish
In the Gospel, Mark 5, Jesus heals a woman with uncontrollable bleeding for 12 years and raises a 12 year old girl from the dead. You can find the readings here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062721.cfm
We are made for a holistic view of our lives. Faith not Fear is Jesus call to us. Read the scriptures for this Sunday and consider the images of God presented in Mark's Gospel.
The music Attende Domine ("Consider me O Lord") by Gina Mcann pursuant to One License A-726294.
Amulet Carved in Intaglio (Incised) 6th–7th century Coptic
Inscriptions identify the subject of this amulet as the Woman with the Issue of Blood (Mark 5:25–34; Luke 8:43–48). On the reverse a woman stands in the orant (prayer) pose. Hematite was believed to stop the flow of blood and was a favorite medium for amulets related to female reproductive health and menstrual problems.
How to think about God in your life. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not the gods of the Greeks and Romans. Here is how he spoke to Job in the first reading for this Sunday.
The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands? When I set limits for it and fastened the bar of its door, and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled! Job 38
Music by Russell Ronnebaum.
Chapter 4 of the Gospel of Mark begins on the sea and ends with a storm at sea. In between, Jesus talks about the kingdom of God like a farmer sowing seed. Slow going.
Practice what you preach by Brother Timothy Clark is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Practice what You Preach "This is a song all about how many within the Church are hearing the word but, they aren't living and or doing the word. I'm sure to a degree we're all guilty of this and I Address things best through music and thus, here's a song about it. - Brother Timothy Clard
"This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." Mk 14
Music by St. Mark Choir, One License A-726294
The central mystery in Christianity is the Most Holy Trinity. The divine life of the Trinity is the power of the sacraments, the truth of Scripture, the faith of the saints, the charity of a virtuous life and the hope of sinful humanity. Jesus came to bring us into participative relationship in the Divine Life of the Most Holy Trinity. Music provided by St. Mark's Choir pursuant to One License # A-726294.
God's Spirit moved over the abyss like a mighty wind in Genesis 1. God breathed life into the first humans and in the Gospel Jesus, Risen from the Dead, breathes the Spirit of God into his disciples in the upper room.
Music is provided by Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License A-726294.
Cain's sacrifice was rejected and Abel's was accepted. Jesus is permitted to die and ignominious death. Why do we think he is the savior? How do we know his sacrifice is acceptable?
Music is by the St. Mark choir pursuant to One License # A-726294.
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love." God is love, the light of the world
Music provided pursuant to One License # A-726294
Christ is the vine we are the branches. Scripture, Sacrament and a life of Holiness are essential to abiding in God's love, to be living branches on God's holy vine, the Church. Music by Russ Ronnebaum
"Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3. The Beatific Vision, the beauty, truth and goodness of God is the telos, or the goal, of life. The Resurrection points beyond this World being complete in itself.
Music provided by Russ Ronnebaum.
Word of God is a person, Jesus Christ. The scriptures, Old and New, is the Word of God in human language. (St. Ephrem the Syrian). Israel and their scriptures prepared the world for the reception of the Incarnate Word of God.
Music performed by Russ Ronnebaum.
Why believe in the Resurrection? Because it is true! Music provided by the St. Mark Choir under permission from One License, A-726294
Nostos is a Greek word for homecoming. Odysseus takes a long time to get home from the Trojan War and everything had changed, including Odysseus. In Psalm 137, the Judeans longed for home and couldn't sing their songs in a strange land. Nostalgia is an ache for home or for the past. Something is missing in each of us. Jesus talks today about looking upon him on his cross for healing. Learn of the love of God and what it means to go home.
Rivers Of Babylon by Bill Baird is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
"Brothers and sisters: Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." 1 Cor. 1:22-25
The Crucifixion, ca. 1420–23 Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro) Italian On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 624. This early work by Fra Angelico accentuates the drama of the Crucifixion by showing the Virgin collapsed in grief with the lamenting Maries and emphasizing the varied attitudes of the Roman soldiers and their horses. There is an exquisite delicacy about this work that Fra Angelico will develop in his mature paintings. The innovative circular composition was inspired by the bronze doors created by Lorenzo Ghiberti for the Baptistry of Florence.
The music is the Stabat Mater performed by Gina McCann and accompanied by Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License A-726294
What does the Transfiguration Our Lord on Mt. Tabor, the attempted sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham on Mt. Moriah and the crucifixion have in common. Why are they the important understanding of the Paschal Mystersy?
Attende Domine is performed by Gina McMann with pianist Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to OneLicense A-726294.
Jesus descends among the dead and baptism is necessary for salvation. The First Sunday of Lent is a time to think about the ways that we undermine ourselves by taking delight in the wrong things.
Music by Marisa Troppy and Russel Ronnebaum, Adoro te devote, pursuant to a license by One License A-726294
What Our Lord Saw from the Cross (Ce que voyait Notre-Seigneur sur la Croix) James Tissot
Join Fr. John Arnold for the Lenten devotion, the Stations of the Cross. The artwork is from James Tissot.
In the most memorable, and even notorious, of Tissot’s images, Christ looks out at the crowd of spectators arrayed before him: Mary Magdalene, in the immediate foreground, with her long red tresses swirling down her back, kneels at his feet, which are clearly visible at the bottom center of the composition. Beyond her, the Virgin Mary clutches her breast, while John the Evangelist looks up with hands clasped.
The artist here adopts the point of view of Christ himself. Few painters have conceived a composition this daring. In his audacity, however, Tissot remains true to his artistic vision: ultimately, the image is an exercise in empathy. Its point is to give viewers, accustomed to looking at the event from the outside, a rare opportunity to imagine themselves in Christ’s place and consider his final thoughts and feelings as he gazed on the enemies and friends who were witnessing, or participating in, his death.
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/13508
What we eat matters as much as who we eat with. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 discusses sacrifices to the Greek gods, demons and what the Christian owes in table fellowship to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In this podcast I discuss Mark 1, I Cor. 10, 2 Kings and the Illiad.
The music is from the Free Music Archives -Ta-Da! by Siddhartha Corsus is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Jesus heals St. Peter's mother in law? Where is his wife? Jesus heals families throughout the Gospel of Mark, but his family is those who hear the word of God and keep it!
Music is from the Free Music Archive, Miracle Tour (ID 1289) by Lobo Loco licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Jesus is the exorcist whose signs underscore the authority of his teaching. His command over unclean spirits fulfills the prophecy in Genesis 3:5, "I will put enmity between her offspring and yours." The conflict between Eve and the Serpent comes to a head.
Music Desert Full of Angels (ID 1546) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Jesus calls the disciples to be "fishers of men." Why would anyone fall for that line? The might surprise you when you consider the Books of Daniel and Jeremiah.
I decided to go 'old school' on the music today. This work has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights performed by The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps.
Scripture addresses the human condition. the Oresteia written by Aeschylus and performed in 558 B.C. at a festival in honor of the god Dionysius addresses the limitations of justice and vengeance. There is a surprising connection between St. Paul's 1 Letter to the Corinthians and this great pagan Greek play. What do St. Paul and the Oresteia have to offer when trying to make human choices. St. Paul asks what kind of persons do my choices make me? The answer should be Christ. Music is provided by "American Song" by Maya Solovéy is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Jesus enters the waters of baptism and invites us to follow in a life united to his passion, death and resurrection. Consider baptism, its connection with the crucifixion and the meaning of baptism.
The songs in this podcast are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA, album "Midwinter" by Maya Solovéy In the Bleak Mid-Winter lyrics In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan; Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter Long ago.
Our God, heaven cannot hold Him Nor earth sustain, Heaven and earth shall flee away When He comes to reign: In the bleak mid-winter A stable-place sufficed The Lord God Almighty — Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom Cherubim Worship night and day, A breastful of milk And a mangerful of hay; Enough for Him, whom Angels Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel Which adore.
Angels and Archangels May have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim Thronged the air; But only His Mother In her maiden bliss Worshipped the Beloved With a kiss.
The Epiphany - The Revelation of God to the pagan world. The death knell of the pagan world. We Three Kings by Maya Solovéy is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
All families are called to holiness. The music provided by the St. Mark choir pursuant to license from One License # A-726294 .
The ‘sacramentum militaie’ (military sacrament) was used with recruits into the Roman army who swore an oath of allegiance and received a mark (such as a tattoo or a brand) and a new name. The Roman Legions had their sacramentum, and the Church had its sacramentum. Christianity so dominated the Roman Empire that we no longer think of the military and legal meanings of sacrament for Romans. The Christians understood whose kingdom they lived in and whose kingdom they were passing through.
Music recorded by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License
John the Evangelist, writing some years later, simply referred to John the Baptist as “A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came to testify to the light.” Jn. 1:6-8 The Greek word ‘martyrios’ means ‘witness.’ John the Baptist gave his life as a witness, a martyr and so others have followed as victims of violence and witnesses to the light.
Music by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License #A-726294
He calls us to convert or minds and trust in him. Mind and heart given to God. That is the pathway. Sin casts a long shadow, grace illuminates even the shade.
Music by St. Mark choir under One License A-726294
When Jesus told us to ‘watch’ he expected that his disciples would be about the Father’s business. He called them to prayer, not drowsiness. Naps are nice, but we were not created for naps but for the works of mercy. Pray for those most in need, empty your closet as an act of fraternal charity. Be attentive, be watchful, the Lord will return when each of us least expects it.
Music performed by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License A-726294
St. Augustine said that in heaven, in the true City of God, “There we shall be still and see, see and love, love and praise. Behold what will be in the end without end! For what else is our end but to reach the kingdom that has no end?” Christian, remember, the City of God exists in this world in you, but is not of this world. Adjust your expectations accordingly.
Music performed by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License A-726294
Abusers aren’t going to disappear as the result of the Dallas Charter and Vos estis lux mundi. But hopefully the silence that creates this weird clerical culture will. Breaking the silence isn’t everything, but nothing else can happen until we do that. Music by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to license by One License, #A-726294
The ancient world is a different place and a different time. The ancient Christian understanding of virginity is in sharp contrast to the modern take. Virginity in our Catholic tradition is a complete self-giving for the sake of the kingdom.
Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to permission from OneLicense A-726294
Halloween, All Saints and All Souls day is this human reality bundled altogether around the Resurrection. So come, eat his flesh and drink his blood and join his Army of the Dead! Well, actually they are more alive than ever.
Catholic faith is characterized by the call to trust both our faith and our capacity for reason informed by faith. Faith calls reason beyond where it can go on its own. Faith points us towards the reality of the human vocation in the world and our destiny. Faith also allows us to identify patterns of thought in humanity that bears the imprint of Christ. For the early Christians, Platonic thought pointed towards a world that lay behind all physical or natural experiences of reality. One such example is Plato’s The Symposium.
Music by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License # A-726294
The Pope in Fratelli Tutti reminds us that in the New Testament, all roads lead to the Book of Genesis. When the Lord, in the Gospel this Sunday, reminds us of the creation of the human in Genesis, that we bear the image of our Creator, please remember the story of Cain and Abel. God asks Cain, “Where is your brother Abel? He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Gen. 4:9. Given the disproportionate effect of this pandemic on the vulnerable and the open hostility of our brothers and sisters to each other in this political season, how do we Catholic citizens of America answer our Creator’s question?
Music provided by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License# A-726294
We think of Father Damien of Molokai as a saint, but what is mostly forgotten is the controversy surrounding his death,. His death drew international comment. What was a stake in the public controversy and what delayed his canonization until 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI was the question; “what kind of man was Damien? Was he a saint or a dirty, grubby, coarse lecher, master of public relations?
Music by St. Mark Choir under license from One License # A-726294
Over 21 Centuries, the Church, like the people of Israel, has had a lot of ups and downs, decline and renewal. The mission of the Church has been to help people reform their lives, but, itself, is often in need of reform.
Music by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum under license from One LIcense # A-726294
Fr. Jean Pierre de Caussade taught that life was a sacrament; a sign of the unseen. “If we could lift the veil and if we watched with vigilant attention, God would endlessly reveal himself to us and we should see and rejoice in his active presence in all that befalls us. At every event we should exclaim: “It is the Lord!” – Jean Pierre de Caussade
Join Fr. John Arnold as he discusses St. Ignatius of Loyola and the discernment of spirits in your life. Music provided by the Melissa Troppy and Russ Ronenbaum under license from One License # A-726294
Today's podcast is about the four senses of scripture and, in the end, about how envy destroys our life. Envy is a loser’s game. The world gives us all reasons to envy if we are so inclined, but gratitude, on the other hand, is to live in thanksgiving for what we have. The Eucharist, after all, is Jesus sacrifice of thanksgiving on the eve of his betrayal, passion and death. Gratitude is life-giving.
Music Blackbird (ID 1226) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.
Spiritual freedom isn’t standing up for the people with whom you agree, it is understanding the person with whom you disagree. Not possible without the spirit of forgiveness, the light of the Holy Spirit, without which darkness reigns in the walls of hell, four thousand miles thick. Music pursuant to license by OneLicense # A-726294
In 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” a novel about a young man, Werther, hopelessly in love with a woman, Charlotte, engaged to another man, Albert. Obsession, self-destruction and the are a constant of human society. European society, especially the young, dressed like Young Werther, romanced like him and in some cases took their own lives. How to avoid obsessing about something? The Gospel of Matthew provides a path.
Music today recorded by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum by permission under One License # A-726294
Albert Camus, the famous atheist, existentialist philosopher and author once wrote that the only real question for philosophy was whether one ought to commit suicide. You cannot answer that question without first responding to Jesus question, "Who do people say that I am?"
Music provided by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum under license from One License # A-726294
During this pandemic, people, not just Catholics, are angry, fearful and prone to anxiety. Lots of reasons; restricted access to the Catholic mass, rioting in the streets, a national election, devastation around the world, most recently, a needless loss of life in Lebanon. Our lives are upended our health threatened, our economy erratic in ways we have never experienced. In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus walks on the water.
Adoro te devote performed by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant under license from One License A-726294
Only the lover can understand the folly of a love to which prodigality is a law and excess alone is sufficient. Yet if it is true that the creation lives from excess or superfluity, that man is a being for whom excess is necessity, how can we wonder that revelation is the superfluous and for that very reason the necessary, the divine, the love in which the meaning of the universe is fulfilled?” — Introduction To Christianity, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI.
Music performed by St. Mark Choir under license from One License A-726294
Meaning and happiness in life… is there a difference? More than you might think. Researchers suggest that happiness and meaning in life overlap, but they are not identical. Satisfaction of our needs and wants helps to make us happy, but those same indicators alone are not what give life meaning. Happiness is mostly about my sense of well-being now, in the present. I may have fears about the future or regrets about the past that can affect happiness, but happiness, or the lack thereof, are very much about the present. Meaning is different.
Adoro te devote performed by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum under permission from One License # A-726294
So, is a virus alive like bacteria and germs, or are they something different? There are a variety of opinions. Some scientists think that virus are basically a chemistry set, that is, they don’t reproduce like living creatures. Living beings consume, process, expend energy and reproduce. A virus cannot reproduce on its own like the process of cell division in mitosis.
As Gregory the Great (540–604) says, ‘because man has existence (esse) in common with stones, life with trees, and understanding (discernere) with angels, …Lewis, C. S.. The Discarded Image .
Where do we all fit into the big picture? Music arranged and performed by Russ Ronnebaum
Jesus did not trust the proclamation of his Gospel to the leaders of Israel, but to fishermen, Zealots, Pharisees like Paul and the tax collector Matthew. Jesus doesn't ask his followers to carry the cross by themselves, he will be there with them. We cannot carry the yoke without his help.
Music performed by Gina McAnn and Russ Ronnebaum under license from OneLicense A-726294
Today’s Gospel shows us the implications of belief that includes both the cross and the work of the Church. In all of that, our flourishing requires us to manage our wants so that we can make trusting choices about what and who we support. Because our fundamental need that shapes all others is our need for God.
Music by Russ Ronnebaum, Gina McCann under OneLicense A-726294
What is a wise life? As Christianity has faded from the center to the margins in the West. The Nicene Creed is replaced with the simpler secular creed – I believe in myself. This affirmation—that you should believe in yourself as the ultimate source of meaning and value—is the secular colonization of the religious impulse. Everyone has to worship something or someone. You can’t make people not believe. The gods of illusion just redirect human belief. Believing in myself is celebrated on daytime TV, in inspirational books, and Disney movies. It is as if the garage door of unreality has forever closed off the minds of the self-believers to any real experience of transcendence. Since, there is nothing else to believe in beyond me, this pseudo wisdom goes, I might as well believe in myself. This is, of course, quite contrary to the biblical view of the human condition. Humility is to see oneself as you really are – mortal, limited, doubting and prone to self-destructive behavior. To proclaim the Gospel is to say to the unbelievers, baptized and unbaptized, the way out is to believe in Christ, not yourself. How is that working? Does it matter in the end? Yes it does.
Music by St. Mark Cantor by permission of One License, A-726294
Jesus is the human face of God. Jesus, shares in God’s nature and existed before he took human flesh. Who can understand? A mystery like the Incarnation and the Trinity are not questions to be answered, but realities to be explored.
Music composed and performed by Russ Ronnebaum
The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. This is OVC.
We can’t understand completely the Trinity, but stretching to comprehend Divine Revelation is be part of salvation. Understanding the Trinity ultimately challenges our self-understanding as we are made in God’s image and likeness. St. Augustine proposes that we understand the Most Holy Trinity as analogously like our act of remembering, understanding and speaking.
The music is provided by the Kit Kats under license from One License A-726294.
At Pentecost, the nature of God is revealed for our benefit. We respond to that grace, body and soul, when we try to grow in understanding and participation in Divine Life. God allows us to see something of the Divine interior life in today’s feast. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel [Prudence], Fortitude [Courage], Knowledge, Piety [Reverence], and Fear of the Lord [Wonder and Awe in God’s Presence]. (cf. Is 11:1-2) The Fruits of these gifts of the Holy Spirit are an increase in Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Generosity, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Modesty, Self-control, Chastity. This is the life of grace, not self-condemnation and fear. The music "Lift thine eyes" is performed by the St. Mark Schola under license from One License A-726294.
St. John Henry Newman, reflecting on the inadequacy of earthly pleasures compared to heaven, wrote:
. . . from sad experience I am too sure that whatever is created, whatever is earthly, pleases but for a time and then palls and is a weariness. I believe that there is nothing at all here below that I would not at length get sick of. I believe, that though I had all the means of happiness that this life could give, yet in time I would tire of living, feeling everything trite and dull and unprofitable. John Henry Newman, Everyday Meditations (Manchester, N.H.: Sophia Institute Press, 2013), 164.
The Ascension lifts our eyes to the Most Holy Trinity and the Kingdom of Heaven. The music "Lift Thine Eyes" is performed by our St. Mark Schola under license from One License A-726294
The Gospel of John begins as does the Book of Genesis, “In the beginning…” The Gospel witnesses to how God is remaking his creation. John the Baptist on the first day of the Gospel of John calls God’s people to repent. Out of his group of disciples, John sends two, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, and another disciple to follow Jesus, who John the Baptist calls the “Lamb of God.” The Gospel says,“Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” Jn. 1:38-39 Musice performed by St. Mark Schola under license from OneLicense A-726294
The Gospel is the true story of true love, the Divine Bridegroom Christ for his bride the Church. The Princess Bride is effective and heart-warming as a movie because it imitates the story of the Gospel. Love broken by separation (Adam and Eve) and love restored by the bridegroom’s relentless search for his bride down into the depths of sin and death. It seems too good to be true, if you have a heart for true love distorted by distrust of God. As Buttercup and her true love escape Humperdinck by fleeing into the dread, fire spurting, quicksand filled Fire Swamp with rodents of unusual size, she says to Westley, “We’ll never survive!” Westley rightly responds, “Nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one ever has.” Well, we know that’s not true. In fact, the Bridegroom has gone to prepare a place for us and will return for us. The Gospel is the pattern of True Love.
Music composed and performed by Russ Ronnenbaum
There is a great story about the English Catholic novelist Graham Greene who had converted to Catholicism and then fallen away. When in Italy, he had the chance to meet St. Padre Pio and at the last minute, he cancelled his appointment. When asked why, Greene said, “I believe that man can change me, and I like myself the way that I am.” What do you think? Good enough for eternity? Music by the St. Mark Choir under OneLicense A-726294
“Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! " Lk. 24:13-35 When the early Church preached about the unblemished lamb of God, the apostles were using typology. Jesus is being understood by reference to the type of the Passover sacrificial lamb as found in the Old Testament. Typology is the Early Christian use of pre-figurations (events, realities, and signs) that point forward to and are fulfilled in Jesus, such as the sacrificial lamb. It is how the apostles were taught by the Lord to read sacred scripture. It is how God's Divine Providence uses history to reveal the meaning of human life.
Music performed under license from One License A-726294 by Russ Ronnebaum and Gina McCann.
St. John Henry Newman said, “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” Divine Mercy Sunday is a time to consider the role of change in our lives. We are imperfect creatures. God’s mercy allows us time and grace to change, to be transformed, into who God made us to be. God’s mercy also allows the Church to grow through teaching, fellowship, the Eucharist and prayer. What does God intend for us? Our answer is that we are called to be saints, to be set apart for God. Here is a story of change.
Music under One License, performed by the St. Mark cantor and musician.
The big picture. Sometimes it is hard to see the big picture. We can get all caught up in the personally pleasing or dissatisfying and lose the big picture. The big picture is what is important for everyone, everywhere all the time. The big picture questions are who am I, where am I going, what do I need to do. Lots of answers to those questions, but only one big picture answer. Easter!
Music performed by the St. Mark Festival Choir (2019) under license from OneLicense A-726294.
This podcast is about St. Matthew's Gospel and the Passion of the Lord. How does St. Matthew show Jesus as the New Moses, the New Joseph, and the Suffering Servant. How does Jesus fulfill ancient prophecy and why did the crown choose Barabbas or call for Jesus' blood to be "upon them and their children." This and more in this episode of Oro Valley Catholic.
Music by Russ Ronnebaum based on 'Tantum Ergo.'
“One of the tendencies of our age is to use the suffering of children to discredit the goodness of God, and once you have discredited his goodness, you are done with him" Flannery O'Connor wrote these words about our cultural aversion to suffering. The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead in anticipation of his own Resurrection draws the faithful into a deeper understanding of human reality.
The music for this episode is recorded by the St. Mark Choir under license from One License, A-726294
“For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret; but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it is said, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.” Eph. 5:8-14
Music by permission of Russ Ronnebaum
A first-century Jew like Jesus of Nazareth would have seen God in a very intimate way. From an ancient Jewish perspective, the one God—“the LORD” or “I Am” (Hebrew YHWH) (Exodus 3:15)—is not just the Creator, but the Bridegroom, a divine person whose ultimate desire is to be united to his people. Salvation is a relationship that is so intimate, so permanent, so sacrificial, and so life-giving that it can only be described as a marriage between Creator and creatures.
On the Third Sunday of Lent, the Church turns to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well. Music is composed and performed by Russ Ronnebaum.
Insight is that mental (or inward) activity by which the mind grasps the intelligible connections between things that previously had appeared merely disparate. This act of understanding “sees” a pattern in data, where “seeing” is only a metaphor from physical sight. The Transfiguration of Jesus is a grace-filled insight into life's meaning and purpose. The story of Charles Goodyear, the inventor of the vulcanization process is an example of how insight operates. Music by Russell Ronnebaum
The choice you have in life is not between God and the Devil. The choice is between God and you. The battle is fought out for the believer in the choices we make between a disordered love and a rightly ordered love. Adam and Eve endured three temptations: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and pride of life – and failed; in his 40 days in the desert Jesus triumphed where Adam and Eve failed. The Catechism teaches that "By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert." CCC 538 – 540.
Music composed, performed and licensed by Russell Ronnebaum at https://rronnebaum.com/
"So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Mt. 5:48 Jesus is talking about charity. We should be generous with others as God is generous with us. If taken out of context, his words can kill the spiritual life reducing faith to a game of chutes and ladders. We all have a need for mercy.
Lent begins Wednesday. We engage in prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Fasting give us a spiritual exercise in controlling out appetite. Prayer is the reminder that we need relationship with God always. Salvation is not self-help, but our recognition of our need for a savior. Almsgiving, reminds us of the importance of generosity in our life.
The music is published under license from One Note and performed by the Kit Kats. F
In this podcast, Fr. John discusses the interior affection for either virtue or sin and how that determines our happiness in this life. I also discuss Arthur C. Brooks and his podcast that you can listen to at
https://megaphone.link/VMP9796575007
Music is provided by the St. Mark Festival Choir under a license from One License.
This is the story of Alli Gebhart a victim of sexual abuse by a priest in the Diocese of Tucson. In so many ways, her story of abuse is typical of the pattern. Her story of God's grace is unique, remarkable and inspiring. She has shared her story in the hopes of helping others. Her courage and faith is a great cause for hope as the Church battles to protect the young and the vulnerable from predators.
This episode also features the music of Kevin Heider, "The Body" which will also be the topic of a future episode. Kevin's albums are available for download on Amazon and many other outlets. Support his work, if you can. Give yourself a treat. "The Spark" and, if your are a Springsteen fan, "Ohio" are great listens. You can also support him at his podcast "The Song and Story Podcast." I am a listener and subscriber.
Psalm 74 said “Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.” Lintels don’t magically get taller, defying the limitations of wood. If we are the Temples of the Glory of God, we don’t grow larger physically to allow him in. Our hearts and souls grow. Our minds see the reality of the goodness of God all around us. By God’s grace we transcend our limitations. Transcendence is growing beyond natural limits through the power of God’s grace. That is what Christianity offers; a grace filled relationship with and in God. Music performed by the St. Mark Choir and license under OneLicense.
Film director James Kelty has made movies about the French Jesuit Missionaries in Canada, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Junipero Serra, O.F.M. and Servant of God, Eusebio Kino, S.J. here in Sonora and Arizona. The stories of the saints and the back story about how both film directors and films are made are the subject of this podcast.
The music in this podcast is performed by the St. Mark choir under license from One License.
In this podcast, we discuss Jessica Cox, who was born without arms and has become a leading advocate for people otherwise enabled. St. Mark Parish has a great religious education program for children and adults with learning disability. On February 1, 2020, Jessica will give the keynote address at the St. Mark Disability Awareness Conference starting at 3 pm. After the conference, Bishop Emeritus Gerald Kicanas will celebrate mass at 5 pm. Everyone is invited.
The music for the podcast is provided by the St. Mark Music Program under license from OneLicense, # A-726294
In the Gospel today, Jesus descends into the waters of John the Baptist’s baptism and tells John that it must be so “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus is removing the weight of sin as death. He is paying the debts of all humanity. He is making all things right, ‘fulfilling righteousness.” Like with Noah and the Ark, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove as a sign that salvation in near. The heavens are torn open as is the veil of the Holy of Holies at the Crucifixsion. Today Jesus said that he was baptized by John to ‘fulfill all righteousness.”
The baptism of the Lord links Christmas and Holy Week. 1. In Advent, we started out with Jesus’ prophecies about the end of the world and the story of John the Baptist and the coming Messiah 2. In Christmas, Jesus is laid in a manger, a place where animals eat. He would become food for us at the Last Supper. Jesus is wrapped in swaddling clothes. He will be wrapped in a shroud and laid in a tomb, instead of a manger. 3. At the Epiphany, Jesus is given gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh Gold is a gift for a king, for the charge above his head, the king of the Jews; Frankincense, used in the temple, because he is the priest and the sacrifice; Myrrh, used to prepare a dead body, because this will all be accomplished when he turns death into a doorway to eternal life.
The readings of Advent and Christmas come together in the story of the Lord’s baptism. The baptism of the lord links Christmas to the Paschal Mystery. When we participate in liturgy, we participate in these mysteries and so can answer yes to the great spiritual, "Were you there when the crucified the Lord.” We are there, because he is with us.
The music on this podcast was recorded by the St. Mark Choir and is used under a license provided by OneLicense # A-726294.
The Story of the Magi from the east is an echo of the ancient, pagan world. We take Christian history for granted and forget the power of the ancient, pagan world and the influence of the East on the Western World. A good example is that the ancient Babylonians named the weekdays after the five planetary bodies known to them and the other two days they dedicated to the Sun and Moon (Sunday and Monday).
The Jews, of course, explained the seven days of the week differently. The Romans followed the Babylonian example, not the Jewish, and the Emperor Constantine established the seven-day week in the Roman calendar in 321 A.D. designating Sunday and Monday as the first two days of the week. The names of our days of the week came later in European history. The other English weekday names were derived from Anglo-Saxon names for gods from Teutonic mythology. Tuesday comes from Tiu, or Tiw, the Anglo-Saxon name for Tyr, the Norse god of war. Tyr was one of the sons of Odin, or Woden, who in turn gave his name to Wednesday. Thursday originates from Thor, the god of thunder. Friday is derived from Frigga, the wife of Odin, representing love and beauty. Saturday comes from Saturn, the ancient Roman god of fun and feasting. We kept Sunday in honor of the Sun and Monday in honor of the moon. The echoes of the pagan world are all around us.
The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the mass conversion of the pagan world to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The worship of the Creator, not the created.
The music is licensed under One License and is performed by the St. Mark Choir.
The Feast of the Holy Family is a time to consider the happiness and the place of family in our lives. Everyone wants to have a happy family. But love and happiness are never far from suffering and sacrifice. That is just the reality of love. Today in the Gospel, St. Joseph has a choice between what he wants his life to be and what it will be if he follows God.
Music under permission from One License, A-726294, performed by Dan Marsh and the Kit Kats.
Christmas is the celebration of the marriage of heaven and earth. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The Creator chose a woman to bear his son and our Savior. We believe that Jesus, the Eternal Word of God, spoken by the Father in time, took on human flesh to show us how to love God and one another. That Word is not foreign to us, but can be discovered in our own bodies, because we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are not God, but he has shared something of himself in our bodies. Our bodies tell us something about our relationship with God and with one another. One beautiful example is pregnancy itself.
"God is Good" performed by Dan Marsh and the KitKats under One License A-726294
No signature phrase from the Second Vatican Council is so completely affirmed across the entire theological and political spectrum of the Catholic Church as that the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” Last summer, the Pew Research Center announced that a recent survey of Americans’ religious knowledge showed that only 31 percent of self-identified Catholics believe that at Mass the bread and wine “actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” Why do the Gospels emphasize the Virgin Birth? The 'good news' is that God dwells with his people. Where charity and love are, Deus ibi est, there is God.
"Deus Ibi Est" performed by the St. Mark Festival Choir under license from One License A-726294
We live to worship God. What we worship, what we love most, orders the entirety of our life. In this podcast I consider the necessity of worship and then discuss liturgy, the liturgical year, families and worship and the upcoming Southwest Liturgical Conference to be held January 15-18 at the DoubleTree Hotel at Reid Park, Tucson.
There will be six general session speakers and more than 30 workshop sessions over the three days. Bilingual workshops, workshops for RCIA teams, and presentations on liturgical ministry, liturgical arts, music showcases and many more will be presented.
The cost is $150 (before Dec. 31) or after Dec. 31, $100/day. Diocesan certification (Level I in English and Spanish) will be available. Go to www.swlc.org to register online. For more information, contact our Office of Formation, 520-838-2545 or ojames@diocesetucson.org.
Music provided by St. Mark Festival Choir conducted by Marisa Troppy under license from One License A-726294
Doctors can help heal us. Spouses can provide for us. Oprah and the Pope encourage us. But, “My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:19 We start with the one who heals what no one can heal and then we find his help through doctors, Eddie and Oprah. Hopefully, the Pope. Let us seek the source and then we have the wisdom necessary to listen to our spouse, doctor and, yes, Oprah and with them encounter God.
Find program notes at https://stmarkov.com/news/third-sunday-of-advent-the-source-of-all-things
My FAVORITE SWEET HOME TRACKS by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.
During the First Sunday of Advent, we focused on the second coming of Christ at the end of time, his second advent. Now, the Church draws our attention to his first advent, the first coming of Christ, as the Messiah, King of the Jews, and the long-awaited Savior. St. John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, the forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In this podcast we examine the preaching of the Baptist, and how his preaching plays out in the Gospel of Matthew. We will look at the Baptist in history, scripture and the Old Testament.
Finally, Level 1, Stage 24 courtesy of Loops by Monplaisir licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License.
In the First Sunday of Lent, we read from Isaiah 2:1-5, ""Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths." and from the Gospel of Matthew 24:44, "So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come." I talk about the movie "Left Behind" starring Nicholas Cage, offer my own screenplay "Crunch Time" and then read a great poem by poet laureate (the great) Dana Gioia, "The End of the World."
Thank you to "Left Behind" and to Mr. Dana Gioia whose poem "The End of the World" was read from Dana Gioia, “The End of the World” from Interrogations at Noon. Copyright © 2001 by Dana Gioia. I also borrowed a snippet of Professor Gioia's great talk at the Dominican House of Studies delivered on March 9, 2014. You can watch the rest here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMyQ6WQJSxc&t=782s
Finally, Level 1, Stage 24 courtesy of Loops by Monplaisir licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License.
The threat of pornography for adults
Sexual addictions can begin in the teen years, but can become much more troubling in adult years. Whenever you feel angry, tired, lonely or bored, you are experiencing anxiety. Everyone has anxiety, but adults respond in a variety of ways. Resorting to pornography can operate as a diversion, but is a trap. Confession can help to surface the problem, overcome shame that pornography and masturbation can create and and find helpful spiritual strategies to take control over your sexuality.
Level 21, Stage 24 by Monplaisir is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License from Free Music Archive.
The threat of pornography for teens
"The most important insight is that the first person to talk to kids about sex honestly, is the person that kids will believe. Our children have lots of influences, their parents should be the most important influence in the teen years!"
Sexual addictions can begin in the teen years. Young people’s good and healthy interest in sexuality and dating can be twisted by the exposure to pornography. Fr. Sean Kilcawley and Fr. John discuss the threats to young people in their teen years and how parents can help. Fr. Sean recommends leaving a copy of Plunging Pornography: A Catholic Bathroom Book, Paperback – 2016 by D.J. Hueneman (Author) Also, some helpful comments for parents in discussing issues of sex, family, dating and the call to chastity. Wonderfully Made! Babies: A Catholic Perspective on How and Why God Makes Babies (for ages 9 and up) Paperback – March 19, 2014 by Ellen Giangiordano (Author), Lorraine Williams OCDS (Illustrator), is a helpful guide for parents to read with children and discuss these concerns. Level 21, Stage 24 by Monplaisir is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License from Free Music Archive.
Children and Pornography at School! "The most important insight is that the first person to talk to kids about sex honestly, is the person that kids will believe. Our children have lots of influences, their parents should be the first and most important influence in the childhood!"
Fr. John discusses the threat of porn with Fr. Sean Kilcawley, the Director of the Office of Family Life for the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, a nationally recognized speaker on Theology of the Body, Human Love and pornography addiction. Fr. Sean will address how to talk about good pictures and bad pictures that your little children might see at school. The average age for first exposure to pornography is from 9-11 years old, although younger children are also exposed. It is important to tell children the truth in an age appropriate way. Fr. Sean has great advice in that regard. One book he highly recommends for little kids is "Good Pictures, Bad Pictures" which can be obtained at Amazon or at St. Mark Parish office, 2727 W. Tangerine Rd. Oro Valley, AZ.
Fr. Sean was ordained a priest in 2005 for the Diocese of Lincoln. In 2013 Fr. Sean completed a License in Sacred Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Studies in Rome. Fr. Kilcawley speaks around our nation to both Catholics and other faith communities that seek to restore the integrity of families affected by pornography by providing education and resources to individuals, spouses, parents and clergy in order to both heal and prevent wounds inflicted by the sexualized culture. Fr. John Arnold attended one of the week long seminars lead by Fr. Sean and Dr. Todd Bowman, Ph.D of Wesleyan University and invited him to Tucson.
Level 21, Stage 24 by Monplaisir is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License from Free Music Archive.
Jesus and the Ten Lepers: Lk. 17:11-19 Nine Jews, one prophet, one Syrian and a Samaritan are walking through Galilee one day. They all in one way or another encounter healing. Luke teaches us about the importance of gratitude. Why be resentful towards God and others. It merely twists how we see the world around us. At the heart of human happiness is the experience of gratitude. This is more than optimism. Every story of gratitude has a before and after part of the story. Think about where you are in your experience of gratitude.
Waterfall For Free is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.