Ishpeming Catholic Podcast: Recent Episodes
Fr. Ryan Ford
To be an apprentice of Jesus means to order your life around three goals: Be with Jesus, Become like Jesus, and Do what Jesus did. Fr. Ryan Ford, the pastor of St. John and St. Joseph Parishes in Ishpeming, MI, brings you up-to-date with the content of his weekend homily, where he teaches the why and how of one of the practices of the way of Jesus. Fr. Ryan and the Parish staff also keep you in the loop with what's going on in the Parishes and how you can plug in as a member of the Ishpeming Catholic Parishes.
We often think love and laws are opposite things, but Jesus teaches us that all the moral laws of God can be summed up in one word: love. In this episode, Fr. Ryan breaks open the two greatest commandments and shows how God's laws teach us how to love.
It's not easy to fulfill our Christian duty to correct each other and reach out to people in serious sin. But Jesus gives us a 3-step process to follow. We are responsible for each other! Let us participate in Jesus' call to be good shepherds and seek the lost to bring them back.
In this episode, Father Ryan explains how the Gifts of the Holy Spirit burn away the roots of the seven deadly sins in us, preparing the way for the Lord to come and help us bear good fruit of repentance.
Jesus predicts many bad things that are going to happen to us, but ultimately he wants to give us hope. In this episode, Father Ryan shines light on our current situation and what God is calling us to as people of hope in the midst of trials and tribulations.
Jesus says he has come to cast fire on the earth. Fire is frightening. What can this image say to us about God's love? Love is demanding, and the demands of love can be frightening. When Jesus calls us, he doesn't allow us to stay as we are. We must be changed, transformed. What is disordered in us must be burned away so new life can grow. In this episode, Fr. Ryan describes how Jesus' love and the demands of love lead to true happiness.
Jesus teaches the most perfect prayer when he teaches us to pray, "Our Father." In this episode, Father Ryan explains the petitions of the Lord's prayer and how the Mass is the fulfillment of all we pray for in the Our Father.
The announcement of Jesus' death and resurrection is called the 'Gospel,' a word that means a life-changing event that radically changes our circumstances. In this episode, Father Ryan proclaims the message of the Gospel of Jesus and the difference it makes.
The readings for the 5th Sunday of Lent call us to overcome the attitudes of condemnation and complacency, and grow in confidence in Jesus and His upward calling in our life. In this episode Fr. Ryan explains how we can grow in this attitude!
The Transfiguration of Jesus has a long Biblical background of God's appearance as fire and cloud. In this episode, Father Ryan explains God's promises to Abraham, and how Christ fulfills them and fills us to be God's presence on earth.
Jesus enters into spiritual combat with the devil and wins victory over temptations to pride, lust, and greed. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how we face the same temptations, and how we can win with the weapons of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
As we being Lent, Jesus calls us to suffer with him and embrace the cross. In this episode, Father Ryan encourages us not to flee from losing our lives each day.
Jesus calls us to be fruitful trees through speech that builds up, helps others, teaches and leads others, and removes others' defects. In this episode, Father Ryan examines how we can bear good fruit for the Lord as we prepare for Lent.
In his Sermon on the Plain, Jesus gives us his four-point peace plan when we're faced with hatred, hostility, exclusion, or insults because we follow Christ and His teachings. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains how we can live out Jesus' plan in our lives and live in peace with all people.
God always takes the initiative in our life to come close to us and call us. Isaiah and Peter's response is to recoil in fear and shame at their sinfulness, yet this doesn't stop God from calling them. In this episode, Father Ryan explains the lessons we learn from their experience, and how we experience it today in the Sacraments.
Caring for people with same-sex attraction has become part of the 'culture wars,' with seemingly two sides pitted against each other. In this episode, Father Ryan talks about how to walk in the way of Jesus, the way of love, as we reflect unconditional love and also bear witness to the truth about sexual morality.
In this episode, Father Ryan speaks about his experience with a bus load of Yooper pilgrims to the 48th March for Life in Washington, D.C. Many of the speakers told their stories of how abortion affected their lives, and how they found mercy and a future of hope in Christ Jesus.
The central ritual of entry into the Christian life is baptism, being immersed and plunged into water. In this episode on the feast of Jesus' Baptism, Father Ryan examines ways we can 'take the plunge' headlong into the Christian life, rather than just look at or admire it from afar.
Children teach us the true meaning of Christmas really is to receive gifts! In this Christmas homily, Father Ryan reflects on four of the gifts Jesus brings when we receive Him into our lives.
In the Old Testament, God showed he wanted to be Emmanuel, God-with-us. The prophets foretold a time when God would not just be with us, but within us, that he wants to put his Spirit and his divine life in us. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how the Blessed Virgin Mary fulfills the expectation of Israel and is the model and hope for what God wants to do in all of us.
In the midst of the difficult circumstances of 1st century Palestine, God's Word came to John, as a voice calling out in the desert. God wants to come to us in the often difficult circumstances of our lives. In this episode, Father Ryan considers the ways God prepares us for his coming, and how we must lower the mountains of pride and fill the valleys of despair to make straight his path in our hearts.
The first words of the entrance antiphon for Advent 1 is "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul." Jesus exhorts us in today's Gospel to "Raise your heads" in times of tribulation. In this episode, Father Ryan draws some practical lessons from the Scriptures and from the first Christmas characters about how to lift up our heads when we want to give up.
Jesus warns us we must pass through many tribulations to enter the Kingdom of God, and that many will fall away from faith because of persecution and pressures from the world. In this episode, Father Ryan encourages us to shine with the light of Christ as the darkness surrounds us. The saints show us how to bear fruit like the fig tree as we wait for the summer of God's salvation.
Bartimaeus is an image for all of us born into this world ignorant of the truth about God and ourselves and needing the light of revelation to make known to us God's plan for our lives. The readings for the 30th Sunday use the images of blindness and exile to illustrate our spiritual state apart from God. But Jesus our high priest has pity on our ignorance and error and gives us sight! In this episode, Father Ryan exhorts us to come to Jesus like Bartimaeus, to have our sight restored.
Jesus teaches us the true meaning of baptism and the Eucharist when he calls James and John to follow Him in service and suffering. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how the path to glory passes through the cross and the way of the Beatitudes.
Jesus gives us a positive, joyful, vision of the high calling of marriage in God's plan from the beginning. Rather than focus on the rules, he wants spouses to focus on their relationship and the goodness of each other as gifts from God. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how spouses can appreciate each other more and more and rejoice in each other's goodness.
Jesus turns our idea of greatness upside-down and teaches us the way of humility and service. In this episode, Father Ryan contrasts the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of Christ's kingdom, and how we can pursue greatness in God's eyes.
What does it mean to live by faith? Faith is acting towards a future that is not yet here. In this episode, Father Ryan examines how everyone lives by faith in something, and how we can know we're really living by faith in the coming Kingdom of God.
Isaiah predicted a coming King who would open deaf ears and blind eyes and pour out the Spirit like water upon us. In Jesus, we see and hear God incarnate, and the Holy Spirit impresses the reality of Jesus' words and actions onto our soul, to understand His words and apply them to our lives.
Happy Pentecost Sunday! The Holy Spirit unites us firmly together in one mind and heart in Christ. In this episode, Father Ryan draws from Acts 2 to show how the Holy Spirit unites us in the Church and transform us into the image of Christ.
Jesus promised when he returned to the Father he would be with us always, until the end of time. He fulfills this promise in the Eucharist and all the Sacraments, and gives us his Spirit to live in us. In this episode, Father Ryan begins a 3-part series reflecting on how the Eucharist builds the Church.
Jesus commands us to love because love is not a feeling, but a choice. Love is in the will. We choose to love. In this Mother's Day episode, Father Ryan looks at St. Catherine of Sienna's life as an example of love poured out for the renewal of the Church.
"Are you saved?" This should be a burning question for all of us, and this weekend's readings give us signs by which we can know whether we're walking on the path of salvation. Jesus is clear that we need to remain in him as our source of life. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how we can guard against becoming detached from Jesus, and how we can know if we are his true disciples.
Jesus' resurrection is the fulfillment of the Scriptures, and the affirmation of his unbreakable union with us forever. In this episode, Father Ryan breaks upon the Scriptures of Jesus as the new Adam and father of the new human race. In Jesus, we are empowered to put our sinfulness to death and walk now in newness of life.
The Gospel of God's love for the world sheds light on the meaning of suffering, for Christ so loved the world, he entered into our suffering and death, to fill it with his greater love and life in victorious resurrection. In this episode, Father Ryan reflects on how the Gospel story of salvation gives meaning and beauty to our personal stories as sharers in Christ's sufferings.
To celebrate St. Patrick, let's not only drink copious amounts of green beer. Let's learn from his inspiring example and imitate his generosity in God's service! In this episode, Father Ryan speaks of four lessons we can learn and apply to our life from St. Patrick's heroic life.
Today's saint is John of God, a Portuguese soldier who abandoned that life to care for the sick. The Scripture reading for today is the washing of Naaman the Syrian, which foreshadows Christ's spiritual work in the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation.
Jesus not only suffered for us - he also opens his suffering to us so we can participate in it, and join him in his work of restoration through reconciling love. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how we can be sharers in the sufferings of Christ.
Jesus reveals the definitive meaning of suffering in his divine and crucified love. As the innocent lamb who offered his life as an act of love to the Father and to us, he filled the gap between us and God with perfect goodness. Jesus didn't deserve to suffer, but freely accepted it to show his divine love. We're called to share that mission as we receive his love and extend it to others.
Pope St. John Paul II's 1984 letter on the Christian meaning of human suffering is still a relevant message, especially after this year of suffering. In this episode, Father Ryan begins to look at the redemptive purposes of suffering, and the reasons for our Lenten fasting and self-denial.
Jesus and St. Paul prioritize the healing of souls and casting out demons by preaching the Good News of the Father's love. The Gospel gives meaning and purpose and hope in a dark and hopeless world. In this episode, Father Ryan reflects on the Gospel message in the midst of this pandemic.
Jesus is the 'prophet like Moses' who teaches with his divine authority. His teaching has power to liberate us from the grip of evil, if we listen and respond with obedient faith and action. Jesus' power is available to us in the Sacraments, especially Confession. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how we can respond to the Lord and live in freedom.
Jesus calls us to respond to his voice and not delay! Through his Word in Scripture and the needs of other people, God calls us to show our faith and love through our actions. In this episode, Father Ryan explores how we can do this, and how we can bring others to God as 'fishers of men.'
In this week's Gospel from John chapter 1, John gives us the image of staying with Jesus as one meaning of faith. Like Samuel, we're called to stay by Jesus' side, listening, asking questions, seeking his will, and responding as we see what he wants us to do. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how we're called to listen and serve the Lord.
Jesus' baptism is his kingly anointing that begins his reign over God's kingdom. The Holy Spirit's mission is to bring Jesus' kingly reign to our hearts and set us free from captivity to our unruly passions and desires. In this episode, Father Ryan reflects on the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Jesus embodies the love and wisdom of God for us, a wisdom and learning higher than worldly knowledge. In this episode, Father Ryan reflects on the Magi's journey of encounter with love and wisdom incarnate.
As we enter in Advent, the themes of darkness and light are symbolized by the Advent wreath. In a world of darkness, we are called to be the light of the world! As we wait for Christ's coming at Christmas and at the end of history, we are to stand out and shine with the glory of God. In this episode, Father Ryan discusses what kind of people we are to be as we wait.
Christ the King calls us to join in his rule as a good shepherd over our own realms of responsibility and areas of influence. Through the works of mercy, we can extend his kingdom over all the earth. In this episode, Father Ryan reflects on our roles as Christ's kingly subjects.
Jesus tells the parable of the Talents to reveal to us what the 'final exam' of our life will be about and encourage us to make a good return for all we've been given. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how we can work hard and labor faithfully to bear good fruit for Jesus.
Jesus' parable of the wise and foolish virgins is a summons for us to be prepared for the most important day of our life, the day Jesus comes to bring us into his kingdom. Will we be prepared and ready? In this episode, Fr. Ryan discusses how we can always be vigilant in our relationship with God.
'Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God,' Jesus says. In this episode, Father Ryan looks at this message that calls us to keep world politics in proper perspective and to labor in faith, hope, and love as believers in this world while making our pilgrimage to our true homeland of heaven.
In this episode, Father Ryan looks at how Catholics can bear good fruit for the healing of our nation as we engage in the political process. How are we to form our consciences, decide who to vote for, and engage with those who disagree with us, while maintaining civility?
Psalm 145 says the Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, compassionate toward all his creatures. Grace and mercy and compassion don't always seem very fair. We often think in terms of people getting what they deserve. And who deserves anything from the Lord? In this episode, Father Ryan looks at Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard to examine the issue of fairness in God.
Jesus calls us to have confidence in him when we need to forgive our enemies and do good to those who hate us. When we suffer injustice for the sake of the truth, we need to trust in the ultimate judgment and justice of God.
The readings this week call us to have confidence in Jesus when we confront one another about wrongdoing and sin. In this episode, Father Ryan discusses how to admonish sinners and see this in the context of love and mercy.
Jesus calls us to be faithful in making present in the world his self-denying, sacrificial life, suffering, and death. The Church is not a business, but a witness. We provide a sacrificial service to the truth about God and man, even when it's rejected, mocked, or ignored. We focus not on immediate measures of success, but on faithfulness to Jesus. In this episode, Father Ryan breaks open what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus.
The Canaanite woman of Matthew 15 is an image of the Church as a suffering mother, interceding for her children who are afflicted by demons, dependent on the power and mercy of Jesus for protection and care. In this episode, Father Ryan discusses the ordinary, every-day temptations and afflictions of demons, and how we can persevere in prayer for others to obtain the healing we need from Jesus.
In the midst of worldwide challenges and pandemic, Jesus is still calling us to step out into the storm with our eyes fixed on him. He calls us like he called Elijah and St. Peter to be faithful to our vocations, raise up the next generation, and trust God will preserve his flock through the turmoil of history. In this episode, Father Ryan examines how we can have confidence in Jesus during tumultuous times.
When Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish, he did so through the hands of the disciples. As they brought Jesus what they had and trusted in Him, Jesus multiplied their resources to feed thousands of people. Jesus expects us to get personally involved in helping those in need, both materially and spiritually. Our work alone is never enough, but Jesus is able to bring about a harvest beyond our wildest imaginings.
Jesus' parable of the treasure hidden in the earth teaches us to focus not just on surface-level appearances and image management, but to be concerned with the inner motivation of our hearts in all of our work. Our treasure lies hidden in doing all that do in union with Jesus for love of God and love of our neighbor for God's sake.
Jesus' parables about the Kingdom of God encourage us to be patient and wait for God to bring fruitfulness from our daily labors. The weeds and the wheat and the mustard seed remind us that we won't see the fruit of our labors in this lifetime, and many times they will be mixed with evils out of our control, but God will bring completion to the harvest at the end of time.
The purpose of our work is much more than just to make money. By our work, we co-operate with God in setting creation free from corruption, bringing it to completion as something beautiful and useful for the service of mankind. God also works on us as his handiwork, setting us free from all kinds of slavery, in order to be beautiful and useful in his service. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how to understand our work from this perspective.
Jesus wants to teach us a new way of working as we 'yoke up' with him and learn from his meekness and humility before the Father and our fellow man. In this episode, Father Ryan speaks about Jesus' way of working and how we can come into deeper union with the Spirit of Jesus through our free choice of how we engage in our daily labors.
Jesus himself chose to work as a manual laborer for most of his earthly life. The Church has reflected a lot on the dignity of work in imitation of Jesus and St. Joseph. In this episode, Fr. Ryan speaks about our work as a means of our salvation as we take up our cross daily with Jesus, serve those most in need, and are molded more and more into the likeness of Christ.
This Father's Day is a good time to ask: "What kind of Father is God?" The Scripture readings for this Sunday give us many clues that God is a caring, consistent, close, and competent Father. In this episode, Father Ryan reflects on these themes and shows us how to trust ourselves to the Father as he has revealed himself to be in Jesus.
In this episode for Trinity Sunday, Father Ryan reflects on the identity of the Holy Spirit as self-giving love. The need to give ourselves is stamped into our very bodies as male and female, and the call to become one flesh in marriage. If we want society to be transformed, we need the Holy Spirit to renew us from within, down to the roots of sexuality and marriage.
On the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and united people from multiple nations, races, and tongues in confession of faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit unites people from every nation, education, social and economic background in one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all. In this episode, Father Ryan describes how the Holy Spirit forms us to be love and give witness to Jesus' self-denying, other-focused love that overcomes divisions.
We can learn a lot from Jesus in the way he left this earth at his Ascension. In this episode, Father Ryan looks at the mission he left us, and his instructions to pray and make disciples. Following Jesus' instructions should lead to an eruption of evangelization in this time when so many people feel lost, confused, and angry.
Jesus gives the title 'Paraclete' to the Holy Spirit, which can be translated 'Advocate,' 'Intercessor,' or 'Comforter.' And Jesus calls him the 'Spirit of truth.' In this episode, Father Ryan explains how the Holy Spirit brings consolation by impressing the life of Jesus into our souls, so we have experiential knowledge of living 'in Christ.'
Biology tells us fascinating things about living beings and life processes, but why is there life in the first place? How does matter become so highly organized into cells and complex organisms? Jesus tells us he is the way, the truth, and the life. In this episode, Fr. Ryan examines how Jesus is the answer to the big questions of life, truth, and goodness, and how we can experience Jesus more in our daily life.
The image of Jesus as a shepherd can seem tame, but shepherds are those who embrace the danger and sacrifice of staying up all night keeping watch for wolves. They thrive on danger and stress and sacrifice. In this episode, Fr. Ryan considers how we can open our hearts to share in this same spirit of Jesus the good shepherd.
On the Road to Emmaus, the disciples were disillusioned, confused, sad, and discouraged. But Jesus draws near and walks with them, wanting to communicate himself to them when it seems all hope is lost. In this episode, Fr. Ryan shares with us how to relate to Jesus and shares stories about God working good among people of Ishpeming during the evil of this pandemic.
What does it mean to say "I believe"? What is the meaning of Christian faith? In this episode, Father Ryan explores these questions as he reflects on the Gospel from Divine Mercy Sunday, where we see Thomas the apostle move from unbelief to belief. And Jesus says to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen, but yet believe."
With our Easter joy being overshadowed by bad news and quarantines, we're all being challenged to reflect even more on the true meaning of Easter. In this episode, Fr. Ryan helps us reflect on God's desire for us that is revealed in the Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This Palm Sunday we hear the Passion of Jesus according to St. Matthew. Matthew records for us the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane to encourage us when we struggle to accept God's will for our lives. Jesus is with us in this current crisis, to teach us to pray and give us an example of how to respond.
Like the Samaritan woman in Sunday's Gospel, Servant of God Dorothy Day experienced the pain of numerous tumultuous relationships before encountering Jesus, who quenched her thirst for love. She found meaning to her life through the works of mercy and implementing the Sermon on the Mount as far as she could. In this episode, Fr. Ryan examines Dorothy's life and teachings and how we can take personal responsibility to serve the needs of others and find in them the face of God.
The Transfiguration reveals Jesus' divinity shining through his humanity. Jesus' presence continues to radiate through the faces of the poor and suffering members of his Body. St. Vincent de Paul teaches us to see Jesus in the poor and respond to His presence with faith-filled acts of charity. In this episode, Fr. Ryan examines St. Vincent's life and lessons for us this Lent.
Lent has begun! It's a time to purify ourselves from unhealthy attachments and sin, and grow in love of God and neighbor. It's a time to seek anew the presence of Jesus in the hungry, thirsty, sick, poor, lonely, and sorrowful. Jesus united himself with our suffering humanity, and it's there we'll find him still. In this episode, Fr. Ryan looks at some Church Fathers, and their example and teaching about encountering Jesus in the poor, and how we are transformed into the divine likeness through mercy and kindness and generosity to the poor.
Many people don't really understand the Church's laws about love, sex, marriage, divorce, annulments, and remarriage. In this episode, Fr. Ryan examines the virtue of justice, which has to do with rights and responsibilities, and fulfilling our obligations to God and one another. The Church's laws come from the words of Jesus and 2,000 years of experience. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus deepens and perfects the laws of Moses, which were lax in many ways and did not reflect fully God's intentions for us. Fr. Ryan explains the Church' laws of marriage and divorce and a divorce recovery group beginning March 18th
The virtue of Prudence helps us in every circumstance to know what to do and how to do it, and to know what to say and how to say it. Prudence helps couples and family members grow in good communication by respectfully making their needs and wishes known and responding to one another in love, without anger. In this episode, Fr. Ryan discusses the virtue of Prudence and how it assists couples in communication.
God's story of relationship with Israel - and us - is also the story of every marriage, a story of love, covenant, commitment, infidelities, suffering, forgiveness, and reconciliation. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, when Jesus enters the Temple to take his people back after their infidelities. And he explains how the virtue of temperance helps guard against infidelity, and deal with it when it comes.
The 47th March for Life took place January 24th, 2020 in Washington, D.C. In this episode, Fr. Ryan recounts the experiences of the group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Marquette who traveled to DC from Ishpeming. Learn what the March for Life is all about and share the fruits of the pilgrimage from those who went!
A common complaint from spouses is that they feel distant from each other and lonely. The virtue of responsibility is the habit of thinking, speaking, and acting not only for my own happiness, but also the happiness of the other. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains the three phases of love and how we can take responsibility for all three phases in marriage.
At his baptism, Jesus revealed the meaning of Christian baptism. We are brought into the same intimacy, love, closeness, and relationship with God the Father that Jesus shared from all eternity. As a man, Jesus learned of the Father's love from St. Joseph as he entrusted himself to St. Joseph's care. The more we learn about St. Joseph, the more our images of fatherhood will be purified, healed, redeemed, and perfected. St. Joseph prepares us to receive a deeper encounter of the Father's love. His mission remains the same as it was on earth. Join Fr. Ryan in a 90-Day Spiritual Challenge to get to know St. Joseph. Sign up at ishpemingcatholic.com/90days.
Because of the damage caused by original sin, there's a powerful pull within us toward selfishness. We're tempted to turn in on ourselves and fulfill every desire for comfort, leisure, and pleasure. The good news is with God's grace and our effort, selfishness can be overcome through practicing the virtue of generosity. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explores how we can grow in generosity in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions.
Family life is hard work and can seem dull and dreary a lot of the time, but it truly is the place where the virtues and habits of love and life are learned and formed. In this series, Fr. Ryan will look at the virtues of family life and how we can practice them to counter the common weaknesses that cause conflicts in relationships. This episode looks at the virtue of respect and how to show respect in thinking, speaking, and acting.
St. Joseph was the first to make immediate preparations for Christmas. He teaches us how to prepare to receive Jesus not just at Christmas, but every day as he comes to us, and to be prepared for His second coming at the end of our earthly lives. In this episode, Fr. Ryan reflects on how Joseph made himself ready to receive Jesus and how we can imitate him.
The prophets lived in dark and fearful times for God's people, but looked forward with hope to the time when God would send a king to restore their fortunes. Yet all of them died without seeing the fulfillment of their hope in their lifetimes. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains how we can have joy in the midst of tribulation as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and his second glorious coming at the end of history.
The story of Abraham is one of great faith, trust, and total surrender to God and His ways. Jesus tells us anyone can become a child of Abraham through baptism, but we must also bear good fruits of repentance, loving God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. In this episode, Fr. Ryan looks at the life of Abraham and how we can walk as Abraham's children.
What does Noah's ark have to do with us today? In this episode, Fr. Ryan explores the Biblical background to Jesus' words about the final separation that will take place at His second coming. The Bible begins by tracing the family lines of two families, who are separated by the Flood. The question is, which family will we belong to by our choices?
Isn't it strange that Jesus is proclaimed a king while being mocked, reviled, humiliated, tortured, and killed? Yet on the cross, Jesus reveals what true kingship is. In this episode, Fr. Ryan looks at King David and how he prefigures what kind of king Jesus will be. We too are called to reign with Christ from the cross, laying down our lives in sacrificial love for God and neighbor.
The Exodus from Egypt wasn't just an escape from slavery - it was a 'battle of the gods' between the false idols and the one true God who revealed himself to Moses. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains how Moses prefigures Jesus and His mission to lead us out of captivity to the false gods of this world and into the family of the one true God.
In order to understand the Gospels, we have to know what came before. With seven weeks left until Christmas, we'll look at seven key people and storylines that prefigure Jesus and help us understand who Jesus is, and God's plan for us. The Gospel about marriage in heaven is a great place to start, because it brings us back to Adam, the first key person in the Bible, and his call to be priest, prophet, king, and bridegroom.
It's sometimes hard to understand why the dead need our prayers. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains why we should pray for the dead using the Gospel of Zacchaeus from Luke 19. Sin and salvation are not private things. Salvation is a communal reality - debts must be paid, wrongs must be set right, justice must be restored. We can help one another restore the order of love and justice, and death does not destroy our bonds with each other. Prayers and works of charity for the dead help them on their way to the fullness of the Kingdom of God!
In this episode on All Saints Day 2019, Fr. Ryan reflects on two of his favorite saints, one from 400 years ago and the other from just 29 years ago. The lessons learned from these saints inspire us still today to love Jesus as much as we can and to take the first step in reaching out to people with the love and truth of Jesus.
Jesus' parable of the two men who come to the Temple to pray (Luke 18) illustrates the beautiful prayer of contrition, which is the foundation for coming into right relationship with God. The Pharisee of the parable judges other people to be wicked, turns to himself, and proclaims his own goodness. The tax collector judges himself to be wicked, turns to God, and proclaims his guilt and need for mercy. And he goes home justified. In this episode, Fr. Ryan shares how we can pray this prayer of contrition each day.
Jesus exhorts us to 'pray always without becoming weary.' As Jesus moved closer to his ultimate confrontation with evil, injustice, lies, and the full power of Satan against him in his Passion and Crucifixion, he taught more and more about the important of prayer. Prayer obtains for us the strength and help we need from God to win the victory over temptations. We cannot win this victory on our own! In this episode, Fr. Ryan teaches about praying always in our daily struggle against evil.
It's easy to take the many things we have for granted. Prayers of thanksgiving are expressions of faith that keep us alive to God's active presence and love in every moment. In this episode, Fr. Ryan discusses how to grow in relationship with Jesus through prayers of thanksgiving.
It may surprise us to learn how many prayers in the Bible are filled with complaints and protest, cries of despair and doubt, questioning and even anger toward God. Some of us might read these prayers and wonder if it's OK to pray like that. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains the prayer of lament, using the prophet Habakkuk as an example. God wants to meet us in our pain and walk with us through it to renewed faith and confidence.
God's presence is easily missed in the moment, especially when we have bad experiences. But God is always laboring to love us and communicate to us. We need to stop and take time to engage our memories and ask God to shine his light through our daily experiences, circumstances, and interactions with people, to receive His presence and hear His call. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains listening prayer and the practice of the daily examen, as a way to pray at the end of every day. The more we practice this way of prayer, the better we get at seeing God's presence and responding to His call through our daily experiences.
Many people reduce intercessory prayer to asking stuff from God, but in reality it's so much more. In this episode, Fr. Ryan Ford unpacks the why and how of intercessory prayer, as part of our inheritance as the managers of God's business on earth, cooperating with God in the salvation of his people. Intercession draws near to God to allow God's heart to flow through us to bend the affairs of the world in the right direction.
Imagination is a word many people associate with make-believe, fantasy, and Disney world. But can imagination be used in prayer? In fact, imagination is a powerful means by which God encounters us through the incarnate vividness and concreteness of Jesus. In this episode, Fr. Ryan discusses the imagination and its place in our Christian prayer life, and how to go about engaging our imagination when we spend time with God.
In this episode, Fr. Ryan dives into the first way of prayer in our series, "Powerful Ways to Pray." He discusses the why and how of 'Decisioning Prayer,' that is, conversing with God about your decisions, plans, and problems of each week. Every week, this is a way we can have a conversation with God during quiet time and find the direction, conviction, and strength we need to embrace the difficult things we need to do!