Come Away By Yourselves (Fr. John Grieco)
Explore every episode of Come Away By Yourselves
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04 Feb 2022 | Special Episode: Class on the Real Presence of Jesus in The Eucharist | 00:44:35 | |
This is the audio of a Zoom class given last year to a women's group at a local parish. The topic is The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. We review the basic theology of this wonderful doctrine: why we believe it, where it comes from in the Bible, why it's possible, how it works, and its import for our spiritual life. There are about 30 minutes of lecture followed by a time of Q and A. | |||
| 05 Feb 2022 | The Parable of the Prodigal Son: Freedom and the Father | 00:31:42 | |
The parable of the prodigal son is a parable of freedom and filiation. The prodigal son and his older brother both misuse their freedom. They mistakenly feel constrained by their relationship with their father and end up rejecting him. The prodigal son rediscovers his sonship by reflecting on the truth of his situation. This speaks to a close connection between true freedom and the truth itself. The elder son acts correctly for the most part, but does so without charity, without an identification with his father's heart. This leads him to a resentful and self-righteous fulfillment of his duties. To avoid all of these pitfalls, we look to Jesus, who always acts freely because he always wants to please his most loving Father. | |||
| 13 Feb 2022 | Touching Jesus with Desperate Faith | 00:29:39 | |
A woman suffering from a hemorrhage fights through a crowd to touch Jesus with faith. This Gospel story teaches a great deal about our own relationship with Jesus. Her miracle has three key ingredients: need, faith, and contact with Christ. Our own encounters with Christ will be more impactful and fruitful the more we need him, trust him, and have direct contact with him. Like this woman, we are all spiritually bleeding and wounded. By contact with Christ--in communion, confession and prayer--we can learn what these wounds are and experience his healing power. | |||
| 19 Feb 2022 | Living a Life of Faith | 00:30:10 | |
The Sermon on the Mount is the core of Jesus's teaching on how to live with faith. At once challenging and comforting, Jesus's vision of faith calls us to a radical dependence on God and detachment from all other goods. At the heart of faith is an unshakable trust in God's infinite love for us. This conviction frees us to live without fear and to strive for virtue without anxiety. To have a living faith, however, takes personal prayer: times in which we apply the basic truths of our faith in God to the concrete circumstances and concerns of our current lives. | |||
| 02 Mar 2022 | Lent: In the Desert with Jesus | 00:28:37 | |
Jesus' forty days in the desert serve as a model for Lent. Detached from normal necessities, Jesus fasts, prays, and battles the devil. Our Lenten sacrifices help us to live more dependent on God, focusing on the “one thing necessary.” Fasting and self-denial give life and energy to the spirit. A generous and fruitful Lent takes insight and courage. The reward for our spiritual life is more than worth the effort. | |||
| 06 Mar 2022 | "Make Love your Aim": The Point of Lenten Self-Denial | 00:28:50 | |
The Lenten practices of prayer and self-denial should increase our Christian charity. Without an increase in love of God and others, Lenten sacrifices risk becoming self-righteous and egotistical. Charity, as described by St. Paul, demands a patient process of growth and self-mastery. The Cross of Christ, which we look forward to at the end of Lent and which we are called to take up daily, is a radical act of trust and selfless love. Practicing such trust and love entails a lively battle against our self-centeredness. Lent is a great time to wage this battle. | |||
| 07 Mar 2022 | Lent - Day 5 | 00:04:00 | |
"What you did to the least of these my brethren, you did to me." The final exam of our life will have only one question. | |||
| 13 Mar 2022 | Rebroadcast: Second Sunday of Lent -- From Mount Thabor to Mount Calvary | 00:31:06 | |
First published 2/28/2021 | |||
| 18 Mar 2022 | St. Joseph: Life as a Sacred Trust | 00:30:16 | |
God entrusts St. Joseph with his most precious possessions, his mother and his Divine Son. We too are entrusted with a sacred responsibility in life: to care for and love God's children. Everything and everyone in our life--including ourselves--is a gift from God, something valued by God himself. This calls for a great reverence and respect on our part. We can't "do whatever we want" with ourselves or others. Like King David, our reverence for what belongs to God gives us pause whenever we are tempted to damage it. | |||
| 27 Mar 2022 | "The Joy of Your Salvation": Laetare Sunday | 00:31:33 | |
On the Fourth Sunday of Lent the Church encourages us to rejoice. The joy proper to Lent is the joy of repentance and of receiving God's mercy. The prodigal son experienced this joy when he returned contritely to his father. King David experienced it when he repented of his grave sins against Uriah. Only by admitting our deep sinfulness will we experience the "joy of salvation" expressed in the psalms. The recognition of our status as sinners takes nothing away from the awareness of our dignity and a proper self-regard. God loves as and forgives us precisely as sinners. | |||
| 01 Apr 2022 | Lent Day 27 | 00:03:52 | |
The book of Wisdom predicts the rejection of Christ who is a reproach to the wicked. We can react in the same way to goodness. | |||
| 03 Apr 2022 | The Crowning of Thorns: Humility, Rectitude, and Courage | 00:29:04 | |
The Crowning of Jesus with thorns reveals his humility and his rectitude of intention. Christ's intense focus on his mission frees him from concern for the respect of others. God the Father's love and affirmation makes up for the disdain of men. We too need to rectify our intention, trying to do all for the glory of God. Along with realizing God's fatherly love for us, this will free us from the fear of ridicule and attachment to human respect. | |||
| 08 Apr 2022 | Our Lady of Sorrows: Mary at the Foot of the Cross | 00:29:52 | |
A week before Good Friday, the Church contemplates Mary at the foot of the Cross. Mary shares her son's passion. She co-redeems with him by actively accepting her suffering and also consenting to his. This consent is an act of love and support for Jesus as he completes his mission, suffering and dying for us on the Cross. Her fiat at the Annunciation carries through to a fiat at the foot of the Cross. We need to say our own fiats, to all of those crosses that are sent to us without our initial consent or initiative. Like Jesus, we will be helped in all of our crosses by the loving presence of Mary. | |||
| 14 Apr 2022 | Good Friday: The Seven Last Words (Part 1) | 00:27:32 | |
The first of two meditations on the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross. | |||
| 14 Apr 2022 | Good Friday: The Seven Last Words (Part 2) | 00:30:15 | |
The second of two meditations on the Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross. | |||
| 16 Apr 2022 | Our Easter Joy | 00:30:30 | |
Easter is the feast of all feasts, the new day of great joy. Like the apostles and first disciples, we rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus. Contemplating their interactions with the risen Lord, we learn to find Christ in the most ordinary moments of our lives. | |||
| 23 Apr 2022 | Divine Mercy Sunday: The Power of Forgiveness | 00:29:54 | |
God's power is especially evident in his mercy. There are no sins that he can't forgive and his mercy waits upon the smallest opening of repentance and sorrow for sin. Receiving God's mercy is also the result of being merciful ourselves. Forgiving others is a condition for being forgiven. Our own forgiveness and mercy make us like our Father God: constant in love and invincible in goodness. | |||
| 01 May 2022 | Rebroadcast - "We fly to your patronage": Trust in Mary | 00:28:31 | |
Originally published May 2021 | |||
| 07 May 2022 | Good Shepherd, Good Sheep | 00:26:29 | |
The image of our Lord as Good Shepherd is a challenging one. It means that we Christians are sheep. Our pride and self-sufficiency naturally bristle at this image. Only with deep humility, and contemplating Jesus the Lamb of God, can we embrace being sheep and having a Shepherd. | |||
| 15 May 2022 | Praying with Our Lady of Fatima | 00:29:41 | |
Recorded live Wednesday, May 11. | |||
| 22 May 2022 | Prepping for Pentecost | 00:25:26 | |
Recorded live May 17, 2022. | |||
| 29 May 2022 | A Living Faith in Christ | 00:27:44 | |
After telling her "I am the resurrection and the life" Jesus asks Martha point blank, "Do you believe this?" What is the caliber of our faith in Christ? Do we believe all that he tells us about himself and his relationship to us? | |||
| 04 Jun 2022 | Pentecost: Come Holy Spirit! | 00:29:21 | |
The Holy Spirit is a powerful agent of spiritual renewal and transformation. The virtue of docility and the gift of counsel are needed to tap into the motions of the Spirit which always accompany and surround us. The Sanctifier will sculpt the image of Christ in us provided that we are humble and willing to follow his lead. | |||
| 12 Jun 2022 | Holy, Holy, Holy!: The Mystery of the Trinity | 00:31:16 | |
The Trinity is the deepest mystery of our Faith, revealing to us the secrets of God's inner life. This mystery transmits to us God's transcendence, his intimacy with us, and the importance of charity in the Christian life. | |||
| 02 Jun 2024 | Rebroadcast: The Feast of Corpus Christi: "Adoro te devote" | 00:28:38 | |
For the Feast of Corpus Christi we meditate on the Eucharistic hymn "Adoro te devote." Hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lord Jesus is truly present: body, blood, soul, and divinity. This marvel of our faith reveals God's humble and radical love for us. Our response should be one of ever greater adoration, wonder, faith, hope and love. | |||
| 23 Jun 2022 | In the Octave of Corpus Christi: The "Bread of Life" Discourse | 00:30:01 | |
The "Bread of Life" Discourse in John Chapter 6 is a treasure trove of spiritual insights. Faith in Jesus's person is paramount for the Christian life. This faith is tested by the audacity of his claims for the Eucharist as well as by the trials and difficulties of our personal Christian vocation. Jesus promises spiritual satisfaction, eternal life, and, most amazingly of all, intimate communion with him for those who receive the Bread of Life in the Eucharist. | |||
| 26 Jun 2022 | Rebroadcast: St. Josemaria: Finding Christ in our Boats | 00:28:15 | |
On the Feast of St. Josemaria, we reflect on Jesus's presence in our ordinary lives and work. | |||
| 02 Jul 2022 | Our Response to Sin: Mercy, Trust ... and Violence | 00:30:05 | |
King David's fall into adultery and murder is a lesson in how sin happens and how we can respond to it. David's sin is preceded by idleness and sloth. Once fully aware of his sin, however, he appeals immediately to God's mercy. Our first response to sin should always be a radical trust in God's mercy and, when necessary, a prompt recourse to confession. In addition to trust in God's mercy, we should be resolute in our struggle against sinful habits. | |||
| 10 Jul 2022 | "You have only to carry it out": Knowing and Doing God's Word | 00:28:35 | |
Moses describes God's law as "near" to the people of Israel. God's Word is also very near to us. Thanks to Jesus, we know what it takes to live life well and enter eternal life. The problem is actually wanting to do it. Like the scholar of the law, we wish to justify ourselves by overthinking, by making excuses, by hiding our basic unwillingness to love and obey. God's grace can change our unwillingness to willing submission and all of our obstinate "no's" into loving "yes's." | |||
| 17 Jul 2022 | Love and Attention | 00:32:46 | |
Jesus' visit to Martha and Mary contains great insights for our Christian life. Mary's attention to our Lord is a great act of appreciation and love. Jesus' correction of Martha is not owing to her being busy serving, but more for her being distracted and worried. Love, which includes prayer, is the one thing necessary. And love unites our attention, giving focus and purpose to all that we do. | |||
| 24 Jul 2022 | Humility and Self Esteem | 00:29:09 | |
Humility is a crucial virtue for the Christian life. Living it demands some courage given our tendency to prop ourselves up and to protect our self-esteem. Admitting our sinfulness and even our nothingness before God, however, is ultimately liberating and fruitful. Our humility must be accompanied by a deep sense of God's reality and his love for us. If it is, we will experience that "he who humbles himself will be exalted." | |||
| 31 Jul 2022 | Rebroadcast -- "A Cross without a Cross": Suffering to Love | 00:31:09 | |
Originally published March 2021 | |||
| 07 Aug 2022 | The Centrality of Christ | 00:28:17 | |
Large, desperate crowds would press in on Jesus to hear and touch him. He was the focus of all of their attention and desires. Our Lord should be just the same for us: central to our lives. We meet Jesus in the Eucharistic Bread, in Sacred Scripture, in our habitual presence of God, and in others. | |||
| 14 Aug 2022 | Joy and Service | 00:29:09 | |
Jesus promises his disciples a joy "that no one will take from you." To be joyful we have to be attentive and sensitive to the great goods in our life. Among these are God's constant love for us and our own ability to love and serve him in return. Pride obscures our vision of true goods. To serve joyfully and find joy in serving, we need to foster humility. | |||
| 15 Aug 2022 | Rebroadcast: The Assumption of Mary | 00:27:29 | |
Originally published 8/15/2020. | |||
| 21 Aug 2022 | Savage Sincerity: "The Strength to Stand Before the Son of Man" | 00:31:56 | |
Jesus tells us to pray to have the strength "to stand before the Son of Man." When we die we will be judged by God. This is a hard truth but also a truth that saves us. If we ask God for the courage to see ourselves as we really are now, we will be prepared for our death and God's judgment. Reliance on God's grace, fostering sincerity with ourselves and others, living charity, and regularly examining our conscience are all ways to avoid self-deception and to prepare for our definitive meeting with God. | |||
| 28 Aug 2022 | "Stay Awake!": Christian Alertness | 00:29:02 | |
Jesus continually calls us to an alert vigilance. He does this to make us aware of the great opportunities of love and service that fill our ordinary lives. At the beginning of a new school year, it is good to foster an eager alertness in our souls, an excitement for the work that lies ahead of us. If we find ourselves dull and without energy, we can start by asking Jesus for more strength, more enthusiasm. If our lethargy persists, we can pray and practice a greater love of interior struggle as an opportunity to love heroically. | |||
| 04 Sep 2022 | Radical God, Radical Love | 00:28:13 | |
The infinite transcendence of God is a challenge to our faith and love. Jesus uses shocking language to teach us just how radically different our love for God should be compared with all of our other loves. Developing a more adequate love for God first requires believing in his radical transcendence and his primacy. It also requires the humility to admit that we do not yet love him as he deserves. From this faith and humility, we can move to improve the quality of our love for God: with prayer, with Charity, and with soul-freeing self-denial. | |||
| 08 Sep 2022 | The Birthday of Our Lady | 00:28:13 | |
The Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a cause of Christian joy and wonder. Our Lady's birth reminds us of the historical reality of our faith. Mary was and is a real woman who lived a normal human life just like ours. Through her, in her, our God became man to redeem us. Her birth precedes and enables his infant birth. In our own way, God can be born once again in us. This happens when we imitate Mary's humility and obedient love. | |||
| 14 Sep 2022 | Triumph of the Cross, Triumph of Love | 00:29:52 | |
Christ's Triumph on the Cross defeated sin and death. It was a triumph of love over selfishness. This victory needs to be repeated in our own lives, in our own carrying of the Cross. Sin and selfishness have to be defeated in us and this entails the acceptance of suffering and sacrifice; in a word the acceptance of the Cross. Suffering is inevitable in life, but whether it is redemptive and sanctifying or futile and permanent is truly up to us. | |||
| 20 Sep 2022 | St. Matthew and the Certainty of Faith | 00:30:16 | |
Matthew's response to his vocation demonstrates a great deal of trust in Jesus. His Gospel emphasizes Jesus's deep appreciation of faith and his disappointment at its absence. Trust in Jesus should be absolute, lending a great certainty to our faith in his Church and in all of his teachings. "Faith is the evidence of things unseen." This means that at times we will have to trust more in Jesus than in the evidence of our own senses or the apparent evidence of our own judgment. | |||
| 25 Sep 2022 | Encountering Jesus | 00:30:01 | |
The Samaritan woman's meeting Jesus at the well is a model for our own encounter with Him in prayer. He thirsts for our prayer and understands our human condition. He offers us "the Gift of God" and entices us with talk of living water. Sincerity about our sinfulness, our lack of trust, is necessary to have him as our savior, to receive all that he offers. Once healed we, like the woman at the well, can move from shame to shameless proclamation of Christ. | |||
| 01 Oct 2022 | October 2nd: St. Josemaria and the Call to Holiness | 00:30:35 | |
Opus Dei , the Work of God, was founded by St. Josemaria on October 2nd, 1928. The universal call to holiness, clearly expressed in the New Testament and tirelessly preached by St. Josemaria, was first experienced by him personally as a young man. This loving call is eternal and intimately connected to our identity and mission in life. By responding to this call we turn the "ordinary prose" of our everyday life into "heroic verse." Our work and life thus becomes a true "Work of God." | |||
| 09 Oct 2022 | "Pray for us sinners": Mercy and Mary | 00:31:01 | |
Jesus's healing encounter with the ten lepers helps us reflect on mercy and grace. Like the lepers with their disease, only a miracle can help us overcome our sinfulness. Each conversion is a real miracle, including our own conversions. Grace is a gift. Gifts are not earned, but humbly asked for. In the month of the Rosary, we can be more aware of all of the mercy we ask for whenever we pray the Rosary well. | |||
| 16 Oct 2022 | The Power of Prayer | 00:28:28 | |
Jesus's parable of the widow and the unjust judge teaches us to pray with persistence and intensity. While always confident that God our Father hears and answers our prayers, we are called to exercise this confidence by patient perseverance in our petitions. "Prayer works." This is a fundamental Gospel truth. Prayer is powerful and others depend on our prayers of intercession for them. Prayer of petition brings us closer to God, by reminding us of our status as his creatures and children. | |||
| 28 Oct 2022 | Class on Christian Ethics: The Difference Christ Makes | 01:02:12 | |
First in a series of classes on Christian ethics. In this class we discuss ethics in general and then focus on the difference that Christ makes to ethics. Ethical concerns are universal to all men and women. The difference between good and bad living, good and bad choices, is something that we all have to face and reckon with. Christ offers abundant light and new possibilities for our ethical life. In Christ the ability to be truly good is made available to all. He offers a satisfying explanation of moral weakness and corruption while empowering us to not just be good but holy by sharing in God's own life. Tapping in to the goodness offered by Christ entails a radical decision to live high ethical standards, a resolute sincerity about our failings, and a contrite appeal to his mercy whenever we fail. | |||
| 30 Oct 2022 | "Filled with the fullness of God": A Recipe for Holiness | 00:29:18 | |
Our call to holiness is clearly revealed in the New Testament. St. Peter tells us, "as he who called you is holy, be holy in all your conduct." This is clearly a call to action. At the same time, however, we must realize that holiness is more something done to us-- and in us--than something done by us. "To be filled with the fullness of God", as St. Paul puts it, is a divine initiative. This takes great courage and trust on our part, because to be filled with God is also to die once and again to ourselves. | |||
| 02 Nov 2022 | Mini-Meditation: All Souls Day | 00:10:33 | |
All Souls Day is a special occasion to pray for all the faithful departed, especially for those closest to us. | |||
| 06 Nov 2022 | Dying and Living for God | 00:28:18 | |
The martyrdom of the seven sons and their mother in the second book of Maccabees helps us to reflect on our own relationship with God. All martyrs and saints detest sin so much that they would rather die than offend God in a serious way. Their trust and hope in God's providence and in eternal life strengthens their resolve against sin. God is worth living for and dying for. This is exactly how God loves us. On the Cross Jesus showed the "greatest love" when he "laid down his life for his friends." | |||
| 13 Nov 2022 | Growing in Patience and Love | 00:28:07 | |
"By your patience you will save your souls." Jesus's words highlight the importance of patience in the Christian life. Patience is the ability to suffer well. Suffering well entails freely embracing suffering which cannot or should not be avoided. The deepest truth about patience is its connection to charity, to love. "Love is patient. ... Love endures all things." To love God, others, and ourselves rightly, we must learn to practice patience with God, with others, and also with ourselves. | |||
| 15 Oct 2023 | [Rebroadcast] Hoping for Heaven | 00:29:15 | |
Life in Heaven is the supreme goal of our life on earth. Desiring Heaven is brought about by the theological virtue of hope. Our longing for Heaven, and our capacity to reach it, is tied to our love of God in this life. We must learn to love God as our happiness in this life if we wish to enter eternal life confidently. Hope helps us avoid despair on the one hand, whenever we see the depth of our sinfulness, and keeps presumption at bay on the other hand, whenever we are tempted to falsely "exaggerate" God's mercy. | |||
| 04 Dec 2022 | The Peace of Christ | 00:27:08 | |
Isaiah foresees the absolute peace that Christ will eventually establish. Until then, Christ's peace is ours to develop and folster. Christ brings us peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with others. To foster and enjoy this peace is a beautiful task and privilege of all Christians. | |||
| 11 Dec 2022 | Advent: Waiting with Impatient Patience | 00:30:46 | |
A meditation on trust, patience, and God's power and love. | |||
| 18 Dec 2022 | "Emmanuel": God with us ... and us with God | 00:28:08 | |
Joseph welcomes Mary into his home and thus welcomes Jesus with her. Jesus is Emmanuel, "God with us", and the "God who saves." Jesus's presence in the world is a spur to our own spirit of service. He is in us and among us as "one who serves." | |||
| 25 Dec 2022 | Christmas: Imitating the Christ Child | 00:25:28 | |
Jesus's appearance as a child contains valuable lessons for our life. Dependence, sincerity, humility and trust are all luminously revealed by the infant God. Christ's whole life is a "master class" on how to live, including his apparent inaction in the manger. | |||
| 05 Jan 2023 | Bonus Episode: Q&A on Dimensions of Freedom | 00:13:01 | |
This was the Q&A session that followed the class on freedom. | |||
| 05 Jan 2023 | Class on Christian Ethics: Dimensions of Freedom | 00:47:44 | |
A class given in November, 2022 to parents at Montrose School, Medfield, MA. | |||
| 15 Jan 2023 | A Permanent New Year's Resolution: Holiness | 00:31:19 | |
Holiness is God's own will and resolution for us. In calling us to be holy God resolves that we be such. Holiness is the fullness of charity. To respond to our call to holiness, to live this divine resolution, is to learn to love God in himself and in and through all things. | |||
| 22 Jan 2023 | Like the First Christians: Convinced and Convincing | 00:28:10 | |
Evangelization came naturally to the first Christians. Convinced of how much good Christ did for them, they were convincing in encouraging others to meet Christ for themselves. A profound knowledge and appreciation of our own relationship with Jesus will also move us to share our faith with others spontaneously and naturally. This sharing is the result of the depth of our prayer life and our genuine concern for the people in our life. | |||
| 29 Jan 2023 | Intimate and Trusting Conversation with Christ | 00:29:43 | |
"I have called you my friends." These words of Jesus teach us how we should speak to him in our prayer. Close friends converse with each other confidently and intimately. We should habitually share all of our thoughts, feelings, and concerns with our friend Jesus. He is interested in any and every thing that affects us. In times of trouble, when it seems like he has left us, this continuous dialogue becomes even more important. They are moments to be trustingly sincere and simple. Eventually he will help us through even the greatest trials and tribulations. | |||
| 05 Feb 2023 | "Do not turn your back on your own": Christian Charity | 00:29:42 | |
The corporal works of mercy are the scorecard by which we will be judged at the final judgment. Awareness and alleviation of the needs of others are essential components of Christian life. Our modern lifestyle and society often hides the most needy from us. To help others who really need it, we have to be intentional and to fight against our tendency to comfort and self-seeking. When we commit to Charity, we experience God more intensely, enjoy a peaceful conscience, and often benefit even more than those we are helping. | |||
| 19 Feb 2023 | Conversion and Detachment: Preparing for Lent | 00:26:59 | |
Lent is a great opportunity for conversion. Conversion is a deep change of mind and heart: to leave behind the wisdom of the world in order to have the mind of Christ. The beatitudes are a call to conversion. They contradict what the world considers as essential to a good life. The first beatitude, "blessed are the poor in spirit" is particularly helpful for us in our often materialistic and consumerist culture. Lent provides us with a season to practice detachment and to foster interior silence, making space for an encounter with God. | |||
| 22 Feb 2023 | Ash Wednesday: Lenten Self Denial | 00:29:10 | |
Lent is a season of penance and prayer. Voluntary denial of our bodies, souls, and our very selves strengthens our spiritual life. Without silence, deep prayer is impossible. Without mortification of our habitual distractions, interior silence is unattainable. Above all, we should practice the denial of our ego. Self-satisfaction, vanity, and pride can all coexist with other forms of mortification. For Jesus to live in us and through us, the denial of our self-centeredness is indispensable. | |||
| 26 Feb 2023 | “Him alone shall you serve”: On Fasting and Temptation | 00:29:42 | |
After forty days of fasting in the wilderness, Jesus is tempted by the devil. We learn the importance of our own Lenten fasts by reflecting on Jesus' fast. Jesus' temptations also contain valuable lessons for us. Temptation is part of God's plan for us. As it was for Jesus, temptation can be for us a great spiritual opportunity rather than an obstacle. https://comeawaybyyourselves.com | |||
| 27 Feb 2023 | Class on Christian Ethics: The Mystery of Evil | 00:56:54 | |
A theology class given for parents at Montrose School in January 2023. | |||
| 05 Mar 2023 | [not for children] Christ: A Model for (Young) Men | 00:24:12 | |
At twelve years of age Jesus takes initiative and responsibility for his mission. To be a man is to take life seriously. Pleasure seeking and love of comfort will keep us from being true men. Boredom is a symptom of selfishness and indifference to others. Jesus invites us to join him in his work of redemption. This takes growth in our own sense of maturity, self-control, responsibility, and initiative. | |||
| 12 Mar 2023 | "Peace with God through Our Lord Jesus Christ" | 00:29:46 | |
St. Paul's letter to the Romans connects justification with a state of spiritual peace. God's love for us should be a source of continual peace even amidst problems and turbulent times. This takes an effort to grow in our faith and to evaluate everything in the light of faith. Hope depends on the reality of God and his love. Paul also sees God's love for us as a source of inner and resilient joy. Knowing that God loves us is a fount of joy that we can tap into even when saddened or distressed by the sorrows of life. | |||
| 19 Mar 2023 | The Priority of Prayer | 00:32:10 | |
While Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving are the three traditional practices of Lent, prayer should take priority. We learn from the example of Jesus who put prayer in the first place in his day. Like Our Lord, we should make sacrifices in order to find time to pray. Mental prayer is especially fruitful and important. To raise our minds and hearts to God is restful and reminds us that God is our father and our great friend. Lacking time for prayer is most often a lack of desire to pray or a failure to really grasp its importance. To pray well, we should be totally open and sincere with God about our lives and everything happening in our heart. | |||
| 26 Mar 2023 | Practices of Lent: Connoisseurs of Love | 00:26:59 | |
Almsgiving (charity) is one of the three traditional practices of Lent. When preaching about almsgiving, Jesus focuses on purity of intention. We should love others for their sake and for the glory of God. St. Paul paints a portrait of the Christian heart in his letter to the Ephesians. Christian charity is especially imbued with understanding of others and selflessness in service. | |||
| 01 Apr 2023 | Jesus on the Cross: The Reliability of God's Love | 00:30:19 | |
Jesus's death on the cross is the supreme revelation of God's love. St. Paul tells us that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ. Christ's death shows us how much he loves us and what the Father's love for Him, and for us, is like. This is a reliable love, upon which we can firmly plant all of our problems and our whole life. The cross fills us with confidence in God and our own crosses are a sign of God's confidence in us. | |||
| 07 Apr 2023 | The Contradiction of the Cross | 00:29:43 | |
The Cross of Christ is "folly to the Gentiles and a scandal to the Jews." The Crucifixion contradicts our normal expectations of who God is and how he should act. In speaking against us the Cross reveals God as radical love and sin as radical evil. The Cross even contradicted Jesus, who asked that "this cup might pass" during his prayer in the garden. Our crosses will thus also be difficult to understand and accept. However, they remain precious opportunities to follow Christ and live his life. | |||
| 16 Apr 2023 | [Rebroadcast] Divine Mercy: From Sadness and Fear to Peace and Joy | 00:30:41 | |
Originally published in 2021. | |||
| 23 Apr 2023 | The Bread of Life: Jesus Abiding in You | 00:31:50 | |
"He who eats this bread will live forever." "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him." In the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus makes wonderful claims about Eucharistic Communion. In Communion, we share in Jesus' resurrection and are intimately united with him. This should change the way we think about Jesus. He is not a merely figure from the past or a distant model to imitate, he is a spiritual force in our lives, a person who is always present with a mind, a will, power, and initiatives. Faith unlocks Jesus' life in our lives, his activity in our activities. | |||
| 30 Apr 2023 | Good Shepherd Sunday: Conversion and Courage | 00:29:30 | |
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. This reality fills us with confidence in following Christ. Jesus is also the gate into the fullness of life and into eternal life. Entering this gate entails conversion. We need to leave behind whatever keeps us from following Christ. Conversion demands courage, however, because the gate to life is narrow and the path is difficult. We need courage to fight against sin, to recognize it in the first place, and to accept the tension that our Christian life can cause in our contemporary world. Since Jesus is our Shepherd, however, this courage is made possible through trust in him. He is always at our side, with his rod and his staff. | |||
| 07 May 2023 | Knowing God's Power and Care | 00:27:29 | |
Jesus encourages us to respond to our troubled hearts with trust in him and in his Father. To see Jesus is to see the Father, to know Jesus is to know the Father. Jesus's love and mercy reveal what God is truly like even more than a vision of God's power and majesty. Jesus's miracles show us that the same God who is the all powerful creator is also our savior and loving father. Our trust in God's goodness is emboldened by our awareness of God's strength. God's first "miracle," creation, also speaks clearly of God's power on our behalf. | |||
| 14 May 2023 | Our Lady and the Holy Spirit | 00:24:38 | |
Our Lady is a perfect model of holiness and love. Heading towards Pentecost, we can reflect on her relationship with her Divine Spouse, the Holy Spirit. To have God's Spirit is to have Christ's own motivation, to be inspired by the same spirit that he was. We see this in Mary, who says "Be it done unto me according to your word." The Spirit is a renewer of the soul. To have the Spirit as our spirit pays off in spades, namely, the beautiful fruits of the Holy Spirit. | |||
| 21 May 2023 | Class on Christian Ethics: The Value of Suffering | 00:50:10 | |
Suffering is an unavoidable reality in life. What light does the Christian Faith shed on the meaning of suffering? In this class we will examine the origin of suffering, its relationship to God, and how to make the most of our personal suffering in living the Christian vocation. | |||
| 21 May 2023 | Q and A on the Value of Suffering | 00:15:33 | |
Follow up to the class on suffering. Question and answer session. | |||
| 27 May 2023 | On the Holy Spirit (and a just little bit about Taylor Swift) | 00:28:47 | |
Pentecost Sunday commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Church. The Holy Spirit is an agent of conversion and purification for our life. God wants us to be "on fire" as Christians, quick to love and to do his will. Jesus promises that those who ask for the Holy Spirit will receive him, and that those who receive him receive him abundantly. | |||
| 28 May 2023 | The Spirit and the Gift of Peace | 00:28:34 | |
The Holy Spirit is all about peace. As consoler and the Spirit of Christ, the working of the Holy Spirit and his seven gifts always establish peace in our hearts and our lives. Peace is a consequence of having God as our Father, and it is the Spirit of the Son that establishes this reality in our hearts. | |||
| 04 Jun 2023 | Rebroadcast: The Blessed Trinity: God's Mystery and Ours | 00:30:28 | |
Originally published June 2021 | |||
| 10 Jun 2023 | The Feast of Corpus Christi | 00:30:10 | |
On the Feast of Corpus Christi the Church turns her heart to Jesus's real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. A marvel of love, in the Eucharist the infinite enters the finite, the Creator his creation and the invisible the visible real. Adoration, devotion, and gratitude should mark our response to this great mystery of our Faith. | |||
| 16 Jun 2023 | The Sacred Heart: Relying on God's Goodness | 00:30:23 | |
Jesus describes his sacred and merciful heart as meek and humble. More than anger and disappointment at our sins, Jesus feels compassion for us in our waywardness. In the Sacred Heart of Jesus we especially see the goodness of God towards sinners. This makes God approachable in Jesus and keeps us from the mistake of trying to be good without him. | |||
| 25 Jun 2023 | St. Josemaria: Unity of Life | 00:30:24 | |
For the Feast of St. Josemaria we pray about one of his central spiritual teachings: unity of life. Our life often seems divided by various distinct tasks and concerns. To do things for the glory of God, for love of God, is a powerful instrument that unifies our life. Our awareness of our divine filiation also lends unity to seemingly unconnected realities. Whatever I do, I should do as a son or daughter of God. Our contemplative life, an awareness of God's presence, also grants a powerful sense of unity to our entire life. This awareness is forged in the practice of mental prayer, where we reinforce the reality of God's presence everywhere and filter our life and its concerns through our relationship with God. | |||
| 02 Jul 2023 | [Rebroadcast] "Run so as to win": Conducting Our Spiritual Combat | 00:30:48 | |
The Christian life entails a struggle. Growing in virtue and overcoming vice requires serious effort. This struggle for holiness, however, may seem overwhelming to the weak and self-empowering to the proud. Realizing that God's aid is essential for all spiritual growth helps to overcome these two mistakes. Our spiritual combat must be carried out bravely and freely but also with full confidence in God. | |||
| 06 Jul 2023 | Class on Christian Ethics: The Natural Law | 00:52:31 | |
The Bible refers to the moral law as "written on the heart." In this class we discuss the principles of the natural law. | |||
| 08 Jul 2023 | Resting in God | 00:29:07 | |
Jesus promises rest for those who come to him labored and heavy laden. To receive rest from God happens in a special way in our prayer. Accepting God's will and growing in trust help us to rest even when we have serious concerns in our life. Adoration especially refreshes the soul. To adore God is to relieve ourselves of the burden of trying to live without him. | |||
| 16 Jul 2023 | [Rebroadcast] "You are the Light of the World": The Urgent Need for Christian Life | 00:27:03 | |
Originally published July 2021 | |||
| 22 Jul 2023 | [Rebroadcast] Mary Magdalene: Loving Much | 00:30:36 | |
A meditation on Mary Magdalene and Jesus. | |||
| 29 Jul 2023 | "Go and sin no more": Experiencing True Conversion | 00:30:05 | |
To truly meet Christ is to experience a great conversion. Life becomes centered on his person and his mission. This conversion entails taking on a new life and leaving behind our sinful ways. To convert is to turn towards God and away from sin. Leaving sin behind is no easy matter. Above all it takes liberation--redemption--by Christ. It also presupposes a courageous sincerity about how we minimize the importance of sin, giving into the illusion that sinfulness is actually good. | |||
| 06 Aug 2023 | The Transfiguration of Christ | 00:28:56 | |
Jesus' transfiguration is a momentary manifestation of his divinity. This event reminds us of Jesus' beneficent power on our behalf. St. Peter was struck by the wonder of the transfiguration and refers to it in order to bolster our faith in the reality of Christ's life and mission. God the Father testifies to his Son's authority telling us to "Listen to Him." We do this in our prayer and in our humility in asking for and receiving advice. | |||
| 12 Aug 2023 | "They all ate and were satisfied": Finding Satisfaction in God | 00:30:28 | |
Instead of sending a large crowd away hungry, Jesus miraculously feeds them with the multiplication of loaves and fish. Thousands of people are relieved of their hunger while being fed by the Son of God himself. God knows our spiritual hunger and also responds to it. He feeds us in the Eucharist, in Scripture, in prayer, in doing his will. Warned by God himself, we need to look out for destructive substitutes that do not truly satisfy our soul's longing for joy and peace. | |||
| 19 Aug 2023 | "It is good that we are here": Prioritizing Prayer | 00:29:34 | |
Returning to the scene of the Transfiguration, we meditate on Peter's exclamation, "Lord, it is good that we are here." It is good to be in prayer with God and to be wherever God wants us to be. Prayer is a necessary and healthy escape for the soul. In a world of false escapes and omnipresent exterior noise, to be souls of prayer we should foster moments of solitude and silence. | |||
| 27 Aug 2023 | "This it is that I love, when I love my God": Praying with St. Augustine | 00:29:54 | |
On the occasion of the Memorial of St. Augustine, this meditation is inspired by some of his deep spiritual insights. Augustine reminds us of God's transcendent goodness and his staggering nearness to each one of us. Finding fulfillment in God takes work, the work of prayer and holiness, but it is a task that God himself promises to help us accomplish. | |||
| 03 Sep 2023 | The Cross and Transformation | 00:28:27 | |
"He who loves his life will lose it, he who loses his life for my sake will find it." Finding our true life, and our true selves, means handing ourselves over to Christ. Losing our lives for the sake of Christ is a transformative union with him. This takes work and an acceptance of suffering. There is no resurrection of ourselves in Christ without the cross. | |||
| 09 Sep 2023 | The Holy Spirit: A Christian Life Coach | 00:26:57 | |
The Holy Spirit is the great advocate and counselor of our Christian life. With open minds and hearts, we go to him to learn life in Christ. The Holy Spirit always teaches us the basics: we are children of God called to live the fullness of Charity free from excessive fear and worry. | |||
| 16 Sep 2023 | Rebroadcast: Love and Attention | 00:32:46 | |
Jesus' visit to Martha and Mary contains great insights for our Christian life. Mary's attention to our Lord is a great act of appreciation and love. Jesus' correction of Martha is not owing to her being busy serving, but more for her being distracted and worried. Love, which includes prayer, is the one thing necessary. And love unites our attention, giving focus and purpose to all that we do. | |||
| 23 Sep 2023 | Love of Neighbor, Love for God | 00:27:31 | |
The paralytic at the pool in Bethsaida had "no man to help him." We should always want to be "that man" for others. Concern for our neighbor takes humility and detachment from our self-concern. Our love for God is closely linked to this love for others. You can't love God without being like him, and God is love. | |||
| 30 Sep 2023 | "I come to do your will": St. Josemaria and loving the will of God | 00:28:45 | |
Jesus tells us about two sons. One does his father's will after saying he wouldn't. The other says yes to his father but promptly disobeys him. Jesus, our model, does both: he says yes to the Father's plan and then carries it out. Loving God's will is essential to our Christian life. It is Jesus's sole motive and he is our sole model. St. Josemaria also greatly emphasized this key aspect of holiness. | |||
| 07 Oct 2023 | The Rosary: "A Powerful Weapon" | 00:27:07 | |
October is the month of the Rosary. We celebrate "Our Lady of the Rosary" and reflect on the many advantages of the recitation of this powerful prayer. | |||