Who is she?  Men and women throughout the centuries have tried to define her…all I know for sure is that she was freed and healed from 7 demons, stayed with Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, and was chosen by Christ to be the first witness to the Resurrection…she would become the Apostle to the Apostles…that’s enough for me.  Wow!  Who is she?  One of the greatest saints…ever!

One of the best conversations we’ve had about St. Mary Magdalene was with the wonderful Amy Welborn, author of “Decoding Mary Magdalene”
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Artists and musicians have tried to capture Mary Magdalene;  here’s a beautiful tribute to their efforts:

“The Urgency of the New Evangelization:  Answering the Call” is the latest from Dr. Ralph Martin STD which encourages us to share the Good News with both non-believers and those who are no longer practicing their faith.  Compelling and informative, this is an important work that aids all those who desire to the serve the Lord through the New Evangelization.

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You can find the book here

In The Urgency of the New Evangelization: Answering the Call, Ralph Martin explains:

• It’s not just a churchy buzzword
• It’s not just for priests and missionaries to carry out
• YOU and every individual Catholic play a role
• It is literally a matter of life or death for everyone in your life
• And… it’s not as hard as you think

We talk with Mike Aquilina  about St. Gregor the Great, a father of the Church.

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St. Gregory the Great…the tradition of the Church considers him one of the four great doctors of the Latin Church.  Born in Rome, Italy, in AD 540, St. Gregory was the son of Gordianus, a wealthy senator, and Silvia, who later became a saint.  (Saints make saints after all…).

His youth was a troubled one.  In his writings he chronicles the perpetual seiges that Rome endured at the hands of the barbarians.  Those nasty Lombards! Pillaging, raping, massacring, they would plague the Church and the people of the land for 200 years, you name it..by any standard, they were bad!

Saint Gregory became the Prefect of Rome at the age of thirty, and the people loved him because he was able to keep them safe.  A few years later, like his parents, he gave his wealth away.  He became a Benedictine monk. But the pope of the time, recalled him to Rome to serve as a deacon and to help the city, which was again attacked by the Lombards.

On the third day of September in 590, after he had first been ordained a priest, Saint Gregory was consecrated Pope and Bishop of Rome, in Saint Peter’s Basilica. He was the first monk to become Pope.   The Holy Spirit didn’t waste anytime moving him to service!

Through Saint Leander and his brother, Saint Isidore of Seville, as well as the martyr Saint Hermenegild, Saint Gregory recovered Spain from the Arians. Through Queen Theodelinda, the wife of the Lombard King Agilulf, he was able to begin the conversion of the Lombard nation and the tempering of their ferocious and cruel natures. He won France back and began conversions in England. Saint Gregory was, above all else, a vigilant guardian of the Church’s doctrine, always the mark of a holy Pope. He ordained, early in his pontificate that the first four Ecumenical Councils of the Church should be treated with the respect given to the four Gospels. He worked unceasingly to stamp out heresy. He ordered that at the beginning of Lent the blessed ashes should be placed on the foreheads of the faithful, instead of only the head of the Pope — as had been the custom up to that time — and that the priest should repeat to each one, “Remember man, that dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return”. excerpted in part from an article by Sister Catherine Goddard Clark, M.I.C.M.

He is known for his magnificent contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass and Office. The “Gregorian Chant” is named in honor of Saint Gregory’s patient labor in restoring the ancient chant of the Church and in setting down the rules to be followed so that Church music might more perfectly fulfill its function.

Saint Gregory the Great died on the twelfth of March, 604, at the age of sixty-four. He was canonized immediately after his death. Later, because of the volume, the extraordinary insight and the profundity of his writings, the depth and extent of his learning, and the heroic holiness of his life, the Church gratefully placed him beside Jerome and Ambrose and Augustine. Saint Gregory the Great became the fourth of the Church’s four great Doctors of the West.  –

What would today be like without  a little Gregorian Chant in honor of our St. Gregory?

 

 

 Spiritual Writings:

- Pastoral Rule
- Register of Letters

The altar of St. Gregory the Great at St. Peter’s in Rome. One of my favorite places to pray at the Vatican. 

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, a leader on the front line of the New Evangelization, once again provides a tremendous resource to enter more deeply into this Year of Faith!

Steeped in the Divine Wisdom found in our Sacred Scriptures and enlightened by the teachings of the Church, and in particular the insights of Pope Benedict XVI, this is a book not to be missed.  This is a great resource that can be used by individuals, as well as study groups.  In this particular discussion, Fr. Pacwa also expands on the events of history that have brought us to this point in our culturally challenge era.  He shares the importance of the examples found in the lives of the saints, and the call we all have to grow in holiness.
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You can find it here

“Dioceses and parishes will benefit from an extremely helpful guide to celebrate this important year. I heartily recommend Father Pacwa’s insightful reflections.” —Bishop Robert J. Baker, S.T.D., Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., Senior Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, is a Jesuit priest and popular television host of several EWTN television and radio programs, including EWTN Life and The Holy Rosary in the Holy Land.

 

Once again we are joined by the fantastic Dr. Matthew Bunson!  We discuss his new work which brings us the life of “St. Kateri: Lily of the Mohawks”.  The humble daughter of a Mohawk chief and a Roman Catholic mother, Kateri (named after St. Catherine of Siena) Tekakwitha lived a short life (she died at the age of 24). But she was such a powerful witness, so much so, that even the famed “black robe” Jesuit missionaries were awed  “by her perfection of the virtues, her mystical prayer life, and her total love for Christ.”  Her last words were: “Jesus, I love you.”  No one tells a story like Dr. Bunson, and he doesn’t fail to captivate this time when describing  the life of this remarkably holy woman.

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You can find the book here

“Written by experienced and prolific authors Matthew and Margaret Bunson, St. Kateri: Lily of the Mohawks is the most definitive biography of Kateri Tekakwitha.”

Here is St. Kateri and Dr. Matthew Bunson featured on “Rome Reports”

What a delight to have the chance once again to talk with Gregory Erlandson, president and publisher of  Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, one of the finest resources out there for nurturing our faith.   Greg has that wonderful “eagle-eye”  view of not only all things Catholic, but of the world as a whole and he uses it to help see how we can fit into our society and culture as faithful believers.

It was great to discuss not only current events affecting the Church today, but also the greater need for interior renewal which is the true “fuel” for the New Evangelization.  Faith is ultimately about a relationship with God.  He warns us that being lukewarm in our faith can be deadly for the Church.  That we can  become such weak witnesses that we bear only the name Catholic, which unfortunately can cause disillusionment or even scandal in the hearts and minds of those around us.   Therefore, the New Evangelization needs to begin with each of us personally.  When that renewal happens, we will then be a Church that can authentically and vibrantly witness our  life-giving  faith to world badly in need of the Gospel message.

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Our Sunday Visitor has so many fantastic resources to nurture that relationship, whether your at home with the kids or working out in the world, a catechist/DRE or a pastor trying to reach out to your families through the internet, OSV can add in that “connection”.

Click here to find out more on their website osv.com

 

 

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The importance of his life and contribution to the Church cannot be overstated. St. Augustine, one of the greatest of the Church Fathers, has not only influenced the Church, but the thought of the world as we know it.  The story of his conversion as chronicled in his “Confessions”, would be enough, but then add the body of his theological work and you have nothing less than a glimpse of what is truly the power of  “grace and mercy”.

Mike Aquilina is one of the best at bringing this great saint’s life into perspective.

For a more detail accounting of St. Augustine’s  life, you can visit  Lives of the Saints

 

 

Spiritual Writings:

- Confessions 
- Letters
- City of God
- Christian Doctrine
- On the Holy Trinity
- The Enchiridion
- On the Catechising of the Uninstructed
- On Faith and the Creed
- Concerning Faith of Things Not Seen
- On the Profit of Believing
- On the Creed: A Sermon to Catechumens
- On Continence
- On the Good of Marriage
- On Holy Virginity
- On the Good of Widowhood
- On Lying
- To Consentius: Against Lying
- On the Work of Monks
- On Patience
- On Care to be Had For the Dead
- On the Morals of the Catholic Church
- On the Morals of the Manichaeans
- On Two Souls, Against the Manichaeans
- Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus the Manichaean
- Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental
- Reply to Faustus the Manichaean
- Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichaeans
- On Baptism, Against the Donatists
- Answer to Letters of Petilian, Bishop of Cirta
- Merits and Remission of Sin, and Infant Baptism
- On the Spirit and the Letter
- On Nature and Grace
- On Man’s Perfection in Righteousness
- On the Proceedings of Pelagius
- On the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin
- On Marriage and Concupiscence
- On the Soul and its Origin
- Against Two Letters of the Pelagians
- On Grace and Free Will
- On Rebuke and Grace
- The Predestination of the Saints/Gift of Perseverance
- Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount
- The Harmony of the Gospels
- Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament
- Tractates on the Gospel of John
- Homilies on the First Epistle of John
- Soliloquies
- The Enarrations, or Expositions, on the Psalms

For me, out of all the St. Augustine’s work,  this is the piece that deeply touches my heart and is one of my all-time favorite prayers:

Late Have I Loved You
A Prayer of Saint Augustine

Late have I loved you, O Beauty, so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
And behold, you were within me and I was outside, and there I sought for you, and in my deformity I rushed headlong into the well-formed things that you have made.

You were with me, and I was not with you. Those outer beauties held me far from you, yet if they had not been in you, they would not have existed at all.

You called, and cried out to me and broke open my deafness; you shone forth upon me and you scattered my blindness.

You breathed fragrance, and I drew in my breath and I now pant for you.

I tasted, and I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I burned for your peace.

This prayer is from his book, “Confessions.”

                                                  

Paul Thigpen is wonderful…he answers our questions about our faith not only from the head but also from the heart!  More than just a proof text book, “Catholic Answers to Catholic Questions” tackles a why range of issues and questions.

Catholic Answers to Catholic Questions provides solid answers to hundreds of common questions asked by people just like you questions both big and small regarding doctrine, history, morality, the pope, saints, the sacraments, the Mass, prayer, Scripture, and much more.

Be more confident in your faith. Allow the why to enhance the what you do as a Catholic. Make better decisions. Be more prepared to pass on your faith to others. Feed your curiosity. Author, theology professor, and Catholic apologist Paul Thigpen ensures the answers are not only rock-solid, but also pastoral in their approach and written in everyday, relevant language.

You can find this fine book here

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A shining example of how reason and science can lead to faith. Dr. Kevin Vost is a cradle Catholic, who fell into aethism at the age of 17.  He would stay there for over 2 decades, until gradually through reasoned enlightenment (showered with God’s grace)  the fallacy in aethistic philosophy was revealed and the glory of real Truth became known.  Wonderful read…the journey really can be made from the head to the heart, just ask Dr. Kevin Vost!

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Pick up a copy of Kevin’s book

Be sure to visit Dr.  Kevin Vost’s website

 

Part 2 of the discussion with Gregory Erlandson.  Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Scandal is an important contribution to the understanding and healing of the great heartache that has inflicted the Church over the last 30 years.  Talking with Gregory Erlandson was a great opportunity to realize the nuisances of what got us here, but also the response and hope that leads us to the future.

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I LOVE biographies, so when this one came along I was delighted.  A memoir from a man who experienced the 20th century in all it’s ugly moments and also in it’s beauty…Archbishop Philip Hannan.  From Irish immigrant parents,  to WWII, to the Kennedy White House, to Hurricane Katrina…what a story.   Wonderful!  I talked with Nancy Collins, 2nd cousin of the Archbishop, who assisted him in writing his memoir.  Nancy is an engaging personality in her own right, and that really comes through in our conversation! She reflects on the Archbishop’s life and contribution to our country and times…praise God the greatest generation is still with us to teach and guide!

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You can get a copy here

 

An anti-pope (and a great liturgist…it figures doesn’t it) who is considered a father of the Church and a saint.  God’s great mercy knows no bounds!  How does someone who was a self proclaimed pope (and considered the first anti-pope in Church history) become a saint? The story of St. Hippolytus is a fascinating one.  A greek-speaking priest who who lived in the late 100’s – early 200’s; his writings on the Eucharistic liturgy are some of the most beautiful of all time.  Check him out Mike Aquilina’s great blog The Ways of the Fathers   
 

And take a listen as we talk about St. Hippolytus with Mike   

 

 

St. Maximus the Confessor lived approx. 500 years after Hippolytus.  He is one of last fathers of the Church  and is consider one of the first of her doctors.  A beautiful writer and homelist he said this once:  

The sun of justice, rising into the clean mind, reveals Himself and the reasons of all that He created and will create.

Love defeats those three: self-deception, because she is not proud; Interior envy, because she is not jealous; Exterior envy, because she is generous and serene.

All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are inside our hearts hidden.

Faith without love does not act in the soul the illumination of the divine knowledge.

When the mind receives the ideas of things, by its nature is transformed according to each and every idea. If it sees the things spiritually, it is transfigured in many ways according to each vision. But if the mind becomes in God, then it becomes totally shapeless and formless, because seeing Him who has one face it comes to have one face and then the whole mind becomes a face of light.- taken from Speech on Love

He too, like St. Hippolytus, suffered a martyrs death.  St. Maximus the Confessor, a remarkable man who Mike Aquilina tells us about. 

Mike Aquilina’s excellent book “the Fathers of the Church” is a great introduction to the First Christian teachers.

It’s important I think to hear the stories of these great thinkers of the Church, who when the time came in a crazy world, had the courage to speak truth and surrender to God’s great love…if they can do it, why can’t we?

Here is part 2 of the discussion with Dr. Matthew Bunson, with the emphasis on the renewal and reform that has occured in the Church since the outbreak of the sexual abuse scandal.  Dr. Bunson is once again EXCELLENT in articulating the problems which have surfaced, but also the response of the Church from its heart to the issue.  It would be hard to find someone who does it better.

Dr. Bunson’s book can found at:
osv.com

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For 100+ reasons, I love Dr. Matthew Bunson.  No one I know has quite the depth of knowledge that he has and the ability to calmly disseminate it!  His new book, co-authored with Gregory Erlandson, is OUTSTANDING!  Please don’t say you have  formed your final opinion on this tragic period in Church history without reading “Pope Benedict XVI and the Sexual Abuse Crisis: Working for Reform and Renewal”. Don’t count on the secular media (and inparticular the NYT) to educate yourself on this matter.  No one has done a better job chronicling this crisis and our Holy Father’s true response to this matter, then these two writers.  The resources and prayers in the back of the book are excellent!  Thank you Matthew and Gregory.

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Dr. Bunson’s book can found at:
osv.com

Dr. Bunson has been a frequent quest on Spirit Mornings with Bruce and Kris McGregor…check him out on the archives page!  (I have got to him his own page soon…long, long overdue!!!!)