Episode 13 -The Way of Mystery: The Eucharist and Moral Living– the spiritual life and moral living… understanding the journey through the Purgative and Illuminative Way and their role in the moral life.

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Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “The Way of Mystery”.

The Vatican II documents remind us that the spiritual journey is not made in a vacuum, that God has chosen to save us, not individually, but as The People of God. The Eucharist must help Christians to make their choices by discerning out of Christ’s paschal mystery. For this process to take place, however, Christians must first understand how the Eucharist puts them in touch with Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection, and what concrete implications being in touch with this mystery has for their daily lives.

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for other material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

Don’t forget to pickup a copy of “Communion with Christ” , it is one of the best audio sets on prayer…ever!

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

Seventh day:

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Bible reading:

“ It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.”(Luke 23, 44)

Brief Reflection:

The Father’s will is about to be acomplished; Our Lord Jesus Christ will die on the cross for our salvation, in the promise of his Resurrection. From the darkness the light will shine to illumine us, freedom from darkness. We already see our problems with more clarity. Our ties loosen, in the measure in which  they conform to the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. At this time we are closer to his Mother, the Virgin Mary.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the meaning of the “Epiphany” and how we can manifest the light of Christ to the world.

From the USCCB readings fo the day:

 Reading 1 Is 60:1-6

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,
the glory of the Lord shines upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
and thick clouds cover the peoples;
but upon you the LORD shines,
and over you appears his glory.
Nations shall walk by your light,
and kings by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about;
they all gather and come to you:
your sons come from afar,
and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton.  He was ordained on May 30th 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA.  Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to Blessed Mother Teresa.    He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the missionaries of charity around the world.  Msgr. Esseff encountered St.  Padre Pio,  who would become a spiritual father to him.  He has lived in areas around the world,  serving  in the Pontifical missions, a Catholic organization established by Bl. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor.  Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute.  He continues to  serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.   

To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book by visiting here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building a Kingdom of  Love”

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

Sixth day:

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Bible reading:

4 Jesus replied, “Woman, your thoughts are not mine! My hour has not yet come.” 5 However his mother said to the servants, “Do what-ever he tells you.” (John 2, 4-5)

Brief Reflection:

In the wedding feast of Cana , the patient Virgin Mary interce-des for the guest.  With this act, she inaugurates her Mediation between the Son of God and men. The faithful servant of the Lord, is our most humble and maternal servant, in our afflictions, despairs, tribulations and wrongs doings. She is the Mediatrix of all graces, to which we commend ourselves in our intricate problems, that with her maternal hands, she will untie the knots that still imprison us.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

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Fourth day:

Bible reading:

«   15 When the angels had left them and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go as far as Bethlehem and see what the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they came hurriedly and found Mary and Joseph with the baby lying in the manger. 17 On seeing this they related what they had been told about the child, 18 and all were astonished on hearing the shepherds.19 As for Mary, she treasured all these messages and continually pondered over them.» (Luke 2, 15-19)

Brief Reflection:

They went to Bethlehem, where they found the Child, “The word made flesh”, the only Truth. Let us walk through our desert, that with the guidence of the Archángel Raphael, that we may come closer to Mary Mother of the Church, and with her to Jesus.  Little by little, the knots of error that make us prisoners will be untied. “The Truth shall set us free”. Let us walk in confidence towards our liberation.”

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

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Third day:

Bible reading:

« Mary said, “ Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word. “Then the Angel departed from her.” » ( Luke 1, 38 )

Brief Reflection:

The Virgin Mary meekly undergoes the designs of God, although with certain reservations. “.. How can this be if I do not know man?…she accepts, with some concerns. How many doubts will we have when we have moved away from God, and in our mistakes, we have knitted a useless cobweb of knots. Let us give our griefs to the council of Mary.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

Bruce and I had the great blessing in 2005 of having a conversation with the late Cardinal Avery Dulles, one of the foremost American Catholic theologians of the post-Vatican II era about “A History of Apologetics”.

It seemed appropriate, especially during the Year of Faith, to listen once again to his words of wisdom about the importance of our individual Christian testimony over the winning of a “faith debate”.  We also discuss the legacy of Bl. John Newman and Bl. John Paul II, and so much more.  Cardinal Dulles died December, 27, 2008.
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You can find the book here
From the description:“Written by one of American Catholicism’s leading theologians, A History of Apologetics also examines apologetics in the 20th and early 21st centuries including its decline among Catholics following Vatican II and its recent revival, as well as the contributions of contemporary Evangelical Protestant apologists. Dulles also considers the growing Catholic-Protestant convergence in apologetics. No student of apologetics and contemporary theology should be without this superb and masterful work”.

Mark breaks open The TEN COMMANDMENTS–

The Fourth Commandment:

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Mark Hart is an author, speaker, director and teacher, Mark’s work both written and spoken, is known across the country and world. While he serves as the Vice President of LIFE TEEN, he is known to tens of thousands simply as the “Bible Geek ®” Mark passionately echoes the gospel to all he encounters. He is as deep as he is funny, and his love for his wife and daughters is second only to his immense love for Jesus Christ.

Visit Mark at www.lifeteen.com

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Known as the “Doer”, St. Basil the Great is an extraordinary figure in our Christian heritage.

Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI has said,

Saint Basil the Great, one of the most eminent Fathers of the Eastern Church, showed to all those who wished to give themselves completely to God the way of monastic life, “where the precept of concretely lived charity becomes the ideal of human coexistence, where the human being seeks God without limitation or impediment” (cf. Orientale Lumen, 9). Saint Basil is for you a model of perfect service of God and the Church. His whole life consisted in the harmonious exercise of the virtue of faith and in acts of practical love in the spirit of the evangelical counsels. Down the centuries the teaching of Saint Basil has borne mature fruits of religious life, especially in the East.

Take a listen to the interview above with Mike Aquilina and learn so much more about this “great” Father of the Church

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

Second day: [powerpress]

Bible reading:

…« And the Angel said to her in reply, ”The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

( Luke 1, 35 )

Brief Reflection:

The Holy Spirit, Third Person of God, overshadowed the womb of the Virgin Mary full of grace, and the power of the most High was with her so that she would give birth to our savior made man. That is why the Virgin Mary is blessed and holy. In her, The Son of God inhabited. ¡ Who better than his Mother, to aid us and help us to dismantle our tangled conflicts!

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

(A brief note why I felt the Novena is so important to promote…you can find the text for Day 1 lower in the post)

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

“Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by Her obedience, undid it…For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the Virgin Mary set free through faith.” Saint Irenaeus,  in his writings titled Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies).

I once experienced a situation in which I was totally flummoxed in how to proceed; the result was a tremendous piercing of the heart, all very painful and sad.  A large messy misunderstanding arose  and the ability to communicate with the other person involved completely disappeared.  I wasn’t sure how to pray or even what to pray for, and frankly, it just hurt so much I couldn’t think what to do next.  So, like any confused child, I went to my mother for help…our Blessed Mother to be more specific.

As indicated by the great saint above, St. Irenaeus,  the role of Our Lady as the one who “unties” the knots in our lives goes way back to the early years of the Church.  The “knots” of course can be anything that separates us from God and our fellow man.  And in particular those knots that tie up and strangle loving relationships in families and friendships.

The image most closely associated with this devotion was one in the 1700s by an unknown painter.  As you can see in the picture, in her hands is a knotted white ribbon, which, with the aid of the angels, she is peacefully untying.   All of this is done under the watchful gaze of the Holy Spirit.   All the while she is crushing,  under her feet, the head of the serpent who’s body is coiled and knotted.

In her booklet, Dr. Suzel Frem Bourgerie’s writes about the knots each of us suffer. “How they suffocate the soul, beat us down, betray the heart’s joy and even the will to continue living.” She goes on to say: “… The Virgin Mary does not want this to continue anymore in your life. She comes to you today for you to give her all these snarls because she will undo them one by one.”

In the personal situation that I cited above, I found great comfort and peace knowing that our Blessed Mother was  handling everything .  I grew to trust in her loving care for the relationship.  She, in turn, has taught me to totally trust her Son in all things  That was the first knot she needed to untie for me,  now she’s working on the others.

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

First Day

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Bible reading:

…« and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.»

( Mathew 1, 21 )

Brief Reflection:

Our Lord Jesus, was born of the flesh and blood of the Holy Virgin Mary, spouse of the Holy Spirit. Jesus,  untied the tongues of the mute, the obstacles to the paralytics, he remove the yoke of the oppressed , and he liberated the sinners with his death. Jesus, through his Death and Resurrection is the Great Untier of Knots of our humanity united to sin. His Mother, first disciple and co re-demptrix, will untie our knots.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the importance of the family in our lives.  He shares two very personal stories to offer insight on the role of fathers in the heart of each family.

Reading 2 Col 3:12-21

Brothers and sisters:
Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another,
if one has a grievance against another;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love,
that is, the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of Christ control your hearts,
the peace into which you were also called in one body.
And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or in deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.Wives, be subordinate to your husbands,
as is proper in the Lord.
Husbands, love your wives,
and avoid any bitterness toward them.
Children, obey your parents in everything,
for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Fathers, do not provoke your children,
so they may not become discouraged.

Are you being called to be a “martyr”?

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Msgr. Esseff, on the feast of St. Stephen the Martyr, shares the story of his friend Fr. Nicolas Kluiters S.J., who served the Church in Lebanon.  He discusses what it means to be a martyr in the past and what it looks like today.

From JESUIT MARTYRS, In the Service of the Arab Orient (1975-1989)
By Father Camille Hechaïmé, Dar el-Machreq

After studying business then plastic arts, Father Nicolas Kluiters painted until he felt the call of religion. He joined the Society of Jesus in his country, Holland, when he was 25. He soon asked to be sent to Lebanon and his wish was granted in 1966. He completed his novitiate and studied Arabic (1966-1968) and social sciences (1968-1969) in Beirut, then he studied philosophy and theology in Lebanon and France . He was ordained a priest in Amsterdam in 1973.

Soon after his return to Lebanon in 1974 and his nomination in the Taanayel monastery in the Bekaa valley to serve the poor Maronite isolated villages in an area that is non Christian in its majority, the war started and soon took a sectarian characteristic. However, these bloody events did not discourage the young zealous priest. With the approval of his superiors, he would leave his monastery in Taanayel, go to villages near Dayr al-Ahmar village and return to the monastery once a week. One of these villages was Bechwat, in which lies the Church of our Miraculous Lady where Nicolas made his last solemn vows in 1977 to express his belonging to this poor land and to serve the underprivileged. He made the village Barqa the second base of his journeys and increased his activities there for it to become a model village.

After gaining the villagers’ trust, he cooperated with them to renovate the church and build a house for the priest, a school, a monastery where a group of nuns from the Sacred Hearts settled at the end of 1984, as well as a dispensary soon after. He would receive from his native country, Holland, financial aids that enabled him to improve the land and develop agriculture. His main worry was to boost the morale of these good but poor, marginalized and isolated people, to consolidate their faith and, despite the dangers, to implant them in their land, the land of common living for all communities. Perhaps Nicolas’ successful mission aroused the disapproval of ill wishers and people bothered by the vitality he gave back to the villages they wanted to keep submissive.

On the night of March 13, 1985, after celebrating mass with the nuns of the hospital in Hermel, he returned to Barqa where the villagers were waiting for him the following morning. However, he never reached the village and there was no news about him. His fellow priests in Taanayel, the nuns, and the security forces looked for him in the area. One of the shepherds noticed a suspicious horde of crows over a deep ditch and notified the people in charge. After many efforts, they were able to reach the bottom and removed the body that had been missing for 17 days. Nicolas was dreadfully killed; he was shot twice, hanged and impaled, which indicated his murderers’ strong hatred. Afterward, it appeared that he courageously resisted his kidnappers because he was strong and was trained in self-defense with the paratroops in the military service in Holland. His car was found after a few days with the following inscription, “The forces of revenge”.

He was buried in the Taanayel monastery on Wednesday April 3, during the Holy Week, in a very emotional and devotional atmosphere. The bells did not ring for sadness, but for joy because all those who knew Nicolas understood that they were biding farewell to a martyr who gave his life for his faith; until this day, they are still convinced of that.

He had increased his prayers during his last days and had trustingly put his life in the hands of God, prepared to accept all difficulties, even martyrdom. Two weeks prior to his kidnapping, he wrote, “He (Christ) brought me back to Barqa… as if He were telling me: the fruit will soon ripen… Don’t worry about extraordinary and difficult events that could happen, such as a kidnapping or anything similar. He who follows Me has a special blessing so that he can suffer for me and with me. I shall be with him”

I could have listened to Dr. James Hitchcock all day, he is absolutely fascinating.  But the next best thing is to read his tremendous work, “The History of the Catholic Church:  From the Apostolic Age to the Third Millennium”.  The content is the best, the layout makes it so very accessible, and the storytelling is engaging…a must have and a perfect gift for family and friends!  In our discussion, we discuss the influence of the papacy, Constantine, the 13th and 15th century, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, and so much more.  Not enough time, but so much fun.  Don’t miss!  One of my favorites of 2012!

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You can find the book here

“For years, James Hitchcock has been our premier historian – a dissident from conventional wisdom, well-armed and solid. Here he pioneers a new method for presenting a long sweep of history: an orderly and altogether fascinating series of vignettes – of arguments, movements, distinctive persons, and concrete events. There is just enough narrative in these sequences to carry the reader along, but without involving her in excessive interpretation. This book provides both a great resource for easy reference, and a stimulating definition of a Christian humanism that holds in tension the transcendent and the down to earth, the holy and the sinful. This is a tension which Hitchcock maintains throughout.”
– Michael Novak

“Be Saints!  An invitation from Pope Benedict XVI”, edited by Amy Welborn and illustrated by Ann Engelhart is simply wonderful, a must for every family library.  Marvelous for children and adults alike, this compilation is taken from the talks given by Pope Benedict to children during his 2010 visit to England.  In this conversation with Ann Engelhart, we discuss this work.  We  also discuss the nature of art and beauty, in particular for children, and it’s ability to evangelize.

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You can find the book here

From the description:

In this very colorful book by acclaimed artist Ann Englehart, the Pope’s words come to life as he interacts with the children, showing all children how only God can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.

Interspersed are prayers and quotes from various saints including Saint Francis, Saint Ignatius, Mother Teresa, St. Paul, St. Peter and more. They all emphasize that the most important thing we can become in this life is a Saint, a true friend of Jesus.