Gospel of Luke, Chapter 11, verses 5-13
On this feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Jesus continues to teach us about prayer.  And He uses imagery that any of us who have friends or children can understand.  How shall we pray?  Directly.  Persistently.  And most of all, trust that our God knows what we need and desires to meet us in the middle of that need.  That's really good news!

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 11, verses 1-4
The disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, as John has taught his disciples.  So we talk today about what, exactly, prayer is and how can we do it without ceasing, as Paul invites us.  We also break down the framework of the Lord's Prayer and invite all to begin to put this prayer into their own words.

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10, verses 38-42Jesus enters Bethany and comes to the home of Martha and Mary.  And in the two of them, we see two love languages lived out - one well, and one poorly.  Both languages are equally valid and beautiful ways to say "I love you" to someone, but one loses their intent and the other holds tight.  I don't know about you, but there are days you can call me Martha, and there are days you can call me Mary.  I suspect that is true of all of us...

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10, verses 25-37I know, the title of this episode sounds like the beginning of a joke.  Instead, I invited two of my daughters, Molly and Bridget, to join me in talking about one of Jesus's greatest stories - the Good Samaritan.  How do we carry those around us and, just as importantly, how do we allow ourselves to be carried?

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10, verses 13-16
We continue through this Season of Feasts (TM, Joe), celebrating the Memorial of St. Therese of Lisieux (the Little Flower, Doctor of the Church).  What a wonderful example of humility she is and a great reminder to simply embrace how and who God made us to be.  In our Gospel today, Jesus chastises the cities in His area who are rejecting His message, not because they don't see His works or hear His powerful words, but because they aren't able to recognize God within Him.  Why?  Because they are looking for the wrong things.

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10, verses 1-12
In this Season of Feasts (TM Joe), we celebrate another today: the Feast of St. Jerome.  Who was Jerome and what did he do?  He was a brilliant man who made the Scriptures accessible to the masses.  What a great vocation.  In our Gospel today, Jesus invites us to do the same.  We have to get out and prepare the way for His coming.  The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and God needs our assistance to make it real.  And to do so, we need to go out and be planters and translators.  

Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verses 47-51
On this Feast of the Archangels, yes - I blatantly ripped off the title of an old Alabama song from the 1990's.  I just couldn't stop singing it in my head throughout the whole podcast.  Pray for me.But on this feast, we look not only at the three archangels, but more importantly what they tell us about who God is and where God is.  We also focus on the Scripture reading and Jesus's saying to Nathaniel that he will see heaven opened and angels of the Lord ascending and descending on the Son of Man.  What, exactly, does that mean? 

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 9, verses 51-56
The title of this pod comes directly from our Gospel reading today.  Jesus resolutely determines to walk straight ahead in His mission, even though he knows not only where it leads but what lies ahead for him.  Are we as resolute in our journey?  Do we walk directly or do we tend to meander and take tangential routes?  We also get a lesson in God's magnanimity regarding who He chooses to call as well as a lesson in retribution.  

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 9, verses 46-50
We hear a familiar Gospel today (having just heard the same one in Mark the last two weekends).  Jesus invites us to be like children.  But what is it about children that God is inviting us to be like?  I share my thoughts on that as well as how our family is much, much bigger than we may imagine.  And how that is such good news.We also celebrate the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul today and talk a bit about his life and what challenge that lays at our feet today.

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 9, verses 18-22Following directly from King Herod's hearing of who people say Jesus is yesterday, today Jesus hears what the crowds are saying about Him.  Courageous question.  Often we are the last to know what others think of us.  But then He asks His closest friends - who do you say that I am?  That answer is unique to us all - because it reflects our own encounter with Christ.  But it also shows us the path of who we are and how we are invited to carry Christ into the world.