By Deacon James Keating PhD and Kris McGregor
4.8
2020 ratings
The podcast currently has 160 episodes available.
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In “The Eucharist and Hope for Conversion,” Deacon James Keating discusses the deep spiritual significance of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation as central to the Catholic faith. He emphasizes the importance of participating in the Mass not merely as an external ritual but as an intimate involvement in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Dcn. Keating challenges the modern cultural inclination toward self-involvement and immediate gratification, advocating instead for a spiritual life that transcends these tendencies through a sincere focus on Christ. He explores the transformative power of the Eucharist in helping believers move away from self-centeredness to a life centered on God, ultimately leading to true freedom and peace. Dcn. Keating also discusses the sacrament of Reconciliation as a vital means of returning to reality, aligning oneself with God’s mercy, and breaking free from the isolation caused by sin.
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
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In this episode, Deacon James Keating and Kris McGregor discuss Lent as a spiritual oasis in life’s desert, where distractions of consumerism often obscure our deeper needs. Deacon Keating reminds us of Lent’s call to surrender to God’s providence, confront loneliness, and find simplicity.
He highlights how modern culture fosters busyness to avoid facing inner realities. Lent offers a chance to deepen relationships, encounter God, and break free from the cycle of distraction and emptiness.
An excerpt from “Crossing the Desert: Lent and Conversion”:
“Lent wants to remind us of our real identity. At first appearance a seeming “obligation,” Lent is actually a great gift. Are we brave enough to enter this desert, and then let it affect us so deeply as to turn us away from sin and false identities, turn us toward communion with the living God? The Church presents this season to us every year because it is hoped that this year will be our year to say “Yes” to Lent’s call to repentance. Lent should not be something we go through alone, but together. As the Hebrews wandered the desert for forty years, so we should enter Lent through the ecclesial community and share its challenges with brothers and sisters in Christ. Lent should not be what the elderly man in the barbershop characterized as “life as usual.” With our goal being moral conversion, let us now turn to see how God can facilitate that conversion when we take on a “lenten mind.”
Keating, James (2012-07-20). Crossing the Desert: Lent and Conversion (Kindle Locations 200-207). Liguori Publications. Kindle Edition.
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page
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This reflection was given during a special Discerning Hearts Advent evening of prayer and meditation at St. Margaret Mary’s Church in Omaha, NE
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
The post The Gift of Holiness – Advent Retreat Reflection by Deacon James Keating Ph.D. – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.
Deacon James Keating and Kris McGregor discuss the healing hand of Christ, seeing the will of God, and how we suffer love. Deacon Keating reflects on the tale of the two criminals on the cross next to Christ on Golgotha.
This series explores the work of suffering in the Christian life and how God can use it to transform the heart of the individual and the world.
Deacon James Keating Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
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What is the authentic understanding of “conversion” in the context of prayer. Deacon Keating discusses the reflection offered by the Holy Father of the encounter of Elijah with prophets of Baal.
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
From Pope Benedict’s 6 audience on prayer:
Firstly, is the priority of the first commandment of God’s Law: having no god but God. When God disappears man falls into slavery, into idolatry, as has happened in our time under totalitarian regimes and with the various forms of nihilism which make man dependent on idols and idolatry, which enslave”. Secondly, he continued, “the main objective of prayer is conversion: the fire of God which transforms our hearts and makes us capable of seeing God and living for Him and for others”. Thirdly, “the Church Fathers tell us that this story is … a foretaste of the future, which is Christ. It is a step on the journey towards Christ.
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What is the authentic understanding of “intercession” in the context of prayer. Moses speaks to God as friend. The invisibility of God puts deep questions in our hearts. Unless we have the intimacy of relationship with God in our hearts, our fear will overwhelm our faith. We also lose patience when waiting for God. “Waiting” is a dangerous period for human beings; it is literally suffering for us. The virtue of patience is the remedy. “Waiting” causes us to run to other diversions…it happens in worship. “Where are you” “Are you real?” “Can I believe what is in the Word?” “Please help me.” If we go deep into our hearts, the content of our waiting becomes the occasion for our intimacy. But if we just feel the pain of waiting, we will go looking for lost gods. It comes down to trust. The role of our memory is so important.
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
From Pope Benedict’s 5 audience on prayer:
“Tired of following a path with a God who is invisible now that Moses the mediator has also gone, the people demand a tangible, palpable presence of the Lord and find an accessible god, within the reach of human beings, in Aaron’s molten metal calf. This is a constant temptation on the path of faith: avoiding the divine mystery by building a comprehensible god that corresponds to our own preconceptions and plans”.
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Jacob wrestling with Angel. The mystery of the name. We have to let God ask us who we are or will you resist and remain isolated? Our prayer is only going to be fruitful if we surrender ourselves to the question…who are you? Like Jacob, once we give over our name then God can begin to transfigure that name, or in other words, our persons to be more inline with His will, His love, His power. Eventually, in prayer, we have to enter into the struggle…what is really going on in our souls, in our hearts and are our wrestling with God’s love. We yield our identity to God’s love.
The wounding of Jacob by the Angel. It is the symbol of the wound, the opening of the self, which symbolizes an entryway to vulnerability…God is deeply affecting us. God’s love, concern, and fascination with us is how He enters into our being and “wounds” us. If we could “be still” and allow Him to love us, He becomes victorious within us.
The name we yield to God is our heart…the core of our being. At Baptism, we give over our name, so we give the power over to God over us. How the “wrestling occurs” and if we stay in it long enough God “wounds” us, into His hands we commend our “spirits”. How does Jesus transform even this event?
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
From Pope Benedict’s 4 audience on prayer:
Dear brothers and sisters, our entire lives are like this long night of struggle and prayer, spent in desiring and asking for God’s blessing, which cannot be grabbed or won through our own strength but must be received with humility from him as a gratuitous gift that ultimately allows us to recognize the Lord’s face. And when this happens, our entire reality changes; we receive a new name and God’s blessing. And, what is more: Jacob, who receives a new name, and becomes Israel, also gives a new name to the place where he wrestled with God, where he prayed; he renames it Penuel, which means: “The Face of God”. With this name he recognizes that this place is filled with the Lord’s presence, making that land sacred and thus leaving a memorial of that mysterious encounter with God. Whoever allows himself to be blessed by God, who abandons himself to God, who permits himself to be transformed by God, renders a blessing to the world. May the Lord help us to fight the good fight of the faith (cf. 1 Tim 6:12; 2 Tim 4:7) and to ask, in prayer, for his blessing, that he may renew us in the expectation of beholding his Face. Thank you.
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Abraham the great Patriarch who prays in intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah. The mystery of intercessory prayer and God’s great mercy. When we persist in prayer, like Abraham, the more we come to know God and trust in His love for us. How sin corrupts our capacity to receive God’s movement of protection and love. How the sacrifice of Christ opens the door to the mystery. If we can learn how to pray, then we learn how to be loved. How do we pray for others?
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
From Pope Benedict’s 3 audience on prayer:
This is the power of prayer. For through intercession, the prayer to God for the salvation of others, the desire for salvation which God nourishes for sinful man is demonstrated and expressed. Evil, in fact, cannot be accepted, it must be identified and destroyed through punishment: The destruction of Sodom had exactly this function.
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Allowing God to effect our minds, as well as our hearts. If you let God close you will be free…to let him in so close that God prays in you. Letting God’s love be the norm of our culture…in the other and in the poor. The role of silence in prayer and posture of kneeling.
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
From Pope Benedict’s 2nd audience on prayer:
A look at recent history reveals the failure of the predictions of those who, in the age of the Enlightenment, foretold the disappearance of religions and who exalted absolute reason, detached from faith, a reason that was to dispel the shadows of religious dogmatism and was to dissolve the “world of the sacred”, restoring to the human being freedom, dignity and autonomy from God. The experience of the past century, with the tragedy of the two World Wars, disrupted the progress that autonomous reason, man without God, seemed to have been able to guarantee.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “In the act of creation, God calls every being from nothingness into existence…. Even after losing through his sin his likeness to God, man remains an image of his Creator, and retains the desire for the one who calls him into existence. All religions bear witness to man’s essential search for God” (n. 2566). We could say — as I explained in my last Catecheses — that there has been no great civilization, from the most distant epoch to our day, which has not been religious.
For more episodes visit: The School of Prayer: Reflections on the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI
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“Life without prayer has no meaning or points of reference”. The relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is so essential to our understanding of prayer. The meaning of the Church. Suffering the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the face of God. Do not be afraid, He will teach you happiness.
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
From Pope Benedict’s 1st audience on prayer:
In the examples of prayer of the various cultures which we have considered, we can see a testimony of the religious dimension and of the desire for God engraved on the heart of every human being, which receives fulfilment and full expression in the Old and in the New Testament. The Revelation, is in fact purifying and brings to its fullness man’s original yearning for God, offering to him, in prayer, the possibility of a deeper relationship with the heavenly Father.
At the beginning of our journey in the “school of prayer” let us now so that the relationship with him in prayer may be ever more intense, affectionate and constant. Once again, let us say to him: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1).
For more episodes visit: The School of Prayer: Reflections on the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI
The post SOP1 – Why We Need Prayer – The School of Prayer: Reflections on the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI w/ Deacon James Keating appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.
The podcast currently has 160 episodes available.