Liturgy Live

This week on the podcast we discuss the paradox in the first reading of forgetting things in the past but still being called to remember what God had done for the Israelites. In the second reading we talk about the supreme good of knowing Christ as the end, and we all are still lacking in our formation. In the Gospel we talk about Jesus writing in the sand, the attempted entrapment of the Pharisee's and how in our culture the woman caught in adultery is the woman who has had an abortion. We discuss the movie #Unplanned, and how important it is to see.

This week on the podcast we talk about the order of conversion that Abram goes through. How he listened to God and believed him, then made a sacrifice and made a covenant with God. We discuss how people throughout salvation history have required signs before they believed and no matter how many signs they were given they still didn't turn their hearts to God. First turn towards God and believe, then recieve the grace and signs and then live in the virtue that is possible only through God. The transfiguration is also a sign that confuses but strengthens the three disciples. They already believed and now have the strengthening miracle to feed their faith. We talk a lot about discernment and consolation vs desolation. We also talk about facing our suffering from a different perspective changes our feelings towards it.

This week on the podcast we talk about the lenten practice of fasting. Fr Ian is fired up! The whole point of fasting during lent is to get our flesh in line with our spirit, since "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". To fast from good things for a time especially food allows us to bring the reality of our emotions and discomfort to the surface and actually deal with them. We talk about the 1st reading from Deuteronomy that discusses why and how to make a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God and that it is important that these fasts are done also out of thanksgiving, not just penance. In the Gospel we talk about the temptations Jesus faces and how he undoes the sins of Adam and the Israelites by resisting the temptations. We have the ability to be with Christ in our temptations because he himself was tempted.

This week on the podcast Fr Ian and Alanna discuss the power of our spoken word to reveal who we are. We also discuss how important it is to discern what people say by comparing it to the fruit of their words. It is possible that they are lying and we need to be careful and watchful in those situations. We discuss devoting our work to the Lord and to also pay attention to those fruits. In the Gospel we discuss the need for self reflection to be able to see the beam in our own eye, and how our negative mental patterns are a type of beam in our eye. Recognising that we are angry in the moment is the beginning of the ability to counter the anger.  At the end Alanna announced her new Journal for lent! Preparing for Peace: A Catholic Lenten Journal for Women with Anxietyhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/1797676970/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_awdo_t1_phtCCbNJFCJMF?fbclid=IwAR2WJZRVQufXyN40rAaSlGDQ7aM4_bo5NwkU7P6jZqtkaylO0Ltzx5wHLC

This week on the livestream Fr Ian and Alanna go down the rabbit hole of Blessings and Woes in the Old Testament Covenant and the argument found in the wisdom literature about how bad things happen to good people. The second reading on the resurrection brings us to our own perspectives on death, Fr Ian dealing with current family medical issues, and Alanna remembering the death of her parents. The Gospel brings us to the blessing and woe of the New Covenant of Jesus that brings the suffering of the good into the equation.

This week on the podcast the readings have a distinct pattern. The person has an encounter with God, is moved to acknowledge their sinfulness, and then respond to the mission God presents. We discuss the purgation that happens after our encounters and how important it is for the completion of the mission.

This week on the podcast we talk about motivation and what is required to keep us going. A few things we go over is companionship, mission, and knowledge of what you are created for. The second reading we talk about the primacy of love in the use of our gifts. How love is what we are aiming at and the gifts are our arrows. Using the wrong arrows and not aiming at love can do great damage to us and those around us. We talk about the section of 1 Corinthians that has an objective standard of what Love looks like. We then go on to discussing the Gospel and how prophets aren't welcome in their own towns, or conversions are not understood by our family or friends. We talk about how we might not get to see the fruits of our work, and that the gifts are meant for others and will come around and be a blessing to all.

This week Fr Ian and Alanna discuss the connections within the Sunday readings. Ezra was a leader in the spiritual revival of Jerusalem after the time of Exile, Nehemiah was the governmental leader who came in and built up the protections for the people. Ezra was standing in front of the Water Gate, Christ is the gate and he opens to the water of eternal life. St Paul in the second reading exhorts us to not despair in our gifts but that they are so important and also should not be lorded over people. We talk about how important spiritual friendships are and the ability to share good news and accomplishments with them as well as our sufferings. The Mission statement by Christ in Luke wraps these readings up nicely with the direction our gifts should be worked towards. The mission above all the other missions. The question we should ask ourselves, are we aligning ourselves under this mission?

Fr. Ian Van Heusen and Alanna Burg discuss the readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary time. We begin discussing the topic of our identity and how we view ourselves before and after the encounter of God in our lives. We have considered ourselves forsaken, but now are called God's "delight". We then discuss the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and how important it is for us to discern them in order to give back the love that God has given us, to experience joy by using your gifts for Christ. Finally the Gospel story of the Wedding at Cana, we go into the first miracle at the intercession of Our Lady, and while Jesus is the one who performed the miracle it took the cooperation of the servants to accomplish His will.  The event discussed in the show, Idaho Mens Conference. www.idahocatholicmen.org/

Do you have goals? Are you afraid to even set them?  What is the most important part of goal setting? Sterling and Alanna talk about how cultivating peace in the moment is the key to obtaining your goals! Watch and if you have any questions for Sterling please go to her Facebook page and ask! She can also be found at Coffee and Pearls podcast on Breadbox Media. catholicwomenshine.com sterlingjaquith.com www.facebook.com/sterlingjaquith/ You can Contact Fr Ian and Alanna Burg at [email protected]