As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.

Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”

Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…

From the Holy Gospel of St. Matthew 11:16-19

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place:

What word made this passage come alive for you?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place:

What did your heart feel as you listened?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place:

What touched your heart in this time of prayer?

What did your heart feel as you prayed?

What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?

We thank you, Lord Jesus for this time with you.

Keep us alert, we pray, O Lord our God,

as we await the advent of Christ your Son,

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever

Amen

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Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor explore the figure of Valentinus, an early second-century teacher whose ideas became one of the most significant challenges to the young Church. Valentinus built an exclusive movement that claimed access to hidden teachings unavailable to ordinary Christians, rejected the true incarnation by treating matter as corrupt, and cultivated a social atmosphere that appealed to wealthy Romans seeking prestige and safety. His approach fit within the broader stream of Gnosticism, a recurring pattern in history that appeals to those who want to view themselves as spiritually superior or part of a select inner circle. The Fathers—especially Irenaeus and Tertullian—carefully examined and critiqued these ideas, noting their internal contradictions and their departure from the apostolic witness.

The Church’s response clarified essential truths: the goodness of creation, the real incarnation of Christ, the harmony of Scripture’s layers of meaning, and the universal call of the Gospel. Movements like Valentinus’s ultimately fragmented because they relied on private revelations without a stable authority. This episode also highlights how similar attitudes appear in every age, even within Catholic circles—whenever people treat the faith as a private club or disregard the embodied, communal, and historical character of Christianity. By recalling the errors of Valentinus, it invites us to remain rooted in the Church’s public teaching, the witness of the saints, and the shared life of the whole People of God.

“We know almost nothing about Valentinus the man except that he was well educated. He had much more higher education than the average Christian: he had studied at Alexandria, so he had the ancient equivalent of a Harvard or Oxford degree. He had specialized in Platonic studies, meaning that he knew Plato backwards and forwards, at least as Plato was interpreted by later students who claimed to have understood him. (Like many philosophy students today, Valentinus probably learned about Plato from secondary sources more than from actually reading Plato.)

In about 130, Valentinus came to Rome and he stayed there for about twenty years. Thus, he was in Rome at the same time as Marcion. Valentinus later ended up in Cyprus.1

One thing his opponents gave Valentinus credit for was his brain. Tertullian and, much later, Jerome both considered him to have a formidable mind. But he applied that mind to creating an incredibly convoluted mythology rather than simply understanding the Scriptures. In this Valentinus was just like all the other Gnostics: incredibly convoluted mythologies were their stock in trade. The simple truth was for simple people. Like some academics today, the Gnostic teachers felt a need to prove their intellectual worth by filling their writings with jargon nobody but other Gnostics could understand.”

Aquilina, Mike. Villains of the Early Church: And How They Made Us Better Christians. Emmaus Road Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Mike Aquilina is a popular author working in the area of Church history, especially patristics, the study of the early Church Fathers.[1] He is the executive vice-president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a Roman Catholic research center based in Steubenville, Ohio. He is a contributing editor of Angelus (magazine) and general editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History Series from Ave Maria Press. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books, including The Fathers of the Church (2006); The Mass of the Early Christians (2007); Living the Mysteries (2003); and What Catholics Believe(1999). He has hosted eleven television series on the Eternal Word Television Network and is a frequent guest commentator on Catholic radio.

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Day 11:  Letting Christ Grow Within Us

“We ought to let everything grow in us, as Christ grew in Mary. And we ought to realize that in everything that does grow quietly in us, Christ grows. We should let thoughts and words and songs grow slowly and unfold in darkness in us”

Commentary:  Caryll Houselander invites us to approach our inner life as Mary did, allowing Christ to grow quietly within. She encourages us to embrace a gentle, patient approach to spiritual growth, letting our thoughts, words, and prayers unfold naturally, as seeds growing in the darkness. By not rushing or forcing our spiritual development, we create space for Christ to shape us from within, revealing His presence through every part of our being. This quiet, humble growth mirrors the Incarnation, reminding us that even in silence and simplicity, profound transformation is taking place.

Personal Reflection: Consider what areas of your spiritual life need a slower, more patient approach. How can you create space in your heart for Christ to grow quietly, like a seed in the dark?

Houselander quote from:  Caryll Houselander, The Reed of God, Sheed & Ward, 1944

Image © Trinity Icons / Joseph M. Malham

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En el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. Amén.

“Señor mío, Jesucristo, Dios y Hombre verdadero, creador y redentor mío, por ser vos quien sois, y porque os amo sobre todas las cosas, me pesa de todo corazón haberos ofendido.

Propongo enmendarme y confesarme a su tiempo y ofrezco cuanto hiciere en satisfacción de mis pecados, y confío por vuestra bondad y misericordia infinita, que me perdonaréis y me daréis gracia para nunca más pecar. Así lo espero por intercesión de mi Madre, nuestra Señora la Virgen de Guadalupe. Amén”.

¡Oh Santísima Virgen de Guadalupe! ¿Qué cosa habrá imposible para ti, cuando multiplicando los prodigios, ni la tosquedad ni la grosería del ayate le sirven de embarazo para formar tan primoroso tu retrato, ni la voracidad del tiempo en más de cuatro siglos ha sido capaz de destrozarle ni borrarle?

¡Qué motivo tan fuerte es este para alentar mi confianza y suplicarte que abriendo el seno de tus piedades, acordándote del amplio poder que te dio la Divina Omnipotencia del Señor, para favorecer a los mortales, te dignes estampar en mi alma la imagen del Altísimo que han borrado mis culpas!

No embarco a tu piedad la grosería de mis perversas costumbres, dígnate sólo mirarme, y ya con esto alentaré mis esperanzas; porque yo no puedo creer que si me miras no se conmuevan tus entrañas sobre el miserable de mí. Mi única esperanza, después de Jesús, eres tú, Sagrada Virgen María.  Amén.

Padre Nuestro

Ave Maria

Gloria

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, ruega por nosotros. Amén

En el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. Amén

The post Día 9 – Novena a la Virgen de Guadalupe – Podcasts De Corazones Discernidores appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Day Nine

Please visit the Discerning Hearts Our Lady of Guadalupe page for the text and audio for the remaining days.

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“I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel. In the night also my heart instructs me.”

Interior movement is the gentle way God guides the listening heart. It is subtle. It often arrives quietly, as a small prompting, a shift of desire, a deepening peace, a check within the conscience, or a quiet sense of direction. These movements are not dramatic. They work from the inside out. Christ leads the heart through grace that touches thoughts, affections, and choices.

Interior movements are part of how the Good Shepherd speaks. Instead of overwhelming the soul, He nudges it. Instead of forcing clarity, He invites attention. When the heart becomes aware of these movements, discernment becomes possible. We begin to notice which movements draw us closer to God and which movements pull us away.

Interior movement is not emotional fluctuation. It is the activity of grace within the soul. It is Christ shaping the desires, quieting unhelpful impulses, strengthening hope, deepening peace, stirring courage, or illuminating a small next step. The discerning heart learns to recognize these movements and follow them with trust.

Advent invites us to become sensitive to these interior movements so we may follow Christ with greater freedom.

“God’s inspirations prepare our hearts and make us want to receive His grace.”

Francis de Sales was a master of understanding the interior life. He teaches that God’s movements within the heart are gentle, attractive, and never violent. Grace draws the soul. It never pushes. God inspires first. Then the heart responds. This is how love works.

For Francis, interior movement begins with God’s initiative. The soul feels drawn toward a desire for prayer, a longing for patience, a renewed tenderness toward another person, or a quiet urge to trust God more deeply. These stirrings are not from the self. They are invitations from the Lord.

Francis also teaches that interior movements require a peaceful, receptive heart. If the soul is hurried, anxious, or overly focused on self, it can miss these gentle inspirations. But when the heart grows calm and attentive, it becomes more aware of how God is guiding from within.

He reminds us that interior movements are always rooted in love. God stirs the heart so we can draw closer to Him.

Today invites you to notice what is happening inside. What desires are stirring. What feels drawn toward God. What feels pulled away. What interior movements seem to nudge you toward patience, gratitude, or prayer. What movements trouble your peace.

Interior movements are one of the primary ways Christ guides us. You do not need intense experiences. You simply need attentiveness. When you sense a quiet draw toward something good, pause long enough to ask, “Lord, is this from You.” When you sense an interior resistance or tightening, pause again and ask, “Lord, what are You showing me.”

Ask yourself: What movements within me today might be the gentle work of grace. How is Christ trying to guide me from the inside.

At least once today, pause for thirty seconds and gently name the interior movements you feel. Say, “Lord, let me follow the movements that come from You.” Later, pause again and notice: Did any movement lead you closer to God.

Lord Jesus, guide my heart through Your gentle movements. Teach me to notice the stirrings that come from Your grace. Quiet the impulses that pull me away from You and deepen the desires that lead me closer. Give me a receptive heart that listens, trusts, and follows Your inner guidance. Amen.

Citations for Day 12

Psalm 16.7 RSV

© Discerning Hearts. All rights reserved.

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In the area of the new evangelization, we need to receive more in prayer. Even more than give witness to an action or word. The deeper we receive his love in prayer, the fewer our words will have to be to have great effect. God’s harvest awaits those who have received His love deeply. And for those who have received his love deeply, they bring forth great fruit. This Advent, let us overcome our impatience to want to spread the Gospel in haste. Let us first spend time deeply receiving the Gospel ourselves, so that the living word of God will transform our hearts, and we may become not simply people who carry words, or actions; witnessing to the love of God. But that we ourselves may become instances of the word of the love our God Himself. We ourselves may become, in our bodies, icons of the love of God. This Advent, let’s deepen our capacity to receive God’s love in prayer and then become this love. The love that the new evangelization is crying out for.

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. 

We highly recommend – The Eucharist and the Hope of Conversion with Deacon James Keating Ph.D. Discerning Hearts Podcast

For more from Deacon James Keating check out his “Discerning Heart” page

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From the Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew 11:11-15

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm. Because it was towards John that all the prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading; and he, if you will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!’

What word made this passage come alive for you?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm. Because it was towards John that all the prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading; and he, if you will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!’

What did your heart feel as you listened?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:

Jesus spoke to the crowds: ‘I tell you solemnly, of all the children born of women, a greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm. Because it was towards John that all the prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading; and he, if you will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!’

What did your heart feel as you prayed?

What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?

Our Father, who art in heaven,

  hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

  Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

  and forgive us our trespasses,

  as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

  but deliver us from evil.

May the Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.

Amen

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Deacon James Keating explains how God draws the heart toward himself through ordinary prayer and through growth out of serious sin. He describes “consoling prayer,” the simple joy and peace one begins to notice when turning to God—often after the hard early work of conversion, repentance, and regular prayer. Over time, prayer becomes something we desire rather than an obligation, and affection for God gently replaces past attachments to sin. God can unexpectedly visit us during ordinary moments of the day, stirring love for him outside of set prayer times. These moments are like spontaneous interior invitations that deepen closeness with Christ.

He also speaks of union through the sacraments—especially the Eucharist—where Christ is truly present even when affection is absent. Acting according to a well-formed conscience is itself another real union with Christ, because choosing the good unites us to the One who is Truth, even when doing so brings difficulty or misunderstanding in the culture. Ongoing purification, participation in parish life, and concrete practices such as confession, spiritual direction, works of mercy, and friendships rooted in Christ gradually reorder the heart. Conversion is a continual turning toward Christ in the Eucharist, letting him heal attachments to sin and make us new.

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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My dear Sisters, in the second week of Advent we have so rich a liturgy encompassing the great solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and rounding its weekly cycle off with the tender feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is enough to make one feel drunk with new wine just to think about all that is opening out before us in this week. We want to linger especially today on that great solemnity of our Immaculate Mother. It could be that this great solemnity which is meant to bring us so close to our Mother could really separate us from her if we did not enter profoundly into its meaning. She was immaculate; she was born without sin, and she lived without sin; and death could not hold her in the tomb because she was without sin and therefore the penalty of death had nothing to do with her.

And so, we could think, what does this have to do with me? I, who have a whole life of accumulation of sin and dreary faults committed again and again. What do we mean—in that prayer of the Church—that we should come with clean hearts to God? How can we ever come with a clean heart to God? Is this not something reserved to our Immaculate Mother? We just seem to get dirtier and dirtier all the time. How can this be a real prayer, a sincere prayer? It seems that no sooner have we got a little bit clean than we are soiled again; and Scripture itself could seem very depressing when it says the just man, the man in perfect holiness, falls seven times a day. We could sit back and say, “Oh, dear!”—and then we want to pray to come to God with a clean heart?

None of us would stand up and say, “Well, I None of us would stand up and say, “Well, I None of us would stand up and say, “Well, I am the just woman.” But even then I would fall seven times a day!

Francis P.C.C., Mother Mary. Come, Lord Jesus (p. 77-78). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.

Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., (1921-2006) was for more than forty years the abbess of the Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Roswell, New Mexico. She became recognized as an authoritative voice for the renewal of religious life through her many books, including A Right to Be Merry, But I Have Called You Friends, and Anima Christi.  To learn more about Mother Mary Francis and the Poor Clare Nuns of Roswell, NM visit their website at https://poorclares-roswell.org

Discerning Hearts is grateful to Cluny Media whose permission was obtained to record these audio selections from this published work.

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