Midnight Carmelite

#12: What can we learn about the Immaculate Heart of Mary from Scripture? In this episode, we will explore Scripture in the original Greek and see that the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the source of grace for all of us and the place of peace. We will examine the two instances that mention Mary's Immaculate Heart as well as their relationship to Christ. If you find this episode valuable, please share it with others! Click here for the tip jar!

#11: Who is St. Simon Stock and how is he related to the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel? In this episode, we will explore how St. Simon Stock was an early member of the Carmelites who our Lady gave the Brown Scapular to as a pledge of protection for all Carmelites. If you find this episode valuable, please share it with others! If you want to leave a tip, head to the tip jar. (https://checkout.luminoustradition.com/products/tip-jar/).

# 10: How do your senses relate to supernatural visions? Supernatural visions are not sense experiences, but sense experience is how we know things. In this episode, we will explore this issue and show how a human person's knowledge starts with sense realism and leads naturally to supernatural visions, virtues, and union with God. If you find this episode valuable, please share it with others! If you want to leave a tip, head to the tip jar. (https://checkout.luminoustradition.com/products/tip-jar/).

#9: How much do you know about Mary as Our Lady of Mount Carmel? The title Our Lady of Mt. Carmel often causes confusion. In today's episode, we will meditate on Mary as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, her virtues, and her receptivity to God. We will see how Mary is the exemplar of all Carmelites and the model of the spiritual life that we should all aspire to emulate in our own spiritual lives. If you find this episode valuable, please share it with others! If you want to support Midnight Carmelite, leave a tip here!

#8: What is knowledge? Do we have certitude about what we know? Is the knowledge of a subject like mathematics the same as the knowledge about someone you love? In today's episode, we will explore what knowledge means, the types of knowledge, common objections to certitude in knowledge, as well as ways human persons know different things. A human person must know something first before loving it, and knowing it is a truth in its own right, but once a person loves something, over time that love creates knowledge that only the lover and the beloved know, and those are truths too, but of a type begotten by love, not abstraction. If you find this episode valuable, please share it with others! If you want to leave a tip, head to https://checkout.luminoustradition.com/products/tip-jar/

#7: What does St. John of the Cross mean when he talks about the presence of God in the soul? St. John of the Cross tells us in his writings about three modes (ways) of God being present to the soul. Furthermore, what is philosophically called the "essence-existence distinction" is crucial for understanding this first mode of God's presence. In today's episode, we will start with the explaining the meaning of essence, the meaning of existence, God as ὁ ὤν (Who presently, actively, always, is) or ipsum esse subsistens (subsistent Being itself), and show how the essence-existence distinction is crucial for understanding the first mode of God's presence to the soul. If you find this episode valuable, please share it with others! If you want to leave a tip, head to the tip jar https://checkout.luminoustradition.com/products/tip-jar/

#6: How do we respond to things like prophecy and the working of miracles? Both of these are what are called supernatural goods that are outside of our natural power to achieve and bestowed on us by God freely, yet more often than not we do not try to understand what precisely supernatural goods are and how they can be an obstacle to union with God. That's why today's episode focuses on what supernatural goods are metaphysically as well as how they can be a help or an obstacle depending on how we receive them. As always, if you enjoy this episode, share it with your friends. Also, if you want the weekly blog post from Luminous Tradition sent to your inbox every week, head over to https://luminoustradition.com and click "newsletter." If you want to leave a monetary tip, just go to head over to the tip jar. (https://checkout.luminoustradition.com/products/tip-jar)

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#5: How can we make sense of Jesus's encounter with Pontius Pilate about the nature of truth in the Gospel of John? When Pilate says his famous line "What is truth," we are not sure precisely what he means. That's why today's episode focuses on this encounter in the light of Jesus's understanding of his kingdom using Jesus's own words from throughout the Gospels. We will begin at Jesus's encounter with Pilate and demonstrate that God's kingdom is a divine invasion of our interior life to place Truth in our hearts so that through truth, we may be led by the Jesus, the Truth, the beautiful shepherd, to have his kingdom reign within us and live with him for all eternity. If you find this episode valuable, share it with your friends and head over to https://luminoustradition.com and click "newsletter" and sign-up to receive the free weekly newsletter. If you want to leave a tip, head over to https://checkout.luminoustradition.com/products/tip-jar/. Thanks for listening!

#4: What does St. Joseph and the Holy Family's flight to Egypt tell us about obedience and faith? Obedience is a tough topic for us, but in this week's episode, we will discuss St. Joseph and his obedience to God in evading Herod and bringing the Holy Family into Egypt. We will move into St. John of the Cross's understanding of obedience in relation to the spiritually gluttonous person to have a better idea of how St. Joseph's actions were obedient to God. If you find this episode valuable, share it with your friends and head over to https://luminoustradition.com and click "newsletter" and sign-up to receive the free weekly newsletter. If you want to leave a tip, head over to tip jar (https://checkout.luminoustradition.com/products/tip-jar/). Thanks for listening!

#3: What does St. John of the Cross mean by union? We may think of different things we know that are a union, but union is not the same for all these things. That's why today's episode focuses on St. John of the Cross's understanding of union. We will start from some basic notions about union philosophically such as virtual quantity and contrariety, and then move into St. John of the Cross's understanding of union. If you find this episode valuable, reach out through the contact form on the website and share it with your friends! If you want to leave a tip, head over to https://checkout.luminoustradition.com/products/tip-jar/. Thanks for listening!