This week on OVC I speak about the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, human sin and the T.S. Eliot poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/44212/the-love-song-of-j-alfred-prufrock

Readings for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time and the Solemn Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062523.cfm

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062423-Day.cfm

Music: William Byrd - Civitas Sancti Tui by The Tudor Consort is licensed under a Attribution 3.0 International License.

COMPOSER: William Byrd

Orvieto, Italy is the shrine to a Eucharistic miracle from 1263 - the relic is a bloody corporal. The Feast of Corpus Christi is rooted there as are various Eucharistic hymns composed by St. Thomas Aquinas. Why is the Eucharist the "source and summit" of faith, tune into OVC and hear about the miraculous, everyday, supernatural Eucharist.

Readings for Corpus Christi: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061123.cfm

Music by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294

Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there

and proclaimed his name, "LORD."Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out, "The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity." Ex. 34.

Dr. Steven Hawkings, the atheist and cosmologist defended his atheism as follows:

"We are such insignificant creatures on a minor planet of a very average star on the outer suburbs of one of a hundred thousand million galaxies. So it is difficult to believe in a God that would care about us or even notice our existence."

Later he said, "What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?" Still, as from the beginning of time, the answer is a who, not a what - this week on OVC.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060423.cfm

Music: "I sing of Love Unknown" by St. Mark Choir under One License

Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294

How would you describe yourself? We should be able to do that as we know ourselves intimately. Or do we? "Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified." John 7 How to think about the modern self this week in OVC.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052823-Day.cfm

Music: "Holy God we praise they name" by St. Mark Choir under One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294 for Aug 10, 2019 - Aug 09, 2020.

The Feast of the Ascension. Miracles, like the Resurrection and the Ascension, are doors out of this world. Dr. Peter Kreeft, Ph.D, professor of Philosophy at Boston College and a prolific writed wrote. "When you think about it logically, there are two and only two philosophies of life. For either there are or there are not doors in the walls of the world. Either there is Nothing or Something outside Plato’s Cave. That sounds very abstract and philosophical. Let me make it very concrete. Two people are walking down a street together. There is an old stone wall on their left, too high to see over. As they approach an intersection, the sidewalk and the wall curve around to their left. As they approach the curve, the first walker is absolutely certain that when they turn the corner they will not see an angel walking through the wall. The second walker is not. Which walker are you? Which would you like to be? Kreeft, Peter. Doors in the Walls of the World: Signs of Transcendence in the Human Story (p. 8). Ignatius Press. Kindle Edition.

Well, who do you want to be? The readings for the Ascension are found here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052123-Ascension.cfm

Music: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581 (Mozart) by Musicians from Marlboro is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

All through Easter, the second reading has been drawn from 1 Peter reminding us of God's call to each of us. The First Letter of Peter 3, "Beloved: Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope..." What it means to dwell in God, this week on OVC.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051423.cfm

Music: 1 - Ave Regina Cælorum – Peter Philips (1560-1628) by St. Mark Choir under One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294

May is the Month of Mary - why? Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. wrote "The May Magnificat" to answer that question - it is a great answer!

This ecstasy all through mothering earth

Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth

To remember and exultation

In God who was her salvation.

Learn more about the Month of Mary, Our Lady of Fatima and, surprisingly, the meaning of liturgical and Marian processions all on this week's OVC.

Music: Ave Maria by St. Mark Music Ministry pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294

Jesus is God's voice, the gate to eternal life and the Good Shepherd. We have many goals in life, but only one goal that is The Goal. To the extent that our many goals don't line up with our One Goal, eternal life, we experience the anxiety that comes with busyness. Think of St. Augustine's Confessions and my ordination story. Plenty of busyness to be sure, but ... A vocation story for Good Shepherd Sunday.

Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/043023.cfm

Music: Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294

Cleopas and his friend meet the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Using the Old Testament Jesus explains the new and prepares us for the Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist and encountering Him at Mass.

Readings for the Third Sunday of Easter: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/042323.cfm

Music: Adoro te devoted by the St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting, A-726294

On the evening of that first day of the week,

when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,

for fear of the Jews,

Jesus came and stood in their midst

and said to them, “Peace be with you.” John 20

Readings for Second Sunday of Easter: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/041623.cfm

Music: Bach Prelude & Fugue 5 by John Lewis Grant is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.