How do we know the will of God?  A popular, practical, and fruitful method for discernment comes from the spiritual teaching of St. Ignatius of Loyola.  Today, we talk about the third rule for the discernment of spirits which focuses on understanding spiritual consolation. What is spiritual consolation? What's the difference between physical consolation and spiritual consolation?

Check it out:
The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living by Timothy M. Gallagher

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Merry Christmas to all!  There are four different Masses that are celebrated for Christmas: the Vigil Mass, Mass at Night (Midnight Mass), Mass at Dawn, and Mass during the Day. Each of these Masses has different readings which illuminate the mystery that we are celebrating. Today we take a look at a few of the Christmas readings and see what the Lord is speaking to us. 


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How do we know the will of God? A popular, practical, and fruitful method for discernment comes from the spiritual teaching of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In this new series, we will work through fourteen rules for the discernment of spirits as presented by Fr. Timothy Gallagher in his teaching on St. Ignatius. Today, we cover the first two rules. 

Check it out:
The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living by Timothy M. Gallagher

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Today, Father Josh shares some of the stories of his life. What was influential from his family life in earlier years? How did he hear the call to the priesthood? How has God continued to work on his soul?

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How can the Church effectively engage today's culture? This episode examines a recent book by Monsignor James P. Shea entitled, From Christendom to Apostolic Mission: Pastoral Strategies for an Apostolic Age. Monsignor Shea offers some helpful observations about contemporary culture and how we might effectively respond as a Church. 

This week we were unable to get together to record a new episode. Therefore, we decided to share a previous episode that people seemed to find helpful. Here is a REPOST of our episode on how to become better at going to confession!

What are the new tools that we use to study the bible? These methods try to improve our understanding of the text's literal meaning, which is the first horizon for interpreting scripture. Three popular methods are Source Criticism, Form Criticism, and Redaction Criticism. They are valuable tools but also have limits of which we should be aware. Today we discuss their possible benefits and dangers.

Check these sources out:

Smith, Steven C. The Word of the Lord: 7 Essential Principles for Catholic Scripture Study. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, 2012.

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The inspiration of scripture allows for multiple layers of interpretation. One way of describing this is the four senses of scripture: literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical.  The literal sense comes first. Then, the three spiritual senses build upon the initial literal sense. 

Check these sources out:

Scott Hahn, ed., Catholic Bible Dictionary.  New York; London; Toronto; Sydney; Auckland: Doubleday, 2009.

Smith, Steven C. The Word of the Lord: 7 Essential Principles for Catholic Scripture Study. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, 2012.

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Today, we finish out the discussion on purgatory. We hope that you have enjoyed this mini-series. If you find this podcast helpful for your spiritual life, please share it with a friend! 

For the talk by John Paul II on purgatory:

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_04081999.html

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The discussion continues today!  If you missed our episode last week, make sure to check that out before starting this one!

For the talk by John Paul II on purgatory:

https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_04081999.html

Questions? Ideas for Future Shows?
Contact us at:
[email protected]
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