As we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, which falls on the night of our Monk's Cellar event, we do well to meditate on the seer's eerie prophesy: "The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about Marriage and the Family.’ Don't be afraid, she added, because whoever works for the sanctity of Marriage and the Family will always be fought against and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue. Then she concluded: ‘nevertheless, Our Lady has already crushed his head’.”

How can we promote the sanctity of the Family in the midst a hostile culture? Is starting a family while this "final battle" rages something to be avoided? Is it time to head for the hills? Tune in to find out!

Aaron is a life-long Catholic and a Knight of Columbus. He has lived in Auburn, CA, for most of his life. He is a U.S. Navy veteran and currently works as a Real Estate Mortgage Professional and a Retail Grocery Clerk. Aaron is a proud uncle of 2 nieces, and enjoys spending time with his extended family. Due to the grace of God and the generosity of the parishioners in the Diocese of Sacramento, Aaron holds a Bachelors degree in Philosophy from Mount Angel Seminary, in Oregon, and a Bachelors in Sacred Theology from the Angelicum in Rome. Aaron has traveled to a variety of countries, including Hawaii, Japan, Okinawa, Australia, Mexico, and Poland. In his free time, Aaron enjoys working with his brother and volunteers teaching Adult Faith Formation at St Josephs and St. Teresa of Avila parishes in Auburn.

Today’s podcast features a homily by Fr. Cassian DiRocco. After having served as a school psychologist on the West and East Coasts, he discerned a calling to the Holy Priesthood. His priestly studies were completed in Rome, where he obtained a doctoral degree in theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. He is currently ministering at St. Stephen the First Martyr Parish in Sacramento, California, an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

This episode is Fr. Cassian’s Holy Thursday homily on the Most Blessed Sacrament & the Holy Priesthood. Along with Fr. Cassian, we’d like to wish you and your loved ones a happy and glorious Easter. God bless!

At this Month's Veritas meeting, we will continue with a theme and look at the tremendous importance which marriage has in a true understanding of the Catholic Faith as a whole: the sacramental life, the spiritual life, the moral life, and how all of this is a part of Christ’s redeeming and spousal love for the Church, His Bride. The talk will also include a brief history of magisterial teaching on marriage from the Council of Trent onward, and give particular focus to the importance of sexual complementarity, chastity, and an honest look at the threat which contraception increasingly poses to the marital bond.

Father Cassian DiRocco is a native of Southern California. After having served as a school psychologist on the West and East Coasts, he discerned a calling to the Holy Priesthood. His priestly studies were completed in Rome, where he obtained a doctoral degree in theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family. He is currently ministering at St. Stephen the First Martyr Parish in Sacramento, California, an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

In Genesis 2, the Lord God declares, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helpmate suited to him” (2:18). Thus man and woman become one flesh by God’s design. The Sacred Scriptures further affirm that the nakedness of the one before the other produces no shame in either. Nevertheless, only a few short verses later, that praiseworthy alliance of two bodies and and two souls will wither under the angry glare of shame and guilt. What happened to the man and the woman that human sexual union — to be numbered among the greater goods that God bestows — should ever after find itself so vulnerable to disgrace and dysfunction? Our speaker, Fr Francisco Nahoe OFMConv, explores the implications of the Genesis narrative for meaningful spiritual and affective growth in the contemporary disciple.

Friar Francisco came to the Franciscans at the age of twenty-two, out of college, where he’d been involved in a campus ministry that provided an exceptionally rich experience of Catholic spirituality and tradition. Since then, he’s served the Church and the Order in California, Costa Rica, Italy, Poland, Massachusetts, Nevada and Vietnam and has ministered in Catholic education, Catholic campus ministry, Franciscan formation, Catholic radio, adult faith formation, parochial ministry, teaching ESL and mission promotion. At present, he preaches mission appeals throughout the western United States. The beauty, dignity and solemnity of the Roman Liturgy well celebrated first led him to join the Order and to seek ordination to the priesthood. Even today he would say that his greatest joy derives from participating in the sacred mysteries. An ethnic Polynesian, Fr Francisco travels frequently to his family’s home on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in the South Pacific.

In a time of great crisis in the Church, Pope Blessed Pius IX declared St. Joseph the Patron and Protector of the Church. With so many crises facing the Church in our own times, it is more urgent than ever that we turn again to the Husband of Mary and implore his help. Fr. Matthew will explore not only the role of St. Joseph in the Church universal today, but will also reflect on why our own personal devotion to the earthly father of Jesus is so essential right now.

Fr. Matthew Spencer is an Oblate of St. Joseph and host of the Internationally broadcasted radio program, St. Joseph's Workshop. He has spoken at Veritas events many times to great acclaim.

These are trying times in the Church, to be sure. As many feel hurt and betrayed by the Church hierarchy over the sexual abuse crisis and cover-up, we would do well to revisit the primal act of apostolic betrayal through examining the deeds of Judas Iscariot.

More importantly, though, is our response to those deeds. St. John the Beloved is the only apostle to actually see the treachery of Judas for what it is. When the other 10 trust that Judas is out doing good for the poor, St. John sees. When the other 10 are arguing about who will betray the Lord, St. John sees. St. John sees plainly the treachery of Judas, but how does he respond?

His response must be our response. Only in imitation of the Beloved Disciple's response to apostolic betrayal will we console Christ and have the courage to follow Him into His life-giving Hour.

John Johnson is the Associate Director of the Avila Institute. He has degrees from St. Mary's College and the Dominican School of Philosphy and Theology. For over a decade he served at the parish level as a Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Sacramento. He has spoken at Catholic retreats and events across the country. He and his wife, Alexandria, have three children and one on the way.

Do you suffer from discernment paralysis? Common symptoms of discernment paralysis include feeling like you're un-datable, being worried about practical impediments to religious life, unceasingly waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Perfect Spouse to manifest in a cloud of glory engagement ring-in-hand, unceasingly waiting for a legion of angels to show up in your bedroom to reveal to you your vocation as harps play in the background, chastity struggles, constant waffling, fear of asking that person out, clip-boarding your ideal spouse before meeting them, dating without direction, dating with wrong direction, dating without being ready to marry, writing off dating all together, boatloads of student loan debt, feeling like you've "missed" your vocation.

Discernment paralysis is an epidemic among even the most faithful of Catholic young adults. Generationally, we are afraid to commit, afraid to love, and afraid to say "yes" to what God has in store for us. But Theology of the Body is not a spectator sport! By getting to the heart of what obstructs our discernment, and discovering the Church's simple, practical wisdom on the question of vocation, we can be set free... from discernment paralysis - currently affecting 6 out of every 10 Catholic young adults (give or take).

Whether you are discerning marriage, religious life - already married or still single, join us for this interactive discussion on the keys to vocational discernment. This is your prescription.

Side effects of attending this talk may include: motivation and vocational clarity, new understanding of self-worth, understanding of different saints' models of discernment, practical takeaways for discerning marriage and religious life. In rare cases, meeting your spouse at this event may occur.

John Johnson is the Associate Director of the Avila Institute. He has degrees from St. Mary's College and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. For over a decade he served at the parish level as a Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Sacramento. He has spoken at Catholic retreats and events across the country. He and his wife, Alexandria, have three children: Mary, Agnes, and John Jr. He co-founded Veritas Young Adults 10 years ago (almost to the day). He wrote this paragraph himself in the third person.

Pope Benedict Emeritus tells us that we have lost the sacramental idea. In our contemporary world, we see all reality in terms of function and practicality. We have reduced all things to matter and matter to material that is to be used. We do not see all of reality open to eternity. No wonder then that regular attendance at Mass and participation in all the sacraments has declined. We perceive them as empty rituals that do not fulfill our desires for immediate gratification. It is as Jesus says through the Prophet Isaiah: “Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them” (Mt 13:15).

How do we rediscover the sacramental idea? How do we renew the great gift of the liturgy? How do we bring people back to the Church? Pope Benedict Emeritus speaks to this great challenge. Perhaps he has some wisdom for us.

Fr. Colin Wen was born and raised in Palo Alto, CA. He received his BA in Sociology at UC Davis in 2005 before spending a year in Los Angeles volunteering on skidrow. From there he discerned a calling to the priesthood, joining the Diocese of Sacramento and entering St. Patrick’s Seminary in 2006, where he spent his first two years of pre-theology. In 2008, he was sent to Rome to complete his theological studies, receiving an STB as well as an STL in Moral Theology at the Angelicum. He was ordained in 2013 and has served in Grass Valley, Nevada City, Downieville, and Dixon. On July 1st, 2014, Bishop Soto appointed him as Parochial Vicar at St. Vincent Ferrer in Vallejo. And on July 1st, 2017 he was appointed as Parochial Administrator of St. Katharine Drexel in Amador County.

Discover how beauty not only informs the world around us, but has sparked the Church out of some rough times.

This presentation will offer a brief survey of Catholic art throughout the Church's 2,000 year tradition as as well as convey a deeper understanding of how beauty can once again save the day for the Christian West and illuminate us personally in the process.

Speaker Bio

Leanne Tracy works as a full-time painter and visual artist. She graduated in 2012 from The University of Kansas with a BFA in Painting and a BFA in Art History. Leanne has had solo and group exhibitions in Kansas City, Lawrence, Nashville, Denver, Fort Collins, St. Louis, Springfield, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Milwaukee, Madison, and Florence, Italy. This summer, she spent six weeks in Italy learning the technique of fresco painting, for future commissions painting frescos within chapels in the United States. Leanne Tracy currently sells prints of her work online and paints commissions by request.

Bumper Credits

"Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

"Do not be afraid" - God assures his people throughout Scripture. Yet we are so often paralyzed by fear. What's worse, we are not only afraid of things that are "bad and scary," but Divine. All too often, we are afraid of healing, of mercy, of God. Like Adam in the Garden, we hide in fear. Easter is the time to come out of hiding. The Resurrection of Jesus, above all, offers assurance that, before God, we need not be afraid.

Speaker Bio

Sr. Elizabeth Marie entered the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia of Nashville, TN in 2004 and made her final vows in 2011. She grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, and she still loves the Green Bay Packers. She attended the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she received degrees in philosophy and Catholic Studies. Since becoming a Dominican Sister, she has taught various grades in four different states. Most recently she was teaching bioethics to high school seniors in Birmingham, AL. She is currently assigned to assist in the Vocation Office of her Congregation, affording her the opportunity to travel and share with others the Good News of Jesus Christ and the call to follow Him through religious life.

Bumper Credits

"Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/