The School of Love Podcast is a helpful tool designed to help your family build the essential daily habit of praying together as a family. In each short 3-5 minute episode, we follow the daily Mass Gospel and provide a brief meditation geared for the family to help start your prayer. Then you finish the prayer with your own family. Each episode is lead from the home of School of Love Directors, Mike & Kristi Dennihan.

The School of Love Podcast is a helpful tool designed to help your family build the essential daily habit of praying together as a family. In each short 3-5 minute episode, we follow the daily Mass Gospel and provide a brief meditation geared for the family to help start your prayer. Then you finish the prayer with your own family. Each episode is lead from the home of School of Love Directors, Mike & Kristi Dennihan.

The School of Love Podcast is a helpful tool designed to help your family build the essential daily habit of praying together as a family. In each short 3-5 minute episode, we follow the daily Mass Gospel and provide a brief meditation geared for the family to help start your prayer. Then you finish the prayer with your own family. Each episode is lead from the home of School of Love Directors, Mike & Kristi Dennihan.

Saturday of the First Week of Advent

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

Matthew 9:35-10:8 Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness.  At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."

Then he summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, “Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” 

(Parent)  Reread this part a few times aloud

“He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority…”

(Parent)  Read this meditation aloud to the family

There is a lot of talk about authority in the Gospels, especially Jesus’ authority.  It was an important issue then, as it is now.  Matthew shows that Jesus has authority over disease, illness, evil spirits, and even the authority to forgive sin.  “The crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:29).  What is also astonishing is that Jesus chooses to place some of His authority into the hands of men. “He summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits…and to cure every disease and every illness.”         

Today’s Catholic bishops, like the apostles, don’t have any power or authority of their own… but they do have some of Jesus’ authority to teach us and to heal us.  This is one very specific way that Jesus works in the world today.  We should take the official teachings of our pope and bishops very seriously.  When is the last time we prayed for the holiness of our bishop and the Holy Father? 

As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)

Friday of the First Week of Advent

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

Matthew 9:27-31 – As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, "Son of David, have pity on us!" When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" "Yes, Lord," they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." But they went out and spread word of him through all that land. 

(Parent)  Reread this part a few times aloud

Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?”

(Parent)  Read this meditation aloud to the family

What an awesome and straightforward question from Jesus to the men He is ready to heal!  “Do you believe that I can do this?”  Throughout the Gospels, when Jesus is healing people we can see two different powers working toward their healing: Jesus’ infinite power, and the power of faith in the sick person.  Jesus can do anything He wants (of course), but often He chooses to use our faith as well when heals our bodies or our souls.

Jesus says, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.”  The person full of faith should be happy to know that he or she will have much done for them due to their great faith.  The person who lacks strong faith will be disappointed to know that he or she will receive little due to their little faith.  How strong is our faith?  If we wish to grow in our faith, there are a handful of good ways.  Two very important ones are: 1) to ask God for Faith sincerely in prayer, and 2) to rely on God often in small situations that will build our faith “muscles” so that we can eventually ask with great faith. 

As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

Matthew 7:21,24-27 – Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, 'will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

(Parent)  Reread this part a few times aloud

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them…”

 (Parent)  Read this meditation aloud to the family

Jesus talks about the necessity of hearing the word of God and acting upon it.  Hearing and acting.  Every day we need to take time to listen to God.  Listening to God is a necessity for entering the Kingdom of heaven.  Reading the Scriptures (especially the Gospels) is a wonderful way to listen to God.  But the other necessary thing for entering the Kingdom of Heaven is acting.

When practicing this type of prayer we are doing now (“mental prayer” or “Christian meditation”), many of the saints emphasize the importance of making a “resolution” at the prayer’s end.  That way we take what we have heard and we consider a way (we resolve) to put it into action.  That is why at the end of prayer we usually make a suggestion of something to do.  In this way our lives become one with our prayer.  The saints lived their lives listening to God and putting His words into action afterward.  Guess what?  With this type of prayer, we are beginning to live as the saints did (and do)—putting into action what we have heard from God.  Think of a simple way we can apply this prayer today in our actions.         

 As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

Matthew 15:29-37– At that time: Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see, and they glorified the God of Israel.

Jesus summoned his disciples and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way." The disciples said to him, "Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" "Seven," they replied, "and a few fish." He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over--seven baskets full. 

 (Parent)  Reread this part a few times aloud

“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd…”

(Parent)  Read this meditation aloud to the family

Jesus’ heart is “moved with pity for the crowd” following Him in the Gospel.  They have been following Jesus for days and they don’t have any food.  Jesus notices their need and He provides enough food so they can eat until they are satisfied.  We should be like that crowd.  Our first concern should be to follow Jesus.  If we lack anything, He will notice and He will provide for us.    

When Jesus is asked by the first disciples, “Where are you going?” He answers, “Come and see.”  Later He would say to some of them, “Follow me.”  As disciples today, we are watching Jesus in the Gospel every day so that we can learn how to follow Him.  This should be our concern: to follow Jesus.  But Jesus has a different concern: to take care of us.  Jesus will notice our needs (money, jobs, friendships, problems, etc.) and He will provide.

As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

Luke 10:21-24 Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." Turning to the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you  see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

(Parent)  Reread this part a few times aloud

“Many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it…”

 (Parent)  Read this meditation aloud to the family

We Catholics are so blessed!  Many people (even “prophets and kings”) have longed to see what we see, and to hear what we hear.  People have deeply longed to hear: “you are forgiven” (like we can in Confession), or to hear a clear teaching on what is right and wrong (like we can from the pope and the Church’s magisterium), or to hear an answer to the mystery of suffering (like we can from the Cross)!   Many people have longed to see Christ’s flesh (like we can in the Eucharist), or to see people who are truly good (like we can in the saints), or to see an institution last (like we can in our 2,000-year Church history)!  We have what others don’t have.

We must not take our Catholic Faith for granted.  It is a gift—one of our very greatest ones!  We must use it well!

As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)

Monday of the First Week of Advent

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

Matthew 8:5-11 - When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." He said to him, "I will come and cure him." The centurion said in reply, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven."

(Parent)  Reread this part a few times aloud

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”

 (Parent)  Read this meditation aloud to the family

We have all heard this phrase before.  The last sentence that we utter before receiving Communion is taken from this passage.  How remarkable! This man actually amazes the infinite God!  And this isn’t because he is especially good, but because he is especially humble.  He knows that none of us receives God because we deserve to receive Him.  We can never deserve Him.  We receive God because God wants to give Himself to us!

Humility isn’t about not accepting compliments. Humility is about admitting and accepting who and what we are.  We are people who desperately need God, but who certainly do not deserve to have Him come and be one with us.  This makes Christ’s act of giving His life so precious to us—He didn’t need to do it.  Next time we receive the Eucharist, let’s all close our eyes and spend some time thanking God for the gift of Himself—a gift He isn’t obliged to give us.  

 As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)

First Sunday of Advent (C)

Read this Gospel passage aloud to the family

Luke 21:25-28, 34-26 Jesus said to his disciples: "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand."
"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man."

(Parent) Reread this part a few times aloud

“Be vigilant at all times and pray…”

(Parent) Read this meditation aloud to the family

In order to keep our hearts from becoming drowsy and fading away from God, Jesus suggests that we be watchful and prayerful.  We have to be very watchful to guard our faith.  Our world is very dangerous, with many traps for Christians and many attacks on the family.  Parents must be very intentional about how they raise their children.  Children must be able to see a clear faith and morality in the example of their parents.

Parents must guide their children into spiritual safety.  They must be as aware of spiritual dangers as they are of physical dangers to their children.  Though they must give appropriate freedom, parents also must be vigilant about TV and movies, internet use, children’s friends (and their families), what’s taught at school, how their daughters dress, etc.  Frequent, engaged conversation between children and parents is a great help.  When can we take time to talk about life a bit each day?

As a family, pray a portion of the Rosary together (very short if children are young) reflecting on the Scripture passage above. (Optional: allow a brief time for discussion or questions from children concerning their thoughts and prayer.)