In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo shares a reflection on working for God, inspired by the homily given by Saint Josemaria on February 6, 1960. Fr. Javier poses three important questions for us to consider as we approach work each day:

Do we work for Christ?

We see in the beginning passages of Scripture that God gave man and woman the vocation to work – to till the garden. We are each called to put our talents at the service of God. Work itself is not to be seen as the end, but rather, to be seen as the means to pray, sacrifice, and give glory to God.

Do we work in Christ?

Christ, the source of love, spent his hidden years working. He spent this time working out of love for his heavenly Father as well as out of love for each one of us. By his example, Christ shows that we are called to sanctify the task at hand through the grace given to us by God. If we work out of love, we will see the fruit of our labor in heaven. As we work closely with God, we are slowly transformed and begin to reflect the love of Christ to others.

Do we work through Christ?

As we are transformed by the love of Christ, our daily actions slowly move away from being a choice of habit to being a choice of free will. Working through Christ creates in us the awareness for whom we are working as well as the reason behind our work.

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This Sunday, the Church celebrates the Feast of Pentecost, recognized as the birthday of the Church, in which the apostles received an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and were inspired to go out and share the faith in a radical way.

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on recognizing the importance of the Holy Spirit within our own life. The Holy Spirit helps us discern the personal message of Pentecost to all of us who want to follow Christ and live the Gospel to the full. We must take to heart the final words of Christ, “to go out and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). In the account of Pentecost, those gathered not only heard the Gospel message proclaimed in their own language, but they witnessed the love of Christ shown to them through the apostles.

As we seek to lead others to Christ, we must do so not just in words but also through our witness of the love of Christ. The Holy Spirit works through us to move the hearts of others and lead them into an encounter with Christ.

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“And Mary said, behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word.” (Lk 1:38)

A Spiritual Retreat in the Footsteps of Mary guides us through the life of Mary as we seek to renew and transform our own life of faith through prayer. Following in Mary’s example of responding to God’s call to love and serve unconditionally, we are each called to reach that same height of holiness. As you listen to this retreat, you will be able to reflect with Mary upon the key moments the Holy Spirit impacted her life, culminating with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Mary, along with the apostles, were radically transformed by the Holy Spirit. Through spending time on retreat and allowing ourselves time to converse with God, we are allowing ourselves the opportunity to be transformed by the work of the Spirit so that we may faithfully continue on our journey toward heaven.

A Spiritual Retreat in the Footsteps of Mary is a collection of ten meditations preached by Rev. Javier del Castillo, priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei and Vice President of the St. Josemaria Institute. Access the full retreat online.

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On today's podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo sets the stage for a five-part series on The Road to Emmaus.

In the Scripture passage, we see that the disciples do not make it all the way to Emmaus. This is a sign of their own conversion as they were running away from the events they had witnessed. In their eyes, they were let down. Christ was supposed to liberate them from the Romans, but as a result of the crucifixion, their Savior looks like a fraud. In the eyes of these two disciples, Christ wasn’t supposed to die, he was supposed to win.

This Gospel scene challenges us to ask ourselves: Are we running away from something? What is our idea of salvation? Are we looking for safety or an “insurance policy”? What you read in the Gospel “is something that you should not only hear, but live. Everything, every point that is told there, has been gathered, detail by detail, for you to make it come alive in the individual circumstances of your life” (The Forge, no. 754). Saints find their mission in the Gospel. We see so many people in the world today running away from something and trying to “escape” in sinful ways. Deep down, we are longing for something greater. Where do we place our hope? The Gospel story needs to be repeated in each one of us. Christ seeks each of us out and radiates his love to us. Are we willing to let him find us?

Additional information on the series can be found online: https://stjosemaria.org/product/a-spiritual-retreat-on-the-road-to-emmaus/.

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In this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan recounts the story of the resurrection as told in the Gospel of Easter Sunday and to which the Apostles became witnesses and used as the basis for their preaching. This passage leads us to reflect on gratitude and our own relationship with Christ. We are encouraged to foster a spirit of gratitude, knowing that Christ loves each one of us and freely gave himself up so that we might have life and live it to the full. From this spirit of gratitude, we can strengthen our desire to grow in our relationship with Christ and never lose the conviction that, through the power of the Resurrection, Christ is always present with us. Love calls for love in return. As we think of Christ, we should recall the love that led him to pour out so many graces upon us.

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In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the Gospel passage of the Passion of Christ (Luke 22:14-23:56) which is read on Palm Sunday. During this time, the Church invites her people to focus directly on the suffering of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The longer Gospel readings help us to honor Christ’s request to “keep watch and pray” with him as he asked the Apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane. In this scene, we prayerfully rediscover God’s love for us expressed through his humanity and sacrifice on the cross. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we see his love poured out for us and discover the meaning in the crosses that he invites us to bear.

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In this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan shares a reflection on the gift of mercy as seen through the Gospel of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). This Gospel passage leads us to reflect inward and ask ourselves: how quickly do we pass judgement on others without even realizing it?

The main goal of Satan is to create division among people, whether it be a family, a church community or an entire society. The main antidote to this divisiveness and negativity is mercy. Mercy is God’s free gift to us as his children and it allows us to reunite with one another. Pope St. John Paul II explains that every human being is a neighbor to be loved. If we have to ask ourselves “who is my neighbor?”, then we are already setting limits and conditions. Instead, the question we should seek to ask is: “to whom should I become a neighbor?” We must love our neighbors as ourselves and show mercy to all those around us.

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The St. Josemaria Institute has partnered with iPray with the Gospel to bring the popular daily Gospel reflections to life on our podcast. iPray with the Gospel is helpful for those who want to use the Gospel for their daily conversation with Jesus Christ.

[ Transcript ]

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On the Fourth Sunday of Lent, also known as Laetare Sunday, the Church marks the half-way point through the season of Lent. In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio renews in us a desire to grow in almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Lent revolves around the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, which is the greatest form of self-emptying and self-love. We, as followers of Christ, must embrace the cross and come to know Christ through sharing in His self-emptying.

We come to know Christ more deeply through almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. Although all three components go hand in hand, Fr. Armenio explains that without almsgiving, prayer and fasting will not work as almsgiving is the animating force behind prayer and fasting. We must live out the works of mercy and seek to love those around us, beginning first with our family and expanding to our friends and those we encounter each day. We must always be able to give a witness to the love of Christ.

Fr. Armenio also explains the importance of prayer and fasting, drawing upon the time Christ spent in the desert. Following in this example, we must create a time for silence with our Lord which allows us the opportunity to be refueled in the love of Christ. By spending time receiving the love of Christ, we are then able to go out and share the love of Christ with others. Similarly, we must look inward at our life and ask: how can we deny ourselves to draw closer to the Lord? By taking up fasting, we receive the grace to fight temptation and turn our attention toward the heart of Christ.

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The St. Josemaria Institute has partnered with iPray with the Gospel to bring the popular daily Gospel reflections to life on our podcast. iPray with the Gospel is helpful for those who want to use the Gospel for their daily conversation with Jesus Christ.

[ Transcript ]

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