Stations of the Cross Reflections - Keating Archives - Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

Episode 5 -Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating –  Deacon Keating guides us through the 12th station (Jesus dies on the Cross), the 13th station (Jesus is taken down from the Cross and laid in the arms of His mother), and the 14th station (Jesus is placed in the tomb) along the Way of the Cross.

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO. 

Deacon Keating is also the author of:

From the book description:

Deacon James Keating’s book Abiding in Christ: Staying with God in a Busy World is a how-to-pray resource. This book helps readers to find a quiet space wherein they can be present to God and offers suggestions of how they can be more open to God s movement within them.

The post SC-5 – The 12th, 13th, and 14th Stations – Stations of the Cross with Deacon James Keating appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Reflecting and deeply meditating on the Passion of the Christ, Deacon Keating guides us through the 9th station (Jesus fall a 3rd time), the 10th station (Jesus is stripped of His garments), and the 11th station (Jesus is nailed to the Cross) along the Way of the Cross.

Deacon James Keating reflects on the ninth station, where Christ falls for the third time, as a moment that mirrors the exhaustion and discouragement people encounter in their own suffering. Lying on the ground beneath the weight of the cross, Christ enters fully into the experience of repeated failure and weakness. Even when suffering returns after one thought it had passed, Christ remains present in that place of collapse. Rising again comes through the love shared between the Father and the Son, a communion that also lives within the baptized. From that interior relationship with God, a person can rise again and continue living out their vocation despite fatigue, pain, or disappointment.

In the following stations, Christ’s stripping and crucifixion reveal a profound surrender. When he is stripped of his garments, his vulnerability exposes both human innocence and the contrast with humanity’s guilt, recalling the difference between Adam hiding in shame and Christ standing openly before the world. The crucifixion deepens this self-gift as Christ’s wounds become openings through which love is poured out. Personal wounds can also become places where God works most deeply, transforming suffering into holiness and communion with him. Rather than hiding pain, bringing it to Christ allows those wounds to become reminders of a history shared with God, where suffering becomes a path to intimacy rather than isolation.

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

The post SC-4 – The 9th, 10th, and 11th Stations – Stations of the Cross with Deacon James Keating appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

The Stations of the Cross – one of the most powerful devotionals alive in the heart of the Church. Reflecting and deeply meditating on the Passion of the Christ, Deacon Keating guides us through the 6th station (Veronica wipes the face of Jesus), the 7th station (Jesus falls a 2nd time), and the 8th station (Jesus encounters the women of Jerusalem) along the Way of the Cross.

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

The post SC-3 – The 6th, 7th, and 8th Stations – Stations of the Cross with Deacon James Keating appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Episode 2 -Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating 

For other episodes in the “Stations of the Cross” series click here

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO. 

Deacon Keating is also the author of:

From the book description:

Deacon James Keating’s book Abiding in Christ: Staying with God in a Busy World is a how-to-pray resource. This book helps readers to find a quiet space wherein they can be present to God and offers suggestions of how they can be more open to God s movement within them.

The post SC-2 – The 3rd and 4th Stations – Stations of the Cross with Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Deacon James Keating reflects on the Stations of the Cross as a profound meditation on Christ’s suffering and its connection to human woundedness. Through this devotion, believers unite their burdens with Christ, allowing His love to transform their struggles into a path of salvation. The first station, Jesus’ condemnation, reveals His silent acceptance of injustice, a model for enduring suffering in communion with God. Pilate represents those who reject truth for self-preservation, while Jesus remains steadfast in His mission. His silence before Pilate and His choice to embrace the cross demonstrate perfect love, teaching that God enters even the darkest places of human suffering to ensure no one is abandoned.

As Jesus receives the cross, Dcn. Keating highlights medieval writings that portray Him as willingly taking it, seeing it as the culmination of His love for humanity. His embrace of suffering stands in contrast to human tendencies to resist crosses in life. The lack of compassion from those placing the cross on Him reflects the tendency to project guilt onto others rather than face personal sin. Jesus receives every aspect of human experience, including jeers and rejection, so that all may be reconciled in His love.

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

The post SC-1 – 1st & 2nd Stations of the Cross: Reflections w/ Deacon James Keating Ph.D. – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Deacon James Keating reflects on the Stations of the Cross as a profound meditation on Christ’s suffering and its connection to human woundedness. Through this devotion, believers unite their burdens with Christ, allowing His love to transform their struggles into a path of salvation. The first station, Jesus’ condemnation, reveals His silent acceptance of injustice, a model for enduring suffering in communion with God. Pilate represents those who reject truth for self-preservation, while Jesus remains steadfast in His mission. His silence before Pilate and His choice to embrace the cross demonstrate perfect love, teaching that God enters even the darkest places of human suffering to ensure no one is abandoned.

As Jesus receives the cross, Dcn. Keating highlights medieval writings that portray Him as willingly taking it, seeing it as the culmination of His love for humanity. His embrace of suffering stands in contrast to human tendencies to resist crosses in life. The lack of compassion from those placing the cross on Him reflects the tendency to project guilt onto others rather than face personal sin. Jesus receives every aspect of human experience, including jeers and rejection, so that all may be reconciled in His love.

Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

The post SC-1 – The 1st and 2nd Stations – Stations of the Cross with Deacon James Keating – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.