Taste & See

In the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), Jesus invites us to prepare for His coming by cultivating a personal relationship with Him that cannot be borrowed or shared. Drawing from an unexpected encounter with a spiritual director during a silent retreat, Zac explores how we sometimes try to put God's reckless love into a box, forgetting that He desires to surprise us and encounter us on His own terms. Discover how the oil of the wise virgins represents our union with God, how that relationship sets our hearts ablaze with charity, and why we must keep our lamps burning as we await the Bridegroom.

Reflection Questions:

1. Do I sometimes try to put God in a box, expecting Him to work according to my plans, preferences, and schedule?
2. Am I more focused on doing the works of God or on cultivating my relationship with the God of works?
3. If Jesus, the Bridegroom, came to meet me today, would He recognize me as someone who truly knows Him? What would I want to change about my relationship with Him before that day comes?

Here's the link to the text of the meditation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR0ddGrUwwcOqpoPVstPaAxwZ-6roq3q2J11STBPezM/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

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For the Solemnity of All Saints, Zac reflects on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-12a, focusing on "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled," and explains that this hunger is less about social causes than a deep desire for what is right in God's sight. Drawing on his Marquette years, when he admired friends who served the homeless by day yet filled a "God-sized hole" with alcohol and casual relationships at night, he argues that our pain is a compass leading us to the Eucharist, the only food that truly satisfies and the source from which real justice flows into the world. The episode closes with an Examen on what our hearts are truly hungry for and where we've sought to fill that hunger with created things, inviting listeners to become saints who never stop searching for the food that always satisfies.

Reflection Questions:

1. Thinking about the last time you were hungry or thirsty, how did it affect your patience, your focus, and the way you treated others, and what does that reveal about your spiritual hungers?
2. What is your heart most hungry for at this season of your life, such as approval, rest, security, or love, and where have you been going to satisfy it?
3. All Saints honors holy people who were never canonized, like grandparents, friends, and distant relatives. Who is a "hidden saint" in your life, and what did their holiness look like in ordinary days?

Here's a link to the text of the examen: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LQaT-mMj7ofwlrolvhnl4bBI7z-_DT5QBTAi5J1f-z8/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

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Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

For the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on Matthew 22:34-40, where Jesus names the greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind," and a second like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Drawing on the painful week he spent hiding the news that he was being sent home from seminary in Kenya, including a basketball game he played without his whole heart, he shows how sin and wounds leave our hearts divided, and how Christ's mercy in confession and the Eucharist makes them whole so we can love with His heart. The episode closes with a meditation in which Jesus speaks to the listener as a mother who knows every wound, inviting them to trade their restlessness and divided heart for His own.

Reflection Questions:

1. Zac describes a divided heart as a broken one, like shattered glass. What are the "pieces" currently pulling your heart in different directions?
2. In the meditation, Jesus says you are never alone behind a locked door. When have you felt most alone in your pain, and what would it mean to believe He was already there?
3. Zac points to confession and the Eucharist as where our hearts are made whole. What is one concrete step you could take this week to bring your heart to Christ there?

Here's the link to the text of the meditation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qe5X-AsWhG41StvNc4wMbiYcJvitxHeVXRAxP-tR_Xw/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music

Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

For the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on Matthew 22:15-21, where the Pharisees' disciples try to trap Jesus over paying taxes to Caesar and He answers, "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Drawing on his recent pilgrimage to Assisi, he asks what bears God's image if the coin bears Caesar's, and answers that we do, through our intellect and free will, using St. Francis stripping himself before his father and the bishop as a "living coin" stamped with his identity as a son of God. Since we can't give what we don't possess, Zac says giving ourselves to God means first possessing ourselves in love rather than fear, and the episode closes with a meditation in which Jesus, seeing the Pharisees' disciples approach, forgives them in advance and calls them to remember they bear His Father's image.

Reflection Questions:

1. We cannot give what we do not possess. What keeps you from fully possessing yourself, whether fear, anxiety, or the need for approval?
2. Francis stripped himself of everything in front of his whole town. What are you most reluctant to let go of in order to trust God as your provider?
3. We are warned against thinking life is a choice between "God or the world." Where do you feel pulled between the two, and what would it look like to give each its due?

Here's a link to the text of the meditation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XkSs4cPAHxG9Ti73yO0UkRnivjRfKPCNvyw7m4LdnGM/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music

Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

For the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on Matthew 21:33-43, the parable of the wicked tenants who kill the landowner's servants and finally his son, showing how Jesus told this hard parable to the chief priests and elders not to condemn them but to bring them to contrition, just as Fr. Frank once led a hardened penitent to tears by describing her sins as thorns pressed into Christ's head. Zac says that sin is never just rule-breaking but a personal wound inflicted on someone who loves us, and that even the tenants in the parable could have been welcomed back to the landowner's banquet had they repented. The episode closes with an Examen guiding listeners through gratitude, an honest review of where they served God or wounded Christ that day, a moment of receiving forgiveness, and a resolve to love Christ better tomorrow.

Reflection Questions:

1. Fr. Frank described sin as a thorn pressed into Christ's head. Does thinking of your sins as personally wounding someone who loves you change how you view them?
2. Jesus tells this parable as an act of mercy, not condemnation. Have you ever experienced a hard truth from someone as love rather than judgment?
3. The parable ends with the vineyard given to "a nation producing its fruit." What fruit do you sense God is currently asking you to produce in your own life?

Here's a link to the text of the examen: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hj8oe6AMrTL-qpn6Q4hSdT9002xjxdDo4U0z67WPXps/edit?usp=sharing

Here's my email if you want to reach out with your prayer intentions: [email protected]

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

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Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

For the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21: 28-32), unpacking why Jesus told the chief priests and elders that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom before them — because contrition and a changed heart matter more than outward piety. He grounds this in his years as a missionary in Kenya, recalling a single mother who prostituted herself to feed her children, and argues that people sin not to spread evil but because they've forgotten who they are and are searching for love in the wrong places. The episode closes with a first-person meditation from Matthew himself, recounting the childhood bullying and paternal rejection that drove him to tax collecting, and his tearful gratitude at hearing Jesus declare that sinners like him were entering the Kingdom first.

Reflection Questions:

1. Jesus says the first son, who initially refused but later obeyed, did his father's will. Where in your life have you said no to God but eventually changed course?
2. St. Augustine's quote — "those who are lost in their passion are less lost than those who have lost their passion" — what do you make of that paradox?
3. The second son said yes but never went. Where in your own life is there a gap between what you say you believe and what you actually do?

Here's a link to the text of the meditation for you to pray with: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JM6BzaPYj4fMgYIvFXsY0vDFxLLaBJDLYhdLsK3PZNk/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music

Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

For the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on the parable of the workers in the vineyard, using a childhood memory of sibling rivalry over a Capri Sun to illustrate the difference between demanding what's "fair" and receiving what's freely given in love. He contrasts the grumbling laborer's focus on the dignity of work with the landowner's focus on the dignity of the person, arguing that God pursues each of us at different hours of life not to reward effort but to lift us into our own dignity through grace. The episode closes with a first-person meditation from Benjamin, a resentful laborer numbing a childhood wound with wine, who is confronted by the landowner's piercing question — "Are you envious because I am generous?" — and left transformed.

Reflection Questions:

1. The landowner sought out the idle laborers rather than waiting for them to come to him. Where have you experienced God pursuing you before you were looking for Him?
2. The parable shows God working alongside the laborers, not just directing from afar. Does your image of God feel more like a distant boss or a co-laborer?
3. Are you, right now, more like the grumbling laborer or the late-arriving one — and what would it look like to take one honest step toward holiness from wherever you are?

Here is the link to the text of the meditation to bring into your personal prayer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JzWWqgOhNVBH3UVTE-L-4ghDOdYfv1tS1_goVfBilzo/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music

Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

For the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, marking the podcast's 100th episode, Zac unpacks the parable of the unforgiving servant, using the true story of St. Maria Goretti's deathbed forgiveness of her killer to show how even our deepest wounds are a "smaller debt" compared to the infinite debt of sin God has already forgiven us. He explains why genuine contrition is what moves God's mercy at confession, and why receiving that mercy is meant to transform how we treat those who've wronged us. The episode closes with an original first-person meditation voiced by Noam, the unforgiving servant, who speaks from a place of torment and pleads with the listener not to repeat his mistake of letting mercy touch his eyes but never his heart.

Reflection Questions:

1. Is there someone in your life you've said "I can never forgive them for that" about? What would it take to revisit that conviction?
2. "We have a debt we could not pay, so He paid a debt He did not owe." Sit with that line — what's your honest reaction to it?
3. If Christ asked you today, as He asked the unforgiving servant, "Shouldn't you also have had mercy?" — who would come to mind first?

Here's the link to the meditation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TvpJnX-WjvdIphZQe9d25jQkv4aF_38pwmNiqPWJGto/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music

Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

For the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on Matthew 18:15-20 and the practice of fraternal correction, arguing that Jesus' opening words — "if your brother" — mean correction only makes sense once we first recognize the other person as family. Drawing on his own relationship with his adopted sister, who has distanced herself from the faith and hurt him deeply, Zac reframes spiritual siblinghood not as a given based on likeness but as an adoption that holds regardless of how the other person acts or looks. He ties this to the sacrament of reconciliation and the Mass as places where "two or three gathered" in Christ's name make His presence real, closing with a meditation in which Christ speaks identity and belovedness directly over the listener before calling them to extend that same mercy to others.

Reflection Questions:

1. Before you've ever tried to correct someone, do you first see them as a brother or sister — or as a stranger who happens to be near you?
2. Fraternal correction is meant to flow from love, not from the "emotional sharpness of a knife." Think of a recent correction you gave or received — which was it closer to?
3. Mufasa tells Simba, "Remember who you are." What has caused you to forget your identity as a son or daughter of God lately, and what might help you remember it?

Here's the link to the text of the meditation to bring into your personal prayer and go deeper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11sFeeNHXn8EbfGGuy53U9TqG1p0-pjekzaLj2YXqV5w/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music

Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

Reflecting on Matthew 16:21-27, Zac recounts getting sick right before his friend Vince's funeral, forcing him to skip singing in the choir he'd hoped to honor Vince with, and how his frustration at being sidelined mirrored Peter's rebuke of Jesus for embracing suffering. Recognizing himself in Peter's "Get behind me, Satan" moment, Zac realized he had been treating his illness as an obstacle to be resisted rather than a cross to be received as a gift from God. The episode closes with an Ignatian-style Examen guiding listeners to reflect on their own recent crosses, how they reacted to them, and one small resolution to receive suffering differently going forward.

Reflection Questions:

1. Where in your life have you said, in effect, "Get behind me" to a suffering or inconvenience God may be using to draw you closer to Him?
2. Zac says most spiritual lessons have to be "relearned in different contexts." What's a lesson you thought you'd already learned that God is asking you to go deeper into?
3. What's one small, concrete resolve you can make tomorrow to receive God's gift of the cross more readily?

⁠Here's a link⁠ to the text of the Examen we prayed this week: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mrcgTAxB7UKCKMb0R8VnetvtNUiWw1-vRoaw5JUmIMc/edit?usp=sharing

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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs ⁠here⁠.

The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.

Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music

Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A