Freedom is not doing whatever one wants. Sure, the world tells people that being able to do that is freeing. Yet the things the world calls freeing are sometimes the very things that become the snares we get stuck in, keeping us from God.

SHOW NOTES — REFERENCES & CALLBACKS

Callback: Episode 1 — Our Longing to Be Happy (the younger son's departure, the far country, "when he came to himself").

Luke 15:12 — "Father, give me the share of property that falls to me." (RSV-CE)

Luke 15:17 — "when he came to himself." (RSV-CE)

Luke 15:18 — "I will arise and go to my father." (RSV-CE)

Matthew 11:29 — "Take my yoke upon you." (this Sunday's Gospel, RSV-CE)

St. Augustine, Confessions 1.1.1 — "Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee." (trans. F. J. Sheed)

Catechism of the Catholic Church §1733 — freedom ordered to the good (paraphrased in the reflection).

Pope Leo XIII, Libertas Praestantissimum (1888), §6 — the possibility of sinning is not freedom but slavery; the sinner "is moved by another." (The argument the Catechism §1733 line compresses.)

Pope Leo XIII, Libertas Praestantissimum (1888), §11 — God's law does not diminish liberty but "protects and perfects it"; God is the end our freedom is made for.

Pope Leo XIII, Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae (1899) — Leo cites this Sunday's Gospel, "Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart" (Matt. 11:29), as the precept given to every age. (Leo's older rendering; the episode keeps the RSV-CE "Take my yoke upon you.")

The words we hear in the Gospel on Sunday about loving others are the same words Jesus asks St. Peter after the Resurrection. They are words asked of us as well. Do we love Him more than all these others?

We close up a week of looking at one of the messages from the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The message not to fear has been a thread throughout the week, and we end it with an example of the Blessed Mother.

SHOW NOTES

Readings: Lamentations 2:2, 10–14, 18–19; Psalm 74:1–2, 3–5, 6–7, 20–21; Matthew 8:5–17 (NABRE). Voices: St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine (Catena Aurea); St. John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater 13. Saturday Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary (optional memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria also available). Full readings at USCCB (June 27, 2026).

I want to begin some reflections on the Prodigal Son. Yesterday was a good entry point for this. All of us have this interior hunger to be happy, to find fulfillment. Listen to this as the start of several reflections on this topic.

SHOW NOTES

- Luke 15:11–32 — The Parable of the Prodigal Son (central text)

- Luke 15:12 — "Father, give me the share of property that falls to me."

- Luke 15:17 — "when he came to himself"

- Luke 15:18 — "I will arise and go to my father"

- St. Augustine, Confessions 1.1.1 — "Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee." (trans. F. J. Sheed, Hackett)

So what's with the new name? Transformed By Christ is not the first name that my podcasting career has gone under. Well, there is a reason why I decided to go a different route. Some of you know why, others do not. I take some time in this episode to explain some of the reasoning and what to expect from me going forward.

I felt it was fitting to explain this, along with a reflection on the foundation we build our houses on.

SHOW NOTES

 Readings:2 Kings 24:8–17 (the fall of Jerusalem); Psalm 79; Matthew 7:21–29 (NABRE).Cross-reference: 1 Corinthians 10:4 (“the rock was Christ”). Callback:Wednesday’s episode on John the Baptist and the hidden desert years (Isaiah49:2, the polished arrow in the quiver). Voices: St. Augustine, St. Jerome(Catena Aurea); Pope Francis on the “speak-listen binomial” vs. “listening anddoing.” Full readings at USCCB (June 25, 2026).

Celebrating the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, we look to the vocation he was given; to point the way to Jesus - fearlessly. How does this apply to us? What parts of our vocation could be similar?

SHOW NOTES

Readings: Isaiah 49:1–6; Psalm 139:1–3, 13–15; Acts 13:22–26; Luke 1:57–66, 80 (NABRE). Voice: St. Augustine, Sermo 293 (the Office of Readings sermon for this Solemnity). Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Mass during the Day). Full readings at USCCB (June 24, 2026).

Continuing to build on the 12th Sunday and its message not to be afraid, we look at Hezekiah when he faces threats meant to instill fear. He prays. See what he does.

SHOW NOTES

Readings: 2 Kings 19; Psalm 48; Matthew 7:6, 12–14 Voices: St. John Chrysostom, St. Cyprian, Pseudo-Chrysostom (Catena Aurea) Full readings at USCCB (June 23, 2026)

What does it mean when Jesus says He came to bring the sword? What is being attacked? Answer: The false sense of peace we might be hiding in, or the things in our lives that don't belong, and never did. The more we say yes to Christ, the more we open ourselves to change, the more the words from the Gospel cut to our hearts and through the wrong things that our hearts are connected to.

SHOW NOTES

Readings: 1 Peter 4:12–19; Psalm 126; Matthew 10:34–39 (NABRE). Voices: St. Jerome, St. John Chrysostom (Catena Aurea). Memorial of Sts. John Fisher and Thomas More, martyrs (June 22 — the day of Fisher's martyrdom). Full readings at USCCB (June 22, 2026).

Jesus tells the disciples not to be afraid multiple times. Not that the situations they might face would be frightening, but that none of them should allow themselves to be conquered by fear. Fear can be paralyzing in a way and be one of the things that keep us from trusting that God is there with us.

SHOW NOTES

Readings: Jeremiah 20:10–13; Psalm 69; Romans 5:12–15; Matthew 10:26–33 (NABRE). Voices: St. Jerome, St. John Chrysostom (Catena Aurea); Dei Verbum 1. Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. Full readings at USCCB (June 21, 2026).

The last words spoken at Mass can also be among the most overlooked. "Go forth." or “Go in peace.” By the time those words are spoken, a lot of us have already left — mentally, at least. We are running through the grocery list, other lists, where to go for brunch, or do you have plans to watch Football anywhere? What if there was more to do after the dismissal of every Mass?

SHOW NOTES

The papal thread: Sunday Mass sends the faithful into mission, and the Word heard in the liturgy is meant to become charity, witness, conversion, and concrete Christian living during the week. Sources: St. John Paul II, Dies Domini (1998), incl. "From Mass to Mission"; Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini (2010); Pope Francis, General Audience on the Mass (2018); Pope Francis, Homily for the Sunday of the Word of God (2024); Vatican note on the Sunday ofthe Word of God. Motto line: "The Word of God enters through the ears, goes to the heart, and passes to the hands in order to do good deeds." — Pope Francis (2018).