The Discerning Hearts Blog Archives - Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

In this episode of Building a Kingdom of Love, Msgr. John Esseff turns to the reality of sin and the healing power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The battle between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness isn’t only visible in war, violence, and suffering throughout the world. That same struggle reaches into every human heart. Msgr. Esseff asks how we recognize what separates us from Christ and recover the grace and union with Him that God desires for us. His answer leads directly to Confession, a sacrament he believes is greatly needed in the Church and the world today.

But preparing for Confession requires more than making a mental inventory of mistakes. Msgr. Esseff distinguishes a Christian examination of conscience from simple introspection or self-judgment. The Holy Spirit helps us see where our thoughts, words, actions, and omissions have interrupted our communion with Christ. Humility isn’t self-condemnation. It is the recognition that without Christ, we can do nothing and that our lives depend completely upon His grace. The examination of conscience, therefore, takes place before the merciful gaze of God, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal what keeps us from loving with the Heart of Christ.

Msgr. Esseff then considers jealousy and envy as examples of how the Sacrament of Reconciliation can lead us beneath individual sins to a deeper spiritual wound. Gossip, comparison, competition, resentment, and division may all grow from the same root. Rather than continually “cutting off the tail of the snake,” Confession can help expose the capital sin at its head. As Christ heals that root, we become freer to rejoice in the gifts of others, recognize Christ in our neighbor, and see others with His eyes of love. The sacrament becomes a place not simply for naming sins, but for deeper conversion and growth in union with Jesus

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30, 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served as a retreat director and confessor to St. Teresa of Calcutta. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical Missions, a Catholic organization established by St. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world, especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and serves as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests, and sisters, seminarians, and other religious leaders around the world.

The post SH11 – The Sacred Heart, Sin, and Confession – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.

Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”

Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…

From the Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.

What word made this passage come alive for you?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.

What did your heart feel as you listened?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.

What touched your heart in this time of prayer?

What did your heart feel as you prayed?

What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

 but deliver us from evil.

Amen

The post Sunday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

In this episode of The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart, Kris McGregor reflects on the last letter of St. Teresa of Calcutta to the Missionaries of Charity, dated September 5, 1997, the day Mother Teresa died.

At the end of her life, St. Teresa returns to the spiritual truths she had spent years teaching her sisters: remain close to Jesus and Mary, live with loving trust and total surrender, listen to the thirst of Christ, and recognize Jesus in the people placed before you.

Her words, “Be only all for Jesus through Mary,” open a reflection on what it means to give the whole of life to Christ. Prayer, work, relationships, disappointments, responsibilities, and even circumstances we would never have chosen can become places of surrender and grace.

St. Teresa points to Mary as the model of this trusting response. Mary receives the word of God without being shown everything that will follow from her yes. Her fiat becomes a reminder that God often gives enough grace for the next faithful step rather than revealing the whole road ahead.

At the center of St. Teresa’s spirituality is the cry of Jesus from the Cross: “I thirst.” She understood those words personally. Christ thirsts for souls and for our love. Standing with Mary beneath the Cross helps us hear that invitation and consider not only what we are asking of God, but what Jesus may be asking of us.

The letter closes with Mother Teresa’s joy over St. Thérèse of Lisieux being named a Doctor of the Church. She immediately recognizes the wisdom of the Little Way: holiness is often formed through ordinary duties, hidden sacrifices, patience, and small acts offered with great love.

St. Teresa of Calcutta and St. Thérèse lived very different vocations, but both remind us that sanctity is found in giving ourselves to God within the actual circumstances of daily life.

(5 September 1997)

St. Teresa of Calcutta

“Be only all for Jesus through Mary.”

“Loving Trust and Total Surrender made Our Lady say ‘Yes’ to the message of the angel.”

“It is only with Our Lady that we can hear Jesus cry, ‘I Thirst.’”

“So let us keep very small and follow Little Flower’s way of trust and love and joy.”

John 19:28, RSV-CE

“I thirst.”

Luke 1:38, RSV-CE

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

Luke 1:39, RSV-CE

“In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah.”

The post Only All for Jesus Through Mary – St. Teresa of Calcutta | The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

In this episode, Kris McGregor and David Scott discuss his book The Love That Made Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa’s life reveals that God is love, not in abstract terms but through tangible works of mercy. Anecdotes highlight her care for the sick, the dying, and the forgotten, showing love expressed in small but profound acts. Scott notes that her childhood—marked by her mother’s openness to the poor—helped shape this vision, and her vocation was further clarified through her “call within a call.” Mother Teresa’s “little way,” akin to St. Thérèse’s spirituality, demonstrated how holiness is lived through daily acts of generosity rather than grand gestures.

The book explores her toughness and courage, her kinship with figures like Dorothy Day, and the hidden sufferings she endured, including spiritual darkness. Scott frames her witness as God’s response to a century dominated by ideologies that devalued the human person—she embodied a “revolution of love” that countered worldly powers. Her legacy continues through the Missionaries of Charity and her enduring example of Matthew 25 lived out: feeding the hungry, comforting the afflicted, and recognizing Christ in those most difficult to love. The takeaway is simple yet demanding: to “do little things with great love,” allowing even small sacrifices in everyday life to transform hearts and the world.

The countless sweet photos of her smiling at babies showed Mother Teresa to be a single-minded advocate for the poor. But she was a woman with a will whose strength has been matched by few souls in history. Mother Teresa broke death’s stranglehold on the poor of Calcutta, and she showed us how to conquer the sin and darkness in what she called the “slums of the hearts of modern man.”

Part biography and part spiritual reading, these pages bring to light little-known stories from Mother Teresa’s life that will help you to grow in your love of God. You will learn her approach to reading Scripture, what enabled her to persevere through agonizing nights, and the remarkable — some would say mystical — events that led her to start the Missionaries of Charity.

In considering Mother Teresa, her private visions, and her secret sufferings, David Scott has discovered scores of early episodes and chance encounters that point to later, larger meanings. These remarkable patterns, he suggests, show that Mother Teresa’s life was choreographed from above, as if a divine script had been written for her from before her birth.

In these pages, you will meet for the first time the Mother Teresa who challenged the ancient Goddess of Death and became the first saint of our global village. You will read her long-secret letters describing the dark nights of her soul. The woman you will meet is one that God Himself sent to you as a clear sign that despite pain and suffering in our lives and in our world, God’s good love will prevail . . . beginning in the slums of our hearts.

We are all called to holiness, and the saints are sent to us as “real life” examples of God’s love. With Mother Teresa as your guide, you’ll learn how to follow God’s call and find holiness in a world marked by the shadow of death and growing indifference to God. Indeed, you’ll learn how to be an everyday missionary of Christ’s love in the ordinary activities of your daily life.

David Scott is the current Vice Chancellor of Communications in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and former Editor of Our Sunday Visitor. Scott has published several books, including studies of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and Dorothy Day. Hundreds of his essays and articles have appeared in journals and periodicals throughout the world, including the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, as well as National Review, Commonweal, Crisis, Inside the Vatican, National Catholic Register, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Beliefnet.com and elsewhere. Scott holds a master’s degree in religion and scripture from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

The post IP#254 David Scott – The Love That Made Mother Teresa on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Susan Conroy reflects on her friendship with Mother Teresa, which began when she was 21 and traveled to Calcutta to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity. She recalls the joy and peace that radiated from Mother Teresa’s presence, describing it as an encounter with holiness that overflowed into her own service among the poor and suffering. Susan highlights Mother Teresa’s humility, noting that despite global recognition and awards, she lived with deep self-forgetfulness, seeing herself only as a simple instrument in God’s hands. This humility revealed a profound truth about sanctity: greatness is found in becoming small, gentle, and surrendered to God’s will.

The discussion also explores the themes found in Susan’s book Praying with Mother Teresa, which shares the prayers and spiritual practices Mother Teresa lived daily. Mother Teresa taught that the first vocation of every person, including her own sisters, is to belong to Christ, and from that relationship flows the mission of serving others. She invites us to see their own “Calcutta” in family, home, and community, where acts of love, patience, and kindness are most needed. Through stories and insights, Susan conveys that Mother Teresa’s legacy is not merely admiration but imitation—living a mission of love rooted in humility, prayer, and closeness to Christ.

Praying with Mother Teresa brings us into the heart of Mother Teresa’s prayer life! Author Susan Conroy, a personal friend of Mother Teresa, gives us a meditative look at Mother Teresa’s insights on suffering, joy, peace, humility, and poverty, and brings us right into the prayer life of one of the most beloved women of our time, Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Each prayer has been carefully, and prayerfully, selected for use in daily prayer. Mother Teresa gave Susan her blessing and approval to share these words and prayers with others “to bring them peace and joy too.”

In the summer of 1986, 21-year-old Susan Conroy journeyed to Calcutta alone to help the Missionaries of Charity. She developed a personal friendship with Mother Teresa that lasted throughout the course of 11 years, until Mother Teresa was called home to God. Susan is the author of nine books, including bestselling Mother Teresa’s Lessons of Love & Secrets of Sanctity, and lives in Portland, Maine.

The post IP#303 – Susan Conroy – Praying with Mother Teresa on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

In this special encore, Msgr. Esseff reflects on his pilgrimage to Rome for the canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta. He shares personal stories about the journey, the people he encountered, and the profound spiritual experiences he had during the trip.

In his retelling, he describes how 16 pilgrims, many with personal connections to Mother Teresa, made their way to Rome. He recalls the challenges of the journey, particularly the intense heat, and how enduring those difficulties brought a deeper connection to God’s love, much like Mother Teresa’s own life of sacrifice and how her legacy continues to touch people worldwide, with her humble and selfless love acting as a powerful witness.

The canonization itself was a profound moment, with Msgr. Esseff consecrating himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a devotion encouraged by both Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. He reflects on the universality of the event, with people of all races and backgrounds uniting in faith. This gathering was reminiscent of Pentecost, with a shared sense of joy, love, and the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.

“Lord Jesus, merciful Face of the Father, you came to give us the Good News of the Father’s mercy and tenderness.

We pray, through her intercession, for the grace to experience your merciful love and share it in our own families, communities and with all our suffering brothers and sisters. Help us to give our “hearts to love and hands to serve” after the example of Mother Teresa. Lord Jesus, bless every member of our family, our parish, our diocese, our country, especially those most in need, that we all may be transformed by your merciful love. Amen.”

Text © Mother Teresa Center of the Missionaries of Charity

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton.  Msgr. Esseff served as a retreat director and confessor to Saint Teresa of Calcutta.  He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity.  Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him.  He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical missions, a Catholic organization established by Pope St. John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world, especially to the poor. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians, and other religious leaders.

The post Special Encore: The Canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

<span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span><span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span>

As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.

Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”

Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…

From the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke 6:1-5

One sabbath Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples were picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath day?’ Jesus answered them, ‘So you have not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God, took the loaves of offering and ate them and gave them to his followers, loaves which only the priests are allowed to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’

What word made this passage come alive for you?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:

One sabbath Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples were picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath day?’ Jesus answered them, ‘So you have not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God, took the loaves of offering and ate them and gave them to his followers, loaves which only the priests are allowed to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’

What did your heart feel as you listened?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:

One sabbath Jesus happened to be taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples were picking ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands and eating them. Some of the Pharisees said, ‘Why are you doing something that is forbidden on the sabbath day?’ Jesus answered them, ‘So you have not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry – how he went into the house of God, took the loaves of offering and ate them and gave them to his followers, loaves which only the priests are allowed to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is master of the sabbath.’

What touched your heart in this time of prayer?

What did your heart feel as you prayed?

What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

 but deliver us from evil.

Amen

The post Saturday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Thought for the day:

Ask for the grace to become a saint.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.

Obtain from the Heart of Jesus (here make your request).

Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others. Amen.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for me.

text © Missionaries of Charity

The post Novena to St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta – Day 9 appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord.

Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over”

Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart…

From the Holy Gospel According to Luke 5:33-39

The Pharisees and the scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast.’

What word made this passage come alive for you?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you:

The Pharisees and the scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast.’

What did your heart feel as you listened?

What did you sense the Lord saying to you?

Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word:

The Pharisees and the scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast.’

What touched your heart in this time of prayer?

What did your heart feel as you prayed?

What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord?

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

 but deliver us from evil.

Amen

The post Friday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

What if the time, place, relationships, vocation, and circumstances of your life are not accidental, but the very place where God is calling you to become a saint?

In this introductory episode of The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart, Kris McGregor explores the deeply personal nature of the spiritual journey. God knows each soul individually, and the path of holiness unfolds within the real circumstances of the life we have been given. Discernment begins by learning to recognize the grace of God already present there and by responding faithfully to his invitation.

The journey, however, is not made alone. Drawing on the image from the Letter to the Hebrews of the “great cloud of witnesses,” Kris introduces the saints and spiritual masters of the Church as companions along the way. Their lives are not templates to copy, but witnesses that can help us understand prayer, discernment, suffering, conversion, surrender, and the workings of grace.

Throughout this series, The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart will draw especially from Scripture, the Office of Readings, and the wider treasury of Catholic spiritual tradition. Through the words of the saints and great spiritual masters, listeners will receive practical help for recognizing what may be happening in their spiritual lives, discerning how God is leading them, and responding to him with greater freedom and trust.

The destination remains Jesus Christ. The saints help point the way, encourage us when the road becomes difficult, and remind us that holiness is possible in the particular life God has given us.

Hebrews 12:1-2, RSV-CE

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

Ephesians 2:10, RSV-CE

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

The post A Great Cloud of Witnesses – The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.