The Discerning Hearts Blog Archives - Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,

the hope of the nations and their Saviour:

Come and save us, O Lord our God

Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life.

“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to

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O Emmanuel,[1] king and lawgiver,[2] desire of the nations,[3] Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.

We have here a variation on the theme that Jesus, who is Emmanuel – God with us – is present in the Church and in the world as king and lawmaker; yet we need him to come again, we desire him to come and set us free from ourselves through Christ, through his saving birth, life and teaching, death and resurrection and his return in glory, all of which are implicit in our Advent prayer.  Vespers on the 24th is no longer Advent, but the first Vespers of Christmas, whose special antiphons take up the theme of the Birth of our Savior.

[1] Is. 7:14

[2] Is. 33:22

[3] Gen. 49:10

The O Antiphon reflections are from Musings: Liturgical and Charismatic authored by Fr. Giles Dimock, O.P. and published by Discerning Hearts®

You can find the book here

The post O Emmanuel – The O Antiphon Reflections from Fr. Giles Dimock, O.P. – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Day 23: Resting in Christ, Living His Love

In Advent, Christ rested in Mary—still, silent, helpless, utterly dependent. The Creator trusted Himself to His creature.

He trusted the expression of His love to her, the expression of God’s love for the world, and of His love of His Father. Just as the work of His love would be trusted to us, in His life in us.

He was dumb, her voice was His voice. He was still, her footsteps were His journeys. He was blind, her eyes were His seeing. His hands were folded, her hands did the work of His hands. His life was her life, His heartbeat was the beating of her heart.

This was a foreshadowing of what the Incarnation would mean for us; for in us too, Christ rests as He rested in Mary. From that moment when the Christ life is conceived in us, our life is intended for one thing, the expression of His love, His love for God and for the world. Our words are to be the words that He wants to speak, we must go wherever He wants to go, we must see and look at whatever He wants to see and look at, the work that our hands do must be the work that His hands want to do, our life the living of His life, our loves the loving of His heart.

Commentary:  In this reflection, Caryll Houselander captures the mystery of Advent as a time when Christ, though fully divine, chose to be entirely dependent on Mary. His trust in her—His silent resting within her and reliance on her for every act of love—is a profound image of how He desires to dwell within us. Just as Mary’s life became an expression of Christ’s love, so too are we invited to embody His presence in the world. Houselander’s words remind Catholics that, from the moment we accept Christ into our lives, we are called to be His heart, His voice, His hands, and His vision in the world, reflecting His love for the Father and for all people.

Personal Reflection: Consider the ways in which your life can reflect Christ’s love more fully. What words, actions, or ways of seeing others might you allow Christ to transform in you, so that you become a clearer expression of His love in the world?

Quote taken from – Caryll Houselander The Passion of the Infant Christ, Sheed & Ward, 1949

Image © Trinity Icons / Joseph M. Malham

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O Lord, infant Jesus, inspire us to be repulsed by sin! You, Lord, are holy but we are not. We pray that you will make us holy and keep us from temptation this Christmas.

Divine Infant,

Show us also Your goodness and almighty power.

Jesus, most powerful Child,

Divine Child, great omnipotent God,

Amen.

The post A Christmas Novena – Day 8 – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

“Behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Joy is the fruit of love recognized. It is not the same as happiness or emotional excitement. Happiness often depends on what happens around us such as success, comfort, or ease.

Advent joy rises quietly from trust. The Savior is near, and the world is already beginning to turn toward light.

The discerning heart learns that joy and hardship are not opposites. The same heart that aches can also rejoice, because it knows the One who holds all things in His mercy. Joy is the song of faith rising even in the shadow of uncertainty.

As Advent nears fulfillment, joy becomes the radiant calm that prepares the soul for adoration. It clears fear, softens heaviness, and opens the heart to receive Christ with gratitude.

“My dear brothers, rejoice in the Lord always.

St. Francis of Assisi lived a joy that radiated peace. His joy did not come from comfort or success but from knowing that God loved him and that he belonged wholly to Christ.

St. Francis called this perfect joy, the freedom that comes when nothing can steal the soul’s peace because everything is received as grace. His life reminds us that joy is not earned. It is discovered in gratitude, simplicity, and praise.

One Christmas night in 1223, St. Francis wanted the people of his town to experience the wonder and joy of Christ’s humble birth. In the small Italian village of Greccio, he prepared a simple manger with hay, an ox, and a donkey, and invited the villagers to gather for Midnight Mass. When the Gospel of the Nativity was proclaimed, hearts were moved to tears of love and reverence. The people saw with new eyes the humility of God who became a child.

The joy of Greccio was the joy of St. Francis himself: the realization that God had become small so that the world might know His nearness. The discerning heart, like Francis, finds joy by turning again to God in thanksgiving for every small good and by rejoicing in the humility of His love.

Joy is not an emotion we chase. It is a reality we choose.

Happiness fades when circumstances change, but joy endures because it is rooted in Christ, His presence, His mercy, His promise. Joy grows when we stop measuring our lives by what we lack and begin to notice grace in the ordinary: a conversation that comforts, a task completed in love, a moment of laughter shared, a breath of peace in prayer.

Joy is meant to be lived outwardly. The truly joyful heart becomes a quiet witness of God’s goodness in a weary world. When others encounter someone who carries peace without pretense, patience without bitterness, or gratitude amid uncertainty, they catch a glimpse of Christ.

Ask yourself:

To live joyfully is to live as one who knows that God keeps His promises.

Pause three times today to name something for which you are thankful.

Later, when something goes wrong or feels heavy, pause again and whisper the same words,

Lord Jesus,

Citations for Day 24

© Discerning Hearts. All rights reserved.

The post Day 24 – Joy – An Advent Journey for the Discerning Heart – Discerning Hearts Podcasts appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Fr. Timothy Gallagher and Kris McGregor discuss the second mode of discernment according to St. Ignatius of Loyola. This mode involves a consistent attraction of the heart toward one option over a period of time, particularly during spiritual consolation.

They examine an experience from St. Ignatius’s life where he discerned whether the Jesuits should continue living in radical poverty. Ignatius sought God’s guidance through Mass for 40 consecutive days, experiencing spiritual consolation and a consistent inclination toward radical poverty until the 40th day, when he faced spiritual desolation and doubts.

Fr. Gallagher reminds us of the importance of spiritual guidance in discernment, noting that it’s a process over time rather than a single moment of clarity. He illustrates this mode with the stories of Richard, who discerned a call to Jesuit life, and Jessica, who felt drawn to religious life over time.

From The Discernment of God’s Will in Everyday Decisions:

“Three Times in which a Sound and Good Choice May Be Made

The first time is when God Our Lord so moves and attracts the will that, without doubting or being able to doubt, the devout soul follows what is shown to it, as St. Paul and St. Matthew did in following Christ our Lord.

The second time is when sufficient clarity and understanding is received through experience of consolations and desolations, and through experience of discernment of different spirits.

The third time is one of tranquility, when one considers first for what purpose man is born, that is, to praise God our Lord and save his soul, and, desiring this, chooses as a means to this end some life or state within the bounds of the Church, so that he may be helped in the service of his Lord and the salvation of his soul. I said a tranquil time, that is, when the soul is not agitated by different spirits, and uses its natural powers freely and tranquilly.

If the choice is not made in the first or second time, two ways of making it in this third time are given below.”

Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life:  The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola”. For more information on how to obtain copies of Fr. Gallaghers’s various books and audio which are available for purchase, please visit  his  website:   frtimothygallagher.org

The post DWG9 – Second Mode of Discernment – The Discernment of God’s Will in Everyday Decisions with Fr. Timothy Gallagher – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life.

“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to:www.seekingtruth.net

The post O Rex Gentium – The O Antiphons Reflections with Sharon Doran Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

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O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart,[1] O Keystone[2] of the mighty arch of man;[3] come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.[4]

This antiphon rejoices that the Lord is king not just of the Jews but us Gentiles as well, who makes them one people, one temple, in which he is the keystone, the crowning glory that holds all in place.[5]  We beg the Lord to return again to save weak humanity made in Gods’ image but disfigured by sin.

[1] Haggai 2:8

[2] Is. 28:16

[3] Eph. 2:14

[4] Gen. 2:7

[5] Eph. 2:20

The O Antiphon reflections are from Musings: Liturgical and Charismatic authored by Fr. Giles Dimock, O.P. and published by Discerning Hearts®

You can find the book here

The post O Rex Gentium – The O Antiphon Reflections from Fr. Giles Dimock, O.P. – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Day 22:  Surrendering to Christ’s Life Within Us

The Infant Christ is the whole Christ. Christ was not more God, more Christ, more man, on the Cross than He was in His Mother’s womb. His first tear, His first smile, His first breath, His first pulsation in the womb of His Mother, could have redeemed the world.

In fact Christ chose the life of growth and work and suffering and the death on the Cross which we know, but, by His own choice, all this was to depend on a human being giving herself to Him in His infancy, giving her own humanity to the actual making of that infant’s humanity and giving Him her life in which to rest.

If all in whom Christ lives at all, in whom He is an infant—which means anyone whose soul is alive at all—surrendered themselves to Him, resting in Him, that He might rest in them, in each one of them the world’s redemption would begin as it began in Mary, the Mother of God.

Christ is formed in us, and we are formed into Christ, when we rest in Him and He rests in us.

Commentary:  Caryll Houselander powerfully conveys that Christ, even as an infant, was fully divine and fully capable of redeeming the world. The Incarnation was a complete expression of God’s presence from the very beginning, even in the smallest and most hidden moments of His life. Yet, by His own choice, Christ lived a fully human life of growth, dependence, and suffering, all beginning with Mary’s “yes” and her nurturing of His humanity. Houselander suggests that we, too, can participate in this mystery by surrendering to Christ within us, allowing His presence to grow and work through us.

For Catholics, this resonates with the understanding of Mary as the model disciple and with the call to embody Christ in our own lives, so that the world’s redemption may continue through our union with Him.

Personal Reflection: Reflect on how you might rest in Christ today, surrendering your own desires and fears to allow Him to take root in you. In what ways can you make space for Christ to “grow” within, following Mary’s example of trust and openness?

Caryll Houselander The Passion of the Infant Christ, Sheed & Ward, 1949

Image © Trinity Icons / Joseph M. Malham

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O Lord, infant Jesus, move us to forgive others as you forgive us! Your Divine Mercy is unending! We pray for Your Divine Mercy on us and that we may participate in Your mercy by forgiving others this Christmas.

Divine Infant,

Show us also Your goodness and almighty power.

Jesus, most powerful Child,

Divine Child, great omnipotent God,

The post A Christmas Novena – Day 7 – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.