This week’s Advent topic is on faith; faith in the one true God and His Holy Will.

We are now entering the second week of preparation of the first coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. In homes and churches across the world, we are now lighting the second candle of the Advent wreath, sometimes called the Bethlehem Candle of our Mother Mary and Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.

It was prophesied in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. And this week we remember the journey Mary and Joseph made from Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem. The road from Nazareth to Bethlehem is almost 100 miles long depending on the route you take and would have taken 4 to 5 days to travel on foot.

Imagine the immense faith it would have taken both of them to trust that they were going to make it there safely; especially since Mary was further along in her pregnancy with the King of kings.

Mary and Joseph are viewed as perfect examples of faith. In Mary’s acceptance of the Lord’s Will when the angel Gabriel came to her to make known God’s Will, her fiat included not only that moment, but for the rest of her life. She was able to bear our Lord, raise Him, and learn from Him in true faith and humility.

Joseph being the good husband and faithful man he was, also followed God’s Will as it was revealed to him. He needed to have intense faith to be able to fulfill God’s Will to the protector of the Holy Family.

May we learn to serve God’s Will as they both did.

--------  

Thank you so much again for praying along with us and all of The Prayer Podcast listeners. Our hope is that we are able to provide you with another tool to bring you closer to God.

If you have any specific prayer intentions, questions, or feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list. We are also available on all social media platforms.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

This week’s Advent topic is on hope; hope of the promises to come.  

All around the world, Catholic Churches have begun this new season by lighting the first Advent candle, the “Prophecy Candle.” This candle represents hope and the fulfillment of the Lord’s promises.

As we enter into the season of Advent, let us first focus on the hope found through the birth of Christ. May we acknowledge how good our Father is by keeping His promises made through the prophets which foretold the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

According to the Catholic liturgical calendar, the first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of a new year. So happy new year to you!

As we do around January 1st, this first week of Advent is a great time to refocus our minds and our hearts on the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ. We are now in a time of waiting and deep anticipation to celebrate the first coming of the Word made flesh.

From Isaiah to Micah and Jeremiah to Zechariah, among others, the Messiah’s coming was foretold over 40 times in the Old Testament and fulfilled over 40 times in the New Testament through Jesus. 

--------

Thank you so much again for praying along with us and all of The Prayer Podcast listeners. Our hope is that we are able to provide you with another tool to bring you closer to God.

If you have any specific prayer intentions, questions, or feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list. We are also available on all social media platforms.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

*We may make a small commission on qualifying purchases through links in this post at no additional cost to you.

This week’s topic is thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving. What comes to mind when you hear that word? Feasting with your family? Maybe! But the thanksgiving we are meditating on today has to do with honoring and praising our Lord for everything He has blessed us with. In fact, we know that the word ‘thanksgiving’ holds a very important place in our journeys with Jesus because participating in the Eucharistic feast is itself an action of thanksgiving to God. Think about that. The Mass itself is a thanksgiving feast we GET to participate in every single week with our families, with the Saints, and with the heavenly host of angels. And of course, Jesus himself.

St. Ambrose said, “no duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”

Thank you so much again for praying along with us and all of The Prayer Podcast listeners. Our hope is that we are able to provide you with another tool to bring you closer to God.

If you have any specific prayer intentions, questions, or feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/podcasts to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list. We are also available on all social media platforms.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

This week’s topic is the virtue of hope.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes hope as “the virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit...hope keeps [us] from discouragement; it sustains [us] during times of abandonment. Buoyed up by hope, [we are] preserved from selfishness and led to happiness that flows from charity. Hope is the ‘sure and steadfast anchor of the soul...that enters...where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf.’”

When is the last time you boldly brought your hopes into the hand of Our Father? Is there a relationship in your life that you Hope will receive healing and restoration? Is there a loved one in your life that you Hope will come to know God? Is there an area of your life that you Hope will be brought to life again? Jesus invites us to bring these deep longings to Him. We must remain confident that He is a loyal Father, a Father who keeps His promises. We GET to hope for a new day, a new mindset, a new heart, a new way of life, because we worship a God who is hope itself. During this prayer time together, may we choose to put on a helmet of hope and raise our hope towards heaven.

Thank you so much again for praying along with us and all of The Prayer Podcast listeners. Our hope is that we are able to provide you with another tool to bring you closer to God.

If you have any specific prayer intentions, questions, or feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/podcasts to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list. We are also available on all social media platforms.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

This week’s topic is the virtue of humility.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls humility the “foundation of prayer” as well as a “poverty of spirit.” To live with a spirit of poverty, in need of our God, now that is true humility.

With every virtue comes an opposing vice. Since humility can be described as a willingness to submit to God and to others for God’s sake, then pride can be considered the queen of all vices because, as Saint Thomas stated, pride at its core is the rejection of God in favor of oneself.

This poses a serious question: when coming to God in prayer, do we speak from a posture of pride and our own will, or do we humble ourselves before the Lord and His Will? We know from Luke 18 that the exalted will be humbled and the humbled, exalted. How is this done? We must acknowledge that we are imperfect sinners and ask for God’s mercy. Only through this trusting humility can we be brought into communion with our Father.

Pride is a sin that “cries to heaven.” Putting your trust in the world before your trust in God will put you into a posture of pride. Remember: “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” —Saint Augustine

Lord, we ask that your Holy Spirit of humility may be showered down upon your children. Help us to die to ourselves and take the opportunities you give us to practice and grow in humility. Please protect us from the temptation of pride that comes from the evil one.

Thank you so much again for praying along with us and all of The Prayer Podcast listeners. Our hope is that we are able to provide you with another tool to bring you closer to God.

If you have any specific prayer intentions, questions, or feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/podcasts to connect with us. We are also available on all social media platforms.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

Hi everybody! Just wanted to give you a quick update.

We have decided to structure the episodes using a new format that we hope will be engaging as well as fruitful in your prayer life. We will be releasing a weekly guided prayer session focused on a specific topic that we believe will help us all grow in holiness.

Thank you all so much for your support! If you would like to financially support this podcast, we just opened a Patreon account where extra prayer resources are offered to our patrons. We’re looking forward to building a community over there, so go check out patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

May God bless you!

Please feel free to reach out to us, Matt and Sara, with any prayer requests or feedback. We'd love to hear from you! [email protected]

Elevate your Rosary praying experience with House of Joppa's beautifully made Rosaries. Click here to check them out.

This particular recording is a general rosary that does not focus on any specific mysteries, but instead allows you to meditate on your intercessions or whichever mysteries you would like to focus on. The Holy Rosary is THE weapon of choice in spiritual warfare and in striving to grow in holiness. Never forget the amazing power of our Mother's intercession. Learn more about the rosary here. God bless you! Find the full prayer below.

The Holy Rosary

To support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/theprayerpodcast

Please feel free to reach out to us, Matt and Sara, with any prayer requests or feedback. We'd love to hear from you! https://theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome

"The Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact: it is the Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter, the first of the apostles, to which he brought the common faith." - from the Catechism of the Catholic Church; 194.

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; 

To support this podcast: http://bit.ly/theprayerpodcast-donate

Please feel free to reach out to us, Matt and Sara, with any prayer requests or feedback.  We'd love to hear from you! [email protected]

This wonderful prayer, also known as the "Salve Regina", has been prayed and sung since the 11th century. It is typically prayed today at the end of the Holy Rosary. Join us in praying this powerful intercessory prayer. Given the Mother's relationship to our Lord, her intercession is most powerful. God bless you!

To support this podcast: http://bit.ly/theprayerpodcast-donate

Please feel free to reach out to us, Matt and Sara, with any prayer requests or feedback.

Hail, Holy Queen

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy: our life, our sweetness, and our hope!

For amazing Catholic books, check out the deals at TAN Books!

Don't forget to follow, subscribe to, and rate this podcast!

If you have any feedback for The Prayer Podcast, please check out: theprayerpodcast.fm/welcome to connect with us or sign up to be a part of our prayer chain email list.

If you are interested in supporting this ministry, please visit our Patreon page at patreon.com/theprayerpodcast.

Thank you and may God bless you!

-------- Affiliate Links*

Find your Catholic match on CatholicMatch.com!

Join Sara in praying these classic Catholic prayers. The "Our Father" can be seen as the perfect prayer as it is given to us by Jesus Christ. Through the "Hail Mary" we ask for the divine intercession of our Blessed Mother for us sinners. The "Glory Be" sends up our praises to the Father for all of His goodness and love. The "O My Jesus" prayer was given to us from our Blessed Mother at Fatima. With it, we seek the mercy of our Lord on the whole world. Meditate on these prayers in times of thanksgiving and distress. God bless you!

Our Father

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name;

Hail Mary

Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.

Glory Be

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

O My Jesus

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins,

*We may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases through links in this post at no additional cost to you.