Yooper Catholic Podcast

The story of Abraham is one of great faith, trust, and total surrender to God and His ways. Jesus tells us anyone can become a child of Abraham through baptism, but we must also bear good fruits of repentance, loving God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. In this episode, Fr. Ryan looks at the life of Abraham and how we can walk as Abraham's children.

What does Noah's ark have to do with us today? In this episode, Fr. Ryan explores the Biblical background to Jesus' words about the final separation that will take place at His second coming. The Bible begins by tracing the family lines of two families, who are separated by the Flood. The question is, which family will we belong to by our choices?

Isn't it strange that Jesus is proclaimed a king while being mocked, reviled, humiliated, tortured, and killed? Yet on the cross, Jesus reveals what true kingship is. In this episode, Fr. Ryan looks at King David and how he prefigures what kind of king Jesus will be. We too are called to reign with Christ from the cross, laying down our lives in sacrificial love for God and neighbor.

The Exodus from Egypt wasn't just an escape from slavery - it was a 'battle of the gods' between the false idols and the one true God who revealed himself to Moses. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains how Moses prefigures Jesus and His mission to lead us out of captivity to the false gods of this world and into the family of the one true God.

In order to understand the Gospels, we have to know what came before. With seven weeks left until Christmas, we'll look at seven key people and storylines that prefigure Jesus and help us understand who Jesus is, and God's plan for us. The Gospel about marriage in heaven is a great place to start, because it brings us back to Adam, the first key person in the Bible, and his call to be priest, prophet, king, and bridegroom.

It's sometimes hard to understand why the dead need our prayers. In this episode, Fr. Ryan explains why we should pray for the dead using the Gospel of Zacchaeus from Luke 19. Sin and salvation are not private things. Salvation is a communal reality - debts must be paid, wrongs must be set right, justice must be restored. We can help one another restore the order of love and justice, and death does not destroy our bonds with each other. Prayers and works of charity for the dead help them on their way to the fullness of the Kingdom of God!

In this episode on All Saints Day 2019, Fr. Ryan reflects on two of his favorite saints, one from 400 years ago and the other from just 29 years ago. The lessons learned from these saints inspire us still today to love Jesus as much as we can and to take the first step in reaching out to people with the love and truth of Jesus.

Jesus' parable of the two men who come to the Temple to pray (Luke 18) illustrates the beautiful prayer of contrition, which is the foundation for coming into right relationship with God. The Pharisee of the parable judges other people to be wicked, turns to himself, and proclaims his own goodness. The tax collector judges himself to be wicked, turns to God, and proclaims his guilt and need for mercy. And he goes home justified. In this episode, Fr. Ryan shares how we can pray this prayer of contrition each day.

Jesus exhorts us to 'pray always without becoming weary.' As Jesus moved closer to his ultimate confrontation with evil, injustice, lies, and the full power of Satan against him in his Passion and Crucifixion, he taught more and more about the important of prayer. Prayer obtains for us the strength and help we need from God to win the victory over temptations. We cannot win this victory on our own! In this episode, Fr. Ryan teaches about praying always in our daily struggle against evil.

It's easy to take the many things we have for granted. Prayers of thanksgiving are expressions of faith that keep us alive to God's active presence and love in every moment. In this episode, Fr. Ryan discusses how to grow in relationship with Jesus through prayers of thanksgiving.