Yooper Catholic Podcast

In the Old Testament, God showed he wanted to be Emmanuel, God-with-us. The prophets foretold a time when God would not just be with us, but within us, that he wants to put his Spirit and his divine life in us. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how the Blessed Virgin Mary fulfills the expectation of Israel and is the model and hope for what God wants to do in all of us.

In the midst of the difficult circumstances of 1st century Palestine, God's Word came to John, as a voice calling out in the desert. God wants to come to us in the often difficult circumstances of our lives. In this episode, Father Ryan considers the ways God prepares us for his coming, and how we must lower the mountains of pride and fill the valleys of despair to make straight his path in our hearts.

The first words of the entrance antiphon for Advent 1 is "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul." Jesus exhorts us in today's Gospel to "Raise your heads" in times of tribulation. In this episode, Father Ryan draws some practical lessons from the Scriptures and from the first Christmas characters about how to lift up our heads when we want to give up.

Jesus warns us we must pass through many tribulations to enter the Kingdom of God, and that many will fall away from faith because of persecution and pressures from the world. In this episode, Father Ryan encourages us to shine with the light of Christ as the darkness surrounds us. The saints show us how to bear fruit like the fig tree as we wait for the summer of God's salvation.

Bartimaeus is an image for all of us born into this world ignorant of the truth about God and ourselves and needing the light of revelation to make known to us God's plan for our lives. The readings for the 30th Sunday use the images of blindness and exile to illustrate our spiritual state apart from God. But Jesus our high priest has pity on our ignorance and error and gives us sight! In this episode, Father Ryan exhorts us to come to Jesus like Bartimaeus, to have our sight restored.

Jesus teaches us the true meaning of baptism and the Eucharist when he calls James and John to follow Him in service and suffering. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how the path to glory passes through the cross and the way of the Beatitudes.

Jesus gives us a positive, joyful, vision of the high calling of marriage in God's plan from the beginning. Rather than focus on the rules, he wants spouses to focus on their relationship and the goodness of each other as gifts from God. In this episode, Father Ryan explains how spouses can appreciate each other more and more and rejoice in each other's goodness.

Jesus turns our idea of greatness upside-down and teaches us the way of humility and service. In this episode, Father Ryan contrasts the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of Christ's kingdom, and how we can pursue greatness in God's eyes.

What does it mean to live by faith? Faith is acting towards a future that is not yet here. In this episode, Father Ryan examines how everyone lives by faith in something, and how we can know we're really living by faith in the coming Kingdom of God.

Isaiah predicted a coming King who would open deaf ears and blind eyes and pour out the Spirit like water upon us. In Jesus, we see and hear God incarnate, and the Holy Spirit impresses the reality of Jesus' words and actions onto our soul, to understand His words and apply them to our lives.