Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Come Away By Yourselves
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Rebroadcast] September 14: Triumph of the Cross, Triumph of Love | 14 Sep 2024 | 00:29:52 | |
Christ's Triumph on the Cross defeated sin and death. It was a triumph of love over selfishness. This victory needs to be repeated in our own lives, in our own carrying of the Cross. Sin and selfishness have to be defeated in us and this entails the acceptance of suffering and sacrifice; in a word the acceptance of the Cross. Suffering is inevitable in life, but whether it is redemptive and sanctifying or futile and permanent is truly up to us. | |||
| "Be strong, fear not!": Christian Courage | 07 Sep 2024 | 00:26:07 | |
Our Faith constantly encourages us to overcome our fears. This entails standing up to them and being open to fearful situations. Christian courage, however, is primarily based on belief in God's powerful presence and protection. With God, "whom shall we fear?" | |||
| Rebroadcast: St. Josemaria and the Vocation to Work | 26 Jun 2024 | 00:30:23 | |
On the Feast of St. Josemaria, we reflect on one of his most important teachings: the sanctification of work. After their conversion, the early Christians were encouraged to continue living the same life which God had already given them. St. Josemaria encourages us to do the same. Work is a blessing from God and key to a happy, fulfilled life. Working well is a condition for offering our work to God, thus making it holy and sanctifying ourselves and others in the process. Our life of prayer is an essential element in sanctifying our work, without times of intense prayer we cannot turn work into prayer. | |||
| Christmas: Imitating the Christ Child | 25 Dec 2022 | 00:25:28 | |
Jesus's appearance as a child contains valuable lessons for our life. Dependence, sincerity, humility and trust are all luminously revealed by the infant God. Christ's whole life is a "master class" on how to live, including his apparent inaction in the manger. | |||
| "Emmanuel": God with us ... and us with God | 18 Dec 2022 | 00:28:08 | |
Joseph welcomes Mary into his home and thus welcomes Jesus with her. Jesus is Emmanuel, "God with us", and the "God who saves." Jesus's presence in the world is a spur to our own spirit of service. He is in us and among us as "one who serves." | |||
| Advent: Waiting with Impatient Patience | 11 Dec 2022 | 00:30:46 | |
A meditation on trust, patience, and God's power and love. | |||
| Rebroadcast: "She smiled and smiled at me": The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady | 08 Dec 2022 | 00:31:34 | |
Originally published 12/8/2020: | |||
| The Peace of Christ | 04 Dec 2022 | 00:27:08 | |
Isaiah foresees the absolute peace that Christ will eventually establish. Until then, Christ's peace is ours to develop and folster. Christ brings us peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with others. To foster and enjoy this peace is a beautiful task and privilege of all Christians. | |||
| [Rebroadcast] "Make straight his paths": Advent and our Need for Salvation | 27 Nov 2022 | 00:30:16 | |
Originally published Advent 2020 | |||
| Growing in Patience and Love | 13 Nov 2022 | 00:28:07 | |
"By your patience you will save your souls." Jesus's words highlight the importance of patience in the Christian life. Patience is the ability to suffer well. Suffering well entails freely embracing suffering which cannot or should not be avoided. The deepest truth about patience is its connection to charity, to love. "Love is patient. ... Love endures all things." To love God, others, and ourselves rightly, we must learn to practice patience with God, with others, and also with ourselves. | |||
| Dying and Living for God | 06 Nov 2022 | 00:28:18 | |
The martyrdom of the seven sons and their mother in the second book of Maccabees helps us to reflect on our own relationship with God. All martyrs and saints detest sin so much that they would rather die than offend God in a serious way. Their trust and hope in God's providence and in eternal life strengthens their resolve against sin. God is worth living for and dying for. This is exactly how God loves us. On the Cross Jesus showed the "greatest love" when he "laid down his life for his friends." | |||
| Mini-Meditation: All Souls Day | 02 Nov 2022 | 00:10:33 | |
All Souls Day is a special occasion to pray for all the faithful departed, especially for those closest to us. | |||
| "Filled with the fullness of God": A Recipe for Holiness | 30 Oct 2022 | 00:29:18 | |
Our call to holiness is clearly revealed in the New Testament. St. Peter tells us, "as he who called you is holy, be holy in all your conduct." This is clearly a call to action. At the same time, however, we must realize that holiness is more something done to us-- and in us--than something done by us. "To be filled with the fullness of God", as St. Paul puts it, is a divine initiative. This takes great courage and trust on our part, because to be filled with God is also to die once and again to ourselves. | |||
| Rebroadcast: Lessons From Jesus Asleep | 23 Jun 2024 | 00:31:20 | |
In the middle of a violent storm, the apostles find Jesus asleep in the boat. This divine sleep of the Son of God teaches us important lessons: the need for rest, the importance of trust in God during difficulties, and the great care that God our Father exercises over us. Only by trusting in God's power and fatherly protection in and through times of trial will we experience our own resurrection to new life. Only by trusting when times are hard do we come to really believe that God is our Father. | |||
| Class on Christian Ethics: The Difference Christ Makes | 28 Oct 2022 | 01:02:12 | |
First in a series of classes on Christian ethics. In this class we discuss ethics in general and then focus on the difference that Christ makes to ethics. Ethical concerns are universal to all men and women. The difference between good and bad living, good and bad choices, is something that we all have to face and reckon with. Christ offers abundant light and new possibilities for our ethical life. In Christ the ability to be truly good is made available to all. He offers a satisfying explanation of moral weakness and corruption while empowering us to not just be good but holy by sharing in God's own life. Tapping in to the goodness offered by Christ entails a radical decision to live high ethical standards, a resolute sincerity about our failings, and a contrite appeal to his mercy whenever we fail. | |||
| Rebroadcast: "Do not fear, only believe": Our Need for Hope | 23 Oct 2022 | 00:31:26 | |
In the face of a great personal tragedy, Jesus insists to the synagogue official Jairus that he replace his fear with trust. To hope is to be convinced that God is greater than any problem in our life. Hope also transforms our expectations for happiness. It moves us to place our greatest desires in God and in heaven, rather than in anything in this earthly life. By practicing Christian hope, especially during the most difficult times, we free ourselves to love and help the world in a more truthful and effective way. | |||
| The Power of Prayer | 16 Oct 2022 | 00:28:28 | |
Jesus's parable of the widow and the unjust judge teaches us to pray with persistence and intensity. While always confident that God our Father hears and answers our prayers, we are called to exercise this confidence by patient perseverance in our petitions. "Prayer works." This is a fundamental Gospel truth. Prayer is powerful and others depend on our prayers of intercession for them. Prayer of petition brings us closer to God, by reminding us of our status as his creatures and children. | |||
| "Pray for us sinners": Mercy and Mary | 09 Oct 2022 | 00:31:01 | |
Jesus's healing encounter with the ten lepers helps us reflect on mercy and grace. Like the lepers with their disease, only a miracle can help us overcome our sinfulness. Each conversion is a real miracle, including our own conversions. Grace is a gift. Gifts are not earned, but humbly asked for. In the month of the Rosary, we can be more aware of all of the mercy we ask for whenever we pray the Rosary well. | |||
| October 2nd: St. Josemaria and the Call to Holiness | 01 Oct 2022 | 00:30:35 | |
Opus Dei , the Work of God, was founded by St. Josemaria on October 2nd, 1928. The universal call to holiness, clearly expressed in the New Testament and tirelessly preached by St. Josemaria, was first experienced by him personally as a young man. This loving call is eternal and intimately connected to our identity and mission in life. By responding to this call we turn the "ordinary prose" of our everyday life into "heroic verse." Our work and life thus becomes a true "Work of God." | |||
| Encountering Jesus | 25 Sep 2022 | 00:30:01 | |
The Samaritan woman's meeting Jesus at the well is a model for our own encounter with Him in prayer. He thirsts for our prayer and understands our human condition. He offers us "the Gift of God" and entices us with talk of living water. Sincerity about our sinfulness, our lack of trust, is necessary to have him as our savior, to receive all that he offers. Once healed we, like the woman at the well, can move from shame to shameless proclamation of Christ. | |||
| St. Matthew and the Certainty of Faith | 20 Sep 2022 | 00:30:16 | |
Matthew's response to his vocation demonstrates a great deal of trust in Jesus. His Gospel emphasizes Jesus's deep appreciation of faith and his disappointment at its absence. Trust in Jesus should be absolute, lending a great certainty to our faith in his Church and in all of his teachings. "Faith is the evidence of things unseen." This means that at times we will have to trust more in Jesus than in the evidence of our own senses or the apparent evidence of our own judgment. | |||
| Triumph of the Cross, Triumph of Love | 14 Sep 2022 | 00:29:52 | |
Christ's Triumph on the Cross defeated sin and death. It was a triumph of love over selfishness. This victory needs to be repeated in our own lives, in our own carrying of the Cross. Sin and selfishness have to be defeated in us and this entails the acceptance of suffering and sacrifice; in a word the acceptance of the Cross. Suffering is inevitable in life, but whether it is redemptive and sanctifying or futile and permanent is truly up to us. | |||
| The Birthday of Our Lady | 08 Sep 2022 | 00:28:13 | |
The Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a cause of Christian joy and wonder. Our Lady's birth reminds us of the historical reality of our faith. Mary was and is a real woman who lived a normal human life just like ours. Through her, in her, our God became man to redeem us. Her birth precedes and enables his infant birth. In our own way, God can be born once again in us. This happens when we imitate Mary's humility and obedient love. | |||
| Radical God, Radical Love | 04 Sep 2022 | 00:28:13 | |
The infinite transcendence of God is a challenge to our faith and love. Jesus uses shocking language to teach us just how radically different our love for God should be compared with all of our other loves. Developing a more adequate love for God first requires believing in his radical transcendence and his primacy. It also requires the humility to admit that we do not yet love him as he deserves. From this faith and humility, we can move to improve the quality of our love for God: with prayer, with Charity, and with soul-freeing self-denial. | |||
| "With all your mind" - Adoration and Thinking about God | 22 Jun 2024 | 00:26:57 | |
To love God as God we need to think about Him. Adoration is not just feelings of awe and veneration, but a deep knowledge of the awesome transcendence of God. This knowledge empowers our ability to love God more profoundly. | |||
| "Stay Awake!": Christian Alertness | 28 Aug 2022 | 00:29:02 | |
Jesus continually calls us to an alert vigilance. He does this to make us aware of the great opportunities of love and service that fill our ordinary lives. At the beginning of a new school year, it is good to foster an eager alertness in our souls, an excitement for the work that lies ahead of us. If we find ourselves dull and without energy, we can start by asking Jesus for more strength, more enthusiasm. If our lethargy persists, we can pray and practice a greater love of interior struggle as an opportunity to love heroically. | |||
| Savage Sincerity: "The Strength to Stand Before the Son of Man" | 21 Aug 2022 | 00:31:56 | |
Jesus tells us to pray to have the strength "to stand before the Son of Man." When we die we will be judged by God. This is a hard truth but also a truth that saves us. If we ask God for the courage to see ourselves as we really are now, we will be prepared for our death and God's judgment. Reliance on God's grace, fostering sincerity with ourselves and others, living charity, and regularly examining our conscience are all ways to avoid self-deception and to prepare for our definitive meeting with God. | |||
| Rebroadcast: The Assumption of Mary | 15 Aug 2022 | 00:27:29 | |
Originally published 8/15/2020. | |||
| Joy and Service | 14 Aug 2022 | 00:29:09 | |
Jesus promises his disciples a joy "that no one will take from you." To be joyful we have to be attentive and sensitive to the great goods in our life. Among these are God's constant love for us and our own ability to love and serve him in return. Pride obscures our vision of true goods. To serve joyfully and find joy in serving, we need to foster humility. | |||
| The Centrality of Christ | 07 Aug 2022 | 00:28:17 | |
Large, desperate crowds would press in on Jesus to hear and touch him. He was the focus of all of their attention and desires. Our Lord should be just the same for us: central to our lives. We meet Jesus in the Eucharistic Bread, in Sacred Scripture, in our habitual presence of God, and in others. | |||
| Rebroadcast -- "A Cross without a Cross": Suffering to Love | 31 Jul 2022 | 00:31:09 | |
Originally published March 2021 | |||
| Humility and Self Esteem | 24 Jul 2022 | 00:29:09 | |
Humility is a crucial virtue for the Christian life. Living it demands some courage given our tendency to prop ourselves up and to protect our self-esteem. Admitting our sinfulness and even our nothingness before God, however, is ultimately liberating and fruitful. Our humility must be accompanied by a deep sense of God's reality and his love for us. If it is, we will experience that "he who humbles himself will be exalted." | |||
| Love and Attention | 17 Jul 2022 | 00:32:46 | |
Jesus' visit to Martha and Mary contains great insights for our Christian life. Mary's attention to our Lord is a great act of appreciation and love. Jesus' correction of Martha is not owing to her being busy serving, but more for her being distracted and worried. Love, which includes prayer, is the one thing necessary. And love unites our attention, giving focus and purpose to all that we do. | |||
| "You have only to carry it out": Knowing and Doing God's Word | 10 Jul 2022 | 00:28:35 | |
Moses describes God's law as "near" to the people of Israel. God's Word is also very near to us. Thanks to Jesus, we know what it takes to live life well and enter eternal life. The problem is actually wanting to do it. Like the scholar of the law, we wish to justify ourselves by overthinking, by making excuses, by hiding our basic unwillingness to love and obey. God's grace can change our unwillingness to willing submission and all of our obstinate "no's" into loving "yes's." | |||
| Our Response to Sin: Mercy, Trust ... and Violence | 02 Jul 2022 | 00:30:05 | |
King David's fall into adultery and murder is a lesson in how sin happens and how we can respond to it. David's sin is preceded by idleness and sloth. Once fully aware of his sin, however, he appeals immediately to God's mercy. Our first response to sin should always be a radical trust in God's mercy and, when necessary, a prompt recourse to confession. In addition to trust in God's mercy, we should be resolute in our struggle against sinful habits. | |||
| Jesus Present and Alive | 15 Jun 2024 | 00:29:45 | |
Jesus fulfills his promise to "remain with us always" with his presence in the Eucharist. To believe in his real presence is a game changer in our prayer life and in life in general. Jesus is alive in the Eucharist so that he can be fully alive in us. | |||
| Rebroadcast: St. Josemaria: Finding Christ in our Boats | 26 Jun 2022 | 00:28:15 | |
On the Feast of St. Josemaria, we reflect on Jesus's presence in our ordinary lives and work. | |||
| In the Octave of Corpus Christi: The "Bread of Life" Discourse | 23 Jun 2022 | 00:30:01 | |
The "Bread of Life" Discourse in John Chapter 6 is a treasure trove of spiritual insights. Faith in Jesus's person is paramount for the Christian life. This faith is tested by the audacity of his claims for the Eucharist as well as by the trials and difficulties of our personal Christian vocation. Jesus promises spiritual satisfaction, eternal life, and, most amazingly of all, intimate communion with him for those who receive the Bread of Life in the Eucharist. | |||
| Holy, Holy, Holy!: The Mystery of the Trinity | 12 Jun 2022 | 00:31:16 | |
The Trinity is the deepest mystery of our Faith, revealing to us the secrets of God's inner life. This mystery transmits to us God's transcendence, his intimacy with us, and the importance of charity in the Christian life. | |||
| Pentecost: Come Holy Spirit! | 04 Jun 2022 | 00:29:21 | |
The Holy Spirit is a powerful agent of spiritual renewal and transformation. The virtue of docility and the gift of counsel are needed to tap into the motions of the Spirit which always accompany and surround us. The Sanctifier will sculpt the image of Christ in us provided that we are humble and willing to follow his lead. | |||
| A Living Faith in Christ | 29 May 2022 | 00:27:44 | |
After telling her "I am the resurrection and the life" Jesus asks Martha point blank, "Do you believe this?" What is the caliber of our faith in Christ? Do we believe all that he tells us about himself and his relationship to us? | |||
| Prepping for Pentecost | 22 May 2022 | 00:25:26 | |
Recorded live May 17, 2022. | |||
| Praying with Our Lady of Fatima | 15 May 2022 | 00:29:41 | |
Recorded live Wednesday, May 11. | |||
| Good Shepherd, Good Sheep | 07 May 2022 | 00:26:29 | |
The image of our Lord as Good Shepherd is a challenging one. It means that we Christians are sheep. Our pride and self-sufficiency naturally bristle at this image. Only with deep humility, and contemplating Jesus the Lamb of God, can we embrace being sheep and having a Shepherd. | |||
| Rebroadcast - "We fly to your patronage": Trust in Mary | 01 May 2022 | 00:28:31 | |
Originally published May 2021 | |||
| Divine Mercy Sunday: The Power of Forgiveness | 23 Apr 2022 | 00:29:54 | |
God's power is especially evident in his mercy. There are no sins that he can't forgive and his mercy waits upon the smallest opening of repentance and sorrow for sin. Receiving God's mercy is also the result of being merciful ourselves. Forgiving others is a condition for being forgiven. Our own forgiveness and mercy make us like our Father God: constant in love and invincible in goodness. | |||
| Rebroadcast -- The Sacred Heart of Jesus: A Call to Radical Love | 07 Jun 2024 | 00:29:43 | |
Jesus' Sacred Heart reveals the depth of his love for us. Opened on the Cross, streams of blood and water poured out from Jesus' Heart. Our own love for God hinges on our having a heart full of compassion, concern, and a practical spirit of service towards others. As disciples of Jesus, we should be known for our love and care for each other and for all people. Only by growing in charity will we truly imitate Jesus, our model and our Lord. If not, our prayer life runs the risk of being inauthentic and hypocritical. | |||
| Our Easter Joy | 16 Apr 2022 | 00:30:30 | |
Easter is the feast of all feasts, the new day of great joy. Like the apostles and first disciples, we rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus. Contemplating their interactions with the risen Lord, we learn to find Christ in the most ordinary moments of our lives. | |||
| Lent - Day 40! Holy Saturday | 16 Apr 2022 | 00:05:05 | |
Lent closes with Holy Saturday. With her Son resting in the tomb, Mary keeps the faith of the Church alive. | |||
| Lent - Day 39 Good Friday | 15 Apr 2022 | 00:04:35 | |
We are redeemed by an act of love: specifically by Jesus' willingness to suffer on our behalf. | |||