BKL#3 – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff – “The Gift of Nothing”

Msgr. Esseff begins by reading a passage from the book “The Gift of Nothing” by Patrick McDonnell.  He discusses how we all think what we will need “something,” but Msgr. Esseff helps us to see what God desires for us to see “the gift of nothing.”  What we desire deep down is intimacy.  Msgr. Esseff offers how Jesus reaches out to us in Divine Love…the Bread of Life.  The Eucharist offers intimacy, will we accept the gift?

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton.  He was ordained on May 30, 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA.  Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to St. Mother Teresa.    He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity around the world.  Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio,  who would become a spiritual father to him.  He has lived in areas around the world,  serving in the Pontifical Missions, a Catholic organization established by St. John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor.  Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute.  He continues to serve as a retreat leader and spiritual director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.   He is the President of the Board of the Pope Leo XIII Institute School of Exorcism.