who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life.
“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to:www.seekingtruth.net
O Sacred Lord of Ancient Israel[1] who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush,[2] who gave him the holy law on Sinai. Come stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.[3]
God gave his name Yahweh to Moses, and with that power over him; for to the Hebrew to use one’s name is to have intimacy with that person and thus to have power over him. Yet God cannot be like the gods of the pagans who are coerced by magical practices and so his name is not to be pronounced but instead “Adonai” or “Lord” is used. In the fulness of time, the Messiah will come and tell us to pray in his name of Jesus, with all the implications of that. We pray now that he come again with outstretched arm, that is with power to set us free. In the words of St. Justin, “He stretched out his arms on the cross,” and was rendered powerless and received from his Father the power of the Spirit to set us free from our sinful selves.
O Lord, infant Jesus, give us the gift of Faith! You, Lord, deserve our complete faith. We pray for deeper and more perfect faith in you this Christmas.
Divine Infant,
after the wonders of Your birth in Bethlehem,
You wished to extend Your infinite mercy to the whole world
by calling the Wise Men by heavenly inspiration to Your crib,
which was in this way changed into a royal throne.
You graciously received those holy men
who were obedient to the Divine call
and hastened to Your feet.
They recognized and worshipped You as Prince of Peace,
the Redeemer of mankind,
and the very Son of God.
Show us also Your goodness and almighty power.
Enlighten our minds,
strengthen our wills,
and inflame our hearts to know You,
to serve You,
and to love You in this life,
that we may merit to find our joy in You eternally in the life to come.
Jesus, most powerful Child,
We implore You again to help us
with the intentions we hold in the depths of our hearts.
Divine Child, great omnipotent God,
I implore through Your most Holy Mother’s most powerful intercession,
and through the boundless mercy of Your omnipotence as God,
for a favorable answer to my prayer during this Novena.
Grant us the grace of possessing You eternally
with Mary and Joseph
and of adoring You with Your holy angels and saints.
Amen.
If Christ is to come to flower and bear fruit in individual lives, there must be seasons of rest in which there is almost no activity but the giving wholly of self to nourish the supernatural life; just as the earth in which the seed is buried is given to nourish the bread. But, and this is even more important, there must be a permanent state of inward rest, founded in the peace of mind which comes from complete trust.
Commentary:Caryll Houselander emphasizes the importance of rest and trust as essential for spiritual growth. Just as a seed needs time in the earth to take root and grow, our souls need periods of stillness to allow Christ to take root within us. She encourages a state of “inward rest” based on complete trust in God, allowing us to nourish the supernatural life without constant activity or striving. For Catholics, this aligns with the value placed on contemplative prayer and the peace that flows from entrusting ourselves fully to God’s care, knowing that His work within us unfolds in His time.
Personal Reflection: Consider how you can create moments of stillness today to nourish Christ’s life within you. How can you cultivate a deeper sense of peace and trust, letting go of the need for constant activity and control?
Caryll Houselander “The Passion of the Infant Christ”
An Advent Journey for the Discerning Heart:
Prepare your heart for Christ through Scripture, the saints, and the gentle practice of daily listening.
Part Three: Listening Through Trials, Weakness, and Silence
DAY 19 – Spiritual Desolation
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my help and my God.”
Psalm 42: 5 (RSV)
The journey of the discerning heart sometimes moves through experiences of dryness, confusion, weakness, suffering, and fear. Each of these can test our trust in God and, if not understood, can open the door to what St. Ignatius calls spiritual desolation, that deeper interior darkness where faith feels shaken, prayer seems fruitless, and the soul feels far from God.
It is important to distinguish between ordinary desolation and spiritual desolation. Ordinary desolation can arise from natural causes such as fatigue, illness, or emotional strain. These are part of our human condition and often lift with rest or care. Spiritual desolation, however, touches the soul’s relationship with God. It is a spiritual heaviness, a sense of abandonment, or a fading of joy in prayer and faith.
God never causes spiritual desolation, for He is the source of all light and peace. But in His wisdom, He may allow it. He permits this trial so the soul may grow in fidelity and learn to love Him without relying on feelings or visible signs of grace. What feels like absence can become the place where faith matures and love deepens.
The enemy, however, uses this same moment to sow discouragement and doubt. He tempts the soul to believe that God has withdrawn or that past consolations were never real. St. Ignatius warns that these are lies to be resisted firmly. The heart must remember that the truth revealed in light remains true in darkness.
That is why St. Ignatius counsels, “In time of desolation, never make a change.” Never alter a spiritual resolution, practice, or discernment made when the heart was in consolation. The peace God gave then still holds, even when it cannot be felt.
Advent reminds us that Christ entered the world in night and stillness. When the heart feels most deserted, He is not absent. He is quietly forming in us a faith that endures.
Journey with the Saints –
St. Ignatius of Loyola
“In time of desolation, never make a change. Be firm and constant in the resolutions and determination in which you were before the desolation.” St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, Rule 5
St. Ignatius understood desolation as a necessary stage of growth. He describes it as “darkness of soul, disturbance, movement to low and earthly things, disquiet, and lack of hope and love.” Yet he also teaches that God allows these moments to help the soul see that peace and joy are gifts of grace, not achievements of effort.
In Rule 6, Ignatius counsels the soul to act “vigorously against the desolation”, to pray more, to examine itself, and to remember that God’s consolation will return. The key is remembrance. Remember what God has done. Remember how He has led you before. Remember that His faithfulness has not changed.
For Ignatius, desolation becomes fruitful when the soul resists discouragement and clings to the memory of light. It is a test of love’s endurance; a school of trust that prepares the heart for greater union with God.
Reflection for the Listening Heart
This Advent, we have seen how dryness can dull the heart, confusion can cloud understanding, weakness can humble, suffering can refine, and fear can narrow trust. These experiences can sometimes accompany spiritual desolation or lead toward it, but they are not the same. Even when they appear together, God is near.
In desolation, you may question whether the joy, peace, or closeness you once felt was ever real. That doubt is the enemy’s voice. Faith remembers. It recalls the mercy of God and refuses to rewrite the story of His goodness.
The discerning heart learns to resist despair by remembering grace. When you cannot see or feel God, you still know Him by what He has already done. Desolation may silence your emotions, but it cannot erase truth.
Ask yourself: When have I felt God’s closeness before? What light of consolation do I need to remember today?
A Simple Practice for Today
Return to a past moment when you clearly knew God was near; a time of peace, consolation, or gratitude.
Thank Him for that grace.
Say aloud:
“Lord, what You revealed then is still true now.”
Later in the day, when discouragement comes, repeat quietly:
“I will not change direction in this darkness. I trust that Your light will return.”
Let both moments be acts of remembrance and faith.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, when my heart is dark and my memory clouded,
help me to remember Your faithfulness.
Teach me to trust You when consolation fades
and to hold fast to what You revealed in the light.
Through the wisdom of St. Ignatius,
grant me patience in desolation and courage in trial.
Strengthen my love, deepen my faith,
and keep me steady until Your peace returns.
Come Lord Jesus.
Make my heart ready.
Amen.
Episode 8 – Celsus – Villains of the Early Church with Mike Aquilina
Mike Aquilina discusses the second-century pagan intellectual Celsus, a formidable critic of early Christianity whose work unintentionally preserved valuable insight into the objections Christians faced in the ancient world. Celsus was a serious compiler of knowledge who treated Christianity alongside medicine, law, and agriculture, largely because the Church had become impossible to ignore. Drawing heavily from hostile sources, he misunderstood core Christian claims such as the Trinity, the virginal conception, and the role of women in the Church, often filtering them through the cultural and “scientific” assumptions of his time. These critiques, though flawed, are historically important because they reveal how Christianity challenged deeply held norms of Greco-Roman society, especially regarding monotheism, human dignity, and the equal worth of men and women.
The major arguments raised by modern critics of Christianity are often recycled versions of ancient claims, already addressed by early thinkers like Origen and St. Augustine. Rather than seeing intellectual challenges as threats, Mike Aquilina frames them as occasions for growth in understanding, prayer, and maturity. It draws parallels between knowing God and knowing a loved one: surface-level claims lose their power when grounded in lived relationship. Science and faith are not rivals; in fact, Christian ideas about creation, reason, and order laid foundations for scientific progress. We ought to seek thoughtful answers, cultivate a disciplined life of prayer, and allow challenges to deepen one’s relationship with Christ rather than weaken it.
Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions
How does learning about ancient critics of Christianity help me better understand and trust the development of Church teaching today?
In what ways do my own cultural assumptions shape how I hear or judge the claims of the Christian faith?
How do intellectual challenges to Christianity invite me to grow in humility rather than defensiveness?
What practices help me distinguish between surface-level knowledge about God and a lived relationship with Him?
How does the Church’s historical engagement with science inform the way I approach modern scientific questions?
When confronted with difficult teachings, do I seek deeper understanding through prayer, study, and tradition?
How can time spent in prayer strengthen my ability to respond calmly and faithfully to doubts or criticisms?
An excerpt from Villains of the Early Church
“The man’s name was Aulus Cornelius Celsus, and he was one of those remarkable people who seem to know a little bit about everything. Today we remember him most as a physician, because the main work of his that survives is a treatise on medicine; but that book was actually part of a book on practically all the world knowledge that Celsus had put together. He dealt with law, war, politics, farming, and other subjects as well. And if he knew as much about them as he did about medicine, Celsus must have been a one-man Wikipedia.
The fact that Celsus was so insatiably curious about so many things may be why he bothered to try to learn about the Christians. They were a phenomenon to be studied. But his studies did not go so far as to ask the best authorities on the subject—the bishops and teachers he might have found if he had looked around. Instead, he seems to have relied on what he heard secondhand. That was probably because, although he was a scientist, Celsus was, like any good educated man in the Roman Empire, a snob first and foremost.”
Aquilina, Mike. Villains of the Early Church: And How They Made Us Better Christians. Emmaus Road Publishing. Kindle Edition.
You can find the book on which this series is based here.
Mike Aquilina is a popular author working in the area of Church history, especially patristics, the study of the early Church Fathers.[1] He is the executive vice-president and trustee of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, a Roman Catholic research center based in Steubenville, Ohio. He is a contributing editor of Angelus (magazine) and general editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History Series from Ave Maria Press. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books, including The Fathers of the Church (2006); The Mass of the Early Christians (2007); Living the Mysteries(2003); and What Catholics Believe(1999). He has hosted eleven television series on the Eternal Word Television Network and is a frequent guest commentator on Catholic radio.
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
Sharon Doran serves as the teaching director of “Seeking Truth.” An experienced Bible Study teacher, Sharon has a passion for scripture that will motivate and challenge you to immerse yourself in God’s Word and apply His message to your everyday life.
“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to:www.seekingtruth.net
O, Wisdom, O holy Word of God,[1] you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care.[2] Come and show your people the way to salvation.[3]
In this ancient antiphon the Church cries out to Christ, as the Wisdom of the Father, the eternal Word proclaimed by John in his prologue,[4] who was with the Father in the beginning of the creation of the world which he continues to govern. We, the Church cry “Come,” the most primordial of all prayers, because we know we’ve “messed up” the wonderful order of creation with human sin and manipulation and need God’s Wisdom, whose “thoughts are not our thoughts.”[5] Only he can show us his Son who is the way to Salvation; to saving us from ourselves and leading us to righteousness in thought and action, which the term salvation implies.
It is part of God’s plan for us that Christ shall come to us in everyone; it is in their particular role that we must learn to know him. He may come as a little child, making enormous demands, giving enormous consolation. He may come as a stranger, so that we must give the hospitality to a stranger that we should like to give to Christ.
Commentary:Caryll Houselander beautifully reminds us that Christ often comes to us through other people, inviting us to recognize His presence in each person’s unique role. He may appear in the form of a child who requires our patience and love, or a stranger who calls us to show hospitality and generosity. This teaching echoes Christ’s words in the Gospels, where He says that whatever we do for the least of His brothers, we do for Him. For Catholics, this perspective challenges us to approach each encounter with the reverence we would give to Christ Himself, recognizing His face in those around us.
Personal Reflection: Today, be mindful of seeing Christ in each person you meet. How can you respond to others—as children, strangers, or friends—with the same love and attention you would offer to Christ Himself?
“A Child in Winter: Advent, Christmas and Epiphany with Caryll Houselander”.
O Lord, infant Jesus, grant us great humility! You gave us the model of perfect humility in your incarnation, life, and death. We pray for a greater Humility this Christmas.
Divine Infant,
after the wonders of Your birth in Bethlehem,
You wished to extend Your infinite mercy to the whole world
by calling the Wise Men by heavenly inspiration to Your crib,
which was in this way changed into a royal throne.
You graciously received those holy men
who were obedient to the Divine call
and hastened to Your feet.
They recognized and worshipped You as Prince of Peace,
the Redeemer of mankind,
and the very Son of God.
Show us also Your goodness and almighty power.
Enlighten our minds,
strengthen our wills,
and inflame our hearts to know You,
to serve You,
and to love You in this life,
that we may merit to find our joy in You eternally in the life to come.
Jesus, most powerful Child,
We implore You again to help us
with the intentions we hold in the depths of our hearts.
Divine Child, great omnipotent God,
I implore through Your most Holy Mother’s most powerful intercession,
and through the boundless mercy of Your omnipotence as God,
for a favorable answer to my prayer during this Novena.
Grant us the grace of possessing You eternally
with Mary and Joseph
and of adoring You with Your holy angels and saints.
“Seeking Truth” is an in-depth Catholic Bible Study, commissioned by the Archdiocese of Omaha in response to John Paul II’s call to the New Evangelization as well as Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation for all Catholics to study scripture. To learn more go to:www.seekingtruth.net
Episode 8 – Celsus – Villains of the Early Church with Mike Aquilina
