The Discerning Hearts Blog Archives

St. Monica, who never gave up hope, pray for us who do

St. Monica (331-387) a “shining light of Christ” example of perserverance in prayer! We have her as an outstanding model of never giving up…what a gift to us! Today we can turn to her and see what sticking to it can do, but did you ever think, “Who was her example?” She didn’t know how the story of her son, St. Augustine would turn out. She didn’t know that he would be transformed by grace into one of the greatest Doctors of the Church who ever lived. Monica must have become frustrated, and at times filled with anxiety and maybe even a degree of despair, but she persevered through it all! She surely suffered emotionally for her lost son, but she never gave up her hope in God and faith in His promises…the energy of her love for her son fueled her prayer and grace transformed his seeking heart. It took 30 years, but it happened.

A few months after his conversion, Augustine, Monica and Adeodatus (her other son), set out to return to Africa, but Monica died at Ostia, the ancient port city of Rome, and she was buried there. Some pictures show her so old, but when you think of it, she was only 56 when she died. Augustine was so deeply moved by his mother’s death that he was inspired to write his Confessions, “So be fulfilled what my mother desired of me–more richly in the prayers of so many gained for her through these confessions of mine than by my prayers alone” (Book IX.13.37)

An account of Monica’s early life, her childhood, marriage, her final days and her death, is given in Confessions Book IX, 8-12. He expresses his gratitude for her life:

“I will not speak of her gifts, but of thy gift in her; for she neither made herself nor trained herself. Thou didst create her, and neither her father nor her mother knew what kind of being was to come forth from them. And it was the rod of thy Christ, the discipline of thy only Son, that trained her in thy fear, in the house of one of thy faithful ones who was a sound member of thy Church” (IX.8.7).

Centuries later, Monica’s body was brought to Rome, and eventually her relics were interred in a chapel left of the high altar of the Church of St. Augustine in Rome (see below).

IP#168 Eric Sammons – Holiness for Everyone on Inside the Pages

“Holiness for Everyone: The Practical Spirituality of St. Josemaria Escriva” is fantastic book which offers a path to living out holiness in our everyday lives. Eric Sammons breaks open St. Josemaria’s teachings and presents useful steps at the end of each chapter to foster incorporation of those daily disciplines into our spiritual practice. Wonderful food for the journey.

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You can find the book here

From the description:

Strive for your own personal holiness as you implement your daily plan to:
–Be a Contemplative in the Midst of a Busy World
–Live a Life of Prayer
–Recognize the Presence of God
–Make a Plan of Life
–Make Your Work a Way to Heaven

Holiness for Everyone will inspire you as it sets your feet on the path to sainthood.

“Eric Sammons shows that St. Josemaria has recovered the most powerful truth of classic Christianity and restated it in a way that is compelling for men and women of our time.”
—From the Foreword by Scott Hahn

Radical surrender and giving up all to follow Jesus: The camel and the eye of the needle – reflections from Msgr. John Esseff – Discerning Hearts

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Msgr. Esseff shares some of the experience from the on-going seminarian retreat in Cleveland, OH. He reflects on the gospel reading which presents the teaching of Jesus about how it is easier for a camel to pass t

hrough the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. What are we to make of that? How attached are we to our “things” and money? What holds us bound? How do we obtain authentic freedom? What is the unique surrender of the priest? What is the gift?

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, mystical doctor of the Church…grace is all we need

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a great mystical doctor of the Church. What a heart for Jesus and the Blessed Virgin (I’m sure he still has).

“There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge
That is curiosity.

–

There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others
That is vanity.
–

There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve
That is love.”

–

St. Bernard

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, was a Cisterian monk, who lived in France in the 12th century. Living at a time when the great gothic cathedrals where born, St. Bernard, advocated for simplicity and austerity in life. He was concerned about the temptations of worldly things and desires. He wished to focus solely on the love of Christ and the Blessed Mother; everything else was folly.
To read more about the details of his life you can visit here.

What captures my heart is his legacy of prayer and spiritual writings. He truly deserves the title Doctor of the Church. What a feast he has left us! Pope John Paul II has said that if we wish to learn to pray, look to the Mystical Doctors…he truly is one of those special souls. There is so much, where can one begin? Begin with Mary. Ask the Blessed Mother, she will lead you through his teachings.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux composed the famous prayer to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary known as The Memorare

REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

St. Bernard on the Blessed Mother

St. Bernard on Holy Repentance

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Highly recommended reading introduction to St. Bernard would be – “The Fulfillment of All Desire” by Ralph Martin

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The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – The Conquest of Death! – Discerning Hearts

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and it’s meaning for our lives and destiny.

He brings forth from the liturgy of the day the Sacred Scripture a teaching which begins with fall of man, but the redemption brought about by Jesus Christ. And because of His Resurrection, death has no power over us. He

explains this by sharing the death of his own sister and the prayer of his mother. Msgr. Esseff explains Mary sinlessness as the Immaculate Conception and the purpose of the Assumption. He discusses Chap. 12 of the Book of Revelation, as well as Our Lady of Guadalupe and Fatima and the message for us today. Msgr. Esseff talks about our struggles with death, not only our own, but also those of our loved ones. How we hold on sometimes to tightly to those we should let go to the Father, because of our own fears and desires…and possibly our selfishness. We need to remember the joys of Eternal Life and the role of Mary, our Mother, who helps us with the transition. Be not afraid!

St. Maximus the Confessor, last Father and first Doctor of the Church with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts

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St. Maximus the Confessor

lived approx. 500 years after Hippolytus. He is one of the last fathers of the Church and is consider one of the first of her doctors. A beautiful writer and homelist he said this once:

The sun of justice, rising into the clean mind, reveals Himself and the reasons of all that He created and will create.

Love defeats those three: self-deception, because she is not proud; Interior envy, because she is not jealous; Exterior envy, because she is generous and serene.

All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are inside our hearts hidden.

Faith without love does not act in the soul the illumination of the divine knowledge.

When the mind receives the ideas of things, by its nature is transformed according to each and every idea. If it sees the things spiritually, it is transfigured in many ways according to each vision. But if the mind becomes in God, then it becomes totally shapeless and formless, because seeing Him who has one face it comes to have one face and then the whole mind becomes a face of light.– taken from Speech on Love

St. Alphonsus Ligouri, patron of Confessors and Theologians, pray for them…and us

I always say a quick prayer to St. Alphonsus Ligouri before I go into the confessional. He is the great founder of the Redemptorists, and a man who loved the Blessed Mother very much. His “Glories of Mary” is one of my favorite devotional books on the Blessed Virgin. He also wrote “Moral Theology”. He wrote it primarily based on his pastoral experience, as well as his education, which explains it’s ability to speak to us today. That pastoral experience, combined with his great prayer life, as well as his tremendous knowledge, made him such a wonderful confessor. What a heart this man had. He is a living example of how the journey can be made “from the head to the heart”. He is patron of Confessors and Theologians.

Petition to Mary by Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Most holy Virgin Immaculate, my Mother Mary,
to thee who art the Mother of my Lord,
the queen of the universe,
the advocate, the hope, the refuge of sinners,
I who am the most miserable of all sinners, have recourse this day.

I venerate thee, great queen,
and I thank thee for the many graces
thou has bestowed upon me even unto this day;
in particular for having delivered me from the hell
which I have so often deserved by my sins.

I love thee, most dear Lady;
and for the love I bear thee,
I promise to serve thee willingly forever
and to do what I can to make thee loved by others also.

I place in thee all my hopes for salvation;
accept me as thy servant
and shelter me under thy mantle,
thou who art the Mother of mercy.

And since thou art so powerful with God,
deliver me from all temptations,
or at least obtain for me the strength to overcome them until death.
From thee I implore a true love for Jesus Christ.

Through thee I hope to die a holy death.

My dear Mother,
by the love thou bearest to Almighty God,
I pray thee to assist me always,
but most of all at the last moment of my life.

Forsake me not then,
until thou shalt see me safe in heaven,
there to bless thee and sing of thy mercies through all eternity.

Such is my hope.
Amen.

BKL#12 – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff – Why do those who trust God sometimes suffer? – Discerning Hearts

Show 12 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – Why do those who trust in God sometimes suffer? Msgr. Esseff then addresses the issue of trust in the Lord as an expression in our faith…even when it’s hard

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on Hab 1:12-2:4

Are you not from eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?
I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.

Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live. -NAB

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30th 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 Blessed 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 Bl. Pope 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 director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.

To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book byvisiting here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building a Kingdom of Love”

BKL#12 – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff – Why do those who trust God sometimes suffer?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:13 — 46.2MB) | Embed

Msgr. Esseff reflects on Hab 1:12-2:4

Are you not from eternity, O LORD,
my holy God, immortal?
O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,
O Rock, you have readied him punishment!
Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,
and the sight of misery you cannot endure.
Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence
while the wicked man devours
one more just than himself?
You have made man like the fish of the sea,
like creeping things without a ruler.
He brings them all up with his hook,
he hauls them away with his net,
He gathers them in his seine;
and so he rejoices and exults.
Therefore he sacrifices to his net,
and burns incense to his seine;
for thanks to them his portion is generous,
and his repast sumptuous.
Shall he, then, keep on brandishing his sword
to slay peoples without mercy?
I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart,
And keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.

Then the LORD answered me and said:
Write down the vision
Clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.
For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
The rash man has no integrity;
but the just man, because of his faith, shall live. -NAB

To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book byvisiting here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building a Kingdom of Love”

IP#167 Dr. John Bergsma – Bible Basics for Catholics on Inside the Pages

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Well we simply can’t say that studying the Old Testament is intimidating anymore, not when there is the work of Dr. John

Bergsma to help us through the door. “Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History” is a wonderful guide to begin the journey, not only for the individual, but also for the entire family. Many of us our visual learners, and bearing that in mind, Dr. Bergsma has transformed what has worked for his classroom into a book that can help us all. It is indeed a unique approach, which seems like a simple presentation, but is so packed with important fundamental elements of Sacred Scripture that you hardly realize that you’ve mastered the “heavy” things. Instead you come away more aware and deeply appreciative of the “family” history in which we’ve been given. His love for the Old Testament is apparent, and he passes on new insights to us all. Having been twice voted Faculty of the Year by graduating classes at Franciscan University, he is a popular teacher whose love of scripture inspires his students….and now we can see why!

Be sure to visit the fantastic “The Sacred Page” blog he shares with Brant Pitre, and Michael Barber (what a trio!)

You can find the book here

“John Bergsma is a very effective teacher of Scripture with a gift for clarity and depth.” —Scott Hahn, Author of Signs of Life: 40 Catholic Customs and Their Biblical Roots

“John Bergsma brings his biblical scholarship, pastoral heart, and gift for teaching together in this charming, easy-to-use overview of Salvation History. Catechists, teachers, and pastoral ministers will find this an inestimable resource, both for their own reference, and for shepherding those under their care. Highly recommended.” —Edward Sri, STD, Chancellor and Professor of Scripture and Theology, Augustine Institute

“We go by way of history and imagination to the Holy Land, and to times long past, and we meet the most fascinating people who ever lived: Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus. We can do all this because of John Bergsma’s rare gifts. This book can change lives.” —Mike Aquilina, Author of The Mass: The Glory, the Mystery, the Tradition