Inside the Pages Archives

IP#479 Fr. Vincent Lampert – Exorcism part 1 on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor podcast

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Part 1 of our conversation with Fr. Vincent Lampert on Exorcism

In Exorcism: The Battle Against Satan and His Demons, Fr. Vincent Lampert, a seasoned Exorcist of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, offers valuable insight on the important ministry of exorcism available in the Church in our modern times. In our conversation, he offers a thorough and balanced overview of the activity of the enemy and the grace and freedom from those seeking deliverance from diabolical activity.

You can find the book here.

From the book description:

At a time when many Christians no longer practice their faith, there has been an increase in the attention given to the devil and his devious ways. Because the devil seeks to destroy and separate us from God, all Catholics must be on guard.

Providing a window into the merciful ministry of exorcism, Fr. Lampert equips Catholics with the knowledge necessary to avoid become vulnerable to spiritual attack. In Exorcism, you’ll learn

– how the Church selects and trains priests for the ministry of exorcism
– where and how the devil operates in the world, and what Scripture has to say about it
– why it is vital for Catholics to live a vibrant life of faith
– what to do if you suspect the presence of the demonic in your life or in others and
– how to fend off spiritual attack and build a stronger relationship with God.

Exorcism makes clear that the power of Satan to wreak havoc in our lives pales in light of the glorious omnipotence of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

IP#331 Fr. John Horgan – His Angels At Our Side on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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“His Angels at Our Side: Understanding Their Power in Our Souls and the World” by Fr. John Horgan is a very special work that gives us all a beautiful glimpse of the invisible messengers of God. My conversation about the Holy Angels with Fr. Horgan was pure joy! This is a phenomenal work and one that will be sure to become a classic on the subject! Don’t miss.

You can find the book here

From the book description:

Meet the mighty spirits sent by God to enlighten and guide us, defend us from harm, and lead us on the path to eternal life. Learn how angels are invisibly present at every moment of your life, and how they can pray with you and for you, amplifying your praise by reflecting it directly to God face-to-face.

Angels do not form a separate universe they are an integral part of our own world sent forth for the sake of our salvation. They are pure spirits who communicate to us God’s grace, His goodness, and His truth.

In these pages, Fr. Horgan unveils the surprising role of the angels in our lives and what you must do to gain their help. You’ll learn how to imitate the angels in prayer and how they offer you the enlightenment and the encouragement God so desperately wants to give you. By praying with the angels, you will be strengthened for what lies ahead, better able to discern and do the Lord’s will in all your actions. You ll also learn:

Why the Church teaches that the angels were created at the time of creation

The responsibilities of the angels at every Mass

The key difference between spirits and angels

Seven habits you must develop to grow closer to God through His angels

The difference between Archangel Gabriel’s apparitions to Mary and Zechariah

How St. Joseph can expose you to the inspirations of the angels

The difference in the way humans and angels think

How you can imitate the warrior nature of the angels

The three ways you must respond to your angel’s guardianship

The five roles that every angel takes in their service for the Lord

The surprising ways in which angelic warfare is carried out

IP#305 Dr. Peter Kreeft – I Burned for Your Peace on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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These are indeed good days for book lovers because we are so blessed to have yet another Christian spiritual classic broken open for us by Dr. Peter Kreeft! In “I Burned for Your Peace: Augustine’s Confessions Unpacked“, Dr. Kreeft gives us a guided tour through one of the finest works in all Western literature. In our conversation, we discuss how St. Augustine, in many ways, is the everyman and why is life is so important for us today. Written in a personal dialogue with God, the saint’s “Confessions” is more than an autobiography or a book of theology, it is, in the end, a living prayer. It is one man’s compelling witness that is, as Dr. Kreeft will say, astonishingly contemporary. St. Augustine looks at himself, so honestly, we can’t help but see ourselves in the reflection. “I Burned for Your Peace” is the must have book to accompany you on this spiritual journey, especially if your heart is a restless one. So plan your pilgrimage now! Get the Frank Sheed translation of the “Confessions” as mentioned by Dr. Kreeft in our conversation and grab this book today

You can find the book here

“Two teachers we all know and trust enter into a dialogue to bring forth a Confessions for our day.”
— Fr. David Meconi, S.J., Editor, The Confessions of St. Augustine

“Kreeft is always brilliant, and in this book he is even more astonishing than ever. If I were allowed only one book on the Confessions, this would be it.”
—Joseph Pearce, Author, Catholic Literary Giants

“Kreeft illustrates the truth of Augustine’s comment that God is more intimate to us than we are even to ourselves. Only when we realize that we are loved into being by the Triune God, will we experience the profound peace that sustains the pilgrimage to eternal life.”
Fr. Matthew Lamb, Professor of Theology, Ave Maria University

IP#489 Fr. Christopher Collins S.J. – Habits of Freedom on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor podcast

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What a delight to talk again with Fr. Christopher Collins S.J., this time about his book Habits of Freedom: 5 Ignatian Tools for Clearing Your Mind and Resting Daily in the Lord

You can find the book here, a wonderful resource

From the book description –

Popular retreat leader and spiritual director Fr. Christopher Collins, SJ, says that if you turn your heart to God you will find clarity and spiritual peace. In Habits of Freedom, Collins offers you five practical tools to help you develop a habit of daily discernment that will lead to inner calm.

Drawing on the wisdom of St. Ignatius Loyola and his renowned Spiritual Exercises, Collins offers practical spiritual exercises for incorporating five tools into your daily life to help you de-stress, organize your thoughts, and experience the calming presence of Jesus. These are:

allowing God to show you the signs of oncoming anxiety and mental breakdown;

developing the ancient practice of spiritual discernment to help analyze your moods and perceptions;

interpreting life events with an eye toward personal growth and resiliency;

practicing detachment from negative influences; and

engaging in interior sensitivity to how God works to bring you peace.

Habits of Freedom is an excellent resource for spiritual directors and individuals, as well as for use in prayer and parish groups seeking practical material that can speak broadly to members from a variety of backgrounds and seasons of life. The book can be easily adapted for small groups and retreat use.

IP#488 Joseph Pearce – Faith of Our Fathers on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor podcast

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What a delight to once again talk with the prolific Joseph Pearce. This time about his extraordinary book Faith of Our Fathers: A History of True England. A compelling read that spans the story of a great nation and the heartbeat that makes the lion roar. We couldn’t put the book down! Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Joseph speak of his beloved homeland and the faith that changed the world.

You can find the book here

From the book description –

The Catholic Church has been a part of English history since the arrival of Christian missionaries to Roman Britain in the first century after Christ. England was evangelized in these early centuries to such an extent that, by the time the Romans withdrew in the fifth century, the Celtic population was largely Catholic.

Anglo-Saxon England, prior to the Norman Conquest, was a land of saints. From St. Bede, with his history of the early Church, to the holy king St. Edward the Confessor, Saxon England was ablaze with the light of Christ. During the reign of St. Edward, a vision of the Virgin at Walsingham placed the Mother of God on the throne as England’s queen, the land being considered her dowry. Even following the Norman Conquest, the Faith continued to flourish and prosper, making its joyful presence felt in what would become known as Merrie England.

Then in the sixteenth century, this Catholic heart was ripped from the people of England, against their will and in spite of their spirited and heroic resistance, by the reign of the Tudors. This made England once again a land of saints—that is, of martyrs, with Catholic priests and laity being put to death for practicing the Faith. The martyrdoms would continue for 150 years, followed by a further 150 years of legal and political persecution.

In the nineteenth century, against all the odds, there was a great Catholic revival, heralded by the conversion of St. John Henry Newman, which would continue into the twentieth century. Much of the greatest literature of the past century has been written by literary converts to the Church, such as G. K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and J. R. R. Tolkien.

This whole exciting, faith-filled story is told by Joseph Pearce within a single-volume history of “true England”, the England that remained true to the faith through thick and thin, in times both “merrie” and perilous. It is a story not only worth telling but worth celebrating.

Fiorella Nash – The Abolition of Woman on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor Podcast

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“The Abolition of Woman: How Radical Feminism is Betraying Women” is a powerful book and so needed today. Author and international pro-life advocate Fiorella Nash is an incredible advocate for authentic feminism. With this work, she shines a bright penetrating light on the destructive twistings and distortions projected onto women throughout the world by extraordinarily dark forces that many cannot or do not want to see.

You can find the book here

From the book description:

This book unashamedly calls mainstream feminists, journalists and Western politicians to account for their silence and – in some cases – vocal justification of the persecution of women because of an absolutist loyalty to abortion. It asks uncomfortable questions to those who claim to believe in women’s empowerment: Where is their passionate outrage when Chinese women are forcibly aborted and sterilised? Where is their concern for the thousands of baby girls killed by abortion every year because their lives are held as worthless simply for being female? What about the thousands of women used as surrogates for wealthy Western couples, treated as chattels and denied their most basic human rights?

But the book also tackles difficult issues for the pro-life side—the need for a sensitive, realistic approach to problematic pregnancies and the importance of confronting the continued exploitation and abuse of women within a sexualised society.

Pro-life feminism is not only possible; it is vital if the complex struggles facing women are to be adequately met. The Abolition of Woman is a rallying cry to feminists to stand with the pro-life movement, fighting to build a society in which women are equal and every human life is protected.

IP#352 Dr. Peter Kreeft – Probes on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor Podcast

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“Probes: Deep Sea Diving into St. John’s Gospel” is a beautiful union of Scripture Study and the prayer experience of Lectio Divina. I’ve never seen anything quite like it (and I hope I see more). What the reader will find is that diving deeper is actually climbing higher. Under Dr. Kreeft’s guidance, we learn to ask penetrating questions of Sacred Scripture, but more importantly, we learn to listen to the Word for the answers. Designed for community study or individual reflection, this is the “John” book I have been waiting for! Thank you once again Dr. Kreeft!

You can find the book here

From the book description:

This is no ordinary book. It is a set of probing questions (1,450 in fact) designed to help individuals or groups, especially groups, to dive deeply into Saint John’s Gospel. No answers are provided, but the questions are phrased in such a way as to set a person in a reliable direction for finding the answers.

The questions correspond to the verses of the Gospel and require active and personal interaction. Some of the questions are easy, some difficult, and they are marked accordingly. Some questions include background information or hints that help the reader along. Some were written with a fair bit of humor. Any person or group using these questions to explore John will find themselves entertained as well as informed and inspired.

IP#315 Fr. Robert Spitzer – The Light Shines On In The Darkness on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor podcast

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Simply one of the finest works ever compiled on the mystery of suffering. Fr. Robert Spitzer’s “The Light Shines On In The Darkness: Transforming Suffering through Faith (Happiness, Suffering, and Transcendence)” could be considered a “catechism of suffering,” but not one rooted in misery, but rather anchored in the experience of God’s great mercy and redemptive sacrifice. This is a book of hope and one that should be experienced by all Christians, and in particular, those who minister in any way, shape, or form in the New Evangelization. Why would a loving God allow suffering? Is there any good that can be brought forth from our trials? So much more is addressed in this opus. I could not put this book down. Pick it up, you won’t regret it!

You can find the book here

“Suffering has the power to break or elevate the human spirit. Lived in the spirit of the Gospel and borne for the sake of others, it’s the most redemptive, transfiguring force in creation. Fr. Spitzer has written a magisterial work on the meaning of suffering, a work remarkable both for its depth and beauty.”
— Most Rev. Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia

“In this trenchant and searching book, Fr. Spitzer responds to the most powerful objection to the proposition that God exists, namely, the problem of suffering. And he dares to do what very few are willing to do today: to articulate how evil and pain are ingredients in the providential design of a loving God.”
—Bishop Robert Barron, Host, Catholicism film series

IP#487 Fr. Eamonn Bourke – Make Your Home In Me on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor podcast

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Make Your Home In Me: Reflections on Prayer is a gem of a book and so is the opportunity to talk with its author Fr. Eamonn Bourke. Fr. Timothy Gallagher said it best when asked to review this book – “Do you want to pray? Really to pray? To pray daily? To pray from your heart? Then read this book. Read it slowly; absorb its message, and it will transform your prayer.” We completely agree! We highly recommend you pick up a copy of this small book and let it lead you into deeper prayer.

You can find the book here

From the book description –

Father Bourke’s book takes the sometimes elusive process of prayer and presents it in easily accessible terms. Because of this gift for clarity in the author, this book makes prayer inviting and attractive. Each chapter provides insight into creating a closer relationship with God and ends with some thought-provoking questions and a simple prayer.

IP#357 Gretchen Crowe – Praying the Rosary with St. John Paul II on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor podcast

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What a delight to have a conversation with Gretchen Crowe about two of my favorite topics – the Holy Rosary of Our Lady and St. Pope John Paul II! Gretchen has authored a beautiful book entitled “Praying the Rosary with St. John Paul II” which is filled with reflections and images which illuminate the mysteries of this treasured prayer through the gaze of this beloved saint. We highly recommend this book!

You can find the book here

From the book description:

With this book, you can pray the Rosary with the saint who loved it so much. For each mystery of the Rosary, you will find:

The spiritual fruit that accompanies each mystery

A short reflection on how Pope St. John Paul II embodied the spiritual fruit

A Scripture passage for reflection

An excerpt from a talk or writing of John Paul II

Whether the Rosary is already your favorite prayer or you’re just learning to pray it, Praying the Rosary with St. John Paul II will help you “rediscover the Rosary in the light of Scripture, in harmony with the Liturgy, and in the context of your daily lives.”