Media Archives

ST-V9 – Acts of the Apostles, Chapters 13-14 – Seeking Truth with Sharon Doran – Video Podcast

“Acts 13-14” – Seeking Truth Catholic Bible Study from Discerning Hearts on Vimeo.

Our journey through the Acts of Apostles continues. Sharon gives us a nice summary of the series of progressive covenants that God has made throughout salvation history, showing us that each has both a covenant mediator and covenant sign. For example, Abraham was the covenant mediator and circumcision the covenant sign. Jesus Christ is the final covenant mediator and Eucharist the final covenant sign. We take a look at the stories of Peter’s vision at Joppa and the Baptism of Cornelius, both of which underscore the universal nature of God’s gift of salvation. Sharon goes on to give us a beautiful exhortation to use spiritual charisms granted to all of us by the Holy Spirit through the grace of our Baptism. From there, we focus on the execution of James, the first apostle to suffer martyrdom and the supernatural jailbreak of Peter. The lesson concludes with the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas who are sent to preach the kerygma, the good news, to anyone and everyone, Jew and Gentile alike.

For the audio-only version of this podcast

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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 every day 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

BTP#11 Heaven In Faith Day 6 Prayer 1 – St. Elizabeth of the Trinity w/Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Episode 11 Beginning to Pray: “Heaven in Faith” Day 6 Prayer 1 – “To approach God we must believe”

From “Heaven in Faith” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

19. “We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.” That is our great act of faith, the way to repay our God love for love; it is “the mystery hidden” in the Father’s heart, of which St. Paul speaks, which, at last, we penetrate and our whole soul thrills!”

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

For other episodes in the series visit the Discerning Hearts page for Dr. Anthony Lilles

Anthony Lilles, S.T.D. is an associate professor and the academic dean of Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo as well as the academic advisor for Juan Diego House of Priestly Formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. For over twenty years he served the Church in Northern Colorado where he joined and eventually served as dean of the founding faculty of Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. Through the years, clergy, seminarians, religious and lay faithful have benefited from his lectures and retreat conferences on the Carmelite Doctors of the Church and the writings of Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity.

#10 The Eighth Rule – The Discernment of Spirits /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV – Video Podcasts

#10 The Eighth Rule The Discernment of Spirits /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV from Discerning Hearts on Vimeo.

Episode 10 -The Eighth Rule:

Let him who is in desolation labor to be in patience, which is contrary to the vexations which come to him: and let him think that he will soon be consoled, employing against the desolation the devices, as is said in the sixth Rule.

For the other episodes in this series check out Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s “Discerning Hearts” page

You can obtain just the audio podcast, if you would prefer

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IP#127 Dale Ahlquist – In Defense of Sanity on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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How can you possibly pick the best of G. K. Chesterton’s essays? Thank goodness for Dale Ahlquist, Joseph Pearce, Aidan Mackey! Leading authorities on all things G. K. they’ve done it for us…and what a feast! From cheese to Jane Austen, barbarians to “what is right with the world,” G. K. covers it all. And the beauty is that it is still as relevant today as it was in his day…that’s the mark of genius, or more accurately, authentic wisdom and grace. It is always a joy to talk with Dale Ahlquist! He is the “good son” of G. K. Have fun with the listen and then read “In Defense of Sanity: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton.”

You can find the book here

From the book description:

The variety of topics are astounding: barbarians, architects, mystics, ghosts, fireworks, rain, juries, gargoyles and much more. Plus a look at Shakespeare, Dickens, Jane Austen, George MacDonald, T.S. Eliot, and the Bible. All in that inimitable, formidable but always quotable style of GKC. Even more astounding than the variety is the continuity of Chesterton’s thought that ties everything together. A veritable feast for the mind and heart.

While some of the essays in this volume may be familiar, many of them are collected here for the first time, making their first appearance in over a century.

IP#228 Mary Eberstadt – How the West Really Lost God on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

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“How the West Really Lost God: A New Theory of Secularization” is a phenomenal book on this subject. Mary Eberstadt delivers a compelling theory about the decline of the Christian religion in the Western world. By the analysis of data on the family, from pre-Revolutionary France to contemporary culture in the West, she demonstrates how the natural family is the prime nurturing force for Christianity in society. When that family structure dissolves, so does the Christian religion in a culture and the rise of secularization is fostered. While presenting the problem, she also offers hope for the future. Another fascinating and provocative read by Mary Eberstadt!

You can find the book here

“An absolutely brilliant and strikingly fresh portrait of the ‘double-helix’ of faith and family, coupled with a potentially game-changing analysis of the why and how of secularization, all written with the sparkle and empathy that characterize the work of one of America’s premier social analysts.” —George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C.

“Mary Eberstadt’s account of the synergistic relationship between the fracturing of the family and declining religiosity is both chilling and utterly convincing. No theorist of secularization has come close to Eberstadt in sociological insight or explanatory power.”

— Mary Ann Glendon, author of The Forum and the Tower: How Scholars and Politicians Have Imagined the World from Plato to Eleanor Roosevelt

“A brilliant contribution to the really big question about the future of the West, and a pleasure to read.”—Rodney Stark, author of The Rise of Christianity

BTP#10 Heaven In Faith Day 5 Prayer 2 – St. Elizabeth of the Trinity w/Dr. Anthony Lilles

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Episode 9 Beginning to Pray: “Heaven in Faith” Day 5 Prayer 2 – “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood, remains in Me and I in him.”

From “Heaven in Faith” found in The Complete Works vol 1:

18. ….”The first sign of love is this: that Jesus has given us His flesh to eat and His blood to drink.” “The property of love is to be always giving and always receiving. Now this love ” of Christ is “generous. All that He has, all that He is, He gives; all that we have , all that we are, He takes away. He asks for more than we of our ourselves are capable of giving.”

We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series

For other episodes in the series visit the Discerning Hearts page for Dr. Anthony Lilles

ST-V8 – Acts of the Apostles, Chapters 10 -12 – Seeking Truth with Sharon Doran – Video Podcast

“Acts 10-12” – Seeking Truth Catholic Bible Study from Discerning Hearts on Vimeo.
The Conversion of Saul. In this lesson, we narrow our focus to a single chapter in Acts, taking an in-depth look at the most famous of conversions. The most ferocious persecutor of the early church does an absolute 180 to become one of the most prolific witnesses of all times. Sharon shows us that true conversion requires both belief in Christ and repentance from sin as well as Baptism into the Trinity and mission. However, the call to share in the life of Christ is also a call to share in His suffering. Furthermore, Sharon teaches us that just as the life of Israel prefigures the life of Jesus, the life of the Church recapitulates the life of Christ. In particular, we receive a beautiful teaching about Paul’s three days of blindness, which recalls Jesus’ three days in the tomb and Jonah’s three days in the belly of the whale. Paul’s spirit is freed from the bondage of sin just as the imprisoned righteous spirits were freed from the bondage of hell. Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. Saint Paul goes from moral blindness to become a full-sighted spiritual wonder, by the grace of the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus.

For the audio-only version of this podcast

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The Holy Rosary for Discerning Hearts – Our Lady’s Garden of Prayer – Mp3 Audio downloadable

Outside of the Sacramental prayers of the Church, there is no other prayer more important than the prayerful recitation of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Our late great Holy Father, St. John Paul II put it beautifully in His Apostolic Letter On the Rosary of the Virgin Mary:

“A path of contemplation”

“But the most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery which I have proposed in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte as a genuine “training in holiness”: “What is needed is a Christian life distinguished above all in the heart of The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation. Developed in the West, it is a typically meditative prayer, corresponding in some way to the “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer” which took root in the soil of the Christian East.”– His Apostolic Letter On the Rosary of the Virgin Mary

Please take some time to check out the Discerning Hearts “Holy Rosary Page”

Audio mp3 download/podcasts of the Holy Rosary

Joyful Mysteries

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Sorrowful Mysteries

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Luminous Mysteries

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Glorious Mysteries

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#09 The Seventh Rule – The Discernment of Spirits /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV – Video Podcasts

#09 The Seventh Rule The Discernment of Spirits /w Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV from Discerning Hearts on Vimeo.

Episode 9 -The Seventh Rule:

Let him who is in desolation consider how the Lord has left him in trial in his natural powers, in order to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy; since he can with the Divine help, which always remains to him, though he does not clearly perceive it: because the Lord has taken from him his great fervor, great love and intense grace, leaving him, however, grace enough for eternal salvation.

For the other episodes in this series check out Fr. Timothy Gallagher’s “Discerning Hearts” page

You can obtain just the audio podcast, if you would prefer

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Day 1- A Novena to St. Teresa of Avila

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DAY 1: QUALITY SPIRITUAL READING

St. Teresa you have said:

“The prioress should see to it that good books are available, especially The Life of Christ by the Carthusian, the Flos Sanctorum, The Imitation of Christ, The Oratory of Religious, and those books written by Fray Luis de Granada and by Father Fray Pedro de Alcantara. This sustenance for the soul is in some way as necessary as is food for the body.”

—Constitutions 8

In chapter 4 of her autobiography, Teresa recounts the story of a particular visit to her uncle, Pedro Sánchez de Cepeda, wherein he gave her a copy of Francisco de Osuna’s book, the Third Spiritual Alphabet. It provided the foundations for her spiritual life and remained an important reference for many years. In time, Teresa added other works to her list of spiritual influences, including those listed in her Constitutions. It was essential to her spiritual growth and to that of her sisters to be educated by knowledgeable people in the realm of the interior life.

Through her example and counsel, we are also invited to enrich our faith and our interior lives by reading and studying the writings of the many holy authors whom the Church recommends to us. Of course, among these, Teresa is one who is especially recommended. Perhaps one way of preparing for the feast during these nine days of novena would be to prayerful read and reflect on one of her writings.

May she and all of the saintly authors continue to inspire us through their teachings and experience.

St. Teresa speaks to us today saying:

“May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing that you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love.
It is there for each and every one of you.”

O God, who through your Spirit
raised up Saint Teresa of Jesus
to show the Church the way to seek perfection,
grant that we may always be nourished
by the food of her heavenly teaching
and fired with longing for true holiness.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

St. Teresa, pray for us:
That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

reflection written by Fr. Emiel Albalahin, O.Carm. Used by permission via the Curia Generalizia dei Carmelitani Please visit http://www.ocarm.org/en/

The prayer offered by Dr. Matthew Bunson and Kris McGregor

Audio versions of the “Interior Castle” and “The Way of Perfection” by St. Teresa of Avila