Mike Aquilina Archives

SJ9 – A Brief Reflection on Prudence – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 9 – A Brief Reflection on Prudence

In this final episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss St. Joseph and the virtue of prudence

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

The prudent way—the way of St. Joseph—begins with self-knowledge. People cannot see reality clearly as long as they have those planks in their eyes. They cannot have radical openness to reality if they harbor fears of the truth.

In his discussion of prudence, Pieper warns of something called falsification of memory. He sees this as the great destroyer of the sense of reality. People tend to mythologize their days. They make themselves out to be heroes. They make their adversaries and rivals out to be villains, just because they want the same things. It is hard not to see life in this way. But there is no doubt that it is a falsification of memory—and it is corrosive to our sense of reality.

The Christian tradition offers remedies for this. A good spiritual director will not permit his charges to hold on to this kind of thought. He will humanize the rivals they demonize.

Anyone can cultivate that attitude, too, by means of a daily examination of conscience and regular confession. Reality is something that must be faced squarely, deliberately, consciously, with the means God has provided—first, the inner reality of one’s self and then the reality of the world.

Joseph can be misunderstood, as prudence is misunderstood. His silence can be mistaken for passivity, but it is not.

Joseph is the prudent man whose thoughts correspond to reality, and whose actions flow from those thoughts. He is the image of God and yet a model for every Christian. He is the one who keeps the constant company of Jesus Christ.

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (pp. 75-76). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

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.

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

SJ8 – Handing on the Passover – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 8 – Handing on the Passover

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss St. Joseph and the role he had in Jesus’ religious formation. Also, Mike offers a deeper insight on the scene popularly known as “the finding in the Temple.”

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

A father has no idea what his son will make of the lessons of boyhood—the small and large skills passed from one generation to the next. It was Joseph who taught Jesus how to conduct the Passover seder. It was Joseph who showed him how to bless the bread and break it—how to bless the cup and share it. It was Joseph who taught him to make thanksgiving by means of the Haggadah, the ancient story of salvation. It was Joseph who read the poem that predicted the night of the messiah.

It was Joseph who gave Jesus the fundamental form that would later come to be filled by the Eucharist.

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 70). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

You can find the book on which this series is based here.

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

SJ7 – Joseph and His Work – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 7 – Joseph and His Work

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss St. Joseph and his family’s trade as a carpenter and the holiness found in “work.”

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

He was a silent man. And one of his titles in modern devotion draws further attention to his silence: St. Joseph the Worker. The Catholic Church remembers St. John of Antioch as “Golden Mouth” (Chrysostom) and St. Peter of Ravenna for his “Golden Words” (Chrysologus). But we remember Joseph for getting things done. Among all who have labored, in all of human history, he is the one known as “the Worker.”

In the Gospels, Joseph’s identity is bound up with his relationships and his labor. He is the son of Jacob. He is the husband of Mary. He is the earthly father of Jesus. He is the companion of angels.

He is a son, a husband, a father. And he is a tekton—a craftsman, an artisan. An ancient tradition tells us more specifically that his craft was carpentry, a trade in which he apprenticed his son Jesus. When people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching, they asked: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Mt 13:55).

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 59). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

You can find the book on which this series is based here.

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

SJ6 – Flight from Herod – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 6 – Flight from Herod

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss St. Joseph and the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt.

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

The warning came in a dream: “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him” (Mt 2:13). Joseph had been asleep. It was late in the night, and even the roads in town were barely navigable for the darkness. Beyond the town, there was not a glimmer of light.

They had no time to prepare. Packing for maximum speed, they could carry few possessions with them. They would have to make the journey with little more than the clothes they wore and the divine baby in their arms.

This could not be delayed till morning. Mary and Joseph had spent the whole of their lives in a land ruled by Herod. They knew no other world. They had never seen another world. They knew that Herod would act swiftly, decisively, and effectively. Every despot in the Mediterranean region was capable of murderous cruelty. The Persians were notorious for it; and the Romans were every bit their equal. History showed that the Hasmoneans, too, had been inclined to slaughter and exemplary public torture. But Herod was efficient, and he did not allow himself or his forces to fail.

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 53). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

You can find the book on which this series is based here.

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

SJ5 – Joseph and His Angels – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 5 – Joseph and His Angels

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss St. Joseph and his interactions with the Angels.

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

The great difficulty in sketching the character of Joseph of Nazareth is that Scripture never shows him speaking. He never says yes or no. He never makes a nod or gesture. And not only is he never shown to speak, the Gospels never show a single human being speaking to him—not even his wife or son.

No humans speak to him; but four times, an angel speaks to him.

Christian tradition makes much of Mary’s Annunciation. The Church commemorates it by a feast day and dedicates a daily prayer to it (the Angelus). But Joseph’s “annunciations” are also worthy of scrutiny—certainly for what they reveal about him, but also for what they reveal about angels. The Gospels present almost every episode in Joseph’s life as an encounter with an angel.

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 43). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

You can find the book on which this series is based here.

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

SJ4 – Marriage Amid The Madness – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 4 – Marriage Amid the Madness

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss Mary and Joseph’s marriage and his challenge with her pregnancy. They also discuss Mary’s need to visit her cousin Elizabeth, commonly referred to as The Visitation.

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

Commentators down the ages have proposed three approaches to this enigmatic passage: (1) the suspicion theory, (2) the perplexity theory, and (3) the reverence theory. Let us examine them briefly.

1. The Suspicion Theory. In this reading of the Gospel passage, Joseph suspects that Mary has been unfaithful. He is devastated, but his love for her remains so great that he cannot bear the thought of her facing public shame—or, worse, the death penalty, since adultery was a capital crime, punishable by stoning. He decides to divorce her, as the Law permitted, until an angel deters him from that course of action.

2. The Perplexity Theory. According to this theory, Joseph cannot understand what has happened. He does not believe Mary could be unfaithful. Yet her pregnancy is undeniable and subject to legal penalties. Since Joseph is a just man, he finds a solution that respects the Law, but protects Mary as well. The angel, in this reading, provides the information that Joseph lacks and helps him to make a plan for going forward.

3. The Reverence Theory. This third theory presents Joseph as a man overwhelmed by awe when he learns of Mary’s miraculous conception. From the beginning, he knows of God’s singular intervention: “she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.” Joseph feels unworthy to be involved, and so he decides he will cooperate just long enough to protect Mary’s secret and then make a quiet exit. In this reading, Joseph’s first impulse is like St. Peter’s when he said to Jesus, “Depart from me!” (Lk 5:8), or the Centurion’s when he said, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof” (Lk 7:6). The angel, however, persuades Joseph to put aside his fears.

Each theory has saints and doctors of the church among its proponents. St. Justin Martyr and St. Augustine of Hippo advanced the first; St. Jerome the second; and St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and St. Josemaria Escriva the third.

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 39). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

You can find the book on which this series is based here.

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

SJ3 – Prosperity and It’s Price – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 3 – Joseph and His King – “Prosperity and It’s Price”

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss in more detail the life and influence of Herod the Great. Then the conversation turns to St. Joseph. We learn more about his family background. Who was his father? What was it like to be a carpenter in those days? How old was St. Joseph at the time of his marriage to the Blessed Virgin Mary? What was the influence of the Essene community?

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

An increasing number of scholars believe that the family of Jesus had contact with the Essenes. St. John the Baptist spent time in the desert and shared the movement’s emphases on asceticism and the coming age of the messiah. Mary and Joseph, too, approached their marriage in ways that seem to conform to Essene asceticism. Mary’s responses to the angel during the Annunciation make sense only if she had intended to observe lifelong virginity. Reviewing the evidence, the archeologist Bargil Pixner concluded that Joseph’s family “had strong ties with the Essene movement.”22 John Bergsma, in his book Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls, arrived at a similar conclusion.23

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 34). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

You can find the book on which this series is based here

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

SJ2 – Joseph and His King – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 2 – Joseph and His King – “St. Joseph and His World”

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor explore the various religious and political figures prevalent in Israel at the time of St. Joseph. Chief among those leaders is the infamous figure of King Herod the Great.

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

In Judea at the time, there were three dominant factions to pit against each other.

The Sadducees, the descendants of Zadok, were the clerical caste, from whom the high priest had formerly been chosen. They were wealthy and largely materialist in their approach to religion. They disbelieved in angels and the afterlife. They recognized only the five books of Moses, the Torah, as Scripture.

The Pharisees were a lay movement that emphasized the meticulous observance of the Law. They supplemented the statutes of Moses with other regulations based on customs and oral tradition. They recognized as authoritative, in addition to the Torah, the Prophets, the Psalms, and sacred writings of Israel.

The Essenes were a group of pious separatists, founded probably when the Seleucids deposed the legitimate high priest and replaced him with his brother. They considered themselves the keepers of the traditional, priestly, sacrificial faith, and they awaited a messiah (or perhaps two messiahs) who would restore the integrity of Israel’s religious institutions. The Essenes had a contemplative community in the Judean desert.

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (p. 22). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

You can find the book on which this series is based here

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

SJ1 – St. Joseph’s World – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 1 – St. Joseph’s World – “St. Joseph and His World”

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor begin this series on the life and times of St. Joseph with a discussion on his ancestry.

An excerpt from St. Joseph and His World:

The family of David was intensely aware of their mission and purpose in history. The residents of Nazareth and Kochba were alive to the possibility—perhaps a probability—that one of them would bear the messiah into the world.

Archeologists estimate that Nazareth had 120–150 inhabitants in the mid-first century before Christ.3 Seventy years after the clan’s arrival, they were surely established in their routines and integrated into the local economy. The households had their trades, which fathers taught their sons, and mothers taught their daughters.

Later in that century, one of the families in Nazareth—a family of artisans—gave birth to a boy and named him Joseph. His name, like the name of his birthplace, reflected the hope of his people. Joseph, in Hebrew, means “God will increase.”

Aqualina, Mike. St. Joseph and His World (pp. 19-20). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in this series visit – St. Joseph and His World with Mike Aquilina page

You can find the book on which this series is based here

Mike Aquilina’s website is found at fathersofthechurch.com

Other Mike Aquilina series’ found on Discerning Hearts:

Roots the Faith

The Resilient Church

Villains of the Early Church

VEC12 – Nestorius – Villains of the Early Church with Mike Aquilina – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 12 – Nestorius – “Villains of the Early Church: And How They Made Us Better Christians“was

In this episode, Mike Aquilina and Kris McGregor discuss Nestorius, an archbishop of Constantinople who proclaimed that Mary could not be the “Theotokos”. Such statements brought about the Council of Ephesus and a declaration throughout the Christian Church that his thought was emphatically wrong. Mary was, and still is, the “Mother of God.”

An excerpt from Villains of the Early Church:

We’ve been having an argument with these other people, the monks explained. We say that Mary is rightly called Mother of God—in Greek, Theotokos. But these other people say it’s not right to call her anything but Mother of the Man—Anthropotokos. Which of us is right?

Nestorius was delighted with the opportunity to show off his erudition. His answer probably struck him as very clever and evenhanded. In a way, he said, you’re both right. Each of those names can be used for Mary in a loose and imprecise way. But technically the proper term would be Mother of the Christ—Christotokos. If you want to be accurate, you’ll avoid calling her anything else.3

Thus, Constantinople was first introduced to that little word “technically”—in Greek, akribos—which the world would soon learn was one of Nestorius’ very favorite terms when he was arguing with people. It revealed a lot about the way he thought. The problem with most people, Nestorius seemed to believe, was that they didn’t choose their terms carefully enough. When you’re talking about important issues of theology, you need to be very precise in your language.

The problem with Nestorius, thought practically everybody else in Constantinople, was that he had just said Mary wasn’t Mother of God.

The people of the city instantly latched onto that little word “technically” as representing everything they hated about Nestorius. “If Mary is not technically the Mother of God,” they said, “then her Son is not technically God.”4 Mary had always been called Mother of God, as long as anybody could remember. The city—the whole Empire—was devoted to the Blessed Virgin. What was wrong with this new archbishop?

“He seemed afraid of the word Theotokos,” Socrates recalled, “as if it were some frightful ghost.”5 In the opinion of Socrates and many others, the problem wasn’t loose language on the part of the great majority of Christians. The problem was that Nestorius didn’t know what he was talking about. “The baseless fear he showed on this subject merely demonstrated how very ignorant he was. He was naturally a fluent speaker, so people thought he must be well educated. But actually he was disgracefully illiterate.” Socrates thought that Nestorius not only didn’t know what the great Christian writers before him had written on these subjects, but also didn’t care. He was smarter than they were. He could work things out for himself.6

Well, if Nestorius didn’t know what the great Christians of earlier generations had taught, it was about time somebody told him. Enter the Bishop of Alexandria.

Aquilina, Mike. Villains of the Early Church: And How They Made Us Better Christians . Emmaus Road Publishing. Kindle Edition.

For more episodes in the Villains of the Early Church podcast visit here – Villains of the Early Church – Discerning Hearts Podcast