Dr. David Fagerberg and Kris McGregor discuss a “thicker” definition of liturgy.
Here are some of the topics explored in this episode:
Liturgy is the perichoresis of the Trinity kenotically extended to invite our synergistic ascent into deification.
The difference between being involved with ministry and being consciously present to the mystery of God.
The nature of synergy in regards to liturgy, and in particular the celebration of the mass.
Letter 169, Part Two – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor continue the discussion on a letter by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity dated July 15, 1903. The letter reflects Elizabeth’s deep spiritual joy and sense of fulfillment in … Read more
The Sixth Spiritual Lesson: Your fear is from the spirit against Christ. “God does not reveal himself through fear, pressure or confusion. This where the spirit against Christ reveals himself.”
Questions: What are your ideas and images of god the Father and how do they differ from what Jesus teaches us about the Father? Do you see the Father as someone who pressures you to do things? Where does fear drive your relationship with the Father? Recall your latest experience of peace, stillness, clarity and gratitude in God and believe that that is how the Father draws you?
The Seventh Spiritual Lesson: God’s will is found in your will when you are in Christ. “God’s will, His desire for you, is not out there somwhere! It is found in your own desire when you are in Christ! That is the will of God for you!”
Questions: Does the thought of the priesthood come into your thoughts, feelings and desires when you are experiencing the peaceful presence of God?
In this episode, Fr. Gallagher discusses the Three Modes, and in particular the we discuss “The First Mode”: When there is a clarity without doubting. Sometimes the right decision is unmistakably clear. We know what the right choice is. This knowledge is a gift from God. All we need do is act on what we know to be the right direction. Often this takes some time. We put off acting on what we know we should do.
Whether it’s to the priesthood, religious life, married life…discerning what our vocation is can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. Fr. Hoesing discusses what discernment is, what the process is like, and what can help guide us along the way.
This episode offers a continuing look at the importance of the disposition of heart and the means which help us to be open to God’s will. Then Fr. Gallagher begins the opening conversation on the vocation God may be calling us to.
Communal worship speaks to this need. We usually imagine worship as a break in our secular lives, or sometimes even an obstacle to achieving other goals. With this attitude, worship is sometimes simply seen as “time out” from what is really important. Without denying the importance of secular realities for the laity, could we look at worship in another way? Worship is not an obstacle to daily living; it is not time off from more vital realities. Worship is, in fact, the great doorway into all that is both secular and holy. It is our way into real living. In worship, we find the great integration of the simple, ordinary, and plain (people, bread, wine, words) with the holy and transcendent (paschal mystery, incarnation, grace, transformation, salvation). The call of the laity is to carry into each day of work and domestic commitment the truth that the ordinary and the holy are not opposed. Only sin and the holy are opposed. Lenten worship services help us bring this truth to the world.
The more we come to see the presence of Christ in worship as a presence that permeates our being in the world, the more we will hunger to participate in worship as the source of our moral witness in everyday life. The Eucharist primarily is our participation in Christ’s Paschal Mystery, which is his self-offering to the Father, both in his life and upon the cross, and is also the Father’s response in raising him from the dead. Christ came to us; he came to dwell upon Earth and take on created goodness so that all in creation that is not good (sin) may be transformed by his presence, by grace. We too, in communion with him through the grace of the sacramental life, fill the ordinary world with his presence and become witnesses to this salvation through virtue and grace cooperating in moral activity.
This episode offers a instruction on how important it is to allow God to guide us not only in the big discernments of life, but also the decisions we make everyday
