The subject is PRAYER. From Luke Chap 11 v 1-13, Msgr. Esseff discusses how little we know how to pray and how to receive. He reflects on the Blessed Virgin Mary’s teaching to St. Catherine Laboure about prayer. Then he offers the proper movement of prayer:
1. “Be there with Him and for Him”
2. “You have to want Him” Intensify the desire of relationship with God.
3. “Listen to Him”
A – Acknowledge (What’s going on in your heart)
R – Relay that to God
(Tell God – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
and the Blessed Virgin Mary – about that experience)
R – Receive (What is God going to tell me about what I told Him)
R – Respond
4. “Let Him” (Surrender to God)
What happens when we encounter the Holy Eucharist
What happens when we encounter the Living Word of God
The subject is GRACE and the life of Jesus we receive in Baptism. From Ephesians Chap 4 v 7 -16, Msgr. Esseff discusses what he calls “that most magnificent passage” which transforms us. What made the transformation occur? What is Original Sin? He reflects on the fall of our first parents and the broken relationship with God, and God’s gift of the Son. The importance of the Blessed Virgin Mary…the first person to receive the revelation of the Trinity. The tremendous moment of PENTECOST. What is Sanctifying Grace? What does it mean to have Jesus within us and what are we called to do? How can we forgive, especially the deepest wounds? Being like Jesus, we depend completely on the Father. The lie of the “I can do anything” attitude. The beauty of Galatians 2:20. Ask God to help you discover your true self in Him.
The subject is SINFULNESS and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The crucifixion and death of Jesus and what Jesus “sees” from the Cross. We will not grow in the Divine life given to us in Baptism if we do not become fully aware of our sinfulness in direct relation to our blessedness. The Devil is aware of Christ in us; he hates the beauty of that union. The Enemy’s purpose is to destroy that relationship. Why would we sin and endanger our union with Christ? Sin is not just breaking a commandment, it is the destruction of the Divine life in us. Sin is a mystery; it is a darkness. Our souls are a battleground…between the forces of light and the forces of darkness, the forces of love and the forces of hatred…a complete head on crash in every soul.
Msgr. Esseff then instructs on the importance of enlisting the aid of the Holy Spirit to truly prepare us for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It’s only through the aid of the Holy Spirit can God reveal to us what truly separates us from the Father. He reveals to us our “core wound”…the tendency in our behavior that causes us to sin. Often we only pay attention to the symptoms of the wound, we need the Holy Spirit to show us the cause. The deeper we go into our sinfulness the deeper the experience of the Divine Mercy.
Msgr. Esseff reflects on Matthew chap 18 v 21-35. He shares the stories of a woman named Immaculee from Rwanda and young girl named Maria from Lebanon and the damage done by the hatred which is manifested in the world. We have a capacity for communion…24 hours every day, 7 days a week. How does that look in the relationship found in marriage? From childhood, there are deep wounds we carry from our parents…from siblings…or from others. What can cause those wounds? The bitterness and resentment that we carry…the damage it does to us. What is the remedy? The joy of forgiveness…and forgetting. Msgr. Esseff shares a poignant story of a man named John, and how he came to forgive what many would find “unforgivable”.
This is the prayer mentioned by Msgr. Esseff in the talk...click here
Part 1: Msgr. Esseff describes the difference between Exorcism and Deliverance:
The role of the Bishop and the priest. The power we have by virtue of our baptism. What is possession? What is a curse? The rite of Exorcism and the need for inner healing of the individual. The ministry of Deliverance and how it differs from the need for Exorcism. Addictions that effect the person and how . Priests and gifted individuals work in harmony to free the person from the evil spirit. The wounds that contribute to the affliction experienced by the individual. The need to distinguish between spiritual pain and psychological pain, and the need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation….”one good confession is worth 100 exorcisms.” The role of the laity today in deliverance ministry.
In part 2, after the intial recording, Msgr. Esseff answers various questions posed on various topics:
The priesthood and the role of spiritual healing. Do we give the devil too much credit? The role of Mary. The power of the Cross. How do slip back into oppression or sin? How can we prevent that? The power of prayer in temptation.
Msgr. Esseff teaches about the need for healing, protection and deliverance. Msgr. Esseff discusses the importance of the “Our Father”. He then leads the following prayer:
In the name of Jesus, I take authority and I bind all the powers and forces in the air, in the ground, in the water, in the underground, in the netherworld, in nature and in fire. You are the Lord over the entire universe and I give you the glory for your creation. In your name, I bind all demonic forces that have come against us and our families and I seal all of us in the protection of your precious blood that was shed for us on the cross.
Mary Our Mother, we seek your protection and intercession, with the Sacred heart of Jesus, for us and our families and surround us with your mantle of love to discourage the enemy.
St. Michael and our Guardian Angels, come and defend us and our families in battle against all the evil ones that roam the earth.
In the name of Jesus, I bind and command all the powers and forces of evil to depart right now away from us, our families, our homes, and our lands and I cast you at the foot of the cross to remain there forever. And I thank you Lord Jesus for you are a faithful and compassionate God, Amen.
Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed be the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Msgr. Esseff describes his first encounter with Padre Pio at Mary Pyle’s house in San Giovanni Rotondo in 1959 and bearing witness to the saint’s charism of bilocation. He talks of becoming one of Padre Pio’s spiritual children and directee. Msgr. then discusses the experience of being present at one of St. Pio’s masses.
In our culture religion is often considered a mere matter of personal taste. Just as some prefer vanilla and others chocolate, you have your religion and I have mine.
But Jesus Christ did not just claim to be another prophet or spiritual teacher; He claimed to be Truth itself, as when He said, “I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me.”
Upon hearing Jesus’ truth claims, Pilate scoffed, “What is truth?,”1 sounding very much like a skeptic in our own day.
But every person, ancient or modern, must confront Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God, whose blood atones for our sins, who dies and rises again, and will return as King and Judge of the world.
Such claims have only two possible responses: true or false. For if you claim to be God and the Savior of the world, you either are or you aren’t. As C.S. Lewis wrote, Jesus could have either been a lunatic, a liar, or the Lord—but the one thing he could not have been was a mere “good moral teacher,” as so many say.2
But if Jesus is truly the Lord, then He is the Lord of all—and that’s not a matter of personal taste!
Upon visiting the Chapel of the Apparition in Paray le Monial during the 1st Sacred Heart World Congress, Msgr. Esseff reflects on the meaning of the Sacred Heart for St. Margaret Mary, her experience and ours today.
At that particular moment it felt as though there was a beating of the Sacred Heart, similiar to what must have been experienced by St. Margaret Mary. “Behold the heart that has loved so much that has received so little love in return.”
The Side Altar and Main Sanctuary of the Chapel of ApparitionThe Body of St. Margaret Mary at rest where the visitation took placeThe Sanctuary image above the altar
18. “Night to night announces it.” 106 How very consoling that is! My weaknesses, my dislikes, my mediocrity , my faults themselves tell the glory of the Eternal! My sufferings of soul or body also tell the glory of my Master! David sang: “How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?” This: “I will take up the cup of salvation.” 107 If I take up this cup crimsoned with the Blood of my Master and, in wholly joyous thanksgiving, I mingle my blood with that of the holy Victim, it is in some way made infinite and can give magnificent praise to the Father. Then my suffering is “a message which passes on the glory” of the Eternal.
19. “There (in the soul that tells His glory) He has pitched a tent for the Sun.” 108 The sun is the Word, the “Bridegroom.” If He finds my soul empty of all that is not contained in these two words— His love, His glory, then He chooses it to be “His bridal chamber”; He “rushes” in “like a giant racing triumphantly on his course” and I cannot “escape His heat.” 109 He is this “consuming fire” 110 which will effect the blessed transformation of which St. John of the Cross speaks when he says: “Each seems to be the other and the two are but one”: 111 a “praise of glory” 112 of the Father!
We would like to offer heartfelt thanks to
Miriam Gutierrez for providing for us “the voice” of Blessed Elizabeth for this series
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 benefitted from his lectures and retreat conferences on the Carmelite Doctors of the Church and the writings of Blessed Elisabeth of the Trinity. After graduating from Franciscan University of Steubenville, he completed licentiate and doctoral studies in spiritual theology at the Angelicum in Rome. In 2012, he published Hidden Mountain, Secret Garden: a theological contemplation of prayer by Discerning Hearts. Married with two young adult children pursuing their careers and a teenager still at home, he has settled in family in Oxnard, California.For other episodes in the series visit the Discerning Hearts page for Dr. Anthony Lilles
In January 2012, Msgr. Esseff conducted a weekend retreat for the Deacons and Deacon-Candidates and their wives of the Diocese of Fargo.
world, you either are or you aren’t. As C.S. Lewis wrote, Jesus could have either been a lunatic, a liar, or the Lord—but the one thing he could not have been was a mere “good moral teacher,” as so many say.2
