Episode 11 “What am I to do?” The Discernment of God’s Will in Everyday Decisions w/Fr. Timothy Gallagher.
In this episode with Fr. Gallagher, there is a brief summary of the First and Second Mode. Then Fr. Gallagher breaks open the Third Mode, a Ponderousness of Reasons, also know as the 4 columns.
Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life: The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola”.
For more information on how to obtain copies of Fr. Gallaghers’s various books and audio which are available for purchase, please visit his website: frtimothygallagher.org
Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life: The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola”.
For more information on how to obtain copies of Fr. Gallaghers’s various books and audio which are available for purchase, please visit his website: frtimothygallagher.org
The 1st and 2nd Stations – Stations of the Cross with Deacon James Keating
Deacon James Keating reflects on the Stations of the Cross as a profound meditation on Christ’s suffering and its connection to human woundedness. Through this devotion, believers unite their burdens with Christ, allowing His love to transform their struggles into a path of salvation. The first station, Jesus’ condemnation, reveals His silent acceptance of injustice, a model for enduring suffering in communion with God. Pilate represents those who reject truth for self-preservation, while Jesus remains steadfast in His mission. His silence before Pilate and His choice to embrace the cross demonstrate perfect love, teaching that God enters even the darkest places of human suffering to ensure no one is abandoned.
As Jesus receives the cross, Dcn. Keating highlights medieval writings that portray Him as willingly taking it, seeing it as the culmination of His love for humanity. His embrace of suffering stands in contrast to human tendencies to resist crosses in life. The lack of compassion from those placing the cross on Him reflects the tendency to project guilt onto others rather than face personal sin. Jesus receives every aspect of human experience, including jeers and rejection, so that all may be reconciled in His love.
Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions
How does uniting our personal burdens with Christ’s suffering in the Stations of the Cross deepen our understanding of redemption?
In what ways do we, like Pilate, struggle to acknowledge and stand by the truth when it challenges our self-interest?
How does Jesus’ silence before His accusers reveal the depth of His love and obedience to the Father?
What fears or attachments keep us from embracing our own crosses with trust in God’s will?
How does Jesus’ willingness to carry the cross inspire us to accept suffering as a means of sanctification?
In what areas of our lives have we “washed our hands” of responsibility instead of courageously choosing truth?
How can we cultivate a spirit of humility and surrender, following Jesus’ example in His Passion?
What role does the Holy Spirit play in helping us bear our own trials with faith and perseverance?
How does reflecting on Jesus’ rejection and suffering help us approach our own experiences of betrayal and loneliness?
In what ways can we pray for the grace to receive and carry our crosses with the same love that Christ showed?
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
Episode 2 -Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating –
The Stations of the Cross – one of the most powerful devotionals alive in the heart of the Church. Reflecting and deeply meditating on the Passion of the Christ, Deacon Keating guides us through the 3rd station (Jesus falls the first time), the 4th station (Jesus encounters His Blessed Mother), and the 5th station (Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the Cross) along the Way of the Cross.
Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating”
Episode 3 -Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating –
The Stations of the Cross – one of the most powerful devotionals alive in the heart of the Church. Reflecting and deeply meditating on the Passion of the Christ, Deacon Keating guides us through the 6th station (Veronica wipes the face of Jesus), the 7th station (Jesus falls a 2nd time), and the 8th station (Jesus encounters the women of Jerusalem) along the Way of the Cross.
Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating”.
Episode 4 -Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating –
The Stations of the Cross – one of the most powerful devotionals alive in the heart of the Church. Reflecting and deeply meditating on the Passion of the Christ, Deacon Keating guides us through the 9th station (Jesus fall a 3rd time), the 10th station (Jesus is stripped of His garments), and the 11th station (Jesus is nailed to the Cross) along the Way of the Cross.
Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating”.
Episode 5 -Stations of the Cross: Reflections with Deacon James Keating –
The Stations of the Cross – one of the most powerful devotionals alive in the heart of the Church. Reflecting and deeply meditating on the Passion of the Christ, Deacon Keating guides us through the 12th station (Jesus dies on the Cross), the 13th station (Jesus taken down from the Cross and laid in the arms of His mother), and the 14th station (Jesus is placed in the tomb) along the Way of the Cross..
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is a professor of Spiritual Theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
Deacon James Keating’s book Abiding in Christ: Staying with God in a Busy World is a how-to-pray resource. This book helps readers to find a quiet space wherein they can be present to God and offers suggestions of how they can be more open to God s movement within them.
Dr. Lilles continues his Day of Recollection offered in April 2013.
Here is the continuation of the first presentation which focuses on the Mystical Saints who can help us to gaze on the Face of Christ:
Anthony will introduce the saints who will guide us through our reflections: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Elisabeth of the Trinity and St. John Paul II. He also answers questions about methods of prayers, teaching others to pray, and how can one help restore the sense of the sacred to the mass and Eucharistic adoration.
St. John of the Cross
St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
St. John Paul II
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. 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. He is the author of the “Beginning to Pray”
Show 3 ” Building a Kingdom of Love” – “The Gift of Nothing.“
Msgr. Esseff begins by reading a passage from the book “The Gift of Nothing” by Patrick McDonnell. He discusses how we all think what we will need “something,” but Msgr. Esseff helps us to see what God desires for us to see “the gift of nothing.” What we desire deep down is intimacy. Msgr. Esseff offers how Jesus reaches out to us in Divine Love…the Bread of Life. The Eucharist offers intimacy, will we accept the gift?
Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30, 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to St. Mother Teresa. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the Missionaries of Charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical Missions, a Catholic organization established by St. John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and spiritual director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world. He is the President of the Board of the Pope Leo XIII Institute School of Exorcism.
Gallagher.
Gallagher.
