Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchWhere You Stumble, Dig for Treasure
Episode 296
Friends, our first reading for this Sunday is a section of the marvelous story of Naaman the Syrian from the Second Book of Kings. The spiritual lesson is this: where you stumble, dig for treasure. W…
Published on 3 years, 2 months ago
Stand Strong in the Spirit
Episode 295
Friends, this week, our second reading is from Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy. From prison, Paul writes to Timothy—the master to the disciple, the mentor to the mentee, the old soldier to the young …
Published on 3 years, 3 months ago
How Are You Caring for the Poor?
Episode 294
Friends, Pope Benedict XVI memorably said that the Church does three essential things: it evangelizes, it worships God, and it cares for the poor. This week, the words of Amos the prophet and Jesus’ …
Published on 3 years, 3 months ago
Don’t Demonize—or Divinize—the Powerful
Episode 293
Friends, the first and second readings this Sunday beautifully show both sides of Catholic social teaching: the balance between recognizing political, economic, and social power, and criticizing the …
Published on 3 years, 3 months ago
God Is Crazy in Love with You
Episode 292
Friends, in this Sunday’s Gospel, we encounter the infinite, extravagant, radical love of the Creator for his creation. Jesus paints for us, in three parables, a portrait of God: he is, if I can borr…
Published on 3 years, 3 months ago
The Fair-Weather Fans of Jesus
Episode 291
Friends, there are a lot of people today who might be intrigued by Jesus. They find him interesting, remember him as a spiritual teacher, or have warm feelings about him. But in today’s Gospel, Jesus…
Published on 3 years, 4 months ago
Act Against Your Attachments
Episode 290
Friends, at the heart of what St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches in the “Spiritual Exercises” is the idea of detachment. If we are to do the will of God, then we have to become detached from the worldly …
Published on 3 years, 4 months ago
How Many Will Be Saved?
Episode 289
Friends, I am admittedly a bit reluctant to talk about the topic of our Gospel for today—namely, this famously controversial matter of how many will be saved. I have talked a lot and written a lot ab…
Published on 3 years, 4 months ago
Let Christ Light a Fire in You
Episode 288
Friends, the readings for this weekend are tough. Here is the principle behind them, one that is simple to state, but difficult to take in: in a world gone wrong, those who come to us speaking and em…
Published on 3 years, 4 months ago
Go on a Hero’s Journey
Episode 287
Friends, Joseph Campbell and, more recently, Jordan Peterson are very interested in the Jungian archetype of the hero's journey. We see it all over the literature of the world and popular culture, fr…
Published on 3 years, 4 months ago