Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts

 Episode 2 – Teachings on the Title Statement and a look at the Issue at Hand – The Second Week Rules for the Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide to a Greater Discernment of Spirits with Fr. Timothy Gallagher Fr. Gallagher breaks open the meaning of the term “greater discernment of spirits” and examens the issue at hand when entering second-week rule discernment The...

 Day 8 St. Padre Pio you have said: Is it possible that you are never satisfied with yourself? Jesus loves you with a loving partiality in spite of all your unworthiness. He sends down a torrent of graces upon you, and yet you complain. It is about time this ended and you convinced yourself that you are greatly in the Lord’s debt. Hence, less complaints, more gratitude, and a great deal of thanks...

Day 2 – The Celestial Choir of Cherubim – St. Michael and the Holy Angels Novena V/.  O God,  +  come to my assistance R/.  O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory Be Day 2 – The Celestial Choir of Cherubim The CHERUBIM are some of the most powerful and awe-inspiring of all angels, standing below only the seraphim in direct closeness to God; they thus are second only to their seraph...

The Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord. Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over” Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep...

The Laborers in the Vineyard – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr. John Esseff In this episode of Building a Kingdom of Love , Msgr. John Esseff reflects on Jesus’ parable of the laborers in the vineyard and asks us to look again at what the workers actually receive. The landowner promises each laborer a day’s wage, whether he begins at dawn or arrives near the end of the day. Msgr....

Day 7 St. Padre Pio you have said: May the Grace and peace of the Holy Spirit always be at the center of your heart. Place your heart in the open side of the Savior, and unite it with the King of your heart who is within it as on a royal throne, in order that He might receive homage and obedience from all other hearts. Keep your hearts door open, so that everyone can approach Him and gain an audie...

Day 1 – The Celestial Choir of Seraphim – St. Michael and the Holy Angels Novena V/.  O God,  +  come to my assistance R/.  O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory Be Day 1 – The Celestial Choir of Seraphim The Seraphim are the highest and most splendid of the nine accepted angelic orders. Without question they are the closest in all of heaven to the very throne of God, and their pr...

Sunday of the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord. Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over” Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting t...

Day 6 St. Padre Pio you have said: In the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, in this sacrament of Love, we have true life, a blessed life, and true sacrament of Love; we have true life, a blessed life, and true happiness. Because in it we receive not only those graces that perfect us but the very Author of those graces.   Gracious God, you generously blessed your servant, Padre Pio, with t...

 Saturday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord. Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over” Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, want...

Day 5 St. Padre Pio you have said: St Therese of the Child Jesus used to say, “I don’t want to choose either to die or to live, but let Jesus do as He likes with me.” I see clearly that this is the image of all souls who are stripped of self and filled with God… What St. Therese has said ought to be said by every soul inflamed with love of God.   Gracious God, you generously blessed your serv...

Friday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord. Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over” Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting...

Temptation, Benedictine Listening, and Remaining Rooted in God with Kris McGregor About This Episode What happens when something God has given us begins to stir fear, self-doubt, anxiety, or even pride? In this episode of The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart , Kris McGregor reflects on St. Hildegard of Bingen’s remarkable counsel to St. Elisabeth of Schönau. Elisabeth, herself a Benedict...

St. Robert Bellarmine – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom with Dr. Matthew Bunson Born : October 4, 1542, Montepulciano, Italy Died : September 17, 1621, Rome, Italy Full name : Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino Feast : 17 September; 13 May (General Roman Calendar, 1932–1969) Place of burial : Rome, Italy, Chiesa di Sant’ Ignazio di Loyola, Rome, Italy Dr. Matthew Buns...

St. Hildegard von Bingen, Part 2 – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom with Dr. Matthew Bunson Born : September 16, 1098, Bermersheim vor der Höhe, Germany Died : September 17, 1179, Bingen am Rhein, Germany Dr. Matthew Bunson and Kris McGregor continue their discussion on St. Hildegard of Bingen, one of the great Doctors of the Church. They look at her contributions to the Chur...

St. Hildegard von Bingen, Part 1 – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom with Dr. Matthew Bunson Born : September 16, 1098, Bermersheim vor der Höhe, Germany Died : September 17, 1179, Bingen am Rhein, Germany Dr. Matthew Bunson and Kris McGregor discuss St. Hildegard of Bingen, one of the newer Doctors of the Church, declared so by Pope Benedict XVI. They explore her remarkable l...

St Benedict of Nursia, abbot Put Christ before everything   From the Holy Rule (Prologus 4-22; cap. 72, 1-12: CSEL 75, 2-5, 162-163) Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection; that he, who has honored us by counting us among his children, may never be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always serve him with...

Magnificent Humanity for the Discerning Heart A 30-Day Journey with Pope Leo XIV’s  Magnifica Humanitas Episode 20: Disarming AI In this episode of Magnificent Humanity for the Discerning Heart , we reflect on Pope Leo XIV’s call to “disarm” artificial intelligence. The Holy Father is not calling for the rejection of technology, but for technological power to be freed from rivalry, secrecy, monopo...

   Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena Day 9 – The Desire for Heaven «But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to conform with His glorified body.» Philippians 3:20-21 Meditation The Martins always yearned for Heaven. Every moment of their life was oriented toward this ultimate goal. St. Thérèse speaks of Heav...

St. Bonaventure Novena – Day 6 St. Bonaventure you have said: The Blessed Virgin brought forth that price by the holiness of Her prompt obedience. As everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, so the commandments of God in the heart of a woman. To found the Church, it was necessary to lay a foundation, namely, the commandments of God, and to place them in the heart of some person. This could...

O Mother of Fair Love, through your goodness, as your children, we are called to live in the spirit of Carmel. Help us to live in charity with one another, prayerful as Elijah of old, and mindful of our call to minister to God’s people. (State your request here…) Recite the following prayers… Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be… Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us...

Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.  For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord. Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over” Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting t...

G. K. Chesterton and The Man Who Was Thursday – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce In this episode of The Great Works in Western Literature , Joseph Pearce and Kris McGregor explore G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare , one of the most imaginative and philosophically rich novels of the twentieth century. Through the adventures of Gabriel Syme, a poet recruited...

Magnificent Humanity for the Discerning Heart A 30-Day Journey with Pope Leo XIV’s  Magnifica Humanitas Episode 19: What AI Can and Cannot Be In this episode of Magnificent Humanity for the Discerning Heart , we reflect on Pope Leo XIV’s teaching that artificial intelligence can imitate certain functions of human intelligence, while remaining profoundly different from the human person. The Holy Fa...

 Holy Rule Novena to St. Benedict – Day 9 In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said: As there is a harsh and evil zeal which separates from God and leads to hell, so there is a virtuous zeal which separates from vice and leads to God and life everlasting. Let the monks, therefore, practice this zeal with most ardent love; namely, that in honor they forerun one another (cf Rom 12:10). Let...