Catholic Heritage with Dr. Italy

On Good Friday, Christians remember the passion of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.  This podcast is the second in a three part interview of Dr. Italy, theologian, historian and Holy Land pilgrimage leader, on the events of Holy Week.  This segment focuses on the events of Good Friday, when Jesus is dragged from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium of Pontius Pilate, most likely the Fortress Antonia...

Before thanksgiving was an American holiday, it was a hallmark of the Judeo-Christian tradition.  All ancient peoples gave thanks for creation; only Jews and Christians believe that God acted decisively in history to secure our liberation from slavery.  Eucharist simply means thanksgiving -- and it is the supreme act of worship and thanks for the sacrifice that won our ultimate liberation.

6 minute podcast in which on the journey of Jesus and his disciples from Bethany, over the top of the Mount of Olives to Bethphage, & down the Palm Sunday Road from there into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey amidst cries of hosanna.

Passion Sunday -- The Sunday before Easter, Palm Sunday, is observed by virtually all Christians. But for the Roman Catholic Church it is also Passion Sunday during which all stand for readings and meditations from the passion account. The feast has a bittersweet taste. Though it celebrates the King's triumphal entry into Jerusalem amidst hosannas, the parade leads straight to the Lord Jesus' suff...

The biblical term "mystery" refers to a long thread running through history, hidden under ordinary faces and events.  It comes to a climax in an Angel's annunciation to a Virgin that puts together many biblical concepts -king, messiah, emmanuel, son of God - for the fourth Sunday of Advent.

The gospel story of the raising of Lazarus found in John 11 shows us why Jesus can love some friends and disciples more than others, why death is not natural and beautiful, the difference between resurrection and resuscitation, and the deeper meaning of Jesus' miracles or "signs" as they are called in the John's gospel.

In this 6 minute radio interview with Anna Mitchell of the Sonrise Morning Show, Dr. Italy begins a discussion on the vast topic of how the Catholic Church built Western civilization.  Starting with the indomitable missionary monks of Ireland, he illustrates how they not only saved but helped build Western civilization by preserving and spreading literacy and literature across Europe.  He also dis...

The gospel story of the healing of the man born blind is notable for the method Jesus used to work this miracle - he made mud with spittle and clay and rubbed it on the man's eyes. This is a figure of the sacraments in which the Lion of Judah communicates his healing power through earthy realities like water, oil, wine and bread.

Fasting is what most people first think of when they think about penance in general and Lent in particular.  But surprisingly, fasting, as valuable as it is, is probably the least important of the three main groups of Lenten Spiritual Exercises: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving (or mercy). In this podcast, Dr. Italy points out that the real value of fasting is when it is combined with either prayer...

In them, we recognize ourselves. For many of us, then, Lent is time for the spiritual equivalent of New Year's resolutions. We set aside forty days to work on ourselves so we don't end up wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years. We do things to burn off the excess fat that's weighing us down, try to improve our spiritual diet, and do some meaningful spiritual exercises to strengthen the sp...

Saint Joseph always appears in Manger scenes during Advent and Christmas time and even has a special Solemnity or Feast in his honor, St. Joseph's Day, March 19.  But he is so often neglected that St. John Paul II decided to write a special teaching about his role as foster-father of Jesus.  This essay makes a case that St. Joseph teaches us some crucial things about the nature of faith that we ca...

Imagine: you are ten years past customary retirement age.  It's time finally to kick back and relax.  You live in a great city where everything is at your fingertips – shopping opportunities, cultural events, all your relatives and lifelong friends.  Suddenly an unknown God appears and tells you to pack up, uproot your life, and march into an uncivilized wilderness.

In this Lenten podcast, Matt Swaim asks Dr. Italy about his new book, 40 Days, 40 Ways, A New Look at Lent (Servant Books).  In response, Marcellino D'Ambrosio explains the book's aim to help people break out of "same old" stale Lenten patterns. The book does this by offering forty fresh ideas of how to combine prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  The goal is to make us new people by the end of the s...

7 minute interview of Dr. Italy by Anna Mitchell of the Sonrise Morning Show, on St. Polycarp, one of the most fascinating of the Apostolic Fathers, those who pass on to us what they heard from the apostles of Jesus.

The Temptation of Jesus in the Desert is the gospel of the first Sunday of Lent. The purple color of Lent symbolizes penance, but also royalty. As we remember how the first Adam was tempted and failed his test, we rejoice that Christ the King, the New Adam, triumphed over the tempter. We celebrate that we, sons and daughters of the same heavenly King, can also win the battle against temptation. A...

This 18 minute Lenten podcast from the Catholic Connection addresses the forty days of Lent and the hidden symbolism behind the number 40 which reappears in so many places throughout the Sacred Scriptures.  Show host Elena Rodriguez, pinch hitting for Teresa Tomeo, asks Dr. Italy to uncover the mystery of why Lent has 40 days and what this tells us about how we are to approach the season.

We so often condemn the Pharisees that we totally miss a sneaky way that we are often like them.  The hard saying of Jesus "if you hand causes you to sin, cut it off" is a kind of shock therapy to wake us up to the way we are hard on other's faults yet quite soft on our own.  It's time to take aggressive action against evil and say "no thanks" to the near occasion of sin!  For the 26th Sunday in O...

Podcast excerpted from radio interview in which Dr. Italy offers some reflections on the apparitions of Mary to lowly shepherd girls in Lourdes in 1858.

You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, proclaims Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.  This seems to indicate that there is an essential role for passion, excitement and fire in the Christian life.

In this 15 minute podcast, Dr. Italy discusses the meaning of the ancient feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the temple by Joseph and Mary.  The righteous Israelite, Simeon, being advanced in years, rejoices to see the child he recognizes to be the one to bring the light of truth & salvation to all people.

In this 7 minute podcast, Dr. Italy discusses St. Thomas Aquinas and what he teaches us about the roles of faith and reason.  For his feast day on January 28.

7 minute Podcast on why the Church celebrates the Conversion of Saul of Tarsus, aka St. Paul, with a special feast.  Dr. Italy on the Sonrise Morning Show of EWTN.

When people today hear "St. Anthony," they usually think of the 13th century miracle-working Franciscan who is best known for finding lost objects.  But a thousand years earlier, there lived the first St. Anthony who was also a miracle worker in a most remarkable way.  This Anthony, an Egyptian, was a leader in the movement called monasticism.  Giving away property and privilege to follow Jesus in...

Everyone has heard of the river Jordan, where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.  But few know much about it or can visualize it. Dr. Italy has taught on the banks of the Jordan upwards of thirty times over the past twenty years.  Here he paints a visual picture of the Jordan emerging in far North Israel from the base of the snow-capped Mt. Hermon, and flowing downhill to the Sea of Galilee at the l...

Everyone knows the story of the first of the Lord's "signs" -- how Jesus changed water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana at the request of Mary, his mother. But there is more to the story than at first meets the eye.