Heart to Heart: Faith Seasons Podcast

Today’s story seed is Betrayal. From Gospel of John chapter 13, verse 21 Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” She didn’t go to college. When she finished high school, she began to work full time at the diner. She was a hard worker and good with people. She got the nickname, “Smiley.” One of the regula...

From the Book of the Prophet Isaiah chapter 42, verse 6 I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; In school, he always got top marks on his report cards. Many years later he would be the top story in the newspaper. In primary school, reading came easy. Writing came easy. Math came easy. He seemed to remember everything he was taught. In high school, h...

From the Gospel of Luke chapter 22, verses 33 and 34. Peter said to him, “Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you.” But Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me.” A man got down on one knee, looked up at the woman he loved, and asked, “Will you marry me?” She said, “Yes.” The wedding was planned, the guests invite...

Today’s story seed is The Miracle From the Gospel of John chapter 10, verses 37 and 38 If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Today is the Feast Day of St. Julie Billiart, the foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame de N...

John 8:51-52 Jesus said to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” So the Jews said to him, “Now we are sure that you are possessed.” A seven-year-old girl went back in time. She had made a time machine out of a cardboard box. When she opened her eyes and stepped out of her cardboard box, she didn’t recognize her surroundings. Her house was gone. The car i...

Today’s story seed is The Love of Family From the Gospel of John chapter 11, verse 21 “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Without her love, the United States of America would not be the same. It still hasn’t reached the potential she prayed for, but she did her best to bring that dream forth. The struggle continues. Alberta Williams King lived a life devoted to God, to he...

John 8:23 He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.” There was a certain priest, a rather charismatic, young fellow. He was often requested to visit other churches to say mass. On one such occasion, he was driving across town during early morning rush hour. The sun had not yet come up, but the traffic cert...

From the Gospel of John chapter 8, verse 12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  She never would have guessed that this would be the night that she would have a nightmare. And yet it came. She woke up terrified in her sleeping bag nestled in the tent. For weeks she had been waiting for this camping trip, longing for it. So f...

Today’s story seed is Green as Ireland. From the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah chapter 17: 7 Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD. It is sometimes said that on St. Patrick’s Day everyone is Irish, and many support the tradition by wearing green.  Americans don green hats, green shirts, green dresses, green socks. If you can wear it on St. Paddy’s day, wear it in green....

From the Book of Wisdom chapter 2, verse 19 With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. He sat on the grass reading his book as the other fourth-grade kids raced around the playground and field. Three boys were huddled together, their knees resting on the playground woodchips as they figured out the final details of their hi...

From John 5:44 How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? Her daughter cleared her throat and said, “Mom, it’s time for you to move into a retirement home.” Those words struck a chord of terror into this mother’s heart. She was worried that her daughter would suggest this, and now she had. No more subtle hints. She had said...

From the Book of the Prophet Isaiah chapter 49, verse 13 Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the LORD comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted. He played golf on his 90th birthday. That in itself is quite an accomplishment, to be agile enough to continue to play a game that you have loved throughout your life. But it is how Bert Rosenber...

From the Gospel of John chapter 5, verse 16 …the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath. A company put out an internal request for proposals. They were looking to expand their market share and wanted to see what ideas their employees could offer. They would select up to three ideas to be implemented that year. Anyone who had a winning idea would receive a substantial bonus...

From the Gospel of John chapter 4, verse 53 The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. This is a true story. Once upon a time, a man named Pat Molloy was trying his best to live his Christian faith. He was taking classes working toward completing a program in pastoral ministry. He and his wife were raising...

From John 9:2-3 “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” Sanford Greenberg went blind in college. A misdiagnosed case of glaucoma took away his sight, and he thought, at least at first, his life. He dropped out of Columbia University, went home to his...

From the Gospel of Luke chapter 1, verse 38 Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” There was a young woman who was called into the boss’ office. She was startled by this and a bit intimidated. She recalled that since she was hired at her job a year ago, the only time she was in the boss’ office was for her six-month review. That had worked...

From Jeremiah 7:23 Thus says the LORD: This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. As is sometimes the case, one spouse was clearly more religious than the other. This time, it was the husband who always wanted to go to mass. He would get up early to go to daily mass whenever he could. He never missed on Sundays. If he was sick, he wa...

From Matthew 5:19 “…whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” Even when we don’t know the names of people in our neighborhood, we often get a sense for people that we see as we drive by their houses, or as we walk our dogs down the sidewalk, or when we haul our trash out to the street. And this guy clearly stood out. He stood out because he did...

Today’s story seed is How Often Must I Forgive? From the Gospel of Matthew chapter 18, verses 21 and 22 “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” A woman opened up her journal, turned to the page where she was keeping her list, and she put in her latest entry. She wrote, “It’...

From the Gospel of Luke chapter 4, verse 28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. A family had a small reunion. The parents were thrilled to have their daughter and son back at home. Both of the children were grown at this point. They didn’t yet have families of their own, but they had launched their careers. The son has a significant other who was not at the...

Today’s story seed is I AM. From the Book of Exodus chapter 3, verses 13 and 14 Moses said to God, “But when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.” A young couple had a baby girl, an...

Today’s story seed is The Correct Answer . From the Book of Genesis chapter 37:4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him. Fifth grade can be a wonderful year of school for many children, but it wasn’t for Roberta. She was a new kid at her school and didn’t yet have friends. When the teacher asked, “What city...

Today’s story seed is Into the Oven. From the Book of Daniel 3:19-20 King Nebuchadnezzar ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the white-hot furnace. The man knew he hadn’t hit his goals for the year. He had discussed this with his boss, who was behind him 100 percent. They...

Today’s story seed is The Greatest Principal. From the Gospel of Matthew chapter 20:26 Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant. Two principals in the same school district wanted to be great, to be well thought-of, to be respected, and liked, to be leaders in their school and in the district. One of them signed her picture which was displayed in the front office. She wore...

Isaiah 1:16-17 Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. When I was 14, my family took a trip to Europe. On the day we were to leave, all five kids and our parents were doing our final packing. The youngest two in our family, Tom and Steve, were five and seven years old and dressed in matching striped shirts and shorts. Little Tom had hi...