Oro Valley Catholic

My Sunday homily on vocation to the priesthood.

For some people tatoos are personal expressions, windows to the soul. Can you recognize someone's true self through a tattoo? Flannery O'Connor says yes! Tatoos are subjective expressions of the human interior life. Sacraments are visible expressions of the reality of divine life. This week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092224.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One...

God's love is unconditional. Discipleship is not. "You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble." James 2: 19 What are the conditions of discipleship? Listen this week to OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091524.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Supernatural events both holy and demonic. What to do about them? The Vatican has some new instructions, this week on OVC. Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The Eucharist and the power of God. "Therefore, that I might not become too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in or...

Fr. John' homily for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081824.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Learn about the teen experience of the Steubenville West retreat.

We are saved by faith, not by sight. Sin disintegrates the human integration of body and soul. Sin teaches us to love the corruption of evil instead of the holiness of God. The Eucharist is the remedy for our sin sick souls. More this week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/080424.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

This weeks Gospel from John 6 tells the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in the desert. It is the beginning on Jesus' discourse on the Eucharist. "Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you." John 6:53. Catholics understand that Christ is substantially present, body, soul, divinity in the Eucharist...

In the Gospel from Mark 6, Jesus sends out the twelve apostles with authority over demons, to anoint with oil to cure the sick and the power to preach the good news, "Repent." In short, go beyond your mind (metanoia) and change how you think. We tether our spiritual life to reality when we meditate on the circumstances of our upcoming death and what it says about our life in the here and now. Take...

Jesus comes home to Nazareth in Mark 6. He is met with skepticism and rejection despite all of his signs and teaching. Dr. Carlos Eire of Yale University has written a book challenging the ubiquity of modern skepticism. In They Flew: A History of the Impossible, Dr. Eire discusses levitation and other preternatural phenomenon amongst three Catholics, St. Theresa of Avila, St. Joseph Cupertino and...

What is love? Is it based on the qualities another has, or the length of a relationship, or just something inside me? St. Thomas Aquinas maintains that all love is love of God according to our deepest desires. Learn more about love in this week's OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062324.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The Tree of Life is an old, universal mythological symbol. It appears in Genesis 3 and Revelation 22. It is the center of the mystery of the Cross of Christ. Hear the story that contains all other stories - the tree of live this week on OVC. Readings for 11th Sunday: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/061624.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-72...

Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul. Blasphemy is attacking the work of the Holy Spirit and consists in a lack of a sense of sin or 'hardness of heart' in the words of scripture. Mark 3, this week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060924.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

This week on OVC Sr. Therese Wong's mom, Sharon, gives her perspective on supporting the vocations of children. You are right! It involves prayer and some great stories. Art: Mother and Daughter in Prayer, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld German; Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld Austrian, ca. 1811–17 Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Feast of the Most Holy Trinity The Trinity is the central mystery of Christianity. The nature of God, one what and three divine persons or who's is the most important revelation of Christ. Go out, he told his apostles before he Ascended, to the whole world and baptize in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Most Holy Trinity, this week on OVC. Art: Allegory of the Catholic...

The Feast of Pentecost and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit this week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051924.cfm Art: Plaque with the Pentecost -South Netherlandish - ca. 1150–75 The Acts of the Apostles recounts how they were infused with the Holy Spirit fifty days after Easter, an event celebrated by the feast of Pentecost. In this plaque, the use of gilding and of enamel ov...

This is a reboot of a pocast from the past about the Ascension. Miracles, like the Resurrection and the Ascension, are doors out of this world. Dr. Peter Kreeft, Ph. D, professor of Philosophy at Boston College and a prolific writed wrote. "When you think about it logically, there are two and only two philosophies of life. For either there are or there are not doors in the walls of the world. Eith...

Sr. Therese Wong, CFR is my special guest on OVC. Sr. Therese is a professed member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal. " The aim of the Community is to live the Gospel in simplicity according to the ideals of Saint Francis, as handed on by the Capuchin tradition. The values uniting the sisters include a strong Eucharistic prayer life, an emphasis on a common life marked by a warm family spi...

The Vatican's document "Dignitatis Infinita" is a statement on the nature of and the threats to human dignity. It is well worth meditating on during the Easter Season. The Fifth Sunday of Easter Jesus, at the Last Supper, said that he is the vine and we are the branches. We are rooted in him or we die. The body of Christ is Jesus' historic body, it is also the Church and it is also the Eucharist....

How does the concept of human dignity helps us to discuss current social issues in America. Part One of a two part podcast. Read Dignitas Infinita here: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/04/08/240408c.html Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294 Two Young Peasant Women. Camille Pissarro French 1891–92 On view at T...

Tenebrae, the hour of darkness, was celebrated at St. Mark the Evangelist on the Wednesday of Holy Week. Ancient hymns, scripture readings, prayers and a meditation are offered to feed the reverence of the faithful during this holiest time of the year. Art:The Crucifixion Pietro Lorenzetti Italian 1340s On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 635 Lorenzetti imbued this familiar biblical subject...

"Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” John 3 If we are not fulfilled in this life, maybe it means we are made for another like. God loves us in while in our sins. Can we respond and begin the journey home? This week on OVC. The artwork is Greek and Roman Art, aC...

"Brothers and sisters: Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." 1 Cor. Readings: https://bible...

Drug addiction is the scourge of families. PALs, "Parents of Addicted Loved Ones" is a Christian based, non-profit support group for parents. Rehab programs have there place in the care of addicts, but relapse is also part of the process of recovery. How can parents help their children when it seems hopeless. Here are three parents, Penny, Bill L and Bill S to tell you about their experience and h...