St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

On August 6th, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. On today's podcast, we listen and reflect on the “background” and meaning of the Transfiguration, and how contemplating the scene of the Transfiguration continues to transform us today:— The Transfiguration of Jesus encourages us in our commitment to discipleship.— When we commit to protracted prayer—deep, sile...

Today on the podcast… We explore the characteristics of having true contrition for our sins:When we are truly sorry for our sins and receive forgiveness we have an interior peace; a serene joy. We are supple, joyful, and approachable. We not longer give excuses for our improper behavior. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! If you enjoy our weekly meditations, please consider helping us keep the St. Josemaria...

Today on the podcast…We look to St. Josemaria Escriva to contemplate what it truly means to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth: Devotion to the Holy Spirit to strengthens our love, joy, prayer, and our desire to be close to Christ. Personally give witness to the Gospel and bring it to others no matter what the cost. Desire that the Gospel be heard everywhere so that Jesus will be known by e...

Today on the podcast… We look to St. Josemaria Escriva and consider what he learned from the divine inspiration he received on October 2, 1928: As a priest he would bring the Gospel to the world in much the same way the Apostles were commissioned at the Ascension. That Jesus desires to be with us; that is why he is in the Eucharist today. The importance of dialogue with Christ all of the time help...

Today on the podcast… We are invited to listen and contemplate:How eternal happiness begins here on earth and is brought to its fullness in Heaven. Why it is a good idea to study the lives of the saints. The meaning of the “revolutionary message” revealed to St. Josemaria Escriva: to bring Christ into the heart of the modern world. At the end of our reflection and prayer, we ask Our Lady to help u...

Today on the podcast… We are asked to evaluate our appreciation for the precious gift that God gives to us so generously; our freedom. Msgr. Frederick Dolan helps us to understand which actions of ours make us free and which ones will hold us back from being free. And as we consider our actions to remember that we are not self-created; that we are creatures of a loving God. He ends with encouragin...

Reflection…“Holiness is the most attractive face of the Church.” Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation: The keys of holiness are Grace and Freedom.  The freedom to choose the vocation in which we desire to make the presence of Jesus come alive in our hearts and in the heart of the world.  And the grace to aid us in living the Beatitudes where the heart of Jesus opens up to us the many ways we can im...

In today’s podcast we ask the Lord to help us to not be satisfied with being a bystander, that we allow his words to enter deep into our hearts and change us. In the words of St. Josemaria Escriva: “We only love what we know well.”  Therefore, let us look to the lives of the saints and the life of Jesus himself in an effort to come to know God well; imitating daily, through our actions, a genuine...

In this reflection we are called to consider Jesus Christ as the High Priest and how all of us are called to participate in that priesthood according to our vocation in life. We are each called to a specific way of life and those who have chosen the priesthood as their vocation have additional responsibilities regarding the care of God’s people.  There are acts that the priest must do on behalf of...

In this reflection on The Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, we encounter the realization that Mary offers us much in the way of teaching us about self-giving. Especially in the way she puts others first, always availing herself to acts of serving others for the love of God. There is an experience of true joy in all she does. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! If you enjoy our weekly meditations, p...

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio invites us to reflect and pray about: What is the ordinary and how can it help us to be extraordinary? Jesus’ life growing up was not written down. There is no account of his activities after Joseph and Mary found him in the Temple until his baptism in the River Jordan. Jesus was so ordinary that there is nothing written about what a typical day might have been l...

On today's podcast we are reminded, for our contemplation, of the words Pope Benedict XVI offered on the meaning of freedom: “Who is freer than the One who is the Almighty? He did not, however, live his freedom as an arbitrary power or as domination. He lived it as a service. In this way he ‘filled’ freedom with content, which would otherwise have remained an ‘empty’ possibility of doing or n...

Thank you for listening to the 10-Day Devotion to the Holy Spirit on the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast! 10-Day Devotion to the Holy Spirit - Day 4 | Our faith in the Holy Spirit: necessarily complete For the complete text of today’s reflection and for additional spiritual resources visit: stjosemaria.org/ten-day-devotion-holy-spirit/ 10-DAY DEVOTION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT IN PREPARATION FOR PENTECOS...

Today on the podcast… “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?' (Lk 24:30-32).”As we journey with those whom the L...

Today on the podcast… On May 1st, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. “…Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him'” (Matt. 2:13). In this reflection, Msgr. Fred Dolan invites us to bring to our pr...

Reflection… Easter is the highest celebration of the Church because it is the culmination of the Paschal Mystery with Jesus as victor over sin and death. The properties of his suffering on the Cross and his Resurrection stimulate change. Not only a visible change in our behavior but also a spiritual change in direct correlation with our relationship in prayer with the Lord. All of this is made pos...

The Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday at the conclusion of the Easter Octave during which we are reminded to “be merciful, just as [our] Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the mercy of God by sharing a deeper understanding of the Eucharist. He explains that Christ is the incarnation of mercy itself which is revealed to us through the true presence o...

Reflection… “My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart” (Psalm 38:5-8). In the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus tells Peter, James, and John to watch and pray, he is also ca...

Reflection… Lent is a season of conversion of the mind, heart, and soul through the acts of prayer, penance, and deeds of charity/alms giving. Though its exact time of origin is unknown, the practice of fasting and the offering of a penance during the 40 days prior to Easter was more widely visible in the church sometime soon after The First Council of Nicaea, AD 325. The councils’ program of litu...

Jesus prepared the disciples to bear fruit as they began to evangelize.  We too must prepare for evangelizing as well. During the season of lent let us practice being in the presence Jesus, to be in constant prayer.  In the early church St. Paul taught, to "Put on Christ".  To evangelize well our faith must grow and for our faith to grow one must pursue holiness. The Second Vatican Counc...

During this season of lent we are called by the Church to repent of our sins and turn back to the gospels. The Gospel of Luke makes it clear that all are being addressed when Jesus gives instructions on how to be his disciples, “Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Therefore, to be Jesus’ discip...

When we attend Mass, do we really envision the joining of heaven and earth, which is about to become visible to us? Do we work on realizing how precious a gift Our Father has given us, our Daily Bread, given for our spiritual sustenance? We need to learn from the saints how precious a gift the Liturgy is for our spiritual growth. When it comes to praying at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass it can be...

Today in the podcast….. "Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear..." (1 Peter 3:14-16). This is the courage that the Apostles of Jesus Christ are calling us to embrace when app...

In a homily given by St. Josemaria Escriva in the 1960’s he calls all to imitate Jesus’ love for Humanity. What does this call invite us to do today? Fr. Peter Armenio, an Opus Dei priest, enlightens us by mentioning that the call to “Passionately Love The World,” invites us to leave our comfort zone, find new compassion for others, be present for those who do not know that they hunger for Christ,...

Fr. Peter Armenio, an Opus Dei priest, is quoted in this podcast saying, “We are disciples of Christ marked with this unity of life that we give an experience of Christ through joy.”   He challenges us to evaluate our daily lives and see if we can find Christ there in the midst. He stresses that, as Disciples of Christ there should be a common thread that runs through our lives. This Common thread...