The Deacon Dave & Layperson Lisa Show

Today Cardinal Sarah talks about many of the Saints experienced the intense love of God. The further they ascended in his presence the mor intense it got. The extreme size and scale of God’s love is unbelievable, but we can be immersed in his love or in disappear because we are afraid of that immensity, and we doubt it sometimes. Exodus chapter 17 is about Moses and the in the desert “the people g...

Suffering can challenge our level of trust, especially our trust in God. However, suffering can be an opportunity to allow our trust to reach a new level with those close to us, with those in our community and with God. We can help each other grow in trust and therefore faith in God.

I n this paragraph Cardinal Sarah is talking about being our true homeland and that is with God and when we are in the presence of God in our hearts we are separated from this earth. This reminds me of John 14 where Jesus comforts his disciples and tells them “My Father’s house has many rooms”, this passage is common at funerals to remind us that we inherit eternal life through Jesus at Calvary. O...

Cardinal Sarah says, I do not think it possible to approach God’s majesty without trembling in dread and astonishment.  This brings to mind the gift of Fear of the Lord, which is being aware of the awe and wonder, the astonishment that is our Powerful God.  Fear of the Lord creates a deep reverence in our hearts towards God.    I think Cardinal Sarah  touches on fear vs fear of the Lord.  Silence...

Suffering can easily bring us to a point where we feel like giving up. Surrender is not giving up, but rather giving over to God. God is already present in our suffering. Realizing this, we can be encouraged to surrender and thus allow God to be fully immersed in our suffering. In surrender, the fruits of the Holy Spirit such as joy and peace are present.

Cardinal Sarah describes how man find it difficult to be in silence and that used to be true for me. Not hard to be alone or without noise but to be alone in my head. Then silence was forced upon me when my children left the nest, and with a husband who works all the time, I was home alone, and it was REALLY quiet. I lived with the TV or radio on, anything to drawn out the silence. That is until o...

The Brave Little Soul described by John Alessi volunteers to go into the world and suffer to unlock love for the good of all humanity. People gave their hearts while caring for the Brave Little Soul and lives were changed forever. The world was a better place.

Cardinal Sarah talks about how we need to stop encountering ourselves to make God present, no longer hear ourselves, to hear God speak to us.  We need to continuously empty ourselves.  We are own worst enemy, our own obstacle to living a life of grace.  As I prepare to help lead a retreat, I am thinking of how can we remove the obstacles that prevent us growing closer to Christ.  I think we need t...

Despair can leave us feeling that nothing will ever change and can cause us to lose hope. Jesus is our eternal hope. One way to regain our hope and pull ourselves out of despair is to reach out to others as Mother Teresa did. Even during her time of darkness, she saw Jesus in those she served.

 Cardinal Sarah talks about the homilies of Isaac the Syrian who wrote to love silence above all things, because it brings near to fruit that the tongue cannot express.  Silence allows us to grow in humility.  Being present to God without words is a beautiful prayer!  Cardinal Sarah says in the silence of humiliation and self mortification, the turmoil of the flesh is tamed.  I was listening to a...

Anger is a natural response to challenges that occur in our lives. It is OK to be angry and to take our anger to God.  He knows our pain and understands. He can protect us from being consumed by our anger. He will forgive us if we blame Him and He will help us forgive ourselves and others.

Cardinal Sarah tells us that prayer consists of listening to God speak silently with us.  Christ is the Master who can teach us to pray and to pray is to love and to be present to Jesus.  When we are present to Jesus, and He is present to us, that is solitude, a oneness with Him.  He calls us to pray unceasingly.  Often, I find solitude sitting outside, enjoying the sounds of nature, the beauty of...

Cardinal Sarah talks about connection between prayer and the Word. The key here is word with a capital W. First question for me would be, what does connection mean? “A relationship in which a person, thing or idea is linked or associated with something else.” So, there is connection between us to God in prayer. We are linked to God through Sacraments, and through prayer. The connection if through...

Suffering can cause isolation. Loneliness can develop if we feel no one else understands what we are enduring or if our suffering hinders or prevents us from engaging in activities as we normally would. We can increase our feeling of loneliness if we shut others out, especially God. Isolation does not have to be lonely if we allow God to be present with us.

Cardinal Sarah says if we remain ourselves, we are full of noise, conceit and anger.  One way to surrender more fully to God, is to prostrate ourselves.  Lay down in front of the Tabernacle, lay down in front of Jesus in the Monstrance on our faces and surrender fully to Him.  This posture is one that I often take during Adoration, to lay down at His feet.  I have prayerful experiences while in th...

Entering the suffering of others can be uncomfortable and even painful. So why would we want to enter the suffering of others? St Pope John Paul II said, “The distinctive mark of the Christian, today more than ever, must be love for the poor, the weak, the suffering.” We are called to love. And in our loving care for those suffering, through God, they have the power to transform us and the world. 

Today Cardinal Sarah talks about renunciation and asceticism. In other words, self-discipline and avoidance from the things that keep us from being with God. How often do we want to indulge in things of this world to make us feel better? During Lent we are called to abstain from eating meat on Fridays, we can also deny ourselves from something that we enjoy and lift that sacrifice up for God. But,...

Letting others know we are suffering is very different from letting them INTO our suffering. Allowing people into our suffering may mean being vulnerable with them. Vulnerability does not mean weakness or loss of dignity. Our dignity is found completely in Jesus. So, our suffering obtains its full value by letting God and others into it. 

Cardinal Sarah talks about how during Liturgical Feasts we often are not allowing Christ to dwell in our hearts.  He mentions a passage from the Imitation Christ talking about getting our hearts ready.  I feel like this is how we are called to prepare for Mass so that Christ can fully dwell in our hearts.  We are called to make our bodies an abode for Him.  To make ourselves a home for Him in our...

If we can acknowledge our suffering (say it) and own our suffering (admit it is now part of our lives), we can then begin to work on embracing our suffering. This process may look different for each of us, but if we are able to lean into our suffering, it becomes possible to ask God how He wants us to use this suffering.

Rituals were created for us to grow closer to God, but often we allow them to become routine rather than intentional.  Cardinal Sarah talks about the “ritual” in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Everyone was so excited but at the end of the day, yet Jesus was not offered a place to sleep in the city. Cardinal Sarah goes further by saying that Jerusalem did not understand the profound significance of the...

There are many reasons it can be difficult to share our suffering with others. Perhaps we don’t want to be a burden to others, we don’t want to feel vulnerable, we think our suffering is not significant, or we try to “protect” people from our suffering. However, sharing our suffering with others can have value for us and them. 

We may pretend to be OK, because we WANT to be OK, because we don’t want to dwell on our troubles or because we think there are so many “greater” issues in the world. Instead of minimizing our suffering, we should work towards acknowledging it and owning it. By doing this and by not comparing our suffering to that of others or to that of Jesus, we can ask God how He wants us to use our suffering.

Being inundated with God's Love allows us to be flooded with His Love.  When we are flooded with His Love, we become His vessel, pouring out God's Love.  Spending time with God's Word helps us to grow closer to Him, grow in intimacy with Him.  When we take the time to really dive into His Word, to use imaginative prayer, picturing ourselves alongside Jesus, witnessing His miracles,...