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St Philip Neri in the 16th century would gather those each day who were desirous of seeking Christian perfection. He would read from a spiritual book and then discourse on the meaning of what was read. This podcast (and the nightly prayer group from which it springs) seeks to carry on St Philip’s method of helping people become holy, even saints, in their own homes.
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
Tuesday Dec 20, 2022
What troubles our faith in this state of abandonment?
Our five senses. As we try to live by pure faith, our eyes and ears, our sense of touch, and our taste all seem to point in another direction. We seem to be missing certain satisfactions. What we believe does not seem to match what we are are seeing around us. But faith is of things unseen! Have courage!
Monday Dec 19, 2022
Monday Dec 19, 2022
What makes abandonment to divine Providence possible?
The theological virtues. From our side, we are able to surrender to God because he has infused these powers, these virtues, into our souls. Faith allows us to recognize God's presence and action. Hope allows us to rely on Him, to want Him, beyond all feeling. Love allows us to be One with Him. Love allows us to have His will as our will.
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Does the state of passive abandonment to the divine action lead to sadness or joy?
Joy. I came, Christ said, that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. Saints like Mother Teresa of Calcutta show us that even the highest forms of abandonment to divine providence lead to joy. Joy comes from resting in God. While the Lord strips us of all reliance on creatures. He gives Himself to us more and more. In Him we find joy amidst the darkness. He is there. He is guiding us. We rejoice.
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Friday Dec 16, 2022
Does the life of God in our souls, the life of following His inspirations, bear fruit for others?
Yes. Like Christ, those who live in humility and submission to the Father's will bring forth much fruit. There is a hidden and unseen power in those who have been led to this state of having God living in our souls.
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Does the state of abandonment help us?
Yes. God is leading us to a perfect reliance on Himself. He is taking away from us all that cannot really sustain us. God wants to be All in all. He leads us by a dark path in which we can no longer rely on ourselves to guide us. We cannot really rely on anyone else, but God alone. In this state God fills us with all kinds of understanding and wisdom and love.
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Wednesday Dec 14, 2022
Does God always lead us by the same path?
No. De Caussade distinguishes two states of soul. There is the state in which the soul lives in God, for God, in relation to God. The soul regulates everything as it seeks divine union. There is also the state that we are led to at times in which God lives in the soul. Instead of our directing ourselves to Him, he begins to direct every step we take. The way into this state can be dark and difficult.
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
What is necessary for our being conformed to God's plan for us?
Docility. Abandonment. Living in the present moment. Each of us is meant to be a unique artistic production produced by God the Father. He has in mind His Son, His Word, through whom we were created. He is making us like unto Him by all He allows to happen to us.
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Do we have to be learned and eloquent to become saints?
No. Holiness is not in the intellect as much as in the will. God's love is at work. Our task to be willing to follow His lead.
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Sunday Dec 11, 2022
Do I have to lean on creatures to become holy?
No created being can make us holy. God alone can. Gradually God teaches us that He alone can bring about our sanctification. He uses creatures as His instruments. But what He wants is for us to accept everything as from His hands.
Saturday Dec 10, 2022
Saturday Dec 10, 2022
What does God especially want from us?
Being content with his will. He does not ask of us great deeds that cause wonder in others. He does not even ask us to be martyrs (necessarily). We wants us to say yes to His will in each of our lives.
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Friday Dec 09, 2022
Is every event in our lives holy?
In a way, yes. All that happens involves God's creative activity. All that happens is allowed and directed by God. Thus, every moment has a kind of sacredness to it. This is why we can always be in union with God's will at every moment as we say yes to His will.
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Wednesday Dec 07, 2022
Is it still possible to become a saint in modern times?
Yes. De Caussade tries to persuade us that saints can still exist. Sanctity is not limited to the time of the Apostles. There is one road to holiness: the will of God. God's will is still being made manifest in his divine operations. By our fidelity to that will, no matter the evil around us, we can become holy.
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Tuesday Dec 06, 2022
Why is gaining knowledge through experience so important?
This was the one way in Christ gained knowledge. We are imitating Him. Unless we experience certain things, we will never be able to communicate them to others. Unless we go through certain things, we will never be able to understand those God sends us. And God unites people in this life. God sends people into our lives whom we are supposed to help.
Monday Dec 05, 2022
Monday Dec 05, 2022
What is the purpose of all that happens to us?
God has one desire: to unite us to Himself. God is Love and wills to share His life with us. God only created the world because he wanted to unite us with His Son in the deepest possible unity. Through the Son, we are brought into communion with the Father. To make this sharing in the love of the Father and the Son possible, we receive the Holy Spirit. God has made us to be Temples of the Holy Spirit, the eternal Love flowing between the Father and the Son.
Sunday Dec 04, 2022
Sunday Dec 04, 2022
How can God's will be so glorious when so many of us treat His will so badly?
Think back to Christ's life. He did all things well. He went about doing good. And yet, how was he received? Even those closest to him, his Twelve, argued at the Last Supper who was the greatest. Ten of the Twelve fled at his arrest. Should we be surprised that God's will continues to be treated badly?
Saturday Dec 03, 2022
Saturday Dec 03, 2022
How can we learn to interpret the events of our life?
By the Holy Spirit. He is the author of the Sacred Scriptures. He is also the author of all that happens in creation. Veni Creator Spiritus, the Church sings, come Creator Spirit. As He is the author, so He can teach us the meaning of what He is writing in our souls. But what if it all seems a great contradiction? What if all that happens is so perplexing? God's actions are only fully clear in heaven.
Friday Dec 02, 2022
Friday Dec 02, 2022
What is the meaning of the life of grace within us?
We are sharing in the life of Christ. The Son of God became man and lived a human and historical life. The life within his human soul is the life of the Son of God. He transformed what it means to be human. That life, that love, that obedience, that humility of the Son of God made man is what is flowing down through the centuries. The meaning of what happens to us is making us like Christ. The more we share in his Passion, the more we will share in His Resurrection.
Thursday Dec 01, 2022
Thursday Dec 01, 2022
Does God speak to us in the Sacred Scriptures or the events of everyday life?
In both ways! God has said in His Word, Christ himself, all that He has to say to us. That divine revelation is transmitted to us in the Sacred Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. But the same Lord creates all things through His Word. God's creation and his action in history is his original way of speaking. By faith in Christ, we are able to interpret what God is saying moment by moment. Christ is the key. Faith in Christ unlocks these mysteries.
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Wednesday Nov 30, 2022
Where does eternity meet time?
In the present moment. Think of eternity as a line and time as a rotating circle. Where does a line meet the edge of the circle? At one point. The present moment is where time and eternity meet. We must live not in the past or the future, but now. Here God is speaking to us. Here our duties and the inspirations of God show us His will.