Lectio et Oratio

Episode 110 -- Imitation of Christ IV.13 -- The Devout Soul Should Long For Union with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament

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Episode 109 -- Imitation of Christ IV.12 -- On the Great Care that Should be Taken in Preparing to Receive Christ in Holy Communion

Episode 108 -- Imitation of Christ IV.11 -- The Body of Christ and the Holy Scriptures are Most Necessary to a Faithful Soul

Episode 107 -- Imitation of Christ IV.10 -- On Not Staying Away from Holy Communion

Episode 106 -- Imitation of Christ IV.9 -- We Should Offer Ourselves and All that Are to God and Pray for All Men

Episode 105 -- Imitation of Christ IV.8 -- On Offering Ourselves at Mass and Self-Surrender

Episode 104 -- Imitation of Christ IV.7 -- Examination of Conscience Before Mass

Should we examine our conscience before receiving Holy Communion?

Yes! Thomas a Kempis provides a fairly comprehensive examination of conscience in chapter 7. He points out areas of improvement that will touch everyone's lives. He encourages us to be sorry in general for our sins, to be sorry in particular for our daily faults, and to confess to the Lord how wayward our passions are. Of course, if we have serious sins on our souls, we need to go to the sacrament of Confession. "If you forgive the sins of any," Jesus told the Apostles, "they are forgiven."

Episode 103 -- Imitation of Christ IV.6 -- On Preperation for the Holy Eucharist

In chapter 6, Thomas a Kempis prays for the Lord to show him a brief exercise for preparing for Holy Communion. He begs the Lord to show him the right way to dispose his heart before this great moment. Inspired by this chapter, St Philip Neri used to prepare for Communion in this way: "Lord, I am ready, as far as I am concerned, to do all the evil in the world, if you do not help me." Humility and confidence in God's help!

Episode 102 -- Imitation of Christ IV.5 -- On the Dignity of this Sacrament and on the Priestly Office

Are there great benefits from frequent reception of Holy Communion?

Yes! Thomas a Kempis lays out some of the advantages of frequent reception of the Eucharist. He continues to lay out how the Eucharist is a remedy for so many of our faults. But he also highlights how it is the true means to being one with Christ in love.

Episode 101 -- Imitation of Christ IV.4 -- On The Benefits of Frequent and Devout Communion

Are there great benefits from frequent reception of Holy Communion?

Yes! Thomas a Kempis lays out some of the advantages of frequent reception of the Eucharist. He continues to lay out how the Eucharist is a remedy for so many of our faults. But he also highlights how it is the true means to being one with Christ in love.

Episode 100 -- Imitation of Christ IV.3 -- On the Advantage of Frequent Communion

In book 4, chapter 3, Thomas a Kempis stresses how the Eucharist is a remedy for our tendency to sin, our proclivity to sin. Baptism takes away original sin and all actual sins. Confession takes away sins committed after baptism. The Eucharist is Christ Himself. It contains the power to take away all sins. But it was not given to us as the means of forgiving serious sin. The Eucharist is a remedy against sin, however. It excites us to charity. By this charity, we are able to overcome and resist the pull to sin. The Eucharist keeps us from committing certain sins!

Episode 99 -- Imitation of Christ IV.2 -- On the Great Love Manifested in this Sacrament

In chapter 2, Thomas a Kempis wants to awaken a wonder in us for the Eucharist. Among his many points he stresses the connection between the Eucharist and the Annunciation. We should be a filled with wonder each day at Mass as the Word becomes flesh as Our Lady was on the day he first entered her Womb.

Episode 98 -- Imitation of Christ IV.1 -- On the Deep Reverence with Which Christ is to be Received

In chapter 1, Thomas a Kempis begins his great discussion of the Holy Eucharist. Book 4 is dedicated to the Holy Eucharist. How we need this saving food. How it makes present in every time and place the Lord of Lords both in his humanity and his divinity. What mercy. What love.

Episode 97 -- Imitation of Christ III.59 -- All Our Hope and Trust Must Be Place in God Alone

On what can we truly rely in this life?

Our Lord alone. Thomas a Kempis does not deny that friends and books can be of help. But when Our Lord is not standing beside us, no one else can truly give us peace or comfort. This advice about turning to Christ alone is the final advice of book 3 of the Imitation of Christ.

Episode 96 -- Imitation of Christ III.58 -- About God’s Secrets: Not Seeking into His Unfathomable Judgments

In chapter 58 Thomas a Kempis speaks about the need to limit our desire to understand things that are beyond us. Two things are singled out as dangerous for us to seek to understand. The first is the ultimate reason why certain trials occur. The Lord gives us some understanding, but what he wants more than are academic discussions of his ways of acting is a loving acceptance of his mysterious will. The second issue to avoid speculating about is the relative greatness of the saints. In heaven, they do not compare themselves to each other. They are too busy lost in the life of the Trinity, too busy loving and being loved. Let us imitate them even now.

Episode 95 -- Imitation of Christ III.57 -- A Man Should Not be Too Depressed when He Slips into a Fault

In chapter 57 Thomas a Kempis talks about the situation when we are spoken to in a sharp and hurtful way. Often this will happen after we have made a mistake. We will be tempted to be discouraged by such a stinging rebuke. But Thomas a Kempis encourages us to take such things in stride. Let us not be too worried about what people think of us and say about us. Let us seek to truly do the will of the Lord. Let us ask for the grace to care more what the Lord thinks.

Episode 94 -- Imitation of Christ III.56 -- We Must Deny Ourselves and Follow Christ Along the Way of the Cross

In chapter 56, Thomas a Kempis draws our attention to the need to deny ourselves if we want to follow the Lord. Christ's life must be the main study of our life. By encountering Christ in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, we receive the grace to put his teachings into practice. How we need to encourage each other. How we need to remember why we have undertaken a life of prayer. We live for Christ.

Episode 93 -- Imitation of Christ III.55 -- On the Corruption of Nature and the Power of God’s Grace

In chapter 55, Thomas a Kempis distinguishes the corruption of human nature from the power of God's grace. Because of original sin, our nature has evil propensities, which draw us to sin. One of the consequences of original sin is the lack of order in the powers of our soul. Our nature is not totally corrupt. We still have a longing for God, but uncontrolled self-love so often makes us forget the primacy of God. We forget that our true selves are only found in him. But along side our tendency to sin is the dynamic power of God's grace that inspires us and leads us to live like God. We need God's grace at the beginning of every good work, during every good work, and at the completion of every good work. Apart from Christ and his grace, we are nothing in the supernatural order.

Episode 92 -- Imitation of Christ III.54 -- Grace versus Nature

In chapter 54, Thomas a Kempis makes 17 brief points about the distinction between nature and grace. He draws our attention to the opposition in how grace works and how nature works. In the end, grace is the principle of living for God and all our efforts to deny ourselves. Grace is what keeps our souls aimed at heaven. Grace inspires not to count the cost of following Christ. Grace makes us willing to give up all that keeps us from holiness of life. What is grace? A supernatural gift, a light, help that God gives to enable us to live as his adopted children. Grace introduces us into the intimacy of the divine life, the life of the Trinity.

Episode 91 -- Imitation of Christ III.53 -- God’s Grace Does not Mix with Worldly Wisdom

Does God's wisdom and worldly wisdom mix?

No. Thomas a Kempis points out that God's wisdom in our souls makes us give up anything and everything that stands in the way of our union with Him. There is something radical about what God's love will ask of us. The wisdom of the world always makes us think that we can make this life what is most important. In the end this world passes away. In the end, our relationship with the Lord is what matters. The great thing is to die to oneself and live for God.