St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai reflects on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and how this feast is a cause for joy and hope for all of us.Whenever we see the Assumption depicted in art, it's always joyful and beautiful! Why? Because it is a reminder of the ancient teaching that Mary knew no corporal decay, but entered into Heaven and was received by God in body and soul. It fills us with peace to know that she is waiting for us and wants us to come to be with her Son.The Assumption is a feast that we're encouraged to not let just pass us by without really, truly being affected in some deep way. One way to be affected is to enter into a deeper joy, regardless of our situation in life, as we contemplate that something really wonderful happened to Mary because she let herself be guided by God's Divine Logic.  We are sons and daughters of Mary-- St. Josemaria took this deeply to heart, and we should try to do this too. On this beautiful Feast of the Assumption, St. Josemaria reminds us that: "the supernatural value of our life does not depend on accomplishing great undertakings suggested to us by our overactive imagination. Rather, it is to be found in the faithful acceptance of God’s will, in welcoming generously the opportunities for small, daily sacrifice. If we strive to imitate Mary’s fidelity, God will surely do great things in us” (Christ is Passing By, no. 172).Tune in to this podcast as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption on August 15th.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast,  Fr. Peter Armenio reflects upon joy as the foundation for all evangelization and how living joy in our daily lives can lead others to encounter Christ, because He is joy. The particular role of the laity in bringing Christ to the world, especially in the places we live and work, requires that we not only bring the truth of the Gospel to all those who we encounter, but that we always lead with joy and witness to the happiness found in our friendship with Jesus.Fr. Peter shows that authentic joy is not artificial, but is a happiness which results from having the fullness of joy within you.  This joy is easily perceived by others and is fueled by our friendship with Jesus. In order to increase our joy, we can more intentionally abide with the Lord through the Eucharist, mental prayer, the rosary, the cross, and through our effort to love others.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio leads us to listen and reflect on the Gospel and the meaning of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and how it continues to transform us today.The Transfiguration of Jesus encourages us in our commitment to discipleship. When we commit to protracted prayer—deep, silent, concentrated prayer—we can see God through the eyes of our soul and heart.The Transfiguration helped the apostles to trust in the Cross—the raw materials that make up our crosses—and to believe that there is no such thing as failure when we follow Christ.Contemplating this scene and Jesus’ words (Mt 17:1-8), we begin to see Him, to take on His capacity for self-giving love, and we become more empowered to give of ourselves with the heart of Jesus.Tune in to this podcast as we celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord on August 6th.View Transcript | Visit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo shares a reflection on the Gospel scene in which Martha welcomes Christ into her home (Luke 10:38-42) and reveals to us the meaning of letting go and letting God into our lives.In the Gospel passage, we notice Martha become caught up in the activity and details of serving Christ which inhibit her from fully enjoying the presence of Christ in her home. This theme is echoed in society today with a strong push for perfectionism in our work and at home. To contradict this vice, Fr. Javier reminds us to identify the intention behind our work, so that we may glorify God in all that we do. Working with intention allows us to be receptive to the grace of the Holy Spirit and helps us to recognize the presence of Christ in the ordinary moments of everyday life.Tune in to this podcast as we celebrate the feast of SS. Martha, Mary and Lazarus on July 29th.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast, Fr. Fred Dolan reflects on the great gift of unity that God gives to us through His Son: “That they may be one, even as you, Father, are in me and I in you” (Jn 17:21). Jesus prayed that we may be one, united in God’s love. However, as Fr. Dolan explains, this gift of unity is not automatic. In fact, it is hard work. And, therefore, Fr. Dolan helps us to identify those attitudes that can get in the way of unity, and some of the key ingredients to establishing unity in our lives, like humility and patience.  This is especially true in family life. If we were to insist that everyone in the family — and, for that matter, everyone around us — should react, should deal with situations the way we do, we would be setting ourselves up for an awful lot of tension and a lot of disunity. In any given setting, we want to be a source of unity through our youthfulness, optimism, and charity. We want to be the source of unity that will show the world that the Lord has indeed sent us and dwells within us.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast, Fr. Fred Dolan leads us to reflect on freedom. Rightly understood, freedom is a gift from God, Our Creator and Father. If we do not recognize that fact, we run the risk of becoming existentially orphaned and homeless.“Do you love me?”, Jesus asks Peter. We hear the Lord looking at each one of us and asking the same thing. The Christian life is a free response, imbued with initiative and availability to this question of the Lord.We are not self-created, but rather, we are creatures of a loving Creator. We do not dare to attribute to ourselves the so called right to define our own concept of existence, because God has given that to us.God has given to each one of us very specific, unique qualities. Along with those qualities, come our own limitations. Therefore, Fr. Dolan reminds us that we need to remove the chief obstacles that hinder us from achieving it; for example, self-centeredness, egotism, grudges, arrogance, deceit, and resentment.God loves each one of us, as we are, and he loves to see us struggling to become better and to be free.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai helps us to reflect on the distinction between what it means to be productive/successful in life and what it means to be fruitful. Some of us might be productive, but we are called to bear fruit, which frees us from the danger of thinking that our life is useless.Fr. Eric explains, "God said to the first man and to the first woman, when He blessed them, Adam and Eve, to be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth and govern it. God directs us to be fruitful, but we interpret this often to be productive." To be fruitful requires authentic humility and transparency in our life. It requires docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who produces in us the gifts of love, joy, peace, and understanding. As Our Lord promised, the gifts of the Spirit lead us to a fruitful life: to patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, and gentleness. In this way, we are able to multiply the good that our lives, our undertakings, and our work would have for all souls.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai reflects on St. Josemaria’s last moments on earth and how his docility to the Holy Spirit and good humor until the end led him to have so much effect on people's lives.God granted St. Josemaria a deep spiritual paternity through which he embraced everyone that would come in contact with him. "And since this paternity was completely supernatural," Fr. Eric explains, "it was strengthened by the fact that he went to Heaven. He could continue to exercise that spiritual paternity by interceding for us." St. Josemaria became somebody to emulate as he was somebody with impressive dreams, magnanimity, and great apostolic zeal. He was driven by his sudden understanding that sanctity is within the reach of anyone who freely wants to let themselves be led by God.  Therefore, he knew how to bring out the best in people and helped them to realize their dreams of pursing what God was really calling them to. He formed saints that came in contact with him; that is, he provoked great desires in others and opened up their horizons. St. Josemaria had many reasons to be cynical and even pessimistic about his mission and the work that he was doing for God. But, with the grace of God, he flourished through the power of his good humor. His good humor and cheerfulness helped him to have a greater vision, for himself and for others, beyond the immediate. As we celebrate the feast of St. Josemaria (June 26), Fr. Eric encourages us to go to St. Josemaria to learn what it means to have good humor, to be cheerful, and to open up our horizons to a greater vision of life led by the Spirit.Note: Fr. Eric Nicolai preached this meditation in Toronto, Canada on June 19, 2023, in preparation for the feast of Saint Josemaria.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo reflects on how the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of our "need to have a heart within us that beats at the same pace as Christ's, because that's what it means to be truly human."St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for you, O Lord, and restless will our heart be until it rests in you.” Fr. Javier explains that "we can interpret this as our hearts will be restless until we actually synchronize our hearts to the heart of Christ." And, our hearts are made to be synchronized with the heart of Christ in timing, intensity, and extension. It is through these three aspects that God can renew our hearts so that we can truly love the way He wants us to love-- in a human and divine way, with one heart with which we love God and with which we love everything else.Only a heart synchronized to Jesus' heart can love and can actually co-redeem with Him by loving with His own heart. And it all happens if we allow Him to do it... substituting our heart of stone with a heart of flesh which is capable of Divine Love.Visit Show PageView TranscriptSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo guides us to contemplate the beautiful gift of the Eucharist in which Jesus fulfills the promise to remain with us and to transform the world from within.The Eucharist, Fr. Javier explains, has "a double effect of restoring the spiritual losses caused by sins and defects and of increasing the power of the virtues. This is what happens when we go to Communion, when we receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord... this food is not transformed into us, we are transformed into Him."As we prepare for the feast of Corpus Christi, therefore, we can pray about "how we can correspond to Our Lord... Anything we do for Our Lord will be little in comparison to what He deserves." So, we want to be humble even though "He outdoes us in humility. He lowers Himself; He stoops Himself even more than we ever can.The Eucharist is truly that which will allow us to persevere in our call, in our call to holiness. It keeps you going and gives you strength when you're tired, when you're exhausted, in, your works of charity, in your Christian life... Turn to Our Lord in the Eucharist and draw new life from that infinite well of holiness and charity, which is the Eucharist."In the Eucharist, God is with us. We have to be in awe that God is with us, all the power of God. He doesn't have anything else to give, He has given everything to us. We should cast away our fears of giving ourselves to others. We should adopt this Eucharistic generosity in our lives." Visit Show PageView TranscriptSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and leave us a rating or review. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: www.stjosemaria.org Also, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!