St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio speaks of the New Evangelization, a term coined by St. John Paul II, as the “original evangelization.” The early Christians did not go into far off lands to convert others to Christ, they started where they were: in their families, their workplace, their circle of friends. By sharing the Gospel with others, one by one, they eventually changed the culture and the world.The example of the early Christians reminds us that we don’t need to leave our place in the world to become great evangelizers. Christ calls us to be “the light of the world” in our everyday occupations and in the ordinary circumstances of our life. Our mission territory is right where we find ourselves. This is where Christ calls us to share His life.Ultimately this is what St. Josemaria envisioned for the laity, especially for “the life of the members of Opus Dei, ordinary Christians who strive to live their Christian vocation fully without leaving the world” (Conversations, no. 33). All of us are called to be the light, leaven, and salt in the middle of the world, “that by our very presence, by our very witness, Jesus says, we will start to change the world.”This podcast is part of our Day of Recollection resources for the month of October. Access and download the full resources for free at www.stjosemaria.org.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 shares an insightful reflection on the Holy Archangels – St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael – in honor of their feast day on September 29. Fr. Javier explains how "the work of the Archangels is really one of service to God, adoring God, being messengers of God, and helping mankind reach its ultimate end of going back to God."As he reflects on the tasks of the Archangels in the history of salvation, Fr. Javier also shares anecdotes about St. Josemaria Escriva's personal devotion to the Guardian Angels and Archangels, to whom he entrusted "the specific apostolic endeavors that he was to undertake as part of the mission that God wanted of him... founding Opus Dei." We learn how St. Josemaria's devotion to the angels was rooted in Scripture and grew from their loving intervention in his daily life, which inspired him to write: "Drink at the clear fountain of the Acts of the Apostles. In the twelfth chapter, Peter, freed from prison by the ministry of Angels, comes to the house of the mother of Mark. Those inside will not believe the girl, who says that Peter is at the door. Angelus ejus est! It must be his Angel!' they said. See on what intimate terms the early Christians were with their Guardian Angels. And you?" (The Way, no. 570).On this feast day, let us strengthen our devotion to the angels by invoking them often and seeking their help to overcome our daily struggles against evil and increase our loving desire to serve God.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, Msgr. Fred Dolan underscores the perennial importance of persevering in our ascetical or interior struggle for "going higher and higher, doing whatever it takes to aim high, and to reach Heaven." We know that the Christian life is not compatible with self-satisfied mediocrity, love of comfort, and lukewarmness. We need great moral strength to reach Heaven and that means a daily perseverance towards sanctity. Therefore, as Msgr. Dolan explains, "to go higher and to get there requires a 'struggle' or 'warfare'... against the enemies of our sanctity, which include pride, laziness, love of comfort, sensuality, and a whole host of others." With practical advice and anecdotes from the life of St. Josemaria, Msgr. Dolan encourages us to fight our daily interior battles through which the discipline of a plan of work, good use of time, and small sacrifices will keep us exercising control over our appetites and keep us from falling into dissipation and lukewarmness.As you end this time of prayer, looking ahead into the new season and keeping your eyes on Heaven, what struggles do you want to conquer with a positive, cheerful, constant, and energetic spirit?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 explores the meaning that our human suffering can assume when we offer it out of love to God. He explains that “the Lord has not come to get rid of suffering–we continue to suffer all the time–but he has come to give it meaning with his Cross; he has come to give it the meaning of love.”As we unite ourselves to the Cross of Christ, our hearts expand to a deeper outpouring of love among those around us. If we embrace our Cross in this way, we too will "find Mary on the way, just as Jesus did," and she will comfort and sustain us with her maternal care (Holy Rosary, no. 9).As you pray with this meditation today, think of ways you can begin to see the Cross, whether it is one or several in your life, as a source of joy instead of sorrow. And, ask yourself: how can I better unite myself to Jesus and Mary by means of the Cross?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, Msgr. Fred Dolan invites us to remember how closely the Good Shepherd walks with us in our daily lives. He knows everything about us and is there at every moment, ever ready to guide, inspire, and support us as we aim to live out the particular vocation He has lovingly entrusted to us.God takes a risk with you. As St. John Henry Newman explains, “[God] has committed some work to [you] that he has not committed to another. [You] have [your] mission. He has not created [you] for nothing.” Ultimately, we are free to say ‘no’ to the mission God gives us. Yet only in fulfilling that mission wholeheartedly will we become truly happy and truly free.As you pray and reflect on this meditation, ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and light to see how you can put your gifts and talents at the service of God. Remember that our human limitations and weaknesses need not deter us from responding generously to God’s will.This podcast is part of our Day of Recollection resources for the month of September, available for free online at www.stjosemaria.org.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, Msgr. Fred Dolan shares a reflection on the standard of holiness which St. Josemaria characterizes by the following three points: holy intransigence, holy coercion, and holy shamelessness. He explains that we must form our heart and mind according to the gospel message so that we will have a firm foundation when confronted with opposition.We are encouraged to look to the example of the saints who were steadfast in seeking the truth despite facing opposing viewpoints. Inspired by their witness, we too can seek to attain the plane of sanctity through the ordinary moments of everyday life and be a reflection of Christ in the world today.In this podcast Msgr. Dolan shares excerpts from the Letter from the Prelate of Opus Dei dated February 14, 2017. This letter can be read in full online at opusdei.org.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 sheds light on the mystery of redemption and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  In the life of every saint—and here he draws upon personal encounters with John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and Alvaro del Portillo—there is an intimate connection with Christ and His Eucharistic sacrifice.  “My professional work,” says Fr. Peter, “even if I make my bed out of love, could have an infinite value when I allow it to be absorbed by Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.”As you meditate with this podcast today, think of any concrete efforts you can make this week to join yourself more intimately with the Eucharistic sacrifice.  When you are at Mass, remember that your work and sufferings can have an infinite value when you unite them to Our Lord.  Allow yourself to say, along with St. Paul, “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).“Keep struggling, so that the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar really becomes the center and root of your interior life, and so your whole day will turn into an act of worship — an extension of the Mass you have attended and a preparation for the next. Your whole day will then be an act of worship that overflows in aspirations, visits to the Blessed Sacrament and the offering up of your professional work and your family life…” (The Forge, no. 69).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!

As the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15, Msgr. Fred Dolan shares a reflection on the life of faith modeled by Our Lady and how we too can be filled with a trust and joy that is unable to be shaken by difficulties.Looking to her example, Msgr. Dolan explains that our life of faith can also prosper through contemplative prayer, docility to the Holy Spirit, and trust in the will of God as we seek to share the light of Christ in the world today.In honor of this great feast of the Assumption, how will you continue to learn from Mary and ponder important things in your heart and to think deeply about the will of God in your life?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 the spirit of detachment and the freedom from material goods as we seek to live more fully in the presence of God.As St. Josemaria explains: "The ordinary Christian has to reconcile two aspects in his life that may at first seem contradictory. There is on the one hand, true poverty, which is obvious and tangible and made up of definite things. This poverty should be an expression of faith in God and a sign that the heart is not satisfied with created things and aspires to the Creator; that it wants to be filled with love of God so as to be able to give this same love to everyone. On the other hand an ordinary Christian is and wants to be one more among his fellow men, sharing their way of life, their joys and happiness; working with them, loving the world and all the good things that exist in it; using all created things to solve the problems of human life and to establish a spiritual and material environment which will foster personal and social development" (Conversations, no. 111). This podcast is part of our Day of Recollection resources for the month of August, available for free online at www.stjosemaria.org.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!

As we conclude our mini-series on St. Josemaria’s homily, Passionately Loving the World, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the inestimable value of ordinary life and how it serves as a medium through which we encounter the presence of God. Drawing upon the hidden years of Christ’s life, Fr. Peter highlights the importance of being formed by the witness of our family and being nurtured by prayer so that we can lead a heroic life of faith, generosity, and service.Fr. Peter explains: “Don’t underestimate [your] individual calling. We are all called to be saints because sanctity does not depend on exactly what [we’re] doing, but how much love [we] invest in what [we’re] doing.”As you pray and reflect today, what steps forward can you take in your prayer life to strengthen your resolve to invite Christ into the ordinary moments of each day?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!