St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

As we look forward to the New Year and seek opportunities to begin again, we are pleased to begin a new podcast series reflecting on St. Josemaria’s homily The Richness of Ordinary Life, in which St. Josemaria puts before us the goal of personal sanctity and reminds us that the path of holiness lies in the little things of ordinary life.In this podcast, Fr. Leo Agustina draws inspiration from the Parable of the Sower and challenges us to cultivate an interior life full of “rich soil” through which we can produce spiritual fruit and grow in personal friendship with Christ. Fr. Leo reminds us that we do not have to seek out Christ in extraordinary ways, but that we can transform the ordinary moments of everyday life into opportunities in which we can encounter Christ. In doing so, we will find greater meaning and fulfillment in our daily life and work, and allow ourselves to be used as an instrument in the work of God’s salvation.[ Transcript ]Support 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 on the Holy Family as the foundation and model of the love of Christ. We are reminded of the greatest event in history – God becoming human, becoming part of this universe. God came into this world through a family, spending the majority of his life in his home in Nazareth. It is through the hidden life of christ that we come to understand the great commandment, “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13.34). Christ spent the majority of his life putting this commandment into practice at home before spending his final years teaching it to others.Our ‘arena’ in which we can put the love of Christ into action is at home. The homy of a family is a natural setting in which prayer, service, joy, and love, among other virtues, are first taught and lived out. If we seek to change the world, we must first begin at home, in our own corner of the world, exhibiting a love that fosters a family atmosphere. We must also be rooted in prayer. Saint Paul tells us that through prayer, the love of God is poured into our heart. We cannot love like Christ is we do not know Christ. And thus, we turn to the words of St. Josemaria Escriva, “My God, teach me how to love! My, God, teach me how to pray!” (The Forge, no. 66).Support 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 Annunciation of the Lord, as told in the Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and invites us to contemplate and imitate Mary’s listening heart. Our expectation, preparation, and contemplation are heightened during these final days of Advent– this is true both as we prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas and as we prepare to receive Christ in the Eucharist. Looking to the example of St. Josemaria, Fr. Javier explains that we can prepare to welcome the Lord by repeating brief prayers or aspirations throughout the day, asking Our Lady to help us listen to the voice of God as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord.Support 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 St. John the Baptist to show how, like the saint, we can become active listeners of the Word in our hearts. In particular, this talk aims to persuade you to embrace a lifestyle where there is room for meditation on Sacred Scripture and spiritual reading, such as the lives of the saints and spiritual classics, that can help us grow in our interior lives.Among the recommendations in this talk are three steps to get started on your spiritual reading plan:1. Make Time: Each day set aside time for spiritual reading (10-15 minutes) and Biblical reading (5-10 minutes).2. Take Notes: As you are reading or when you finish, write down what strikes you and what moves you. Also, start writing a list of passages from the Bible that you can frequently take to your prayer - make a top 100 list!3. Practice: What are you going to put into practice— a resolution, a goal, or a small sacrifice— that day (or the next) from your reading?Support 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 celebrate Gaudete Sunday, marking the halfway point of the Advent season, we are prompted to approach the manger scene in haste as we seek to discover the good news of our Savior’s birth.In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo draws upon the birth of our Lord in a lowly manger to illustrate our brokenness and need of a Redeemer. He explains the three kinds of concupiscence – lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life – and looks at how we can overcome these temptations with the virtues of purity and humility. Challenged by the gospel message, we can continue in our path to holiness as we join the shepherds and magi in preparing to welcome the Lord with purity of heart and joyful praise.Download the 2020 Advent Devotional: Come, Let Us AdoreSupport 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!

St. Josemaria Escriva made many pilgrimages throughout his lifetime seeking opportunities to encounter God and praying for his conversion and of the whole world. Today’s podcast commemorates the 50th Anniversary of St. Josemaria Escriva’s pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City from May 15-24, 1970.His pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on the Hill of Tepeyac, is recognized as the longest and one of the most important pilgrimages in his life. In this podcast, Fr. Javier shares historical insight to the pilgrimage and the lessons we can learn from St. Josemaria’s example of Marian devotion.Support 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!

Fr. Javier del Castillo continues our Advent podcast series reflecting on the call we receive at baptism to become a saint. In looking at the vocation of the twelve apostles, we see Christ choose ordinary men with defects and shortcomings to be instruments in the work of grace. Fr. Javier reminds us that the Lord works in all people through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Though we may notice our own individual shortcomings, if we are susceptible to the work of the Lord, we too can pursue our vocation and be instruments of grace in our daily life.Download the 2020 Advent Devotional: Come, Let Us AdoreSupport 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 looks to the example of the Holy Family as a model of living out authentic virtue in every area of our lives. He reflects on the importance of being a witness to the love of Christ and shares practical examples of how we can create an environment at home that strengthens children in the fundamental areas of virtue: authentic piety, the use of technology, the need for silence, holy purity, and generosity.St. Josemaria explains: “If a man fosters and cultivates the seeds of virtue within him, God will smooth out his path, and such a person will be able to become holy because he has known how to live as a man of good will” (Friends of God, no. 75).Listen to the Day of Recollection for December 2020 online.Support 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!

Are you ready to open your heart to Jesus this Advent?Fr. Javier del Castillo begins our Advent podcast series reflecting on St. Josemaria’s simple instruction for a fruitful and peaceful Advent: “Open your own hearts to Jesus and tell him your story” (Christ is Passing By, no. 1). To understand how Christ enters into the lives of His people, Fr. Javier reflects on key gospel figures whose encounter with the Lord opened their eyes to new horizons and provided a source of countless graces to say yes and to find true peace.As we listen to this reflection, Fr. Javier helps us to open our hearts in conversation and prayer with Jesus and to allow Him to accompany us in our daily experiences in preparation for the celebration of His birth at Christmas. To accompany your time of prayer and reflection, download our Advent Devotional ‘Come, Let Us Adore’. Support 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 celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the United States, Fr. Javier del Castillo reminds us in this meditation, as St. Josemaria Escriva often did, that we ought to thank God always by habitually making frequent acts of thanksgiving, acts of gratitude.Fr. Javier explains: "We were never asked by God to come into existence. Everything we have – our talents, our virtues, even our defects – all have been foreseen by God, allowed by God, and given to us by God so that we can fulfill the single mission that we have received from before the foundation of the world."As we strive to maintain a constant spirit of gratitude in our lives we will realize that thanksgiving enlarges our hearts to receive even greater gifts from God.Support 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!