St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

Today on the podcast... In celebration of the anniversary of the founding of Opus Dei (October 2, 1928), we reflect on the early life of St. Josemaria Escriva and the historical circumstances that led him to receive the special light from God to found Opus Dei.This light from God helped St. Josemaria to see:It is possible to create a civilization of love—to bring Jesus Christ in a new way into the very heart of the world amid a culture that is antithetical to the Gospel.God was giving St. Josemaria the grace to change the world should he choose to follow this light and its certain path.The burden of changing the world falls on the shoulders of lay men and women who are called to bring Christ into the modern world.The transformation of the world can only happen if the laity are saints, if they are true contemplatives—someone who is habitually in dialogue with the Lord. But if they are not true contemplatives then they will be transformed by the world.As St. Josemaria Escriva wrote:“How I wish your bearing and conversation were such that, on seeing or hearing you, people would say: This man reads the life of Jesus Christ” (St. Josemaria Escriva; The Way, no. 2).“You must inspire others with love of God and zeal for souls, so that they in turn will set on fire many more who are on a third plane and each of these latter spread the flame to their professional companions. What a lot of spiritual calories you need! And what a tremendous responsibility if you let yourself grow cold! And — I don't even want to think of it — what a terrible crime if you were to give bad example!” (St. Josemaria Escriva; The Way, no. 944).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 September the Church celebrates the feasts of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14th) and Our Lady of Sorrows (15th).On today's podcast we prepare ourselves for the celebration of these feasts with the help of Our Lady by observing her example during the Passion of her Son and contemplating her at the foot of the Cross. Our Lady of Sorrows places us at her side, before Jesus on the Cross, to help us mature in our share in the mission of her Son. Bringing us to the Cross means helping us to face up to the difficulties of life, since learning how to deal with suffering is a major step in our personal growth. And, it means sharing in the mission of the redemption of Christ, which gives great depth to the purpose of our lives. Therefore, at the foot of the Cross: Ask yourself: How do I handle difficulties? Do I dig deeper to find its deeper meaning?Contemplate the great miracles of Jesus and see how most of them were messy.Consider: If we don't have the Cross, what are we left with?Ask for the grace of great serenity, joy, and efficacy in your mission to co-redeem with Christ.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!

On today's podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo, Vicar of Opus Dei in the Midwest (USA), offers a timely reflection on the current crisis in the Church and how we can respond to all of it by turning our sadness and anger into prayer. Like the disciples who were fearful that they would perish in the great storm (ref. Mark 4:38-41), we too should instinctively look to Jesus for help as we face the waves of scandal that leave us profoundly perplexed. Within the silence of our hearts, the Holy Spirit will give us the answers as we pray to know: Why is God allowing this to happen? Is God with us? Where is God in all of this? We will come to the realization that this time of difficulty is a time of justice and mercy. The crisis has to provoke the emergence of saints because we are all called to be saints who need to recommit ourselves to being faithful disciples, to rediscovering our priestly souls, and to spreading the joy of the Gospel. This time should also lead to a renewal of the Church as a missionary in the world, committed to evangelization where we disappear and only Christ shines.“Let us ask Holy Mary, our hope, to kindle in us a holy desire that we may all come together to dwell in the house of the Father. Nothing need disturb us if we make up our minds to anchor our hearts in a real longing for our true fatherland. Our Lord will lead us there with his grace, and he will send a good wind to carry our ship to the bright shores of our destination” (St. Josemaria Escriva; Friends of God, no. 221).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!

On September 12th the Church celebrates the feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary.On today’s podcast we reflect on Mary's role and mission as a mother to give us the very best:  To help us in all of our needs- physical, emotional, and spiritual.To unite us with her Son, Jesus Christ.To win for us the grace to desire to be saints.Mary shows us that we can have confidence in her intercessory prayers when she spoke to the servants at the wedding in Cana, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). And that we can trust that she will see that our prayers are answered as long as they are compatible with God’s plan for our salvation.Our goal, therefore, is to imitate Mary’s holiness. We ask her to be a part of our spiritual life-- helping us to connect with her son, Jesus Christ, and to become instruments of evangelization, serving and attracting others to Him.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!

Today on the podcast… Faced with the present crisis of the Church, we are guided in this reflection to look to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Truth, for light and hope. Today we find ourselves in a similar situation as the Disciples of Jesus when he unveiled his teachings on the Eucharist in the Gospel of John (Jn 6:60-71). Many of the disciples felt that what Jesus was teaching was a hard saying and they turned away from him. What we see going on in the Church today is in a certain sense a very hard saying too; the answer, however, is not to turn away from Christ but to react the way Peter did and tell him: “Master, to whom shall we go?” (Jn 6:68).We want to read the signs of the time and see what Our Lord wants to tell us: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68).The Church’s Founder is perfect; the constitution and law of the Church is Christ Himself; the Sacraments are perfect… The Truth that the Church teaches has no contradiction— it saves and liberates, and it is perfect.It is not about the ministers, the Church is about you as much as anybody else. We are called to change the world and the solution is Jesus Christ.Throughout the 2,000 year history of the Church there is a pattern of death and resurrection and then transformation… Now we have this crisis, but the Church will emerge because the Church is Divine.We should pray that those who act in His person are purified and act faithfully.“An act of faith: Nothing can prevail against God! Nothing can prevail against God’s people! —Don’t forget it.” (St. Josemaria Escriva; The Forge, no. 219)“Don’t lose heart. Carry on! Carry on with that holy stubbornness which in spiritual terms is called perseverance.” (St. Josemaria Escriva; The Forge, no. 220)“Fill yourself with confidence. The Mother we have is the Mother of God, the Most Blessed Virgin, the Queen of Heaven and the World.” (St. Josemaria Escriva; The Forge, no. 273)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!

Today on the podcast… The Lord asks that our holiness exceed that of the Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-36). We recall that the Pharisees were a virtuous people who lived the moral law, prayed many times throughout the day along with fasting and almsgiving. But the Lord wants us also to love as He has loved—a love that reveals through our actions that we are His disciples. Desiring union with the love of Christ requires that we prioritize the formation of our heart's mission: to be humble, charitable, and pious in our actions and not just go through the motions.There are three components to this formation: Ask the help of the Holy Spirit to assist in our formation to be effective right where we are—in our piece of the world—our family, workplace, social acquaintances, and fellow parishioners.  We must be a light to others. Be salt to those around you affecting change in their lives and a desire to live the words of Christ— “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” (Matthew 7:24). Ask our Lady to help in your formation and you will be assured of being formed according to the heart of Christ; thus your actions will be such that it may be said of you: "This person reads the life of Jesus Christ"; "This person lives the words of Christ".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!

On August 22nd the Church celebrates the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.On today’s podcast, we reflect on the coronation of our Mother as Queen of the Universe. And, how as children of this Heavenly Queen we can learn to follow her example of reigning: Mary our Queen trusted all that the Lord spoke to her, and her answer remained a constant yes. Teach us to respond to the Lord with complete trust. Mary our Queen serves-- for to reign one must serve. Teach us to be faithful servants. Mary our Queen walks with purpose and usefulness. Teach us to follow in your footsteps being useful to the 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!

Today on the podcast… How does God want us to view the virtue of faith?If we look to the Gospels, our Lord shows us many examples that will help us to see, like the Apostles (Lk 15:5-10), that the virtue of faith is connected to miracle working. Our Lord wants us to see that He needs our faith—our life of fidelity and self-giving—to work miracles: Our faith and correspondence to God allow us to become instruments in the ultimate miracle, which is conversion-- personal transformation through repentance and commitment to holiness.Miracles occur through deeds of faith: “So they said to him, ‘What can we do to accomplish the words of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent” (Jn 6:28-29).The poor widow who “put in more than all the rest” (Lk 21:1-2) is the example of faith and fidelity that we want to contemplate.If you give yourself completely, you are going to be fruitful and spread the Gospel. It’s all about letting God work in you; He needs your self-gift.Whether we have two small coins or a million to give, the important thing is to unload it all—that gift represents your heart, your will, and all your efforts.You must believe, have faith, that the Lord will not outdo you in generosity and will multiply everything that you give and that you do for him. He’s watching and he knows that you are filling the containers to the brim (Jn 2:7).Tell our Lord: “I want to give you everything, but I cannot do everything at once. Where do you want that spurt of growth and love in me?”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 a few days, on the 15th of August, the Church celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Mother. She is the woman clothed with the sun, the moon is beneath her feet, and is crowned with twelve stars. We love her tenderly and through her actions she shows us what a life of faith looks like. What it means to become filled with trust and a joy that unable to be disturbed by difficulties.How does this life of Faith begin? Follow Mother Mary’s example: When the Blessed Virgin Mary was in contemplative prayer she listened and received the Angel Gabriel’s message from God. She was open to the Holy Spirit allowing herself to be totally abandoned to the truth of the word of the living God. She listened to the word of God and responded with complete trust, giving God her life to do with as He pleased. We ask our dear Mother Mary to help us to become souls of faith as we nourish our faith through daily prayer and meditating on the Gospels.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!

Today on the podcast...How can we achieve a constant dialogue with God to help us live our Christian vocation to discipleship?Our Christian vocation by virtue of baptism is to spread the Kingdom of God--to attract people to Christ. This work of discipleship and evangelization is a work of a lifetime. To carry out this work, we need a daily plan to help us keep in constant dialogue with God--praying without ceasing--pushing ourselves realistically, expanding our hearts, to live a life in Christ:  God has a vision for our relationship with Him: that we be aware that we are always in His presence and that we remain in constant dialogue with Him. The person who is centered on Jesus Christ in everything he or she does will naturally attract others to Him.  There is an intangible glow, despite our sins and weaknesses, that reveals itself through our unceasing prayer, not because we are good but because Christ is good.- It doesn't work to have a daily plan and not live and abide by the plan. We have to say yes to our designated schedule and times of prayer. Our cooperation will lead to our goal, which is personal holiness. Our Lady helps us to see the urgency to be a man or woman of prayer by putting her Son first and implementing a realistic game plan to be a saint.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!