The question of our personal identity is crucial to life. Our identity is tied to our closest relationships and our life’s mission. The deepest truth of who we are, however, is something we find in God and receive from Him, not something we have to figure out entirely on our own. By living the life God wants for us, we become our true selves and discover our true names.
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The Battle of Prayer: Support for others and ourselves
Moses struggles on a hilltop to keep his hands up in prayer while a battle rages down on the field. The fight's outcome depends on Moses' effort in prayer. Our prayers also make a real difference in the lives of others and of the world. Inspired by Scripture, which is living and active, our time in prayer gives new life to our ordinary tasks and interactions.
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Lessons from Lepers: Gratitude and Contrition
Jesus heals ten lepers but only one comes back to thank him. An image of sin, their leprosy is cured when they are on the way to see "the priests." Jesus appreciates the gratitude of the Samaritan who returned after being cured and finds fault with the other nine. Constant gratitude is a way of loving our Lord and of assuring our own increase in saving faith.
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Rebroadcast: Living a Life of Faith
The Sermon on the Mount is the core of Jesus's teaching on how to live with faith. At once challenging and comforting, Jesus's vision of faith calls us to a radical dependence on God and detachment from all other goods. At the heart of faith is an unshakable trust in God's infinite love for us. This conviction frees us to live without fear and to strive for virtue without anxiety. To have a living faith, however, takes personal prayer: times in which we apply the basic truths of our faith in God to the concrete circumstances and concerns of our current lives.
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Accepting and Loving Our Life: the Parable of the Talents
Jesus' parable of the talents is an image of Christian life. God has invested a lot in each one of us. Like the servants who eagerly trade with their talents to make them fruitful, we want to accept all the opportunities and challenges that our Lord has entrusted to us. Too often it is easy to resent life, focusing only on the difficulties, and end up like the third servant who buries his talent out of laziness and fear.
"Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." These words of Jesus Christ are an invitation to personal and intimate prayer. The meditations offered in this podcast are intended to help the listener enter into his own prayerful relationship with God. By reflecting on scenes from the Gospel, on other passages from Scripture, and on the insights of saints and spiritual writers, we can strengthen our faith in Jesus and our love for God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I have called you my friends." By regular meditation and dialogue with Our Lord in prayer, our life can be transformed into an ever deepening and loving friendship with God.