[powerpress]Episode 5 -Crossing the Desert: Lent and Conversion – “Leaving the Desert”.  

“Celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation is, for many Catholics, a most daunting prospect.  This sacrament has been the source of many jokes, composed perhaps by persons seeking to reduce the level of stress they feel regarding one of its main components:  naming personal sin.

The naming of one’s own sin to oneself and to a priest is self-revelatory to the point of evoking anxiety.  Initially, it can be true that some level of apprehension may accompany this sacrament, but over time  with regular celebration of this form of worship, anxiety diminishes.  Most positively  the sacrament of reconciliation promotes truthful self-knowledge regarding sin in the context of Christ’s saving presence.  Once someone experiences both the naming of sin and the reception of God’s mercy in this sacrament, he or she actually begins to celebrate this sacrament and see it as a great gift from Christ and his Church.”

Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Crossing the Desert”.

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for other material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

 

Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Heart” page

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(Vatican Radio)

Did you know that Jesus means God saves and Christ means the anointed one? And did you know that during the sacrament of Confirmation we too are anointed like Christ to be his witness in the world? Do you know why we choose ‘new’ names for our confirmation? Or why we have to be ‘confirmed in our faith’? And if Confirmation is the last sacrament in the rite of Christian initiation, can you name the other two? In short, what is the point of the sacrament of confirmation?

These are just some of the questions sent in by listeners that our very own official from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Msgr. John Kennedy , answers in this week’s episode of Questions of Faith, as he helps us to navigate the modern world and rediscover what we believe and why we believe.

So if you have any questions, big or small, why not ask the official? You can do this by submitting them to Vatican Radio’s – English Section Facebook page as a post or private message and tuning in each week to find out the answers to your Questions of Faith.

Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/04/17/questions_of_faith:_the_point_of_confirmation/en1-683824
of the Vatican Radio website

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Day 3

The Eternal Father speaks to Catherine:

Dearest daughter, contemplate the marvelous state of the soul who receives this bread of life, this food of angels, as she ought. When she receives this sacrament she lives in me and I in her. Just as the fish is in the sea and the sea in the fish, so am I in the soul and the soul in me, the sea of peace. Grace lives in such a soul because, having received this bread of life in grace, she lives in grace.

Heavenly Father, your glory is in your saints. We praise your glory in the life of the admirable St. Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church. Her whole life was a noble sacrifice inspired by an ardent love of Jesus, your unblemished Lamb. In troubled times she strenuously upheld the rights of His beloved spouse, The Church. Father, honor her merits and hear her prayers for each of us. Help us to pass unscathed through the corruption of this world, and to remain unshakably faithful to the church in word, deed, and example. Help us always to see in the Vicar of Christ an anchor in the storms of life, and a beacon of light to the harbor of your Love, in this dark night of your times and men’s souls. Grant also to each of us our special petition . . . (pause to pray for your own intentions). We ask this through Jesus, your Son, in the bond of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

St. Catherine of Siena, Pray for us.

Archbishop Lucas begins a  video series on the Sacrament of Penance

Be sure to check out more from the Archbishop on this sacrament  at  USCCA19 – The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults with Archbishop George Lucas – Chap. 18 Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation – God is Rich in Mercy

Archbishop Lucas begins a  video series on the Sacrament of Penance

Be sure to check out more from the Archbishop on this sacrament  at  USCCA19 – The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults with Archbishop George Lucas – Chap. 18 Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation – God is Rich in Mercy

 

Archbishop Lucas begins a  video series on the Sacrament of Penance

Be sure to check out more from the Archbishop on this sacrament  at  USCCA19 – The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults with Archbishop George Lucas – Chap. 18 Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation – God is Rich in Mercy

 

USCCA14- Episode 14 –  The Celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ

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Archbishop Lucas offers insights on the US Catholic Catechism for Adults Chapter 14:

Through the liturgical celebrations of the Church, we participate in the Paschal Mystery of Christ, that is, his passing thrugh death from this life into eternal flory, just as God enabled the people of ancient Israel to pass from slavery to freedom through the events narrated int he Book of Exodus (cf. Ex 11-13).  The liturgies of the Church also help to teach us about Jesus Christ and the meaning of the mysteries we are celebrating.

The Most Reverend George J. Lucas leads the Archdiocese of Omaha.  

For other episodes in the visit our Archbishop George Lucas page

This programs is based on:

More information can be found here.

We wish to thank the USCCB for the permissions granted for use of  relevant material used in this series.
Also we wish to thank Denise Wharton and Bruce McGregor  for their vocal talents in this episode.