St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

In this podcast, as the Church prepares to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Archangels on September 29, Fr. Eric Nicolai shares Scriptural context on the creation of the angels and offers insight on how we can seek to imitate the virtues modeled by the Holy Archangels in our everyday life.Fr. Eric explains: “The Archangels motivate us to live for others in a true contest of meaning and purpose. No matter where we are, we always see the angels [present] in our life. They help us to live with hope, purpose, and courage.” As we strengthen our relationship with the Holy Archangels, we are filled with the grace to live courageously as an instrument of God at home, at work, and in our daily interactions.[ 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

In a society focused on external success and recognition, do we take time to look within and reflect: What do I love? Where am I going? How will I change the world?In this podcast, Fr. Leo Agustina shares a reflection on discovering the beauty of creation within our ordinary circumstances – our work, our interactions, our home – and how, by welcoming God into our midst, we can participate in his work of creation and transform the world around us.Fr. Leo explains: “Whatever is in [our] hands can be transformed, molded, into a masterpiece for [God]. It is up to [us] to discover the divine pearl in ordinary situations.” By contemplating our identity as a child of God, we come to a deeper understanding that our life is not defined by the label society may give us nor is it defined by our individual skill set – it’s about the love and interest we put into our vocation, for it is there that a miracle can occur.[ Transcript ]Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: S

Have we become used to, or even indifferent, to Jesus on the Cross? Where’s the Cross in our lives?In this podcast, Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha shares a meditation in honor of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) and the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15), which are “a great opportunity for us to deepen once more in the wisdom of the Cross and to ask the Holy Spirit to open our souls to this profound wisdom which is expressed in the phrase the Triumph of the Cross”. We contemplate Christ in the fullness of his humanity as he embraces his pain and suffering, allowing it to become a selfless, compassionate gift of love through which he redeems humanity. And, in this, we find the meaning of our suffering, trials, heartaches, and disappointments.Fr. Donncha then encourages us to turn to Our Lady who quietly accompanies Christ to Golgotha and remains with him at the foot of the Cross. Our Lady, therefore, teaches us how to unite our pain and suffering with Our Lord and gives witness to

In this podcast, part of our Day of Recollection resources for the month of September, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a meditation on the sanctification of human love as witnessed through the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. This gift of sacrificial love encourages us to look inward and reflect upon the opportunity to be a witness to the love of Christ is our daily life. Through the grace made present to us in the sacraments, we are strengthened to lay down our life for one another and inspired to love others out of love for 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!

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo shares a meditation inspired by the phrase, “an hour of study, for a modern apostle, is an hour of prayer” (St. Josemaria Escriva; The Way, no. 335). Approaching academic learning as a form of prayer is not a way of life designed solely for students. Rather, it is a way of life that all Christians should adopt as it helps us develop a stronger worldview.Fr. Javier discusses how to approach Scripture, the lives of the saints, and the writings of the Church Fathers as a form of prayer. He also explains how to overcome three common obstacles – lust, curiosity, and falsehood – that inhibit our desire to study.[ 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

Is Christian life growing around you?In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio invites us to reflect upon the apostolate of attraction as the means by which we are to fulfill the Great Commission and lead others into a relationship with Christ. This type of apostolate, as old as the Gospel itself and encouraged by Pope Francis, begins by our faithful witness to the love of Christ: people need to see us as an oasis of joy and peace. It is our witness, only later accompanied by doctrine, that will prove the presence of Our Lord[ 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!

As the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary on August 15, Fr. Eric Nicolai reflects on the role of Mary as the new Eve and how we can obtain the joy of salvation through her intercession.Fr. Eric encourages us to enter into this feast day in a unique way, allowing ourselves the opportunity to be led into a deeper joy guided by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We are challenged to see ourselves through the prism of God’s love, to abandon the old ways of sin, and to set our eyes on eternal happiness in Heaven.[ 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, part of our Day of Recollection resources for the month of August, Msgr. Fred Dolan reflects on the importance of forming children in virtue so they become witnesses to the love of Christ. Msgr. Dolan explains this essential task requires sacrifice, time, intentionality, and authenticity, as children watch and respond more willingly to witnesses than teachers.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, part of our Day of Recollection resources for the month of July, Fr. Leo Agustina reflects on fostering bright and cheerful homes so that the family can be a source of grace and a witness to the love and mercy 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!

As we celebrate the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the heroic lives of these two great saints who accepted Christ’s invitation to repentance and fearlessly proclaimed the Kingdom of God. Their lives model for us a pathway of discipleship and illustrate the boundless love of God made known through the power of forgiveness.On this feast day, we pray for an increased trust in the Lord and the strength to fearlessly proclaim the faith in our daily life. As St. Josemaria reminds us: “Depend on Jesus for everything. You have nothing, are worth nothing, are capable of nothing. He will act, if you abandon yourself to him” (The Way, no. 731). [ 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

In honor of the Feast Day of St. Josemaria on June 26, Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha reflects on the origin and meaning of St. Josemaria’s title, “Saint of Ordinary Life”, and invites us to contemplate what God is saying and revealing to us as we seek the company and intercession of St. Josemaria.St. Josemaria said, “There is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary circumstances, and it’s up to each one of us to discover it.” Fr. Donncha, therefore, reminds us that the invitation of this feast day is to discover that something holy in the ordinary circumstances of our lives. And, that something is none other than “the living Christ, Jesus, close by us in our work, in our rest, in our families, in our friendships, in our social life, in our pains, in our sorrows, in our joys… whatever it is, the Lord is there with us.”[ 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. Sta

As we prepare to celebrate Father’s Day in the United States, Msgr. Fred Dolan shares a reflection on the important and necessary role fathers have within the family unit and in society today. Drawing upon anecdotes and heartfelt memories from his relationship with his own father, Msgr. Dolan shares seven points that can help fathers renew and strengthen their relationship with their spouse and children.[ 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 preparation for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the Sacred Heart as an infinite treasure of love and mercy through which we come to know how much we are loved by God. We are invited to bring the truths of the Sacred Heart into our daily life for it is through this devotion which we can find the strength to withstand temptation and bear our cross, find hope amid discouragement, and find courage to evangelize no matter the circumstances. As we participate in the treasures of Jesus’ heart, we are able to draw upon the grace of Christ and in turn become transmitters of the love of Christ to those hearts that are empty of meaning, of hope, and of consolation.[ 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 p

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo reflects on the importance of spiritual direction as we pursue the path of holiness in everyday life. Fr. Javier shares Scriptural context for the basis of spiritual direction, offers practical advice on seeking out a spiritual director, and suggests what to discuss within the context of spiritual direction.This podcast is part of our Day of Recollection resources June 2021.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!

A Spiritual Retreat on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit guides us through a deeper understanding of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and shares practical applications of how to foster these gifts in our prayer and conversation with God.“We should be aware of the work of the Holy Spirit all around us, and in our own selves we should recognize the gifts he distributes, the movements and institutions he inspired, the affections and decisions he provokes in our hearts” (St. Josemaria Escriva; Christ is Passing By, no. 130).However, in our human weakness, our soul is clouded with the impurities of sin which inhibits our awareness to the work of grace. As we progress in our spiritual journey, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit help us overcome the obstacles of sin and lead us to the highest summits of holiness.Weaving together stories from the life of St. Josemaria and spiritual insights from Scripture, this retreat is an opportunity to enlighten our minds, purify our hearts, and strengthen our wills as we come to kn

Concluding our Easter series, To and From Emmaus: In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on how the disciples’ encounter with Jesus Christ along the road to Emmaus serves as a template of evangelization, and how true evangelization is the ultimate fruit of our prayer and interior life.Jesus profoundly affected the hearts of his two companions – the disciples sense their hearts being uplifted, they sense that they are loved and affirmed, they sense the kindness and affection of Christ, and they become recipients of his joy and peace. We learn from Our Lord, therefore, that the way of true evangelization doesn’t necessarily consist in an ability to win theological debates nor does it consist in constant moralizing or defending good moral causes. These are all important elements of evangelization, but what’s essential in the work of true evangelization is that we attract, we encounter, and we accompany.[ Transcript ]Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: S

Continuing our Easter series, To and From Emmaus: In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the importance of nurturing our interior life in order to draw close to our Heavenly Father and to share the light of Christ with others. As we see in the gospel passage, Christ makes himself known to the disciples through the breaking of the bread and in sharing of the Word.In this time of prayer and reflection, Fr. Peter challenges us to make resolutions that can help deepen our Eucharistic piety so that we can be transformed by the grace of Christ and inspired to live out the Divine Commission. As St. Josemaria explains: “If you don’t keep in touch with Christ in prayer and in the bread, how can you make him known to others?” (The Way, no. 105). [ 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.

Continuing our Easter series, To and From Emmaus: In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the disciples’ desire for Jesus to remain with them as evening falls along their journey as a template for our vocation in which we seek to remain with Christ through our pursuit of holiness. The journey of the disciples provides for us a framework which we can apply to our Christian life as we turn away from sin and conform our life to Christ.St. Josemaria prompts us to ask: “Why don’t you give yourself to God once and for all… really… now?” (The Way, no. 902). As we spend this time in prayer and conversation with God, we are encouraged to seek the grace of the Holy Spirit so that we may recognize the presence of Christ in our daily lives and burn with the fire of his love in our personal quest for sanctity.[ 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 Face

As we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1, we are pleased to share “Go to Joseph”: A Spiritual Retreat, a collection of meditations that invites us to contemplate the life of St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus Christ and model of virtue and leadership, and to understand more deeply: Why is the life of St. Joseph so important? Why did God choose St. Joseph to be his foster father on earth? What does St. Joseph’s life teach us about our own identities: where we come from and why God has also chosen us?As we turn to the example of St. Joseph, we learn how his life of virtue was fostered through his docility to the Will of God and perseverance in the tasks and struggles of daily life. This time of prayer on retreat is an opportunity to look inward and assess how we respond to the grace of Christ in our daily life. By imitating the life of St. Joseph, we too can overcome obstacles and sanctify the ordinary moments of daily life.Listen to the full retreat for free online: download today!Support th

Continuing our Easter series, To and From Emmaus: In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the disciples’ desire for Jesus to remain with them as evening falls along their journey. As we compare the journey to Emmaus with our personal journey toward eternal life with Christ, Fr. Peter reminds us that our time on Earth is short and therefore we should set out with urgency to fill our life with deeds of love.In this time of reflection and prayer, we are challenged to ask ourselves: “How much can I do for Jesus in a given day?” When our time on Earth comes to a close, can we look back confidently and know that we have taken full advantage of our time as we pursue the path of holiness toward Heaven?[ 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 pod