St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

As we celebrate Easter Sunday and rejoice in the Resurrection, Msgr. Fred Dolan reflects on the insurmountable joy we receive in awareness of the good news that Christ is alive. This message leads us to cultivate an interior conversion in which we can discover the presence of Christ in everyday life.Amidst the current challenge of social distancing, Msgr. Dolan encourages us to remain steadfast in prayer and to use this time as an opportunity to discover the plans God has for us so that we may continue to carry out his mission here on earth.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 five sorrowful mysteries to help us slow down and go deeper as we pray each decade of the Holy Rosary. St. Josemaria explains: "As we draw closer during this Holy Week to the suffering of Jesus Christ, let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to enable us, like her, to keep all these things in our minds and ponder over them in our hearts” (Friends of God, no. 126).Each mystery is time marked below:0:00 First Mystery: The Agony in the Garden5:10 Second Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar8:51 Third Mystery: The Crowning of Thorns13:18 Fourth Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross17:15 Fifth Mystery: The CrucifixionSupport 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 a

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the mystery of Christ’s suffering as we approach the Sacred Triduum and look forward to celebrating the joy of the Resurrection. As we look at the final hours before his Crucifixion, we see Christ contemplate the sins of humanity and willingly embrace the Cross. He takes on our suffering and bears the weight of our sins so that we too may dwell with him in heaven.St. Josemaria explains: “Let us meditate on our Lord, wounded from head to foot out of love for us. At the sight of Christ bruised and broken – just a lifeless body taken down from the cross and given to his Mother – at the sight of Jesus destroyed in this way, we might have thought he had failed utterly. But this is victory, not defeat. We are nearer the resurrection than every before; we are going to see the triumph which he has won with his obedience” (Christ is Passing By, no. 95).Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes w

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the Gospel passage of the Passion of Christ (Luke 22:14-23:56) which is read on Palm Sunday. During this time, the Church invites her people to focus directly on the suffering of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The longer Gospel readings help us to honor Christ’s request to “keep watch and pray” with him as he asked the Apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane. In this scene, we prayerfully rediscover God’s love for us expressed through his humanity and sacrifice on the cross. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we see his love poured out for us and discover the meaning in the crosses that he invites us to bear.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 f

In today’s podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan reflects on seeking the presence of God amidst the challenging reality we face today. Throughout Lent we have been journeying alongside Christ in the desert, looking inward to assess what we need to change to become a Christ-like image in the world today. During this period of social distancing, we are reminded to seek consolation in the Gospel message and to seek opportunities for spiritual growth.St. Josemaria explains: “I am happy…for I see that the Lord is seeking me again, that the Lord is still my Father. We are loved by God, and we will let the Holy Spirit act in us and purify us, so that we can embrace the Son of God on the cross, and rise with him, because the resurrection is rooted in the cross” (Christ is Passing By, 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 n

As we celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Lent, also referred to as Laetare Sunday, we are reminded to rejoice in the joy of the Lord as we approach the midway point of the Lenten season.In today’s podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo draws inspiration from the parable of the prodigal son and reflects on the joy of returning to our Father’s house. During Lent, we are encouraged to look inward and reflect upon the everyday moments that provide opportunities for conversion. With the grace of God, we can turn these opportunities into moments of joy that lead us closer to the arms of our heavenly Father.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 today’s podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo explains how this current world crisis and pandemic is a wake up call to conversion, helping us to realize that we need to put order back into our lives – an order in which God has to be first. It is an opportunity that makes us think and forces us to act.Fr. Javier also shares experiences from the life of St. Josemaria Escriva that can help us learn how to live through times of personal and world crises. During this challenging time for the world today, we see that it is possible to draw out the good from this natural evil and give hope to the world through our hope in Jesus 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 listene

In today’s podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the virtues lived out by St. Joseph in his role as a father, husband, and tradesman. St. Joseph exemplifies servant leadership and sacrificial love and models for us how to say yes to the will of God. By growing in our understanding of these virtues, we can resolve to grow in holiness in our daily life and seek sanctity in the world today. As St. Josemaria Escriva explains: “As you get to know [St. Joseph], you discover that the holy patriarch is also a master of the interior life – for he teaches us to know Jesus and share our life with him, and to realize that we are part of God’s family. St Joseph can teach us these lessons, because he is an ordinary man, a family man, a worker who earned his living by manual labor – all of which has great significance and is a source of happiness for us” (Christ is Passing By, no. 39).Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with othe

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the challenging question: Where do we find the Lord in the midst of the uncertainty?Drawing inspiration from the parable of the vine and the branches (John 15:1-17), Fr. Peter offers encouragement as we continue through this challenging time. He reminds us that Christ not only meets us in our joys and triumphs, but accompanies us through our trials and sorrows.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!

Jesus Christ came to earth not only to save us from sin and death but also to show us how to embrace suffering and persevere through temptation.In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the three temptations Christ endured while in the desert and explains how we can follow his example when facing temptation in our daily life.Through his humanity, Christ gives witness to the intentional effort needed to turn away from sin and achieve growth in our spiritual life. As St. Josemaria Escriva writes: “The whole episode is a mystery which man cannot hope to understand: God submitting to temptation, letting the evil one have his way. But we can meditate upon it, asking our Lord to help us understand the teaching it contains” (Christ is Passing By, no. 61).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.stjos

The Lenten season provides an opportunity for conversion and purification of the soul so that we may be more closely configured to the heart of Christ. In today’s podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan shares a reflection on fostering a contrite heart to detach ourselves from the prideful areas of our life that inhibit our relationship with Christ. By removing these obstacles we can find interior peace and joy as we embrace the merciful arms of 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!

As we begin a new season of Lent, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the importance of connecting with the Lord through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It is a season to look inward and assess what the Lord is asking us to deny, offer up, so that we can share in his self-emptying and experience the joy of everlasting life.St. Josemaria Escriva reminds us that “conversion is the task of a moment; sanctification is the work of a lifetime” (Christ is Passing By, no. 58). The Lenten season is an opportunity to begin again, to continue laying the foundation of your spiritual journey, and to grow in holiness in your everyday life. By accompanying Christ in the desert, we can put into practice the spiritual tools needed to become a saint in the world today.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.st

On the Way to Damascus: The Journey of Our Vocation (Acts 9:1-3)St Josemaria Escriva pointed out that all of the apostles somehow were called to follow Jesus in and through their work, including Saint Paul. Don't be surprised, therefore, to discover that God is also calling you in and through your work.In this meditation, we will reflect on these questions: What is your Damascus? What have you chosen as that activity through which you serve society and that gives you meaning in how you live your life?We all have a mission and it is most likely right where we are already. During this time of meditation and prayer, we will ask God to help us to keep doing what we are doing, but with a new light and with new meaning.To listen to and download the eight meditations of "A Spiritual Retreat in the Footsteps of St. Paul" go to: https://stjosemaria.org/st-paul-retreat/Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episodes with others and l

In today’s podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on embracing Mary as our spiritual Mother. He illustrates the idea that Mary is a great miracle worker through whom we can identify with our Lord and conquer the struggle to become holy by drawing inspiration from the Marian devotions of St. Josemaria Escriva, St. John Paul II, and Bl. Alvaro del Portillo.As St. Josemaria Escriva explains: “I would recommend that, if you haven’t already done so, you find out for yourself by personal experience the meaning of Mary’s maternal love. It is not enough just to know she is our Mother and to think and to talk about her as such. She loves you as if you were her only child in this world.” (Friends of God, no. 293).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 podcas

In today’s podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the charity of God as “fuel” that enables us to seek holiness in the ordinary moments of everyday life. Our receptivity to God’s grace increases as we continue to strengthen our relationship with him through prayer and the sacraments. The grace we receive fills our life and will overflow into our relationships with one another, leading those we encounter closer to Christ.As St. Josemaria explains: “Charity is not something we ourselves build up. It invades us along with God’s grace, ‘because he has loved us first’. We would do well to fill, to saturate ourselves with this most beautiful truth: ‘If we are able to love God, it is because we have been loved by God.’ Ask God boldly for this treasure, for the supernatural virtue of charity, so that you may practice it even in the smallest details” (Friends of God, no. 229).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

In today’s podcast, we conclude our three-part series exploring the prominent themes in Towards Holiness – a homily by St. Josemaria Escriva on the universal call to holiness.St. Josemaria Escriva explains that “Our Lord Jesus Christ preached the good news to all, without distinction. He calls each and everyone to holiness; he asks each and every one to love him: young and old, single and married, healthy and sick, learned and unlearned, no matter where they work, or where they are” (Friends of God, no. 294).Reflecting on this passage in Towards Holiness, Fr. Javier del Castillo reminds us to foster our interior life and relationship with Christ so that we can draw others to the faith. There are no limits upon who is called to holiness. Our witness each day should be such that when people meet us, they are immediately drawn to the love of Christ and inspired to pursue holiness in everyday life.Support the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share your favorite episod

In today’s podcast, we continue with the second installment of our three-part series exploring the prominent themes in Towards Holiness – a homily by St. Josemaria Escriva on the universal call to holiness.St. Josemaria explains that “in order to bring peace, genuine peace, to souls; in order to transform the earth and to seek God Our Lord in the world and through the things of the world, personal sanctity is indispensable. We must come to know him through prayer; we must speak to him and show him, through a heart-to-heart conversation, that we love him” (Friends of God, 294).Reflecting upon the importance of genuine peace, Fr. Javier explains that we must seek peace with God through examining our conscience and going to confession regularly and getting to know God in prayer. We must also seek peace within ourselves so that we can fully embrace our identity as a child of God. As we obtain peace with God and within ourself, we are then motivated to go out and seek peace with others in order to build a culture

As most of us look forward to the New Year for a fresh start and the opportunity to begin again, especially our resolutions and goals, you have likely spent time time reflecting on resolutions for your spiritual life and the ultimate (lifelong) goal to become a saint. To inspire and motivate our spiritual goals, we are launching the New Year with a three-part podcast series from Fr. Javier del Castillo exploring the prominent themes in Towards Holiness— a homily by St. Josemaria Escriva on the universal call to holiness.In this podcast, the first of the series, Fr. Javier reflects upon two important questions set forth in "Towards Holiness": What does it mean to be holy? What does it mean that God’s will for us is to become saints? The writings and spirituality of St. Josemaria continually remind us that holiness can be found in each moment of everyday life. In seeking the grace of Christ in each moment, we increase our desire and capacity to love others and communicate God’s light to the world.Supp

In this podcast, as we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the three gifts the Magi presented to the infant Jesus and the significance of those gifts in our spiritual life today.As St. Josemaria explains, “[The Lord] does not care for riches, nor for the fruits or the beasts of the earth, nor for the sea or the air, because they all belong to him. He wants something intimate, which we have to give him freely: ‘My son, give me your heart’. Do you see? God is not satisfied with sharing. He wants it all. It’s not our things he wants. It is ourselves. It is only when we give ourselves that we can offer other gifts to our Lord” (Christ is Passing By, no. 35).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

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the three Advents we encounter in life and, as we come closer to Christmas, explains what it means to become Bethlehem–to get to know Jesus Christ, follow him, and bring him to others.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!