St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio leads us to listen and reflect on the Gospel and the meaning of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and how it continues to transform us today.The Transfiguration of Jesus encourages us in our commitment to discipleship. When we commit to protracted prayer—deep, silent, concentrated prayer—we can see God through the eyes of our soul and heart.The Transfiguration helped the apostles to trust in the Cross—the raw materials that make up our crosses—and to believe that there is no such thing as failure when we follow Christ.Contemplating this scene and Jesus’ words (Mt 17:1-8), we begin to see Him, to take on His capacity for self-giving love, and we become more empowered to give of ourselves with the heart of Jesus.Tune in to this podcast as we celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord on August 6th.View Transcript | Visit Show PageSupport 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 rati

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo shares a reflection on the Gospel scene in which Martha welcomes Christ into her home (Luke 10:38-42) and reveals to us the meaning of letting go and letting God into our lives.In the Gospel passage, we notice Martha become caught up in the activity and details of serving Christ which inhibit her from fully enjoying the presence of Christ in her home. This theme is echoed in society today with a strong push for perfectionism in our work and at home. To contradict this vice, Fr. Javier reminds us to identify the intention behind our work, so that we may glorify God in all that we do. Working with intention allows us to be receptive to the grace of the Holy Spirit and helps us to recognize the presence of Christ in the ordinary moments of everyday life.Tune in to this podcast as we celebrate the feast of SS. Martha, Mary and Lazarus on July 29th.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know that our podcast is important to you: Share

In this podcast, Fr. Fred Dolan reflects on the great gift of unity that God gives to us through His Son: “That they may be one, even as you, Father, are in me and I in you” (Jn 17:21). Jesus prayed that we may be one, united in God’s love. However, as Fr. Dolan explains, this gift of unity is not automatic. In fact, it is hard work. And, therefore, Fr. Dolan helps us to identify those attitudes that can get in the way of unity, and some of the key ingredients to establishing unity in our lives, like humility and patience.  This is especially true in family life. If we were to insist that everyone in the family — and, for that matter, everyone around us — should react, should deal with situations the way we do, we would be setting ourselves up for an awful lot of tension and a lot of disunity. In any given setting, we want to be a source of unity through our youthfulness, optimism, and charity. We want to be the source of unity that will show the world that the Lord has indeed sent us and dwells within us.Vie

In this podcast, Fr. Fred Dolan leads us to reflect on freedom. Rightly understood, freedom is a gift from God, Our Creator and Father. If we do not recognize that fact, we run the risk of becoming existentially orphaned and homeless.“Do you love me?”, Jesus asks Peter. We hear the Lord looking at each one of us and asking the same thing. The Christian life is a free response, imbued with initiative and availability to this question of the Lord.We are not self-created, but rather, we are creatures of a loving Creator. We do not dare to attribute to ourselves the so called right to define our own concept of existence, because God has given that to us.God has given to each one of us very specific, unique qualities. Along with those qualities, come our own limitations. Therefore, Fr. Dolan reminds us that we need to remove the chief obstacles that hinder us from achieving it; for example, self-centeredness, egotism, grudges, arrogance, deceit, and resentment.God loves each one of us, as we are, and he loves to s

In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai helps us to reflect on the distinction between what it means to be productive/successful in life and what it means to be fruitful. Some of us might be productive, but we are called to bear fruit, which frees us from the danger of thinking that our life is useless.Fr. Eric explains, "God said to the first man and to the first woman, when He blessed them, Adam and Eve, to be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth and govern it. God directs us to be fruitful, but we interpret this often to be productive." To be fruitful requires authentic humility and transparency in our life. It requires docility to the promptings of the Holy Spirit who produces in us the gifts of love, joy, peace, and understanding. As Our Lord promised, the gifts of the Spirit lead us to a fruitful life: to patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, and gentleness. In this way, we are able to multiply the good that our lives, our undertakings, and our work would have for all souls.View TranscriptVis

In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai reflects on St. Josemaria’s last moments on earth and how his docility to the Holy Spirit and good humor until the end led him to have so much effect on people's lives.God granted St. Josemaria a deep spiritual paternity through which he embraced everyone that would come in contact with him. "And since this paternity was completely supernatural," Fr. Eric explains, "it was strengthened by the fact that he went to Heaven. He could continue to exercise that spiritual paternity by interceding for us." St. Josemaria became somebody to emulate as he was somebody with impressive dreams, magnanimity, and great apostolic zeal. He was driven by his sudden understanding that sanctity is within the reach of anyone who freely wants to let themselves be led by God.  Therefore, he knew how to bring out the best in people and helped them to realize their dreams of pursing what God was really calling them to. He formed saints that came in contact with him; that is, h

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo reflects on how the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us of our "need to have a heart within us that beats at the same pace as Christ's, because that's what it means to be truly human."St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for you, O Lord, and restless will our heart be until it rests in you.” Fr. Javier explains that "we can interpret this as our hearts will be restless until we actually synchronize our hearts to the heart of Christ." And, our hearts are made to be synchronized with the heart of Christ in timing, intensity, and extension. It is through these three aspects that God can renew our hearts so that we can truly love the way He wants us to love-- in a human and divine way, with one heart with which we love God and with which we love everything else.Only a heart synchronized to Jesus' heart can love and can actually co-redeem with Him by loving with His own heart. And it all happens if we allow Him to do it... subs

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo guides us to contemplate the beautiful gift of the Eucharist in which Jesus fulfills the promise to remain with us and to transform the world from within.The Eucharist, Fr. Javier explains, has "a double effect of restoring the spiritual losses caused by sins and defects and of increasing the power of the virtues. This is what happens when we go to Communion, when we receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord... this food is not transformed into us, we are transformed into Him."As we prepare for the feast of Corpus Christi, therefore, we can pray about "how we can correspond to Our Lord... Anything we do for Our Lord will be little in comparison to what He deserves." So, we want to be humble even though "He outdoes us in humility. He lowers Himself; He stoops Himself even more than we ever can.The Eucharist is truly that which will allow us to persevere in our call, in our call to holiness. It keeps you going and gives you strength when you're

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo leads us to pray and reflect with humility on the mystery and eternal love of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have been in love, from all eternity, before the foundation of the world," explains Fr. Javier. “Because that love is so great… the Holy Trinity has freely chosen to create us, to have creatures with which they can share this great happiness that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have had from all eternity.”Especially as we prepare to celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we recognize that our hearts and minds cannot fully understand this great mystery of faith. "It's too big to fit in our minds. And yet, through faith, it has been revealed to us that it exists and that truly it is the end of our existence. We know that there must be something we do not know towards which we feel driven, and that is the Blessed Trinity, in whose image we are made.&quo

This week, we're sharing a bonus episode as we end the Month of May dedicated to Our Lady!In this podcast, Fr. Eric Nicolai helps us reflect on the times when our faith and trust in God may seem quite fragile, even weak. In these moments, Fr. Eric explains, St. Josemaria would recommend recourse to little aspirations, glances at images of our Lady and other simple devotions, because these small acts end up awakening something within us. Mary seems to stir up devotion in us. She awakens our faith and makes us strong. She helps us, as St. Josemaria would say, to “stir up that fire of faith. Christ is not a figure that has passed. He is not a memory that is lost in history.” She does this because she was both the Mother of God, and our Mother. She has two motherhoods. She is twice a mother. First she became the mother of God when consenting freely to the incarnation, her “Fiat" made her mother of Jesus. But then she became mother again, when she stood at the foot of the Cross, and became our mother at

In this podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo helps us prepare for the great solemnity of Pentecost by guiding us to ask ourselves: What is my relationship with the Holy Spirit? Am I docile? Do I listen?  "Wherever the Spirit is, there is newness, there is life," explains Fr. Javier. "There is definitely a difference between what the Apostles were before, and what the Apostles are after they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:1-11). And, "it's the power of humility... of the docility of the Apostles that let go and let God. Let God the Holy Spirit act in and through them in spite of their own weaknesses..." Fr. Javier says that, "Our Lord is challenging us to be docile to the Spirit. And, to be docile means to give the Holy Spirit a blank check... It means to take a risk, it means that we won't know where He comes from and we don't know where we're going. But we know we're in sure hands. And that's what it means to commit ourselves to the Christian li

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on Christ’s last words before his Ascension issuing the commission to his disciples to preach the Gospel to every creature. In fact this commission is a “global apostolic assignment” that will remain until the end of time. It is an assignment, “to make disciples of all nations,” that reaches us today and should encompass every dimension of our lives as Christians. “Out of a hundred souls we are interested in a hundred,” said St. Josemaria Escriva. This means, as Fr. Peter explains, that “we need to reach for the peripheries… those people completely alienated from Christ.” To do this effectively will require that we get out of our comfort zones with God's help. It also requires that our apostolic spirit and evangelization "come from the heart and from the gut," says Fr. Peter. "We have to love so much that we will take the risk of being rejected, and being judged, and being labeled.” Visit Show PageView TranscriptSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LIST

In this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan reflects on the profound role for Our Lady in our lives as Christians and our need “to embrace Our Lady to remind her of how much we love her.” He especially reflects on the meaning and devotion to the Holy Rosary and how it is an expression we can you use to repeat our love for Our Lady “again and again and again.”As St. Josemaria Escriva wrote: “Today as in other times, the rosary must be a powerful weapon, to enable us to win in our interior struggle and to help all souls. Exalt holy Mary with your tongue: God asks you for reparation, and for praise from your lips. May you always want to know how to spread peace and happiness throughout the world, through this beautiful devotion to our Lady, and through your watchful love.”View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport 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. Subscrib

In our podcast of the week, Fr. Donncha O hAodha reflects on the title of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, on this anniversary of the Dedication of the Prelatic Church of Opus Dei (May 2). The church was built by St. Josemaria Escriva as the central church of Opus Dei, the heart of the Prelature, in Rome. And he dedicated it to Our Lady of Peace.Like all of Our Lady’s titles, “Queen of Peace” stems from her motherhood, from being the Mother of Jesus Christ who is our peace. “For he is our peace… he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (Ephesians 2:14,17). Therefore, as Fr. Donncha explains, in the image and title “Queen of Peace,” we see how she is “full of joy and full of peace that comes from redemption, from salvation, from Our Lord’s cross, death, and resurrection. And that’s the peace that can never ever be taken away. And that’s also our peace."“In the advocation of Mary, Queen of Peace, we read, we sense, we feel, we understand, all the joy of Redemption becau

In this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan reflects on the image of Christ as the Good Shepherd. The Gospel of John gives us the image of the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. This image captures the selfless, sacrificial love Christ has for each one of us.Further, Msgr. Dolan explains that we too are called to be good shepherds in our ordinary lives. We are called to have a constant concern for souls. He encourages us to pray about our role in the lives of others and stresses the importance of building community to create fruitful interactions with each other. In doing so, we become imitators of the love of Christ and good shepherds in our world today.The TED Talk featuring Pope Francis referenced in this podcast can be viewed online via YouTube.View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport 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

In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio reflects on the continual call toward conversion as we strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ. Drawing on the familiar story of the road to Emmaus, Fr. Peter encourages us to persevere in our daily prayer and to remain faithful through the moments in which we may not always recognize the presence of Christ.St. Josemaria explains: “Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem sterile. Prayer is always fruitful” (The Way, no. 101).View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport 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 for the Easter Octave, Fr. Leo Agustina takes us to the morning of the Resurrection when Mary Magdalene first encountered the risen Lord. He reminds us how “we know that it’s the morning of the Resurrection, but she didn’t know that.” Mary was just “trying to cope with the reality of Jesus being dead.” But that morning Jesus spoke to Mary Magdalene asking her, “Why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” In the voice that she recognized, he said her name in such a way that she immediately knew it was him. As Fr. Leo explains: “In every person’s life, there will be an encounter like the one that Mary Magdalene had… when everything seemed to be shut down, when humanity felt lost, where there was no hope.” But then Jesus Christ calls us by name, in a voice we also recognize, and he tells us to continue the legacy of Mary Magdalene and go to our brothers and to the whole world to tell them that “Christ is alive.”View TranscriptVisit Show PageSupport the showTHANK YOU FOR LISTENING!Let us know

In this podcast, as we continue our Lenten devotions, Fr. Peter Armenio explores the theme of taking up the yoke of Jesus in order to follow him. Following Jesus inevitably entails bearing our cross daily of which suffering is the raw material: “Whether it's emotional, mental, psychological, moral, spiritual, physical, that's the raw material.”We all experience suffering to a greater or lesser degree. The key is not to turn away from suffering or to give up following Jesus when our suffering, our cross, seemingly becomes too great to bear. Rather we must become the grain of wheat that falls to the earth and dies; in doing so, we become Christ to others. As Fr. Peter says, “I become intimately part of the Holy Mass, the Eucharistic sacrifice, if I die with Him, if I connect with His cross, I become Christ.”In this podcast, you will also hear how:The cry of modern society is to see Jesus, and he wants his followers to show him to others through the witness of their lives.Two young people used their il

In this podcast, as we continue our Lenten devotions, Fr. Eric Nicolai reflects on Jesus' fasting in the desert for 40 days. Why did he do that? Because the desert didn’t offer him absolutely anything, so he relied entirely on his Father. He overcame the devil’s temptations. As soon as he left the desert, he began his ministry. The purpose of our mortification is not to become stoic and impervious to pain. The real purpose was outlined by St. Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2, 20).  For Christ to live in us, we have to go up the four steps: First, corporal mortification: The most superficial one. It is for our purification. St, Josemaria said, "One has to give the body a little less than its due. Otherwise it turns traitor" (The Way, no. 196).Second, care for little things: The purpose is not to become obsessive about order or having things in their place, but to acquire a spirit which allows us to reach o

In this podcast, as we continue our Lenten devotions, Fr. Peter Armenio reminds us of the importance of getting to know Christ, our Divine Friend, and using the Gospels as a medium to hear him and to speak to him. Fr. Peter explains how “the purpose of Lent is to get closer to Jesus” and one of the best ways of doing this is by following the Church’s three Lenten pillars—prayer fasting, and almsgiving—as they all lead us to keep us focused on and in communication with Christ. In the same way that people become friends by means of conversation and spending time with each other, Jesus wants us to spend time with him. “Our Lord wants us to insert ourselves into the scenes of the Gospel. He wants us to listen to what he says...” Lent, therefore, can be a time for us to make progress in our prayer and conversation with Our Lord. We must show up for our time of prayer and commit to it; we cannot make excuses. It is Jesus who waits for us.In this podcast, you will also hear how:Lent can serve as a “springboard” for