St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

On August 15, the Church celebrates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Mother. She is the woman clothed with the sun, the moon is beneath her feet, and is crowned with twelve stars. We love her tenderly and through her actions she shows us what a life of faith looks like. What it means to become filled with trust and a joy that unable to be disturbed by difficulties.How does this life of Faith begin?Follow Mother Mary’s example:- When the Blessed Virgin Mary was in contemplative prayer she listened and received the Angel Gabriel’s message from God.- She was open to the Holy Spirit allowing herself to be totally abandoned to the truth of the word of the living God.- She listened to the word of God and responded with complete trust, giving God her life to do with as He pleased.We ask our dear Mother Mary to help us to become souls of faith as we nourish our faith through daily prayer and meditating on the Gospels. 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.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today! 

On August 6th, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. On today's podcast, we listen and reflect on the “background” and meaning of the Transfiguration, and how contemplating the scene of the Transfiguration 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—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 (Mk 9:2-10), 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. 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.orgAlso, 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 home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Nazareth, their example of a "bright and cheerful home", and why building a strong family foundation rooted in love and joy is essential to the new evangelization. Like St. Josemaria Escriva, we can go to St. Joseph to learn the "secret" to knowing Jesus Christ and bringing him to our family and others: “Saint Joseph, our Father and Lord: most chaste, most pure. You were found worthy to carry the Child Jesus in your arms, to wash him, to hug him. Teach us to get to know God, and to be pure, worthy of being other Christs. And help us to do and to teach, as Christ did. Help us to open up the divine paths of the earth, which are both hidden and bright; and help us to show them to mankind, telling our fellow men that their lives on earth can have an extraordinary and constant supernatural effectiveness” (The Forge, no. 553). 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.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today! 

Why is marriage important to society today? And, what distinguishes a healthy marriage from one that is in serious trouble?On this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan reflects on the Sacrament of Marriage and how it is the cornerstone to society and the image of the eternal love between Christ and his Church.Marriage is the pathway for spouses to lead one another to heaven. For a marriage to flourish, it must be grounded so that each spouse is able to see the other as God sees him or her. Spouses must seek out genuine admiration for the gifts of the other, realizing that two lives become one as they build the foundation upon which they can strive for sanctity.Marriage is hard work. We marry imperfect people, yet are called to love them with their defects and limitations. Men and women are very different. We may not understand each other, but we are called to accept and love each other. Marriage is like a pearl of great price – it is worth fighting for it. 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.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today! 

Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” (Jn 2:3)A Spiritual Retreat in the Footsteps of Mary guides us through the life of Mary as we seek to renew and transform our own life of faith through prayer. Following in Mary’s example of responding to God’s call to love and serve unconditionally, we are each called to reach that same height of holiness. As you listen to this retreat, you will be able to reflect with Mary upon the key moments the Holy Spirit impacted her life, culminating with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Mary, along with the apostles, were radically transformed by the Holy Spirit. Through spending time on retreat and allowing ourselves time to converse with God, we are allowing ourselves the opportunity to be transformed by the work of the Spirit so that we may faithfully continue on our journey toward heaven.A Spiritual Retreat in the Footsteps of Mary is a collection of ten meditations preached by Rev. Javier del Castillo, priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei and Vice President of the St. Josemaria Institute.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.orgAlso, 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 importance of the virtue of humility in the spiritual life. The need for a spiritual life stems from a desire to reject our sinful nature; that is, our realization that we are sinners moves us to want to grow spiritually, to follow Christ. And, without humility, the biggest obstacle to following Christ is self-importance. Each one of us has certain gifts within the spiritual life but we are not the origin of these gifts – they have been given to us by God. As we become aware of our spiritual gifts, we are drawn deeper into a life of true discipleship with Jesus Christ.As St. Josemaria Escriva wrote: “Get rid of those proud thoughts! You are but the brush in the hand of the artist, and nothing more. Tell me, what is a brush good for if it doesn’t let the artist do his work?” (The Way, no. 612). 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.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today! 

On Saturday, July 6, the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Maria Goretti, who is honored for her heroic resistance when a young man tried to seduce her when she was eleven years of age. After resisting the young man’s actions, Saint Maria Goretti was stabbed fourteen times and died four days later as a result of the wounds. She forgave her assailant multiple times and prayed for his repentance and conversion throughout her final days.In this podcast, Rev. Peter Armenio shares a reflection on the importance of holy purity, particularly at a time when this virtue clashes with the cultural norm. He shares five important resolutions that we can make when striving to live a life of purity: to make good confessions, to accept the guidance of the priest in living the virtue of purity, to pray three Hail Mary’s for purity each evening, to guard the senses to avoid looking at someone impurely, and to ask for the virtue of purity with humility as it increases our capacity to love. 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.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today! 

In this podcast, as we prepare to celebrate the feast day of St. Josemaria, Msgr. Fred Dolan shares a reflection on the life of St. Josemaria and the inspiration behind Opus Dei.In Scripture, Christ compares the Kingdom of God to a tiny mustard seed that will grow and flourish over time. On October 2, 1928, God led St. Josemaria to discover his own mustard seed - the work of Opus Dei. St. Josemaria showed the world that holiness is not something extraordinary, rather, something ordinary which can be found in our everyday work. God led St. Josemaria to see that the Church needs an institution that does nothing else but serve God through ordinary, daily realities. The life of St. Josemaria and the work of Opus Dei show us that the world is not an obstacle to holiness, but a place where holiness is found. 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.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today! 

This Sunday the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) when “we come together to consider the depths of our Lord’s love for us, which has led him to stay with us, hidden under the appearances of the Blessed Sacrament” (St. Josemaria Escriva; Christ is Passing By, no. 150). Present under the property of bread and wine, the Church believes the Eucharist is fully the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.In this podcast, Fr. Peter Armenio shares a reflection to help us pray and go deeper in our understanding of the Eucharist and our call to be living monstrances, the sacred vessels in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed for veneration.On the Feast of Corpus Christi, it is a common practice in many Catholic churches to hold a Eucharistic procession following Mass. This procession is symbolic of our work as modern day apostles. We are each called to be a living monstrance, bringing the light of Christ into every aspect of our life: our family, our work place, our social gatherings, etc. The Eucharist is a source of grace and love, through which we are brought together as one in the body of Christ. Like the saints, Eucharistic devotion should be a common trait in our pursuit of holiness.On this solemnity, we can make the resolution to spend time regularly in front of the Blessed Sacrament— a powerful encounter with Christ through which we receive the grace to be a witness in the world. 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.orgAlso, 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 reflection on working for God, inspired by the homily given by Saint Josemaria on February 6, 1960. Fr. Javier poses three important questions for us to consider as we approach work each day:Do we work for Christ?We see in the beginning passages of Scripture that God gave man and woman the vocation to work – to till the garden. We are each called to put our talents at the service of God. Work itself is not to be seen as the end, but rather, to be seen as the means to pray, sacrifice, and give glory to God.Do we work in Christ?Christ, the source of love, spent his hidden years working. He spent this time working out of love for his heavenly Father as well as out of love for each one of us. By his example, Christ shows that we are called to sanctify the task at hand through the grace given to us by God. If we work out of love, we will see the fruit of our labor in heaven. As we work closely with God, we are slowly transformed and begin to reflect the love of Christ to others.Do we work through Christ?As we are transformed by the love of Christ, our daily actions slowly move away from being a choice of habit to being a choice of free will. Working through Christ creates in us the awareness for whom we are working as well as the reason behind our work. 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.orgAlso, if you enjoy the podcast, please consider helping us keep our episodes free and accessible for all our listeners: Give today!