St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

In this week’s podcast, Fr. Javier del Castillo shows how the Apostles were changed after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and how we too can be docile to the promptings of the Spirit.What you’ll hear:- How the Church was truly universal at the very beginning- Why the Acts of the Apostles is sometimes referred to as the “Gospel of the Holy Spirit”- How the Apostles were different after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost- The gifts of the Holy Spirit that the Apostles received at Pentecost- The Holy Spirit’s central role in evangelization- Why St. Josemaria referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Great Unknown”- How we can get to know the Holy Spirit 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 homily from Blessed Alvaro’s Feast Day, Fr. Peter Armenio, priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, shares some personal stories of his encounters with Blessed Alvaro del Portillo.What you’ll hear:-About Blessed Alvaro’s pilgrimage to St. Mary’s of the Angels Church in Chicago, IL-Fr. Peter Armenio’s encounters with, and stories of, Blessed Alvaro-About Blessed Alvaro’s personality-Blessed Alvaro’s recipe for happiness-How Blessed Alvaro helped Pope Saint John Paul II 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! 

Following the beatification of Bishop Alvaro del Portillo in 2014, the Church designated May 12th (the anniversary of his First Communion) as his feast day and it was celebrated for the first time in 2015. To mark the occasion, Fr. Javier del Castillo prepared a special meditation for listeners of the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast.Meditating on the nickname given to him by St. Josemaria, “Saxum,” which means “rock” in Latin, we reflect on Blessed Alvaro’s fortitude and how God sends us this gift of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome all obstacles, to become “rocks”— “a better building block for the Church wherever God has placed you.”Blessed Alvaro del Portillo was a close collaborator of St. Josemaria Escriva and his first successor as Prelate of Opus Dei. To learn more about his life and for the prayer through his intercession visit: www.alvarodelportillo.org 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 celebrates Mother’s Day by meditating on our Mother Mary, and why we should turn to her powerful intercession, especially in the Holy Rosary. He also reflects on the theology behind repetitive and intercessory prayer, and St. Josemaria’s suggestions for how to honor Mary in the month of May.What you will hear:- How Mary anticipates the needs of others in the Gospels- How becoming children of Mary leads to becoming children of God- Why we should turn to our Mother Mary’s powerful intercession, especially in the Holy Rosary- How we are missing out on graces from our Lord when we don’t ask for them- The theology behind repetitive and intercessory prayer- St. Josemaria’s suggestions for how to honor Mary in May 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 this Feast of St. Joseph the Worker (May 1st), Fr. Peter Armenio explores how we can live like St. Joseph, following Christ amid the most mundane and ordinary circumstances of life.What you’ll hear:- How Joseph was central in the intellectual and social formation of Jesus- What Sacred Scripture and Tradition teaches about St. Joseph- How the lay vocation is perfectly illustrated by the life of Mary and Joseph 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 April 25th we celebrate the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. St. Mark wrote one of the Gospel accounts and was a companion of St. Paul on his first missionary journey. However, in the Acts of the Apostles, we discover that St. Mark abandoned St. Paul, and that St. Paul would not allow St. Mark to accompany him on his second journey.In this meditation, Fr. Javier del Castillo explores the interesting dynamic between St. Paul and St. Mark, and what we can learn for our own life. 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! 

Monday, April 20th 2015 is the anniversary of the election of the Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Javier Echevarria. Just as all bishops, he makes the Fatherhood of God present to us here and now.To celebrate this special anniversary, Fr. Javier del Castillo reflects on St. Paul’s understanding of spiritual fatherhood in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:14-16), and illustrates how St. Josemaria Escriva understood his calling to spiritual fatherhood, even at the young age of 26. 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! 

As the Easter season continues, we encounter another great feast, Divine Mercy Sunday. We invite you to take some time to reflect on the Gospel for this Sunday (John 20:19-31) with Fr. Javier del Castillo on the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast.In this meditation, we will see how Christ forgives us, just as He forgave Thomas and the Apostles for running from the Cross and not having believed on Good Friday. St. Josemaria recognized that God’s forgiveness is even more impressive than His ability to create something out of nothing, and that "His absolute power is best shown in His power to forgive.” On our part, we ultimately have to accept God’s gift of Divine Mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation that He established. After this encounter with the resurrected Christ, we must be sure of God's forgiveness, and move on to forgiving others. “Go out and tell people what God has done in your soul. If Christ has risen, and He has forgiven us, then the only logical thing is that we also forgive one another.” 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! 

Today’s meditation by Fr Javier del Castillo on the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast invites us on this Good Friday to stand in the darkness with Mary, John, and the women at the foot of the cross of Jesus and to contemplate how Jesus, the Son of God, was able to overcome all his suffering and was able in his humanity to persevere until the end. Our encounter with Jesus on the cross leads us to understand how we are to embrace our cross, our ordinary cross. We are called to give freely what we have freely received. This is what gives us light in the darkness. “But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). 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! 

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. What does our Lord try to teach us through today's celebration? Today's meditation by Fr Javier del Castillo on the St. Josemaria Institute Podcast helps us to reflect on the lessons that we can learn from the "little things" of today's Gospel- the donkey, the palm branches, and the rocks. Their apparently insignificant role in today's Gospel "point us to a deeper humility that will allow us to know the truth and have the courage to live by 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!