Approaching God with Confidence Psalm 4 remains relevant today because few feelings are more unvarnished than the regret, embarrassment, humility and pain we feel when we must admit our failings, or confess a sin. We may tremble and weep. If we don’t we know our hearts will harden. WRITING PROMPT On this Ash Wednesday when it is perhaps too easy to focus on the darkness of atonement, think about and write how you usually approach God: with confidence in his mercy or temerity? Take this...

IN THIS EPISODE Lessons in Our Personal Wasteland Carl McColman discusses how we are all called to be contemplative even in the middle of a noisy world and despite our distracted minds. If we are people of faith, we must meet the chaos in the presence of the Holy Spirit.Additional resources mentioned by Carl: Prayer & Prophecy,...

IN THIS EPISODE Enduring for Christ In preparation for Lent, which begins Feb. 26, Doctor of the Church St. Thomas of Aquinas (Feast Day Jan. 28) offers his Meditations for this liturgical season. This text reminds us that Christ endured death as an example that the truth should never be abandoned, even if it means we must endure especially in times of suffering.

IN THIS EPISODE Signs Are All Around Us We sometimes hold so tightly to what we want that we miss what is being offered. For important decisions, we sometimes have a small voice inside prompting us to pay attention to other options, but we stubbornly resist.  Often a sign, such as a rainbow, can catch us off guard and prompt us to notice differently. In Genesis 9: 12-16, God reminds us that a...

IN THIS EPISODE Music for your meditation Enjoy this musical interlude as a moment of contemplation in the midst of your holiday rush. After listening, sit in silence and peace. When the Present and the Past Align by Martin...

IN THIS EPISODE Trust Your Soul's Memory As we rush around our days we often make lists, voice memos, and notes because for fear we will forget something important. But in Psalm 18, King David reminds us that we can trust the Lord to guide us in our most important decisions and situations. The Irish poet John O’Donohue once wrote that in the soul, “nothing is lost. This is a great consolation:...

IN THIS EPISODE Groaning and Gratitude Often Burn Together Sr. Julia Walsh, Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, shares how even pain, weakness, and brokenness can be a “fire” that spreads to others and leads them to a transformative relationship with God. She shares a text by Shane Claiborne’s Irresistible Revolution and her essay, “Groaning and...

IN THIS EPISODE The Power of Praying for Others Sometimes we are too weak, distracted, or sinful to heal ourselves. Sometimes we are not aware of our weakness so we don’t even think of lifting a plea for help to God and others. That is when intercessors, those righteous people we know both on earth and in heaven, can pray for...

IN THIS EPISODE When I am Weak I am Strong The Most Reverend Alphonse Cullinan, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Ireland, shares his approach to Lectio Divina, prayer and the countercultural message found in Corinthians 2 12:9-10  that God can use our weaknesses to help us.  WRITING PROMPT    So...

IN THIS EPISODE Attention Is Prayer Matthew 13: 14-17 reminds us that “blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.” WRITING PROMPT  So often we go through our day on autopilot, more in-tune with our to-do list than the wonderful world around us. In fact, attention...

IN THIS EPISODE Writer and teacher Kaya Oakes offers a selection from a memoir by Richard Rodriguez. She shares her own essay about Medieval mystical women who teach us that even in midlife we can defy confinement and find ways to remain...

IN THIS EPISODE God Rewards Our Obedience This excerpt from Psalm 18 is but a small part of an extensive “gratitude list” by David to God, one in which the king recalls his fear, torment, and misfortunes. He thanks God for delivering him. WRITING PROMPT    David shows a sophisticated...

IN THIS EPISODE Wrestling with God Guest Rev. Heidi Haverkamp shares her interpretation of Jacob’s Wrestling with God at Peniel from Genesis 32, noting that sometimes we must wrestle with ourselves in solitude in order to meet God. Rev. Haverkamp discusses the wisdom of the Rule of St. Benedict that she strives to live by, and reads an excerpt about Hagar of Egypt from her book, Holy...

IN THIS EPISODE Reclaiming Our Soul's Soil Even when we are faithful, challenges in our lives can be the “rocks and thorns” that make it difficult to bear fruit for God. Matthew 13:18-23. WRITING PROMPT  We’ve heard this parable many times, but when Pope Francis interpreted it (Agelus Address, July 16, 2017) he encouraged us to consider how the “soil” of of our lives...

IN THIS EPISODE Could It Be that God is Singing? Guest Becca J. R. Lachman, a librarian and singer-songwriter whose work is being considered for the hymnal of the Mennonite Church U.S.A, discusses how writing poetry and lyrics has helped her get through “dark nights of the...

IN THIS EPISODE Love like God's never ends In Romans 8: 31b-35, 37-39 we are​ reminded that the best human relationships mimic Christ’s love: a fidelity that unites all, is unbreakable, and gives us the confidence to overcome any difficulty. Even death cannot end that kind of love. WRITING PROMPT...

IN THIS EPISODE In Faith, as in Art, There are No Deadends Guest Jessica Mesman reads Graham Greene and discusses how she experiences God through her writing. She also shares an excerpt of a recent article in America Magazine.  “[Writing] is how I come to any small scrap of understanding, compassion, love,” she...

IN THIS EPISODE Finding Joy after Grief by Closeness with God. In John 16: 20, 22-24,  Christ prepares his disciples for the grief they will experience at the Crucifixion, reminding them-and us-that if we ask of God, we will receive, and experience profound joy. WRITING PROMPT Whether you are...

IN THIS EPISODE Finding God's Grace in Music Guest Eddie Cotter, Jr., missionary and Irish traditional musician, discusses how music as a form of prayer can “reach places in the soul” that spoken words cannot. Below he provides an original composition, performed by The Kells, that can be used for audio divina. THE KELLS FATIMA 2017 v 1.8 vox FX UP...

IN THIS EPISODE Judith asks God to save those without hope. The Book of Judith tells how the Jewish people were delivered “by the hand of a female.” Before she confront her enemy, Judith turns to God, the source of her strength, in prayer and lament. WRITING PROMPT    Take a moment to think...

IN THIS EPISODE The Face of Jesus in the Poor Painter Joe Anastasi, a retired advertising executive, reads Richard Rohr on prayer. Anastasi prays over and paints formal portraits of the homeless he meets in his volunteer work because he wants others to respect their stories.   ...

IN THIS EPISODE Queen Esther's Prayer The Book of Esther tells a story of the deliverance of the Jewish people from an enemy by Esther and Mordecai, commemorated by the Jewish festival of Purim. In her desperate plea, Queen Esther recognizes that only the Lord can help relieve our deepest...

IN THIS EPISODE The Attraction of Joy Guest Derya Little shares how witnessing the joy of Christians was the primary impetus for her conversion from Islam to Catholicism. She reads from St. Paul VI’s Apostolic Exhortion, Gaudete Domino (On Christian Joy). ...

"Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow." Isaiah 1:18.