Mountains Made Low

MASSively Loved - Part 1

Continuing on the heels of the previous episode, where Dennis and Christine presented the Eucharist as the supreme and most intimate encounter of God's love that we can experience this side of heaven, they now break open the Mass from the perspective of God's love and how God is loving us through the various parts of the Mass.  In this, the first of two episodes, we delve into the Introductory Rites of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Word, hoping to leading listeners to a new perspective on the Mass that will open their hearts and minds to the profound love God desires them to experience through the Mass and in particular the Eucharist.  

Encounter the Profound Love of God

We all desire to be loved perfectly for who we are, and yet it's the love of another that transforms us and inspires us to be more than we are or that we think we can be for love of them.  This transforming love that we yearn to experience finds its ultimate fulfillment in God, and it's through the Eucharist that we come to experience thee most intimate encounter of God's love this side of heaven, but is that our experience of the Eucharist?  In this episode, Dennis and Christine break open this profound encounter of God's love, as experience in the Eucharist.  Through personal experience and insight, we hope to lead listeners to a paradigm shift in how they approach and view Mass, so that they come to truly understand what God is doing to us, for us, and through us in this most intimate expression of his love, and how the Eucharist not only equips us to live well in the modern world, but is essential for us on our journey to heaven.

Forgiveness Is Hard

Who in your life, past or present, is in need of your forgiveness?  Who in your life have you trespassed against and need to seek forgiveness from?  Forgiveness is hard, but holding on to our hurts and the wrong done to us by another enslaves us to those trespasses and creates a hardness of heart that actually prevents us from experiencing the mercy of God when we trespass against him!  The justice sought in our current cancel culture has no room for mercy or forgiveness, and if we’re honest, we’d have to admit that there is likely someone in our life who we have “cancelled” because of some trespass committed against us.  What is the path forward that leads to true healing and true reconciliation and frees us from the prison we’ve created for ourselves?  Yes, forgiveness is hard, but we must forgive anyway because forgiveness is a key component of Christ’s mission of redemption and salvation for at the heart of forgiveness is mercy, and that mercy is merely another word for God’s love.  In this episode, Christine and Dennis address the nature and importance of forgiveness in living a life of discipleship, and provide some ways for listeners to soften their hearts so that forgiveness is possible and the healing they long for becomes a reality.   

Who Is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is a mighty advocate, helper, and guide in achieving the goal of becoming the saint God created each of us to be, but who is the Holy Spirit and how can we relate to Him?  Often referred to as the "Forgotten Person of the Blessed Trinity," the Holy Spirit can seem somewhat nebulous and abstract in comparison to the Father and the Son.  In this episode, we look at the evidence for the existence of the Holy Spirit found in Sacred Scripture, and delve into the Holy Spirit's relationship to the Father and the Son.  More importantly, we break open the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a disciple in order to help listeners come to better know this Person of the Blessed Trinity in the hope that they will be able to develop a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, and embrace the Holy Spirit as the advocate who works in earnest within them to help them grow in holiness. 

Can We Be Spiritual But Not Religious?

Those who claim to be spiritual but not religious are one of the fastest growing "religions" in America and across the world, but can one truly be spiritual without being religious?  Are they mutually exclusive?  Delving into the issue, Dennis and Christine look at this spiritual path and offer some perspectives on why this path is not optimal for those who are genuinely seeking something deeper and more personal in their relationship with God, how the human person is created to be both spiritual and religious by nature, and why our relationship with God is meant to be not just personal and private, but also public and communal.  We provide some guidance for family members on how to have conversations with a loved one who has chosen this path, as well as some insights for those walking this path to consider.  In the end, we hope listeners will come to see how God desires so much for us in our relationship with him than what we limit ourselves to, and how being spiritual and religious offers us the "more" that we truly long to experience. 

Coffee (and Tea) Talk 1 - Candid Conversations on Living as Disciples of Jesus

For this episode, Christine and Dennis have candid conversations about a variety of questions pertaining to living a life of discipleship.  We discuss some misperceptions about Catholicism, share how and when we feel closest to God, what we struggle with the most in our relationship with God, our favorite Biblical figures, and even the pros and cons of cry rooms at church and Gregorian Chant vs. Christian Rock.  We hope listeners will benefit from some of the insights and sharing from our candid exchange with each other, and find something helpful in their own walk of discipleship.  The spirituality quiz Dennis references may be found online at https://vocationnetwork.org/en/articles/show/63-find-your-spirituality-type.  The quiz looks at four different paths, but there are many other paths of spirituality that are not a part of this quiz like Benedictine, Carmelite, Dominican, Redemptorist, and Servite to name a few.  

Marian Devotion - What's Not to Love?

As we enjoy the beauty of the month of May, a month traditionally devoted to honor Mary, Christine and Dennis delve into how we, as Catholics, truly honor Mary.  We explore the meaning behind some of the doctrines and beliefs about Mary, and delve into four unique but relatively unfamiliar titles of Mary using meditations based on the writings of St. John Henry Newman.  Listeners will not only come to see the beauty and importance of Mary and her role in the life of Christ, the life of the Church, and in our life as disciples, but also how these four unique titles can inspire us to model our lives after her in our attempt to live as intentional disciples of Christ Jesus.  When it comes to Mary, the model of perfect holiness, of what's not to love?

The Problem of Evil & Suffering

Suffering is real.  Evil is real.  Yet, how do we reconcile the existence of both with a God whose very nature is Love?  How can an all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-benevolent God allow suffering and evil to exist? These age-old questions are challenging because the existence of evil and suffering is used to disprove the existence of God or at the very least it is used to show that God isn't who he claims to be.  Join Dennis and Christine as they delve into the nature of God and his relationship to evil and suffering.  We hope to lead listeners to experience a paradigm shift in how they perceive suffering and evil in their lives that will enable them to see where God is in the midst of it all, and to live in the assured hope that he is doing something about it.