Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Podcast with Father Greg and jd. Each week, Father Greg and I connect on a variety of topics related to our faith in our parish in Winona, Ontario. We are here to help spread the good news and further unite our parish community.
This is episode 11. We are featuring St. Casimir and another great resource to help advance our faith. Remember, you can find us on The Spotify, the YouTube, the Apple Podcasts every week. So please like or subscribe. I'm going to point down because everybody who does that on podcasts, click like or subscribe and we will find your inbox every week. What's happening this week? What's new, Father Greg?
[00:00:44] Speaker B: I'm living the dream, loving life, living the dream again.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: You were living the dream last week.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: So, man, is this a new dream.
[00:00:50] Speaker A: Or the same ongoing dream?
[00:00:52] Speaker B: It's another dream, and it's still good.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: Oh, that's awesome.
Thank you to our listeners who continue to follow us and to reach out to us. Keep reaching out. We do have an urgent plea for you to send us your questions. Devoted listeners. And that way Father Greg doesn't have to answer my questions every week. It could be one from our. From our listeners. So let's please accept that plea and send us your thoughts and send us your questions every week.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Yeah, and you can do that just by commenting on our posts or reaching out to us, any way you find a way to get through to us.
[00:01:25] Speaker A: All right, Excellent. I have a quick question before we begin this week.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: I'm ready.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Lent is coming up, so we need to think of what were our devotions and what we're going to be giving up for fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. And I want to run one past you. If I plan to give up using spreadsheets, would that be excel Lent?
[00:01:44] Speaker B: That would be.
That'd be very excel Lent.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Excellent. I'm glad to have your approval.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: This is a fantastic joke, too, I got to say, actually, that. That. That's like a winner right there.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: That is a Father Greg quality joke right there. Maybe one for tomorrow or Sunday.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Excellent. After a joke like that, you better start us off with a prayer.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: Sure. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God, we thank youk for all you're doing in our lives. And we thank youk for our listeners, our watchers, and all those who are with us in this spiritual journey of this podcast and the wonderful members of our parish community and beyond. We just ask that you would guide us by your Holy Spirit, each one of us, we can lift up to you, Lord, what's in our mind and heart. We ask that you guide us, inspire us so that we may always do what is truly best as a way to love you and love our neighbor. Receiving your love more deeply into our hearts. We pray this in Jesus name. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: I love that to do what is truly best. Simple, very simple message.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:02:44] Speaker A: Well, let us reveal our Saint of the Week. Each week we do feature a saint and share some facts about their lives as we strive to live out our mission as Catholics, we can always look to our saints for inspiration. Saint Casimir was a Lithuanian Polish prince known for his deep piety, humility and dedication to helping the poor. The son of King Casimir IV of Poland and Elizabeth of Austria, he rejected a life of luxury and power, choosing instead to serve God through prayer and acts of charity. Casimir was particularly devoted to the Virgin Mary and is often depicted holding a lily symbolizing his purity. He died at just 25 from tuberculosis and was canonized in 1521. Today he is the patron saint of Lithuania, Poland and youth. His feast day is celebrated on March 4, which is today in fact, of recording. And here's a prayer of his that is commonly prayed daily. Daily. Sing to Mary Sing my soul her praise is due all her glorious actions Cherish with the heart's devotion True lost in wondering contemplation be her majesty confessed Call her mother Call her Virginia Happy Mother Virgin blessed.
That's beautiful.
And then Jesus, I trust in you.
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Amen. Jesus, I trust in you is always appropriate.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: And I saw just a simple post this morning on social media. Saint Casimir, pray for us. That was it.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:04:20] Speaker A: That's perfect. What a. What a great way to acknowledge thinking saintly thoughts and thinking towards the saints.
[00:04:26] Speaker B: Awesome Saint Perfect.
[00:04:28] Speaker A: It is time for Ask Father Greg. Each week we respond to a question submitted by a listener. Please.
Or a question that we make up ourselves. But I love this week's question. It's kind of what I hope we can be about answering questions that arise from our audience and maybe something that came up in a previous show. So in episode nine, we featured a resource, Jesus Calling. And a listener expressed a little bit of concern that we chosen a resource that may have conflicts with the Catholic Church. So over to you, Father Greg. Your thoughts.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, first off, I want to say thanks to Joe Sayles for pointing out that we should take a closer look at this one with Jesus calling. So thank you to Joe. And so here's a few thoughts on the Jesus calling thing. Of course, as Catholics we're encouraged to read the Bible.
And so we want to make sure everything we read is completely aligned with that and our Catholic faith. So sometimes we have to be careful about what we might take in, what we might read, make sure that it's always 100% aligned with our faith. So it's good for us to be aware and to be sensitive to that. And so there's a good number of people who I found when I was doing some research here have a few concerns about the book Jesus Calling. And basically it could be because maybe some are concerned that it might not be a totally accurate picture of what Jesus might have said, although I'm sure some things inside he might have said well, or the sentiments therein could have been Jesus for sure.
And so there's just a concern that maybe some of the content might not be 100% aligned with Catholic Church teaching. And then the other kind of tricky part of it is that Sarah Young, the author, she claims that the devotions within that book came to her by means of something called automatic writing, which is actually an occult practice that could be tied to channeling voices outside oneself. So this might sound a little spooky, but this can be connected to mediums or other spiritual practices that the church warns against because they can open doors to the enemy, the evil spirit, the devil. So basically I myself have seen cases and many priests talk about this, where evil spirits will pretend to be good ones so they can subtly misguide even the best of intentioned persons. So just given the fact that she claims that it kind of came in this way, that's a bit out of the ordinary for us and it's a bit of a red flag. And so having looked into a little bit more, while we're sure the book contains some good things that could be helpful, it's probably more ideal to choose even more time tested resources that could help us grow in our faith, especially the Bible, to hear God's word right there and also to read from among the many time tested spiritual classics, including the writings of the saints. And so the best place to hear Jesus words is of course in the Bible in itself, which has definitely been inspired by the Holy Spirit. And God has definitely shown us that that is itself enough of a written record of the words of Jesus to lead us to salvation. So I hope that helps. I hope that kind of addresses some of that. And again, thanks to Joe for highlighting that that just that we Want to be extra aware and. Yeah, thank you.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Excellent. Thanks very much, Father. Thanks Joe for sending that in. And please follow Joe's lead and connect with us with your questions on the faith. And another great place to hear the words of Jesus right here, right here at heart of Mary Parish.
[00:07:38] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: All right.
[00:07:40] Speaker B: Beautiful.
[00:07:41] Speaker A: Okay, so I got a resource of the week, Father.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: Exciting.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: And I think, I think it's vetted.
This one's been vetted. It is.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Got a great recommendation inside.
[00:07:54] Speaker A: It's got an excellent recommendation. Top shelf on the inside. This Week's resource is 3D effect experience the Bible by Elizabeth Pietrantonio. And it's written as a companion to the Bible in a year podcast.
[00:08:08] Speaker B: That's the one by Father Michael Schmitz.
[00:08:10] Speaker A: By Father Michael Schmitz that we featured in episode five.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: And so Liz has written a day by day summary and included prayers and quotes to help your guiding. So if you're maybe a little bit unsure of where Father Mike was going, you have another interpretation that's very much aligned with what he has, but it's in slightly different words and a different, maybe different tone to be able to help guide it. So today, day 63, the people rebel.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: I just want to note something very fascinating to our listeners. Watchers. Watchers. Sounds a little creepy. Maybe I should find another word. But in any case, this book actually is recommended not only by Father Neil McMillan from the Archdiocese of Toronto, so again, Catholic priest, but also it's. It's also recommended by James Dohanyuk. Yes. Wow. I think I know him. I think I know him. So that's why we were saying that it's got some good recommendations inside. I hope I didn't ruin your bookmark there.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: No. No. Okay.
[00:09:13] Speaker B: So that's kind of a. That's like a two in one. That's a cool resource and a fun fact that JD even has like his own like giving references for books. I mean that's pretty impressive.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: I love my books. You gotta, you gotta say that's great. So experience the Bible link will be in our show notes. Free to pick up your own copy to help you follow along.
[00:09:33] Speaker B: Amazing show notes. So awesome.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: I know. We're just upping the profile of the show every week. Just getting even more and more professional.
[00:09:41] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Now by the time this episode hits our listeners ear, we will be into Lent and every Friday we will do the Stations of the Cross at church. And every church has Stations of the Cross. Some very ornate, some a lot more subtly placed.
But it occurs to me that we really only focus on them at Lent.
So leading into Lent, Tell me about the Stations of the Cross and why the focus only at Lent, really?
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Sure, sure. I mean, the Stations of the Cross are great all year round, so totally recommended. In fact, you might find this interesting to know that every day of the year, if you make the Stations of the Cross, you can have a plenary indulgence under the normal conditions. So very fascinating. The Church definitely recommends them all year round. But, yeah, we definitely probably focus most on them at Lent. And I think that's because Lent has that. That real focus on the Passion of Christ. And, you know, we're going to focus on the resurrection of Christ once Easter comes, and we're going to spend 50 days of Easter on that. But we have a kind of 40 days of Lent preparing us. And so we reflect on the suffering, the death of Jesus a little bit more in Lent preparing us to appreciate his resurrection all the more. So I think that's probably part of it. And also, we're going through our own crosses, so to speak, the penance that we've chosen, whatever we've done to help us grow. We talked about kind of Lenten resolutions and stuff last episode. So whatever we're doing, it might not always be easy. So we can kind of unite our sufferings with the Cross of Christ. And the Stations of the Cross can help us to enter into that even more deeply. Now, just in case you find this interesting, the Stations of the Cross go back a long time. In fact, even right after Jesus had died, Christians started walking the same path he walked. And that would be in Latin, called the Via Dolorosa, or the Sorrowful Way. But then later on, I think it might be St. Francis of Assisi, who's famous for popularizing this. This idea that in the Church we could have places that represent those same stations along that sorrowful way, so that those who can't go to the Holy Land can still enter in deeply to that meditation on what Christ went through for us and how each step of that really is powerful for us when we reflect on it. So the Stations of the Cross, great all year round. However, extra fitting for the Lenten season.
[00:12:05] Speaker A: Excellent. I still remember the Stations of the Cross in the parish we went to as kids growing up in the Precious Blood Cathedral in Sault ste. Marie. Beautiful 3D renderings of the Stations. And they still stick with me to this day.
[00:12:20] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: And also for Lent, at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, we have our Lenten bingo card.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: Bingo. Bingo, Bingo.
[00:12:29] Speaker A: And so Father promises that anyone who completes a row horizontally, vertically or diagonally can receive a fabulous prize at the end of Indeed.
[00:12:40] Speaker B: You will not be disappointed.
[00:12:42] Speaker A: And your bonus middle spot is to practice gratitude daily.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Indeed.
[00:12:47] Speaker A: And so not easy to do. But. But should could be easy to do with a strong focus during Lent.
[00:12:53] Speaker B: Yeah. At the seminary, we were taught every. Every time before we go to bed as part of our examination of the day, to think of at least five things to be grateful for to God that day. So I still do that every day. I think of five things to be grateful for that day. I also think of five ways, like I kind of look at, okay, how is God calling me to do something? And how did I respond? And could I have done even better? Yeah.
[00:13:12] Speaker A: Okay. There's a prayer process, I think, called a five by three. We can tackle that.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: Episode Groovy. And plenary indulgences. That sounds like a good question to.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: In a future one.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: Sounds very good.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: Not quite get out of jail free, but may make some people think that way. We'll be able to clear all that up in a coming show.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: Sounds great.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: All right. There is so much happening in our parish community.
Our bulletin is chock full of events and activities.
You've just reached for something. So I think something exciting is coming up. What do you want to focus on this week, Father?
[00:13:47] Speaker B: Well, okay.
I think there's always lots of cool stuff in our parish. And one of the cool things in our parish coming up is tomorrow's Ash Wednesday. We're excited about that. And we've got a young adults group this upcoming Saturday as well. Monthly young adults group is always fantastic. So much fun. And you might find this interesting to know. This Friday, I'm going to play a dodgeball game at Cardinal Newman High School. I'm looking forward to that. Wow. So there's lots of stuff. Lots of meetings with couples who want to get married. I mean, we're doing a lot of marriages every year. Lots of fun stuff. Mondays we got our. This upcoming Monday, our men's recollection retreat thing. It's always good if you haven't come to our men's little mini retreats once a month. Definitely want to encourage you to give it a shot. And lots of other cool stuff going on.
Yeah. But I've also got a show and tell item.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: This could become a new segment, so.
Whoa. What is this? Shell, shell. Shell. Shell. Shell. Shell. Shell.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Look at that.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: Whoa. Okay. Why am I showing you a shell today on the show and tell not just because it rhymes with tel, but because first off, it was already sitting in my office. Secondly, it really connects to Lent because Lent, we prepare to renew our baptismal promises. So maybe when you were baptized, maybe the priest or deacon used something like this shell to pour the water on you where God's grace and life was poured into you. And we recommit to that walk with the Lord. And so, you know, many people who do baptisms, they use a real shell. Sometimes you got little like, you could say gold shells. It may not be literal gold. And the. It just kind of is a long back use for baptisms. So think about your baptism. Think about how that happened. Think about how you can recommit to the Lord this Lent, especially when you renew your promises, baptismal promises at Easter. There's my show and tell.
[00:15:32] Speaker A: Beautiful. Love it. And that shell reminds me of the symbol for the Camino de Santiago. Wow, that's beautiful. Love it. And the Camino de Santiago reminds me of travel and reminds me of a pilgrims pilgrimage. Oh, pilgrimage that might be coming up.
[00:15:47] Speaker B: See what you did there. One that might be happening where we're on it on May. I think it starts May 11th to May 23rd. And we would love to have more pilgrims come with us to Rome if you want to be cool and be a pilgrim like us. Yeah. Holding this up. We're going to call it Pilgrim show.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: And for an opportunity to attend a live recording of the show.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: Live recording. You could be on the podcast if you wish. We won't force you.
[00:16:10] Speaker A: Be very exciting.
[00:16:11] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:16:12] Speaker A: I can't wait to see how that plays out.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Indeed. Okay.
[00:16:15] Speaker A: Well, none of this happens, of course, without the support of our amazing parishioners. And there's so many people doing great work at the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Who do you want to recognize this week?
[00:16:26] Speaker B: This week I want to give a shout out to Julie Conway. She is a wonderful parishioner who helps out. She ushers at 4pm Sunday Mass and she's just so faith filled. She loves the Lord so much and she really brings a beautiful faith and joy to our parish community. So, Julie, just want to say thank you. You're a blessing. Keep up the great work.
[00:16:46] Speaker A: All right. Beautiful. Thank you, Julie. That's awesome. And thank you, Father.
Well, that is just about all the time we have for today. Thank you for your insights. Shall we close with a prayer?
[00:16:55] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God, we thank you for this wonderful episode. As we've just reflected on how we can draw closer to you during this Lenten season, perhaps using the Stations of the Cross, perhaps using books that help us to enter more deeply into your word. And also just reflecting on how we want to recommit as your beloved disciples, to live as your light in the world, to be your hands and feet in the world, and to reflect more and more the face of Christ to those around us. Send your spirit upon all of us and help us to bring your light to the world. Bless our parish, bless our listeners. We pray this all in Jesus name. Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: Thank you for that, Father.
[00:17:34] Speaker B: My pleasure.
[00:17:34] Speaker A: And thank you for continuing to remind us that we were called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.
[00:17:41] Speaker B: All right, that's true.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: I guess we are called to witness. Thanks to our fans and friends and odds and ends for listening again this week through the Immaculate Heart of Mary social media channels, Apple podcasts, the Spotify and the YouTube. And if you like our show, subscribe and tell your friends. And if you don't like our show, tell your friends anyway and let them discern for themselves.
[00:18:05] Speaker B: They might have better judgment than you.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: But I'm not a judge, so witness.
Have a great week, everyone. We are Father Greg and JD Leaving you smarter, happier and more blessed than you were yesterday.
