Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: Hey everybody. Welcome to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish podcast with Fr. Greg and JD and in front of a live studio audience today. This is very exciting. Each week Father Greg and I connect on a variety of topics related to our faith and our parish in beautiful Winona, Ontario. We are here to help spread the good news and further our parish community.
This is episode 12 and we will be featuring St. Patrick and another great resource that you may see in front of us right now to help us advance in our faith. Remember, you can find us on the Spotify, Apple podcasts and the YouTube every week. Like or subscribe.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: I think the buttons are down there somewhere down here.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Somewhere down here. Okay. Maybe we should be doing this instead.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: No, we're confused them.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: We'll have to find out actually where the buttons are and then we'll point to the.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: We'll have to watch this of a video when it's done.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: What's exciting with you this week, Father?
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Well, today actually happened to be our priest Lenten day of prayer at the cathedral. So Frank Cardinal Leo was with us. I chatted with him. He gave us a talk. Very, very good. Last Saturday we had an awesome young adults group last night, Great men's retreat, preparing for school wide confession starting next week and first reconciliation, first communion, stations of the cross, lots of weddings. Maybe you saw on our social media the sisters of our Lady Immaculate. I was featured in their Saint Joseph novena and Lent is going fruitfully. So I actually prepared well for this time that you asked me what's new. So there you go.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: And there was a dodgeball match. Dodgeball last week.
[00:01:30] Speaker B: Totally. I didn't, I didn't. I didn't dodge that one.
[00:01:34] Speaker A: No, good one, sir.
Good one. I don't know why I call you sir.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: That's okay. That happens. Students do it too.
[00:01:40] Speaker A: Yeah, Father sir.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:01:43] Speaker A: Did you feel that anybody during the match was particularly had it in for you?
No. On your side or the other?
[00:01:49] Speaker B: No, no.
[00:01:49] Speaker A: But.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: But there was a time where I got hit and one of the teachers like, I can't believe that guy had a priest. Can't believe it.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: Straight to confession.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: I'm expecting that you would try to do that. Like I didn't expect that people are gonna avoid hitting me because I'm a priest. That'd be kind of lame. Yeah, it's a little entitled.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: It's almost like an instant win.
[00:02:07] Speaker B: That's why. Well, they joked. They were like, Father Greg led us to victory. I'm like, that is a very fun joke. But it's not true.
[00:02:14] Speaker A: Oh, wow. I do have a quick question before we begin this week. Is it true that a lost rosary is almost impossible to find? So my dad lost his and he searched for decades.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Nice. Which decades?
[00:02:27] Speaker A: All of them.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: All of them. That's a good play on words. That was good.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: Oh, gosh. Well, that's a Father Greg quality joke right there. And after a joke like that, you better start us off with a prayer.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: Sure. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God, we thank you that we have this chance to chat. And just be aware that you are present with us. And we ask that you would send your Holy Spirit upon all our listeners. Help them to feel your presence, know your love, and to know that they are treasured by you. And help us to always speak what you know will be best for us and for anyone impacted by this podcast. We ask Mary, St. Joseph, St. Michael, all the saints to pray for us and those who listen and watch to us. We pray this in Jesus name, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: Thank you, Father. Let's reveal our saint of the week. Each week we feature a saint or several and share some facts about their lives. As we strive to live out our mission as Catholics, we. We can always look to our saints for inspiration. Now, serendipitous moment today in the Rediscover Lent series by Matthew Kelly.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Nice. Which we put on. We noticed in our social media.
[00:03:28] Speaker A: Yes, we did Rediscover Lent.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: Matthew Kelly, dynamic Catholic.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: And if I can find the photo for today. Good golly gee whiz. Should be more prepared. Here we go. Today's reflection. He was talking about the saints, and he said, the difference between the saints and those who have been less successful in living the Christian life is that the saints affix their singleness of purpose on doing the will of God. They also had better habits than many of us. Not only external habits, but also internal habits. And one of those critical internal habits is the habit of the mind we call contemplation. So I thought it was a beautiful tie into to Lent, to our saint of the day, to St. Patrick.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: So I think what you're saying is saints really focus on God and that's what made them saints.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: Exactly right.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: That is very serendipitous. Which I had to go alert. And can I say what it.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: What it means. I was like, I want to make sure I know what this means. In case you don't know what serendipitous means. It means occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way. So it's like a happy coincidence. So there we go.
[00:04:31] Speaker A: Excellent. Good research.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Thank you for teaching us. That's like word of the week, which we don't normally have.
[00:04:35] Speaker A: Well, it's important to increase our language, as we've said before, as we try to understand more of the Bible. The Bible uses sophisticated language in many times, so it's really important for us to up our language game a bit.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: It was very serendipitous they used that.
[00:04:48] Speaker A: It was indeed. Well, St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was a 5th century missionary credited with converting the Irish to Christianity. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders at 16 and enslaved in Ireland. After escaping, he became a priest and later returned as a missionary.
Little known fact, he used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. I did not know that. He is celebrated on March 17, which is the start of next week after March break. And legends credit him with driving snakes from Ireland, though this is really more symbolic. His teachings and efforts helped establish Christianity in Ireland and his legacy remains strong in Irish culture and traditions. Celebrated worldwide with parades and festivities. And Maple Leafs hockey game where they wear their St. Pat's jerseys. Oh, really? Every. Every year on St. Patrick's Day. And I love this quote from St. Patrick. Christ beside me. Christ before me. Christ behind me. Christ with me. Christ beneath me. Christ above me.
Jesus, I trust in you.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: I knew you're gonna say it. That's good.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: That last part was a little bit of an awesome. Check back a few episodes. If you're wondering why that appears in.
[00:06:04] Speaker B: Every prayer we love. Jesus, I trust in you. Amazing, powerful prayer indeed.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: And then the very simple prayer. That's right, Very simple prayer. So as we looked up our prayer life on a bit of a tangent, there's a very simple one that we can always say, jesus, I trust in you.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: Which is what Jesus told St. Faustina he wanted on the image of divine mercy.
[00:06:24] Speaker A: Okay, all right. So much learning here.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: Amen. How serendipitous.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: It is time for Ask Father Greg. Each week we respond to a question submitted by a listener or one that we make up ourselves. This week, we're going to tie in a part of the Apostles Creed with upcoming Easter time. So the question is, did Jesus go to hell in between his death and resurrection?
[00:06:50] Speaker B: Good question. So question, question, question, question, question, question. Yeah, the question is, did Jesus go to hell? Literally, like the burning place of torment where there's no God there.
Because we say in the creed, I believe in God, et cetera, et cetera. And then we say he descended into hell about Jesus. So what does that mean?
So actually, it doesn't mean that Jesus went to a place of fiery pain and suffering, which God doesn't want anyone to go to anyways. But the sad thing is, people could freely choose to reject God's offer of salvation, and that means they would be, well, choosing not to be with the Lord forever. But that descended into hell is from the Latin ad adferna, which means the lower places or the realm of the dead, not actually the hell that you and I would often think of in that use of the word. So when Jesus died, he went to Sheol, the waiting place for the dead, where all of those who were righteous but couldn't go to heaven yet because it wasn't open yet by Jesus, they were waiting. So he descended into that place and then he preached the good news and he took them to heaven. And this. This whole thing of him going down and then bring them to heaven is called the harrowing of hell. That's just a common phrase for. For that reality. And that shows Jesus victory over sin and death. It also shows that his mercy goes to the lowest places. There's no place that God will not go to save his people. He loves us, he treasures us, and he wants us to share an eternal life. So hopefully that helps clarify that for anyone who might have found that a little strange.
[00:08:19] Speaker A: Okay. And probably maybe a good homily add in at one point in time, because I think the imagery of people might be that he's in the fiery place for a little while.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Yeah, which. Yeah, which. Because it's a place where you're not connected to God and He is God. It's almost like, yes, anything is possible with God, but it'd be really weird for, like, God to be the place where there's no God.
[00:08:39] Speaker A: True, true, true. Okay, thank you for that, Father.
We will now feature our Resource of the Week and as a Catholic podcast. We've talked about this resource often, but we haven't really featured it as a resource. So this week, the Bible, and we've got a few versions here that.
That we can showcase. I think your personal favorite, my recent favorite, is the Ascension Bible.
[00:09:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition, which is one I always recommend to people. This or the NRSV instead of the rsv. And I love this one because it's got the Bible timeline that Father Michael Schmitz and Jeff Cavan's Got. And he's got the coloring and that way you get the chronological order of what's happened in the Bible. I suspect there's even probably some charts and graphs in here. If you find them, we can hold them for our viewers. But yeah, it's really beautiful. We got some cool. Some cool maps. Cool stuff there. Really great, great adventure. Bible is what it's called, I think as well. Very, very good.
[00:09:41] Speaker A: Really does help give some more context to the geography. As they talk about entering and leaving different lands, they note significant events and feature them sort of, hey, this is a really big one. This is. This is one of the top 50 that you should be aware of.
And the timing that you mentioned is you can read it in a sequential way to get an understanding of how things happen in time and place. And there's also a great introduction to the different eras. That's one of the things in the layout of the Bible is that they break it down into. Or this one anyway is broken down into the different era.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: Chronological.
[00:10:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
And so they do a little bit of an introduction about why this era is significant and what we have to look forward to in each section.
So that's beautiful.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: Cool. What else you got here?
[00:10:27] Speaker A: I've also got one. Sometimes as we talk about the languages, I don't find it always accessible. And so the new international version is a little bit more plain language to help some of the more inaccessible parts. So may do an extra read of a segment there or a passage there just to try to see what's this part really saying. I was in a meeting the other day and we were talking about. It was the first two lines of a psalm and I wasn't getting it. I didn't understand. I knew all the words, but in that order. In that context I was lost about their significance. And so I flipped to common English translation and it helped me understand. Oh, okay. So this means their eyes are raised up and it means that they're not boastful and this type of thing. So sometimes an extra translation can be really helpful.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: Yeah, it can give you another vision. Sometimes translations can be like binoculars where if you have two eyes rather than one, you get three dimensions, so to speak. Right. So sometimes another perspective can enrich our depth, our perception of whatever the content is.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: Now, about the Bible, do you have a favorite book you on the spot.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: As in like book within the Bible, within the Bible.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: I know the Bible is your favorite.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: I would think so, hands down. But I think yeah, all the book, all of the Bible is amazing. Right? All of it is inspired by God, but I have a unique fondness for crack, which is wisdom literature in the Old Testament. Lots of proverbs stuff. I like the proverb type stuff too, obviously. It's all incredible. And I also really like Matthew's Gospel and especially like chapters five to seven, I really especially enjoy. I mean, it's all like, I risk saying that I don't like something else by saying these things and that's not what I want to say. And then Romans, St. Paul's letter to the Romans, especially Romans 8:28, has always really been helpful, which says all things work to the good of those who love God. So this idea that whatever happens, God is there and he's able to kind of turn and recalibrate, repurpose whatever happens to us, to the good. All things work to the good of those who love God. That's really profound when you think about it.
[00:12:34] Speaker A: Be another beautiful, beautiful verse to add to a list of sort of verses to consult regularly. I'm sure many of our listeners do have. Yeah, something like that, where they have kept memorable notable verses. And so Romans 8:28, we can include that as well also.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: We're on fire Bible.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: We're on fire Bible.
[00:12:52] Speaker B: Does it have pictures in it?
[00:12:53] Speaker A: It does have pictures. It has.
So this one just features the gospels and it also has commentary from.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: From like the fathers of the Church and stuff, I think.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Yeah, Bishop Barron does a lot of the commentaries. They have a lot of writings of Saint Irenaeus, for example, and they're also featuring art when it's important to the.
[00:13:17] Speaker B: Cool. You should hold it so they can.
[00:13:18] Speaker A: So you can see it. But let's let everybody else see it too. So this is the Roven Cathedral series.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: Just absolutely beautiful.
[00:13:25] Speaker B: There's another Bible for you. And then adds a little bit of.
[00:13:28] Speaker A: Context on the readings.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: Oh, here it is. Yeah. And this is just a regular standard old nrsv, C, E. Another good, good thing.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: Beautiful.
So we've talked to about the Bible in your podcast as a way of stepping through the Bible start. Yeah, but not everyone's up for thinking they can do the whole Bible at once. Is there, is there a place you would recommend starting? If someone say, you know what, I really want to try. Where should I start?
[00:13:58] Speaker B: I always recommend people start reading if they're going to read the Bible, start with Matthew. Just start with the New Testament and read from the beginning to the end of the New Testament. If you're not going to use some other book or podcast to help you to understand it Then at least just read starting Matthew and that's going to give you sort of the core of what the Bible is all about. Then you can always go back and read Genesis. But I mean, the danger in starting with Genesis, you start the first few books and then you hit like numbers, Leviticus, and they're like super detailed, you know, laws about all sorts of things. And then people can kind of get glazed over and lose their momentum. And so you don't want to run into that. So. And all of that really again, only is fulfilled in Jesus anyway. So Jesus is the center of the story. And then once you get the New Testament, everything in the Old Testament is all pre figuring and preparing for Jesus, so you'll be better able to understand the Old Testament anyways, once you know all the Jesus stuff.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: All the Jesus stuff.
I confess to having started the Bible in a year, last year, and got bogged down in the middle. I just, it became so heavy and so detailed that I got lost, but found a new starting point. I thought, okay, I need to reinvigorate this adventure. And I started with the Gospels, so I started with the Gospels in through the letter. So the New Testament start to finish, and it really was eye opening and gave me a fresh start to continuing.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: The Bible in your podcast is amazing. I don't know of a better resource, I think, for helping people to just go through and get an explanation. But again, everyone's got to find what works for them.
[00:15:32] Speaker A: Excellent. Perfect.
All right, well, we are into week two of Lent now.
What's going down this week in Lent? Like, is it too late if we haven't started Lenten things personally?
[00:15:44] Speaker B: Definitely not too late.
[00:15:45] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:15:46] Speaker B: It's never too late. But, you know, when it comes to this beautiful season of Lent, we don't want to miss out on all the potential growth that we could have. Right? We want to be the best person we can be. And in Lent, we're, you know, with Jesus in the desert for 40 days, looking at our lives, seeing what is really here in our life. Where is our time going? Where is our attention going? And does this align with our beliefs as Christians? Is this really aligned with a call from Jesus to live as his disciples? And so our prayer, our fasting and almsgiving are really meant to lead us to a deeper friendship with Jesus and a deeper love for God and neighbor. And otherwise they're kind of maybe not on the right foundation, even if they're very good. So it's never too late to start. And if you have been a little bit Slow to kind of find out what you're doing for lent. Just take 10 minutes, set a timer on your phone for 10, 15 minutes and just say, come, Holy Spirit, guide me. And then think, what are the biggest areas in your life where you could get closer to God through prayer, through fasting, some kind of self denial, some kind of self control and alms, giving, sharing what you've been blessed with, with others. And really you put some thought into it and kind of make a firm decision to try your best to either stick with those or to improve them. If you can find a way to improve your resolutions. Right. And if you do that, hey, we're only like not even a week into Lent right now as we record this, there's still lots of time. It's not too late. And every, every week is really cool because in Lent, every Sunday has special, special theme and every daily mass has a special theme. And so I really find that exciting, darling, to dive into the daily theme that the readings give us.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Beautiful.
It's very comforting for those who may feel they missed the boat earlier and you know, it's too late, but definitely not too late. Dive in, a little bit of contemplative prayer and off you go.
[00:17:27] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:17:28] Speaker A: Well done.
Well, there's so much happening in our church community. You alluded to some of the events that happened in the past. What is happening coming up that you wanted to focus on?
[00:17:38] Speaker B: Well, RCIA still happened in Tuesdays.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: RCA rciarca.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: That's right, yeah. If anyone here wants to learn about becoming Catholic, if you or family member friend wants to become Catholic, let us know. We're happy to help them. But they're journeying ever closer to when they become Catholic at Easter. We're excited for them. Chosen Series, Saturday Nights, the Chosen Series. Another great resource we talked about before. Very, very engaging, very fun, very, very powerful.
Nice. At Columbus are meeting tomorrow night. This Saturday I get to speak to the St. Anne's young adults group on Barden, which is fun for me. Lots of stuff. Check our bulletin for more cool dates. But also, as we always do, the plug right now for the Rome Pilgrimage. Rome Romero.
There we go. That sounded kind of lame. I think I overdid it. But in any case, Rome pilgrimage, May 11 to May 23, come with JD and I for a lifetime experience you'll never forget. To the Eternal City in the jubilee year with Pope Francis. At least we assume Pope Francis will be there. And it's going to be a wonderful trip to see incredible sights. So there we go.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: Beautiful. Excellent. Well There are all these events. None of these things happen on their own. They all require the intervention of our great parishioners. And who would you like to shout out at the parish this week?
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Well, today, actually, just this afternoon, I bumped into Teresa Bennett and Adele Van Troost, and they have this cool Crafters Tuesday thing they do every once in a while. Really allows people to have some fun, make some cool things, nice little community thing. And they made some St. Patrick's Day cookies they showed me today. And they look really good, Like, I didn't eat them, but they looked really fancy, really impressive. And I was like, these people are contributing something beautiful to our parish. So special. Shout out. And thank you to Teresa Bennett, Adele vantrews. Not only for that, but the many other ways they're involved in our parish and do amazing things. Thank you, Theresa. Thank you, Adele.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: Oh, thank you very much, Teresa and Adele. Your. Your participation is awesome and inspiring indeed. Thank you. Well, that is just about all the time we have for this week. Thank you for your insights, Father. Shall we close with a prayer?
[00:19:37] Speaker B: Sure. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. God, we thank you for the fun, the joy and the fruitfulness of this episode of our podcast. And just help all those who listen and watch to experience you, to let something spark their mind and heart, especially as we journey through Lent right now as a way of them knowing again that you are with them, that you love them, and that they are invited to close friendship with you. That friendship which will satisfy the desires of their heart, which you alone can do, because you are perfect truth, perfect goodness, perfect beauty and perfect love. May you bless our parishioners and guide us in our podcast always. We pray this in Jesus name, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: Thank you for that, Father. And thank you for continuing to remind us how difficult it is to give away compassion, because it keeps coming back.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Can you explain that one?
[00:20:29] Speaker A: Sorry.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: Compassion. It keeps coming back.
[00:20:33] Speaker A: More language.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Okay. Okay.
[00:20:34] Speaker A: More language. That's great. Well, thanks to our fans and friends and odds and ends for joining us again this week through the Immaculate Heart of Mary social media channels, the Apple podcast, the Spotify, and the YouTube. 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. Have a great week, everyone. We are Father Greg and JD Leaving you smarter, happier, and more blessed than you were yesterday.
[00:21:01] Speaker B: Cheers.
[00:21:02] Speaker A: Cheers.
