Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, everybody. It's the 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 and our parish in Winona, Ontario. We are here to help spread the good news and further unite our parish community.
Love the mimes.
This is episode number 23, and we'll be focusing on the solemnity of the most holy body and the blood of Christ, Saint Aloysius Gonzaga and Saint Vincent de Paul.
Remember, you can find us on the Spotify, Apple podcasts and the YouTube every week. So please like and subscribe and we will find your inbox. I don't know if we find your inbox, but the podcast finds its way to you every week magically, without much effort from us.
So welcome back from your priest conference.
[00:00:47] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: We missed you here, but we had a couple of brilliant visits with seminarian Giuseppe.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: I'm sure.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: What was one of the highlights for you?
[00:00:57] Speaker B: We had really, really good talks about priestly life and how to be better priests. And they were very encouraging, very fruitful, great tips. And then also just being around with other priests who are striving to be the best priests possible. It's always inspiring. There was a pool.
Got to use that a little bit, too. That was fun pool.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: What were you betting on?
[00:01:14] Speaker B: I was betting on Jesus.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: 100% odds.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: That's right. Exactly.
[00:01:22] Speaker A: When we talked after you came back, you mentioned unproductive rest.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: And the ability to shut down and to rest. And the day after that, there was a post on Franciscan media site that talked exactly about that.
And it was along the lines of, why?
What did Jesus do to prevent burnout?
And it was his ability to retreat, whether it's on a boat or to prayer on the mountain or in the forest. And so it really kind of brought to life that idea of being able to go and recharge. And it was a perfect parallel with your experience down in Florida.
So, yeah, so we all need to have a boat ready to be able to escape to so that we can all fulfill whatever vocations that we're filling.
I do have a quick question before we go.
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Great.
[00:02:16] Speaker A: It's starting to get warmer. In the summer, do you increase the prayer conditioning in church during the summer?
[00:02:22] Speaker B: We very strongly increase the prayer conditioning.
Put on Max.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: That is a father, great quality joke right there. After that, you better start us off with a prayer.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Sure. We got to up the prayer conditioning. So the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen. God, I thank you for this day. Thank you for this podcast, thank you for this parish and all those who are listening or watching. I just ask that you pour out your Holy Spirit upon all of us. Help us to be led by your Holy Spirit to find you, Lord. To find that you being at the center of our life brings us to joy, happiness, and peace. Help us to more and more be close to you, Jesus, and help us to reflect you and to spread your presence to others.
May Mary always help us to do this. We pray this in Jesus name the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:03:06] Speaker A: Thank you for that.
Well, let's reveal our saint of the week. Each week we do feature a saint and share some facts about their lives. You know, as we strive to live out our lives as Catholics, we can always look to our saints for inspiration.
So this week, we are featuring Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, one of the few saints whose names we fully pronounce all the time.
Saint Gonzaga was born into Italian nobility during the Renaissance and became a model of holiness despite growing up amid violence, corruption, and luxury. Though his father hoped he would become a military hero, Aloysius experienced a deep spiritual awakening. At age 7, he committed himself to intense prayer, including the office of Mary and the Psalms. By 11, he was already teaching catechism to poor children and practicing strict austerities.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: Hey, what's catechism? Catechism, it's when you teach the faith. Oh, what's austerities?
[00:03:58] Speaker A: Austerities, it's habits.
[00:04:01] Speaker B: Could be. Yeah, Austerity is kind of like sacrificing stuff. Sacrificing comforts. So if you. If you're. If you're practicing strict austerity, you're really not giving your body a lot of comfort or pleasure. You're maybe eating less or sleeping less or giving other. Offering other sacrifices. Physically, usually perfect. I just figure some people might not know what catechism or austerity is.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: Well done. And if they're looking for more information about the catechism, there's always the catechism in a year.
And a beautiful book that I can see over on your bookshelf over there, too.
At 13, he traveled with his family and the Empress of Austria to the Spanish court, where he served as a page.
And disillusioned by the decadence of court life, he found inspiration in the lives of saints and Jesuit missionaries.
So he then resolved to join the Society of Jesus.
[00:04:47] Speaker B: Is that the Jesuits?
[00:04:48] Speaker A: That's the Jesuits.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:04:50] Speaker A: Whoa.
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Became a Jesuit.
[00:04:55] Speaker A: Yes. He did.
And this led to a bit of a conflict with his father, who tried to dissuade him by enlisting very prominent figures. But eventually Aloysius did renounce his noble inheritance and and joined the Jesuits.
So once he was in the order, he had to adapt to a more balanced view of penance, including eating adequately, socializing and limiting prayer to designated times for the rules of the order that he had joined.
And during. This is very interesting. In 1591, during a plague in Rome, he cared for the sick at a Jesuit run hospital.
He contracted the illness and although he initially recovered, remains severely weakened. And he continued to pray fervently foreseeing his death within the octave of Corpus Christi. And true to his vision, he died at the age of 23, exemplifying devotion, sacrifice and sanctity. So he envisioned dying during that time of Corpus Christi. And that's exactly what happened. And Corpus Christi will be coming up in a couple more minutes here.
Gonzaga is the patron saint of Catholic youth, teenagers and seminarians.
So profoundly influential there.
And we do have a quote.
Let's see. It is better to be a child of God than king of the whole world, which I think is a very brilliant viewpoint and one shared by many.
And Jesus, I trust in you. I'm sure he must have said that.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: I'm sure he did a number of times. We don't have proof of it. Maybe right now, but.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: But it's out there.
[00:06:24] Speaker B: Someone does.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: It's out there somewhere.
Okay, it's time for Ask Father Greg. Each week we respond to a question submitted by a listener or one we make up ourselves.
And this week is drawn from the Catechism in a year. And Father Mike Schmitz talked about praying the Hours as one of two commitments he made when he was ordained as a priest, and that it takes place five times a day. So does this mean you're praying an hour per session? Five times a day?
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Good question.
So I happen to have something here just by chance.
[00:07:01] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:07:02] Speaker B: It's called the Liturgy of the Hours. There's four volumes. This is volume three, which is what we'd be using right now because of the week in Ordinary Time. It's pretty thick because it has a lot. And pray it anyways. So priests make a promise at their ordination to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, which is also called sometimes the Breviary or the Divine Office.
So those are pretty interchangeably used. The brivi of the hours, Divine office. Those are the hours.
And so the priest makes a promise to pray for his people using this. And there are indeed five times. A diocesan priest is only required to do five. There are actually seven, but there's five in order. Usually it goes Office of Readings, which includes some psalms, and also includes writings from scripture and from saints. And then there's morning prayer, which is again, psalms, a lot of scripture.
There's daytime prayer, evening prayer, and night prayer.
Morning prayer, sometimes called lauds or praises.
Daytime prayer, there's actually three. There's mid morning, midday and mid afternoon. But you just only have to do one of them.
As a regular daoist and priest, you could do more if you want, but.
And then evening prayer is often called vespers. So if you hear someone say, let's pray vespers, they mean evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. And then night prayer is also called compline.
And so they don't take. Even though we call them hours, we don't mean that in a literal sense. It's not like they are.
Whoa. It's a whole hour to pray. The office of readings, no, the hours of readings is maybe around 15 minutes. Morning prayers around 10, 15 minutes. Day temporary is around 5 minutes.
Evening prayer, again is about 10 minutes, maybe 15.
And then night prayers maybe about, depending on how you do it, maybe five, ten minutes. So I would say, generally speaking, you would be praying the bravery for about at least 45 minutes a day, I'd say, because we don't want to rush it too much.
It is considered the sacred liturgy, like, it's the highest thing we do after the Mass.
So it's considered the official prayer of the church. It is sacred liturgy.
And so, in fact, the church says that lay people are very welcome to pray. They're encouraged to, but not required to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
And it is the official prayer of the church. So, you know, it's really cool because whatever you're praying in the Liturgy of the Hours has to do with that day. It could be if it's a special saint day, just like at Mass, we have special prayers or readings. Sometimes the same is true in the Liturgy of the Hours. And so it really kind of plugs you in, and everyone's praying Liturgy of the Hours all over the world.
So there's this kind of powerful unity of the whole church at prayer, immersed in scripture, praying for the church and the world.
Just as in the early church, members of the church got together, they prayed together, they prayed for the church, they recited the psalms. And so we've been doing that right from the beginning of Christianity. And this is the way that the Holy Spirit guided the church to continue that important practice.
[00:10:04] Speaker A: So to increase our prayerful life, this would be a great way. And really, you know, if you break it into 15 minute devotions during the day, it's really takes the pressure off of it. I'll say, if we want to, you know, if people are worried about the amount of time that it's going to take to, to complete the devotion and what a great way to connect more to your faith. And we talk often about the ways of increasing prayer life and how to make it more accessible to people. And here's, here's another beautiful way that that's possible.
Ah, super.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: Thank you for that. Yeah. So the priest promises to pray for his people. So in a special way, I'm praying for my parish. Right. I'm praying for the whole church in the world, but I'm praying for my parish. It's one of the ways that the priest is a spiritual father. He's being a father by interceding for his people.
[00:10:57] Speaker A: Wonderful.
Okay, let's talk about our resource of the week. And usually it's a book or a podcast or something like that, but take a bit of a different twist this week with a resource being something accessible at the parish level or at the diocesan level to help support our families in St. Vincent de Paul. And we are in the process of attending a conference. Well, I think I can say we do have a conference.
[00:11:25] Speaker B: That's right. That's right. So not only do we have St. Vincent de Paul himself ready to pray for you and help, we also have the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which is a beautiful international movement in the church that really reaches out to help those in need in any kind of way, especially if they're poor, homeless or whatever it might be that they're struggling with.
So, yeah, we're really excited because our parish has a brand new, what's called a conference.
And so we're excited. And what does a conference of St. Vincent de Paul Society do? It is there to help with any needs in the local community.
So we're going to be available to help. Are there families that are in our community that need some extra resources, some extra help, a lift up, a little extra food, whatever it is, that's what they're there for. And I think it's a beautiful way, one more beautiful way that our parish is really putting the gospel in action. Like we, we talk so much about our own personal relationship with Jesus, but we're also called not just to talk the talk, but to walk the walk. And this is, I think, a beautiful way that we're doing that. And I'm so proud our parish and proud of those who have stepped up to answer this call from God. So it's a great resource. So if you know someone who's in our community that needs a little help in the areas I just described, please let us know and we can get them connected with St. Vincent de Paul Society.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: And I remember just over a year ago, you started praying on this matter and wishing to have a conference developed here and hear your prayers have been answered. Who. So, yeah.
[00:12:55] Speaker B: You're even involved in this?
[00:12:57] Speaker A: I'm even involved.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: Are you the dispatcher?
[00:12:58] Speaker A: I am the dispatcher.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: That's amazing.
[00:13:00] Speaker A: I feel a little bit of.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: You.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Know, emergency services kind of with that title.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: That's good. You're the dispatcher.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: And. And maybe that's one way of thinking of the local conference. It's a spiritual emergency services.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: To be able to help our. To be able to help our local community. So we're looking. Really looking forward to involvement in that.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: And now, moving on to our calendar, Sunday is the solemnity of the most holy body and blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi, which connects to our Saint Aloysius Gonzaga from earlier.
[00:13:36] Speaker B: Right.
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Don't we kind of celebrate this, like, every week?
[00:13:41] Speaker B: Well, every. Every Sunday, in fact, even every day, we have mass where the body and blood of Christ is present. Corpus Christi is Latin for the body of Christ. Christ.
And so the church. It's a beautiful story. Look up the story of how Corpus Christi got started as a feast. But it's. It's. It's kind of like one of those things where we need to have special things, special milestones that keep coming up to renew our awareness of some things we already have. Right. Sometimes we get complacent. We start getting too used to things. Could be anything. Could be a family member, could be friend, could be what we do. But also it could be something in our faith. Right. And so, like, it's easy for us if we go to mass every Sunday, which is the goal, of course, to be like, well, hey, I'm just receiving Jesus Christ in his body and blood again, do, do, do, do, do. But, like, we don't ever want to just get kind of too comfy. Like, yeah, we want to be happy. We want to be joyful, but we don't want to be like, well, duh, of course I get Jesus. Num, num, num. Move on with my life. Like, we have to be like, Wow. I have Jesus. Like, whoa. He's in my heart.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: Whoa. Like, we want to have this amazement, Eucharistic amazement, Saint Pope John Paul II talked about. So this is a way to renew our devotion to Jesus and the Eucharist and to really celebrate it.
[00:14:52] Speaker A: That's a brilliant analogy. I love that. And I've never heard of receiving the Eucharist and nom, nom, nom in the same sentence.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: So happy to really add value to your life. What other new sounds do you need to hear?
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Oh, gosh. Okay. So that's incredible. No, I love how you put that together. That recognizing something that we take part in regularly or we see regularly and making it special so that we remind how important it really is for us.
[00:15:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: Right on.
If I look just past your shoulder there, I see something next to planty.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, no, I do, actually. I'm just joking. That's a joke.
Yeah.
[00:15:29] Speaker A: Show, show, show, tell, tell.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: Show, show, tell, tell, tell. This is what's called a cincture. It goes around the waist, usually of the priest or deacon. When they vest, even ultra servers sometimes have a cincture. As you can see, it's a green cincture for Ordinary Time, which we just started. Again.
Check this out. You can tie cinctures, and then you can open them like this. Oh, wait. Didn't work. Oh, one sec.
That's just to get you excited. What I really meant to do is. Boom.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: Magic.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: Whoa.
And it goes around your waist. And it's not just a belt, although it does act as a belt in a sense, too. It's also a symbol of our purity of heart, of the virtue of chastity.
And so there's prayers when the priest puts on different vestments. So gird me, O Lord, with the cincture of purity and quench in my heart the fire of concupiscence that the virtue of chastity may always abide within me. So that's the prayer for the cincture.
So there you go. Now you know what that thing's called? Cincture.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: Okay. Wow. All right. Show and tell, everybody.
And tonight we've got the St. Gabriel's graduation happening, and it's a liturgy. And you mentioned Mass liturgy. Slight difference between the two.
[00:16:41] Speaker B: Yeah, Liturgy. All. All Masses are liturgies, but not all liturgies are Masses.
[00:16:45] Speaker A: Okay?
[00:16:47] Speaker B: So, like, sometimes we'll hear just in regular speak, like, hey, is that a Mass or a liturgy? And if it's. Is that a master of liturgy? It means, okay, is that. Is that where, like, the priest prays Eucharistic prayer and we're gonna have Holy Communion, or is it just where we have the readings, but we don't actually have the Holy Communion stuff. So liturgy, the word is just often sign of the cross, little welcome readings, maybe a homily or something, and then maybe some petitions. Our Father closing prayer. That's the general framework of how a liturgy would go. And so, for example, some people get married, and when they get married, we'd love when they get married. When they get married, they might have a wedding Mass or a wedding liturgy, and they get to choose.
Both are valid in the eyes of the church. And there's different pros and cons to those, because if you have a ton of people that aren't Catholic and they can't share in the Eucharist, they don't know what's going on. Sometimes it might be better for your guests or whatever you're envisioning to have a liturgy if you want it shorter. Liturgies are shorter. But if you're really loving the Eucharist and you really know that people are going to be appreciating that, then you say, yeah, we really want a Mass.
So there's freedom there.
[00:17:47] Speaker A: Okay. Wow. I just feel there's been so much learning today.
Everyone's going to be so much more knowledgeable about the faith and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and everything that's going on around here. And just before we go, you know, there is so much going on in our parish massed liturgy tonight, St. Vincent de Paul now, and there's so many great people doing great work at the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Who would you like to recognize in the parish this week?
[00:18:13] Speaker B: There's a really sweet lady. I think you've met her before. Her name is Rain, and Rain is. It just happens that Rain is James's wife. And Rain has very generously stepped up to be the president of the new St. Vincent de Paul Society conference we have at our parish. So, like, definitely deserving of a shout out. Here's to Rain here. Let's even do a cheers. Cheers.
[00:18:35] Speaker A: To Rain.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: Sip. To Rain. And the great things she's doing.
[00:18:40] Speaker A: Excellent.
[00:18:40] Speaker B: Extra good. Because I was thinking about how great Rain is.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: That's wonderful. Thank you for that.
Well, that is just about all the time we have for today. Thank you for your insights, Father. Shall we close with a prayer? Sure.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen. God, I thank you again for all your blessings. May you continue to pour out your Holy Spirit powerfully upon each of us wherever we are. Help us to know your presence, your love, your care, and help us to continue to draw close to you in the good and loving plans you have for us. May Mary watch over us. We pray this in Jesus name, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Do you like how I turned up the prayer conditioning? Yes.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I feel more relieved already.
[00:19:18] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: That's beautiful. Well, thank you, Father. And thank you for your insights. And thank you for reminding us always to plan ahead, remembering that it wasn't raining when Noah started building the ark.
[00:19:29] Speaker B: Happy to help you plan ahead.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: And thanks for our fans and friends and odds and ends for joining us this week through the Immaculate Heart of Mary social media channel channels, the 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. Have a great week, everyone. We are Father Greg and JD Leaving you smarter, happier and more blessed than you were yesterday.
Another one.
