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Audio
A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-9
"A novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Day 9, for the grace to become the praise of the glory of the Holy Trinity. In the heart of the Holy Trinity, the music of eternal praise echoes without ceasing in an eternal now. The Son reveals to the Father His glory in the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, the Father blesses His Son anew. This blessing is not a reality of the past or future, but of the eternal present. This means that this very moment we have together resounds with this canicle of love that the three divine persons share with one another. The world came from this music and is directed to it, and the contemplative soul helps this mystery be realized. The praise of glory. St. Elizabeth believed that this was her vocation, the secret name that God had given her from all eternity. She believed that St. Paul had revealed it to her. In Ephesians, we learn that we have been predestined in Christ, the Beloved of the Father, for this great purpose. This is the Father's plan of love for us. This praise of glory is what the Holy Spirit produces in us if we will surrender ourselves completely to His divine touch. St. Elizabeth sees us as musical instruments capable of joining in the Holy Trinity's great hymn of praise. This music is beautiful, but to produce it, the Holy Spirit must tune us first. This is painful. As long as we get caught up in internal emotional storms or else allow ourselves to be distracted by the things that are not God's will, we are out of tune. Conversely, the more our interior life is in harmony with His mystery, the more beautiful the praise we are able to offer. To ponder this is to begin to understand the last petition of St. Elizabeth's prayer to the Trinity, namely, she asked the Trinity to be buried in her so that she might bury herself in the Trinity. To be buried, this speaks about a death and being laid to rest. St. Elizabeth understands the radical extent to which the Holy Trinity has given itself to humanity, revealed in Christ, crucified, and buried in the tomb. The humanity of Christ makes known that God will hold nothing back to rescue us from death and to win our heart to join His eternal praise of glory. She sees her own heart as the tomb in which God has buried Himself. The death of Christ is always personal for her. He gave Himself for me. To accept this gift in a personal way is to be caught up in the mystery of salvation, just as Jesus was laid in the tomb on Good Friday, can come into a soul and rest there in a new way. And the more it rests in the soul, the more that soul has the opportunity to rest in the Trinity. This feels like a total annihilation, but it is a radical identification with Christ's salvific offering. Just as Jesus transformed His tomb into a sign of victory, He transforms hearts that accept His total gift of love on the cross. If they will die to themselves, He will give them life. To believe in Jesus is to die to oneself in the Trinity, to be laid to rest in the Trinity, to be buried in the Trinity. In order that the mystery of the Holy Trinity, through the life of Christ within, might raise one up on high. In this mystical death, the new life of Christ takes root in our souls. He is the praise of the Father's glory, and when we die to ourselves, we allow His praise to swell up anew within us. The Holy Spirit tunes our hearts by communicating the whole mystery of Christ into us and identifying all the inner movements of our hearts with the movements of Christ. Every thought is captive, and every inordinate desire dies away, and our inner strength is perfected. The new desires and glorious thoughts of Christ Himself make it possible to praise the Father as the risen Lord praises Him, together with all of the heavenly hosts. Together, delighting the heart of the Father anew, we have found a way to extend the salvific work of Christ in our lives and in our communities, at a time when our neighbors most need a word of hope. Let us pray that the vocation of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity becomes our own vocation too, to be this praise of glory. O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely, so as to be established in you, as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace, nor make me depart from you, O my unchanging one, but may each moment carry me further into the depths of your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action. O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart. I would like to cover you with glory. I would like to love you until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to clothe me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of your life. Come into me as a doer, as healer, as savior. O eternal word, word of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you. I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. O my beloved star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light. O consuming flame, spirit of love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the word. May I be for him another humanity in which he renews his whole mystery. And you, O Father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow, and in her see only the beloved in whom you are well pleased. O my three, my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me in order that I might bury myself in you while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur. Amen.
Audio
A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-5
"A novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, day five, for the grace of being overcome by the fire of God's love. For St. Elizabeth, the Holy Spirit is the consuming fire of God's love. To offer oneself to the Lord, one needs to allow one's whole existence to be set on fire by this divine love. This means a total offering of oneself analogous to the offering of holocaust prescribed in the Mosaic law. Before Christ, such an offering would be completely consumed in the sacred fire before the altar of sacrifice. It was a sign of what God deserves from us, and with that acknowledgement, the people's worship was deemed acceptable to the Lord. Christ's offering of Himself on the cross was the perfect fulfillment of this practice, only it was not earthly flames that consumed His self -offering. Instead, He burned with the gift of the Father's love, and through this obedient love opened up a pathway for us to render the Holy Trinity a hymn of praise so beautiful, God is utterly delighted by it. Why should God be delighted by what we offer Him? It is because the Holy Spirit renews the mystery of the Word made flesh in us through our faith in Christ. The Word of the Father, the Radiant One, not only captivates the hearts of those who seek Him, but He is also the greatest delight of the Father. The Father delights in His Son because His Son communicates the truth about His love, and this is the Father's glory. Born out of the silent fullness of the Father's heart, the glory that the Word reveals makes all things new. When the Father spoke His Word into our humanity, He renewed humanity so that Christ's humanity became the instrument to reveal the glory of God. The Holy Spirit renews this whole mystery in us when we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by His coming into our hearts. When we accept what Christ has done for us out of love for the Father, the love with which Christ burned burns in us. This fire purifies us of our attachments to sin, and at the same time implicates us in the plight of those whom God has sent into our lives. In this way, we discover new liberty to give ourselves in love of God and our neighbor that we did not have before. It is the freedom of Christ, the One crucified by love. Through this gift of the Holy Spirit, the Father even recognizes the beauty of Christ in us, a beauty that delights Him and a beauty that saves the world. St. Elizabeth understands that, in a certain sense, being overwhelmed by the fire of the Holy Spirit extends the mystery of the Incarnation through our humanity into the circumstances, relationships and events of our lives. The more we surrender our humanity to the love of Christ and die to our plans, the more vulnerable we are to this movement of love at work in us. The mission that St. Elizabeth exercises from heaven is geared to the total transformation of our lives that the Holy Spirit accomplishes when we make ourselves vulnerable to His holy, simple and wholly loving movement in us. For this kind of openness, let us pray. Oh my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely, so as to be established in you as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace nor make me depart from you, oh my unchanging one. But may each moment carry me further into the depths of your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action. Oh my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart. I would like to cover you with glory. I would like to love you until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to close me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of your life. Come into me as a door, as healer, as savior. Oh eternal word, word of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you. I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. Oh my beloved star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light. Oh consuming flame, spirit of love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the word. May I be for him another humanity in which he renews his whole mystery. And you, oh Father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow, and in her see only the beloved in whom you are well pleased. Oh my three, my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me, in order that I might bury myself in you, while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur. Amen.
Audio
A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-2
"A novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, day two. For the grace to give our hearts to Jesus. St. Elizabeth wants us to give our hearts to Jesus, to enter into a prayer so deep and beautiful that we hear him ask for it. She invites us to hear the word of the Father speak to our souls, the way the Samaritan woman heard Christ speak to hers. Our Lord wants adores in spirit and truth. For St. Elizabeth, Jesus is the great adorer. He wants us to become what he is. When we look at how he adored the Father, we see that his prayer was not a good intention or a nice wish, but a lived reality. What Christ offered to the Father in the silence of prayer, he gave up on the cross for our sake. His whole existence became an act of worship and spiritual sacrifice. This means that to be an adorer in truth, we must also live out the truth in our actions. We must give Jesus the gift of our hearts, not only in our words and intentions, but our actions as well. Here, however, our weaknesses seem to hinder us. The truth is that God loves us, and he does so even in the face of our sins. Christ crucified lived in the love of the Father, even as he took on the consequences of our sins to show us that God's love is greater than sin. Everything for Jesus was done out of love for the Father. For us to be adorers in truth, we must be like Christ, live in God's love, until every decision, every action is carried out in that love, by that love, and for that love. Even in the midst of difficult trials, our actions must be Christlike. Just as Jesus Christ lived by complete confidence in the Father, we must live in complete confidence in him. How do we acquire this childlike posture before the Lord? St. Elizabeth wants to help us spend time in the silence of prayer. Trying to stay in this silence is difficult. We must face our tendencies to brood over injuries, or else simply not deal with the interior pain that we carry. Silence wasted on such interior rancor is dangerous. St. Elizabeth describes another kind of silence. And it is this silence that we must seek in prayer by renouncing every thought or feeling or fantasy that is not worthy of it. Each renunciation deepens childlike confidence and trust. The greater this trust, the deeper the silence God guides us into. She describes this silence as allowing the Lord to sit us on his knee and caress us, like a mother comforts her child. An image from Isaiah. Throughout the trials and difficulties in life, the silent and tender love of God surrounds us and is completely present to us. This is the same love that gave Christ the strength to die for us. Now the Trinity gently offers it to strengthen us too. In the silence of prayer, we can hear and respond to God's gentle invitation. Give me your heart. The spiritual mission of St. Elizabeth is to keep us in the deep silence in which we can hear this tender voice, so that she might help us give our hearts in the stillness of this immense love. Let us pray. Oh my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely, so as to be established in you, as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace, nor make me depart from you, oh my unchanging one. But may each moment carry me further into the depths of your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action. Oh my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart. I would like to cover you with glory. I would like to love you until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to close me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of your life. Come into me as a door, as healer, as savior. Oh eternal word, word of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you. I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. Oh my beloved star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light. Oh consuming flame, spirit of love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the word. May I be for him another humanity in which he renews his whole mystery. And you, oh Father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow, and in her see only the beloved in whom you are well pleased. Oh my three, my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me in order that I might bury myself in you while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur. Amen.
Audio
A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-8
"A novena to Elizabeth of the Trinity, Day 8 For the grace of possessing heaven already in this life. For St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, the veil between heaven and earth is thin. If we listen carefully with the ear of our heart, we can hear Mary share with us what she heard from Christ as he offered his great hymn of praise from the cross. It is a canticle so beautiful, so exquisite, it reaches the very heart of the Father and fills the whole world with a salvific love. Through Mary's presence in our agony, if we let her, St. Elizabeth explains that the Mother of the Lord will teach us how to sing this same canticle so that we can do something beautiful for God. She is with us to the very end. This is why St. Elizabeth calls Mary, Gate of Heaven. As beautiful as this is, there are other canticles of praise that Elizabeth invites us to hear. She shares the 144 ,000 gathered around the throne of the Lamb and she hears the elders who cry out, Holy, Holy, Holy, as they cast down their crowns before the risen Lord. The glory, praise, and silence of the saints echo in this life so that we too might know their joy. St. Elizabeth wants us to hear this eternal hymn of praise and imitate it. A life lived in humility, simplicity, and recollection avails itself to such imitation and when it does, heaven becomes present in this life by faith. By faith, what is in heaven becomes present on earth. In the humble limits of the present moment and circumstances, we can participate in the great praise of glory that the angels and saints offer in heaven. Heaven is not a remote or future reality. Heaven, even if hidden from our earthly eyes, is close by and present. It is present in the mass. It is also present in everything, because by faith, everything and anything can become a sacrament that gives us God. The love of heaven is present to us by faith. This is because faith makes us open to the presence of God dwelling in our souls. Wherever God dwells, there is heaven. The heaven of glory, with all the angels and saints, is present to our soul because this heaven is never separate from God. This means in the heaven of our souls, where God dwells, the heaven of glory is already breaking in. For the person of faith already implicated in the glory of heaven, nothing and no one is ever ordinary or commonplace. Every life event, no matter how small or large, how disappointing or joyful, is always a new opportunity for the soul to encounter the immensity of God's love. The Trinity's excessive love changes everything. Even the most ordinary tasks become charged with new and everlasting meaning. This means that no one who believes ever really has an ordinary life. Through faith, this passing life is open to the greatness of eternity. Time for St. Elizabeth is nothing other than eternity begun and still in progress. In relation to the grace of living heaven by faith, St. Elizabeth's mission finds its footing in the great prayer of Jesus the night before he died. On that night, he offered a supreme prayer in his heart's desires, that we might dwell where he dwells. The Son of the Father dwells in the Father's love, and St. Elizabeth is praying that we might realize Jesus' divine dream and dwell with him in this great love too. For this purpose, let us pray. Oh my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely so as to be established in you as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace, nor make me depart from you, oh my unchanging one, but may each moment carry me further into the depths of your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action. Oh my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart. I would like to cover you with glory. I would like to love you until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to clothe me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of your life. Come into me as a doer, as healer, as savior. Oh eternal word, word of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you. I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. Oh my beloved star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light. Oh consuming flame, spirit of love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the word. May I be for him another humanity in which he renews his whole mystery. And you, oh Father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow, and in her see only the beloved in whom you are well pleased. Oh my three, my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me, in order that I might bury myself in you, while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur.
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A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-6
"A novena to Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, day six, for the grace of living in the shadow of the Father. Jesus lived in the shadow of the Father. To be under this shadow is to accept a paradoxical mystery. In his humiliation, he was exalted. In his rejection, he was beloved. By his wounds, we are healed. In his death, he became the source of life. Conversely, he humiliated the haughty and the proud who could not recognize him. He declared the poor blessed, and the rich were not able to follow him. He held up the meek as conquerors, and the violent could not seize him. He calmed storms, but humbly accepted the kiss that betrayed him. He saved others, but out of love for the Father would not save himself. It is in this shadow that Jesus gave himself for us, and in this same shadow we learn how to give ourselves in love for him. Saint Elizabeth sees the shadow of the Father as a mystery that separates us from everything that might distract or impede our efforts to seek God by a holy, loving, and simple movement of heart. Sometimes, being overshadowed in this way means embracing difficult and trying circumstances. Often it means having trust and confidence in God when we do not understand how or feel or even intuit that he is acting in our lives. The Trinity works at a level more fundamental than any state of consciousness, deeper than any feeling, higher than any understanding, beyond any intuition to sense or grasp. Saint John of the Cross, to whom Saint Elizabeth was devoted as a spiritual daughter, understood this secret place could only be entered by faith. Saint John of the Cross identifies the shadow of the Father with a mysterious darkness, an enchanting dark night in which love transforms by faith. In this night, God has the freedom to realize the plan of love that he has for each of us. The Father will detach us from every other support until we cleave to him alone, allowing him to transform us in the image of his Son. He wants us by faith to imitate his Son, who did everything with total trust and confidence in the goodness of the Father, even when that goodness seems so hidden. The spiritual mission of Saint Elizabeth encourages us to desire to live in the shadow of the Father, even though it is sometimes difficult to do so. She encourages this because she knows the joy and peace that one can find in this shadow, not only for oneself, but for everyone God entrusts to us. For this grace, let us pray. Oh my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely so as to be established in you as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace nor make me depart from you, oh my unchanging one, but may each moment carry me further into the depths of your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action. Oh my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart, I would like to cover you with glory, I would like to love you until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to close me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of your life. Come into me as a door, as healer, as savior. Oh eternal word, word of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you, I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. Oh my beloved star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light. Oh consuming flame, spirit of love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the word. May I be for him another humanity in which he renews his whole mystery. And you, oh father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow and in her see only the beloved in whom you are well pleased. Oh my three, my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me in order that I might bury myself in you while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur.
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A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-3
"A novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, day three, for the grace that makes our sins into a source of humility. Today we ask St. Elizabeth to intercede for us against the temptation to be discouraged by our sins. It is possible to take sin too lightly, to not realize the great price that was paid so that we might live as sons and daughters of God. It is also possible to allow our awareness of sin to discourage us, even to the point of abandoning prayer. St. Elizabeth is adamant that we should never abandon prayer, that even our awareness of sin can help us to go deeper into the silence in which the Lord wants to heal and transform us. This is because she keeps her eyes fixed on God who is rich in mercy. Those who keep the mercy of God before them never grow tired of confessing their sins and deepening their life of conversion. Mercy is love that suffers the misery of another, and Christ has justified us by suffering the misery of our sin for our sake. He has rescued our dignity and given us standing before the Father by accepting the consequence of our sin out of love for us and dying for us. This is the reason that St. Elizabeth refers to Christ crucified by love. As long as we keep our eyes fixed on this love rather than discourage us, our sin can become occasions for gratitude to the Lord and confidence in the immensity of His devotion to us. St. Elizabeth says that the Lord has found a way to convert our sins into instruments of salvation. This does not diminish the horror that we should have for sin. It opens up instead a source of humility. We are a little more free from self -love when we accept how broken we are and how much we need God's love. Less self -satisfied, we discover in our hearts a new openness to die to ourselves and to live the life that the Lord would have for us instead. Whenever we humbly repent of what we have done and turn with confidence to the Lord, He is ready to give us peace and help us to begin again. In her mission, St. Elizabeth wants us to plunge into humility before the mercy of God. She does not want us to be discouraged by sin, but with a simple movement of love and sorrow over it and to humbly work to repair the damage that we have done. Instead of being preoccupied with personal failure or even the hurt we have caused, we must see how God is turning even our weakness into a new kind of wisdom. We must allow God to love us in this way. St. Elizabeth explains, Love rebuilds what you have destroyed. Oh my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely so as to be established in you as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace nor make me depart from you, oh my unchanging one, but may each moment carry me further into the depths of your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action. Oh my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart. I would like to cover you with glory. I would like to love you until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to close me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of your life. Come into me as a doer, as healer, as savior. Oh eternal word, word of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you. I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. Oh my beloved star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light. Oh consuming flame, spirit of love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the word. May I be for him another humanity in which he renews his whole mystery. And you, oh Father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow, and in her see only the beloved in whom you are well pleased. Oh my three, my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me in order that I might bury myself in you while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur. Amen.
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A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-7
"A novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Day 7, for the grace to become, like Mary, the prey of the Trinity, a soul consumed by love. In the spiritual mission of St. Elizabeth, the Virgin Mary, humble Handmaid of the Lord, is the model of the radical surrender to the Trinity. When we look to her, we see what it means to be the prey of the Trinity, a grace that we've been asking for throughout this novena. When the angel appeared to her, Mary responded, I am the Handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your will. Out of this humble yes, the Holy Trinity was able to bring to fulfillment the loving plan of salvation. This humble yes reveals a great spiritual truth for how God desires to work in every soul. God's saving plan is always unleashed in the world through the humble, loving obedience to the Trinity. For St. Elizabeth, Mary's obedient yes was more than a one -time event. Mary's fiat reveals a continual attitude that Mary kept throughout her life as she followed Jesus and stood before the cross. This attitude was no mere human achievement. Mary's constant awareness and readiness to respond with obedience to God was itself a work of the Trinity within her. Every act of surrender begets an even deeper act of surrender. In this way, St. Elizabeth describes the humble Handmaid of the Lord as the prey of the Trinity. Every prayerful soul, according to St. Elizabeth, should make this same humble offering and become the prey of the Trinity. Just as the Virgin Mary became the prey of the Trinity through her peaceful and recollected surrender, through our surrender to the Holy Trinity we can learn to live in humble recollection in each moment. In both peaceful moments of silence and difficult moments of trial, the Lord is just as present to us. He never changes. We simply need to believe in His immense love and have confidence in Him. This means we must renounce every disturbance of worry, anxiety, self -pity or despair that would interrupt our own fiat to the Lord. Such prayer is difficult, but allowing Mary to show us how to be this humble and recollected is an important aid. Christ has saved her maternal presence for our sake. He wants us to know His Mother because she is ready to help us if we ponder her example. A soul recollected in God's presence can become like Mary, abandoned to the Father, docile to the Holy Spirit and devoted to the Son. When this happens, this believer has become the prey of the Trinity, a soul consumed by love. Let us pray. O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely, so as to be established in you, as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace, nor make me depart from you, O my unchanging one. But may each moment carry me further into the depths of your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action. O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart. I would like to cover you with glory. I would like to love you until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to close me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of your life. Come into me as a doer, as healer, as savior, O eternal word, word of my God. I want to spend my life listening to you, I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. O my beloved star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light. O consuming flame, spirit of love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the word. May I be for him another humanity in which he renews his whole mystery. And you, O Father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow, and in her see only the beloved in whom you are well pleased. O my three, my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me in order that I might bury myself in you while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur. Amen.
Audio
A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-4
"A novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Day 4 For the Grace to be Captivated by Christ In her prayer to the Trinity, St. Elizabeth asked particular graces of each of the divine persons. From Christ, she asks to be captivated by Him. She refers to Him as the radiant star and asks for the grace to fixate on Him and to learn all from Him. She situates this petition within her awareness of her own inadequacies, voids, weaknesses and failings. She does not run from these struggles, but she also knows that she cannot overcome these on her own. She needs help, the help that comes from Christ alone. When we look to Him, it is not our failures that ultimately define us. Instead, it is the love that He has for us that becomes definitive in our lives. If we allow the diamondism of His presence to draw our hearts to Him, rather than self -pity or despair, we find the strength to trust Him even as everything in our lives seem to be falling apart. If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, He will lead us to the victory of good over evil in our hearts, our families and our communities. He is greater than every evil, and He loves to reveal His strength and our weakness. When we come across that painful emptiness in which everything seems impossible, Jesus is present there too, ready to shine on us anew and to help us find our way once again. In the spiritual mission of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, she knows how much it brings the radiant star great delight when we allow Him to be the light that shines in the darkness of our lives. And when we ask her to help us find this light, it increases St. Elizabeth's joy to help us triumph. Let us pray. O my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely, so as to be established in You as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace nor make me depart from You, O my unchanging One, but may each moment carry me further into the depths of Your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it Your heaven, Your beloved abode, Your resting place. May I never leave You there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to Your creative action. O my Beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for Your heart. I would like to cover You with glory. I would like to love You until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask You to close me with Yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of Your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute Yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of Your life. Come into me as a doer, as healer, as Savior, O eternal Word, Word of my God. I want to spend my life listening to You. I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from You. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on You always and to remain under Your great light. O my Beloved Star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake Your shining light. O consuming flame, Spirit of Love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the Word. May I be for Him another humanity in which He renews His whole mystery. And You, O Father, bend over Your little creature, cover her with Your shadow, and in her see only the Beloved in whom You are well pleased. O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury Yourself in me, in order that I might bury myself in You, while waiting to contemplate in Your light the immeasurable depths of Your grandeur. Amen.
Audio
A highlight from St.-Elizabeth-of-Trinity-Day-1
"Anovina to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, day one, for the grace to enter into great silence. In this nine days of prayer with St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, we will offer her oblation to the Trinity, oh my God whom I adore. Elizabeth wrote this prayer to help souls seek a spiritually mature relationship with God. This journey to spiritual maturity progresses by way of silence, an interior silence. This is not an empty silence or an alienated one. It is a silence that is waiting to do in us. On this first day of this novena, let's begin by recalling St. Elizabeth's mission, a mission completely oriented to the powerful silence in which the soul encounters the fullness of God. She writes shortly before her death, I suppose that in heaven my mission will be to attract souls, helping them go out of themselves, to cleave to God, find an entirely simple and loving movement, and to keep them inside this room, that we might enter into great silence and through St. Elizabeth's intercession remain there. Let us pray. Oh my God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely so as to be established in you as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace nor make me depart from you, oh my unchanging one, but may each moment carry me further into the depths of your mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action. Oh my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart. I would like to cover you with glory. I would like to love you until death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to close me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but a radiation of your life. Come into me as a door, as healer, as savior, oh eternal word, word of my God. I want to spend my life listening to you. I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. Oh my beloved star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light. Oh consuming flame, spirit of love, come over me until my soul is rendered into an incarnation of the word. May I be for him another humanity in which he renews his whole mystery. And you, oh Father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow and in her see only the beloved in whom you are well pleased. Oh my three, my all, my beatitude, infinite solitude, immensity in which I lose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me in order that I might bury myself in you while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur. Amen.
Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts
HH4 The Suffering of Love The Heart of Hope w/ Deacon James Keating Ph.D. Discerning Hearts Podcast - burst 1
"So Jesus is trying to teach us that I have undergone this love first, I have offered myself for the bride, and now through my Holy Spirit, which came at Pentecost, I infuse this spirit of loving you too so that you can choose to love even though it will bring you suffering. First, the death of your own ego, and then second, other types of suffering that will befall you, that I will be there for you. You cannot see them yet, you cannot see them now, but they may come. And when they come as a result of your commitment to love, I will be there for you. And I will empower you to stay faithful to love, even though it involves suffering.
Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts
A highlight from HH4 The Suffering of Love The Heart of Hope w/ Deacon James Keating Ph.D. Discerning Hearts Podcast
"Discerninghearts .com presents The Heart of Hope, Suffering, and the Cross of Christ with Deacon James Keating. Deacon Keating is a professor of spiritual theology and serves as a spiritual director at Kenrick Lenon Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Deacon Keating has led more than 400 workshops in areas of morality and spirituality and has authored numerous books including The Way of Mystery, Listening for Truth, and Spiritual Fatherhood, The Heart of Hope, Suffering, and the Cross of Christ with Deacon James Keating. I'm your host, Kris McGregor. We've been discussing a subject that for many people, though they may not want to admit it, but deep down inside seems very repulsive, and that's suffering. And we are in a culture that just does not want to look at the face of suffering. No, and our own church says that unnecessary suffering should be taken away or dealt with. Certainly we're not a church that wills suffering and pain. But there's always this remainder factor because of our humanity and our limit and our finitude and our brokenness that the complete eradication of pain will probably be impossible, whether it's physical pain through medicine, the recovery that happens after some type of medical treatments, emotional pain, despite our pharmacology, probably we'll never be able to escape totally suffering and pain. And even though the church teaches that pain is an evil, you're not morally evil for undergoing pain, but it's a physical evil, what the church traditionally calls a physical evil, like when a hurricane comes and knocks someone's house down. That's a physical evil. That's a suffering that is just not to be tolerated. It is something that should not be, and yet in fact we know we have to endure these things because of the condition of our world. And so that being said, there are these realities in life which will carry suffering and pain, and the church has always struggled with teaching its members how to approach this type of suffering that cannot be eradicated, pain that cannot be stopped. And it has always looked to the Lord to do its teaching, and the Lord has always taught from the cross, and he has always taught from his healing hand. And so there are two places that the church looks. The first is the healing hand of Christ, as he went around through the New Testament and healed the lepers, or healed people who were physically afflicted with medical conditions. We see the will of God very clear there. God's will is our well -being. God's will is our happiness. And yet we also see him mounting the cross, and what does that mean? What is the will of God there? And it appears to be that God's will is that we suffer love. And we have to use the word we suffer love, because as we noted in a previous conversation, love is not natural to us. What's natural to us is to be preoccupied with the self. And so to offer ourselves for another, which is what the cross is symbolizing, to live a self -donative life, like the bridegroom Christ did toward his bride, involves pain and suffering. And so here we have the great mystery of Jesus in a, what the theologians would call, in an eschatological way, in a way that anticipates heaven, in other words. We see Jesus going around healing and eradicating pain, but a very deeply incarnational way. We see him calling out to us from the cross that I am here with you, I am one with you, and I'm trying to teach you and trying to empower you to become fully human in grace and to choose to love even if it kills you, to choose to love even if it is painful. For in this world, love will be painful. In this world, love will kill. First it kills the ego, and in the martyr, it will kill even the body. But in this world, love is not welcomed. And so Jesus is trying to teach us that I have undergone this love first, I have offered myself for the bride, and now through my Holy Spirit, which came at Pentecost, I infuse this spirit of loving you too so that you can choose to love even though it will bring you suffering. First, the death of your own ego, and then second, other types of suffering that will befall you, that I will be there for you. You cannot see them yet, you cannot see them now, but they may come. And when they come as a result of your commitment to love, I will be there for you. And I will empower you to stay faithful to love, even though it involves suffering. And in fact, your commitment to stay faithful to love, even though it involves pain and happiness, which is the great paradox of Christian holiness. Throughout the Gospels, you've pointed out that we have all the images of Jesus healing, of the emotional and also the physical sufferings of those he encounters. But there comes a point in the Gospels, probably one of the most poignant moments, where he is on the cross and encounters two individuals who were in a great deal of suffering next to him on their individual crosses. From the Gospel of Luke, one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God? Since you are under the same sentence of condemnation, and we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power. And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. And we see here the great drama of the human situation. You have God, who is taken on the human situation in love, in the center of the scene. And he is basically saying, This act of my love on the cross demands a response. Okay, so what will be your response? And the first criminal out of his pain speaks a type of blasphemy. The temptation that is so common or so familiar to all of us who are in pain to pass through this blasphemous stage. I hate you, God. Where are you, God? You call yourself God. Seeing Christ absorbs these words. He suffers these words. Where are you, God? And of course, Jesus is saying, You're talking to me. I'm right here with you. And, you know, the pain sometimes is so great that it blinds our mind and turns our will from the very reality of God. God has deigned to share any pain and any suffering that we are in. The criminal on the cross is speaking to a man who is equally crucified. And he's saying to him, Why don't you save yourself? You know, why don't you prove to me your God? Why don't you prove, prove? And Jesus says, I am proving. I'm proving that I am the one you are looking for by staying here with you, by not coming down from the cross. And for some reason, the very presence of Jesus, at least in this scenario, was unable to soften and make vulnerable the heart of this first criminal. And yet on the other side, there was this other human being in pain, suffering. He, too, looking for God. But for whatever reason, he had a clarity of thought about his own human state. I am guilty, he said. I've done something really evil. And he thought to himself, I deserve this pain. He knew that Jesus was innocent. And he adored the Lord in the Lord's innocence. It was a befuddlement to this man, a paradox. Why are you staying a puzzle? You are God, you are innocent, and yet you stay with us in our pain, in our suffering. And he began to sing the praises of Jesus. I am a sinner. You are innocent. You have done nothing wrong. I deserve this. And living in the fullness of this truth, the response of God himself was, You have made yourself so vulnerable to the mystery of my love for you, that I promise you, your suffering, your pain will end in and by the mystery of my eternal love for you. And this day, you will be with me in heaven. And so this second criminal related all of his human truth. He confessed his weakness. He confessed his sins. He related his pain upon the cross to the truth of his own guilt. And further, he related it to the innocence of the one who was suffering lovingly right next to him. And the response of God was that both of us will transcend this suffering in the mystery of time and death. And when this time and death is finished, both of us will know the freedom and the happiness of pain -free love, and we will be together. And the drama here, of course, is, well, what about the other criminal? Did Jesus not take him? And once again, as we look at the other criminal, we do not see the same vulnerability. We do not see the same existence in reality as the second criminal. In order for us to be saved, to have our suffering and our pain taken up into the love of God, we've got to live in reality. And the reality is, we are sinners. We are limited. We are broken. If we relate all of that to the love of God, then we will be living in reality, and then God will be able to reach us. We'll return in just a moment to The Heart of Hope, Suffering and the Cross of Christ with Deacon James Keating. Did you know that Discerning Hearts has a free app where you can find all your favorite Discerning Hearts programming? Father Timothy Gallagher, Dr. Anthony Lillis, Monsignor John S. of Deacon James Keating, Father Donald Haggerty, Mike Aquilina, Dr. Matthew Bunsen, and so many more. They're all available on the free Discerning Hearts app. Over 3 ,000 spiritual formation programs and prayers, all available to you with no hidden fees or subscriptions. Did you also know that you can listen to Discerning Hearts programming wherever you download your favorite podcasts, like Apple Podcasts, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Spotify, even on Audible, as well as numerous other worldwide podcast streaming platforms? And did you know that Discerning Hearts also has a YouTube channel? Be sure to check out all these different places where you can find Discerning Hearts Catholic podcasts, dedicated to those on the spiritual journey. From the desire of being honored. From the desire of being praised. From the desire of being preferred to others. From the desire of being consulted. From the desire of being approved. From the fear of being humiliated. 10. Deliver me, Jesus, from the fear of being despised, deliver me Jesus, from the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me Jesus, from the fear of being colluminated. 11. Deliver me, Jesus, from the fear of being forgotten deliver me Jesus from the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me Jesus from the fear of being wrong. 12. that others may become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should. Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen. Streaming DH broadcast encounters and updates about our latest offerings. On our YouTube channel, you'll find a treasure trove of video podcasts, interviews, guided meditations and prayers, and reflections from renowned spiritual leaders. These resources are carefully curated to provide guidance, wisdom, and insights that can help you discern life's challenges with a sense of purpose and peace. By subscribing, following, and engaging with Discerning Hearts on these platforms, you're not only enriching your own spiritual journey, but also helping to spread awareness of our mission. Every like, share, and comment helps us reach more people who are seeking meaningful growth and connection. So, please take a moment to follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel as well, and then share with a friend. Join the Discerning Hearts community and embark on a transformative spiritual journey alongside fellow seekers. Your engagement not only benefits you, but also contributes to the growth and impact of Discerning Hearts. We now return to The Heart of Hope, Suffering and the Cross of Christ, with Deacon James Cady. God did not place the criminals on those crosses. And yet, he didn't cause their suffering. But it's as though he entered into it with them. God, in terms of revelation, God does not cause the pain and the suffering that we are in. When we are talking about moral suffering, we cause that pain and that suffering. When we are talking about physical evil, sickness, natural disasters, these are the signs of the truth, that this is not heaven, that we still labor, we still journey to holiness. Earth does not exhaust holiness. Earth still has signs of decrepitude and sin and mortality and death. These are all banished in heaven. But we still journey through time, which itself is a sign of limitation. And so no God does not want us to suffer. And for us to continue in relationship with this God, we have to continue in relationship with him like the second thief, almost in sublime adoration, that innocence itself would choose to suffer what we suffer in time. The beauty and the majesty of the second thief is that he was in a stance of adoration before the innocence of God. Notice how he wasn't consumed by himself. He noted that he was a sinner and then he turned every ounce of his energy toward the one who was suffering next to him. And he began to adore the mystery he could not understand. But you, you are innocent. Who are you? What would lead you to do this, to share my death, to share my hospital room? To share my brokenness in my loneliness? What would lead you to do this, you who are innocence itself? And of course, Jesus' only answer is, I am love. I am love. It's love that leads me to be with you in your pain and suffering. Now, will you let me this close? See, the first criminal, for whatever reason, would not let the mystery of this love close. And so his pain remained. The second criminal, for whatever reason, allowed the deepest of intimacy between his pain and the pain of Jesus. And it was in that vulnerability that Christ could reach in and save him and bring him to the Father. Do not be afraid in your pain and in your suffering to let Jesus closer than you imagine. This is salvation. Let him closer than you can imagine. Invite him into your very wounds. Invite him into your very anger. Invite him into your very disappointment, your sadness, your grief. Do not be afraid to let him close. Then we all then will hear, this day you will be with me in paradise. Isn't that what's at the heart of hope? Exactly. You cannot see. You cannot feel. You cannot touch. And yet you trust the promises of Jesus. To hope is to trust the promises of Jesus in the face of little evidence that these promises will ever come true. It is a supernatural gift that we need to pray for. Very few of us ever pray for the virtue of hope to take up residence in us. More and more we have to say, Jesus, give me hope. Particularly as we grow older or our life progresses, more and more we are going to need the supernatural virtue of hope, the infused gift of hope that even though I cannot see it or feel it, or experience it, I know that God is faithful to his promises. And in some mysterious way, he's working out my salvation through this suffering and pain. And one day I too will be in heaven. He didn't take away the suffering from the thief next to him on the cross. He had to endure it, didn't he? And this is such a scandalous reality to Christianity. It's that this God that's supposed to love us leaves us in pain. And yet analogously, parents can understand this type of limit to love in our own childbearing, where many times we have to stand by and endure the suffering of our own children. For either we cannot step in or we dare not step in. And in a faint way, in a way that bears a deeper mystery than that which I just spoke about parenting, God dares not step in because in some mysterious way, in ways that are known only to him and his sacred heart, he knows that if we find him in this suffering, our happiness will be rich, beyond measure, flowing over. And the great tragedy is that so many of us will not accept his invitation to dwell in our wounds, to dwell in our pain. And so our suffering becomes an occasion of meaninglessness and anger. But notice the second thief, where his suffering and Christ's suffering became linked in an ecstasy of worship and adoration and wonder. Notice that his suffering made him think of God's generosity. Not that I am alone here suffering and in pain, but oh, I remember that you chose to come and suffer with me. And to share my pain, you chose it while it befell me. This is what makes Jesus so fascinating because he beguiles us with this love. And this of course is not simply historical for this man, since the spirit and since God is timeless, he is continually loving us in the pain and calling us to share it with him. Thank you, Deacon Keating. Thank you. You've been listening to The Heart of Hope, Suffering and the Cross of Christ with Deacon James Keating. To hear and or to download this conversation, along with hundreds of other spiritual formation programs, visit .com, discerninghearts or you can find it within the free Discerning Hearts app or wherever you download your favorite podcast. This has been a production of Discerning Hearts. I'm your host, Chris McGregor. We hope that if this has been helpful for you, that you will first pray for our mission, which is to offer authentic and rock solid spiritual formation freely to souls around the world. And if you feel us worthy, please consider a charitable donation, which is fully tax deductible to help support our efforts. But most of all, we hope that you will tell a friend about discerninghearts .com and join us next time for The Heart of Hope, Suffering and the Cross of Christ with Deacon James Keating.
Evangelism on SermonAudio
A highlight from Worship and Missions
"Turn with me now to Psalm 96. Psalm 96 is found on page 687 of the Bibles provided there in your Rose. We'll read all 13 verses of this Psalm. Let's give our attention to the reading of God's Word once again. The psalmist writes, Oh sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Sing to the Lord. Bless his name. Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among the peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He's to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory to his name. Bring an offering and come into his courts. Oh worship the Lord and the beauty of holiness. Tremble before him all the earth. Say among the nations the Lord reigns. The world also is firmly established. It shall not be moved. He shall judge the peoples righteously. Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad. Let the sea roar in all its fullness. Let the field be joyful and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For he is coming. He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth. Remember the This morning we want to consider worship and missions and as we consider this idea there are some groups who want to focus on worship as being the purpose of the church and there are others who would counter that and say the idea of missions or evangelism is the purpose of the church. It's humorous how we all get caught up in or at least our society and organizations get caught up in the context of writing mission or purpose statements. Having goals, having intentions set before you so that all would know where they are shooting. All would know where they are headed and what then are the objectives or the achievements that are set for a company. One individual making satire regarding mission statements wrote a few of his own. Maybe these might be a couple that you would like to see brought forth in your company. For example he said maybe a company should consider that our mission is to make everyone else look bad by pointing out their mistakes and flaws so that we look better. Our organization believes that a fool in their money are soon parted. Or we put the W in quality. Quality by the way is spelled Q -U. The one who spelled quality with a W they went to Nebraska. The N on the helmet stands for knowledge. Y 'all can tell Dr. Kerner and we'll have that conversation. The point being is that the church does have a mission. It does have a purpose. But that mission in purpose is not ultimately evangelism. That may shock you but the ultimate purpose of the church is not evangelism. Let's put it this way. Before the fall was there any evangelism? No. But did the church exist? Yes. When the church is redeemed and fully restored and enters into the new heavens and the new earth where will there be evangelism? No. But will there be a church? Yes. Well what did the church do prior to the fall and what did the church will the church do once she is perfect and complete? What was the chief end of the church of Adam and Eve when they were living there in the garden and what will be the chief end of the bride of Christ once she has been gloriously restored and is there at The chief end is worship. John Piper put it this way. Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate not missions because God is ultimate not man. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. The point that's being highlighted to us is that as the people of God who are waiting anxiously desires of that redemption that is ours our call our responsibility here and now is still the worship of God and yet the psalmist sets before us that even as we worship it does not lose sight of evangelism. That yes the churches in the churches to engage in missions of reaching the nations even that's brought forth in our text this morning but it does so in the context of worship and so there's three things that I want us to consider this morning from Psalm 96 as it pertains to missions and worship. The first is this that missions begins and ends with worship. The second is this that worship will lead to missions at least worship here on earth and lastly that missions in worship here on earth anxiously wait for a visit from God. Missions in worship anxiously awaits for a visit from God. The context of this Psalm although there's no writer identified is that David wrote this Psalm. It was written around the time in it was moved to Mount Zion.
Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts
IDL85 Part 3 Chapter 41 Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales Discerning Hearts Podcast
"Part 3. Chapter 41. Of the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. This is a Discerning Hearts recording read by Corey Webb. Chapter 41. One Word to Maidens O you virgins, I have but a word to say to you. If you look to married life in this life, guard your first love, jealousy for your husband. It seems to be a miserable fraud to give a husband a worn -out heart, whose love has been frittered away and despoiled of its first bloom instead of a true, wholehearted love. But if you are happily called to be the chaste and holy bride of spiritual nuptials, and purposed to live a life of virginity, then in Christ's name I bid you keep all your purest most sensitive love for your heavenly bridegroom, who, being very purity himself, has a special love for purity, him to whom the first fruits of all good things are due, above all those of love. St. Jerome's epistles will supply you with the needful counsels, and inasmuch as your state of life requires obedience, seek out a guide under whose direction you may wholly dedicate yourself, body and soul, to His divine majesty.
Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts
A highlight from IDL84 Part 3 Chapter 40 Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales Discerning Hearts Podcast
"Part 3 Chapter 40 of the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. This is a Discerning Hearts recording read by Corey Webb. Chapter 40 Councils to Widows Saint Paul teaches us all in the person of Saint Timothy when he says, Honor widows that are widows indeed. Now to be a widow indeed it is necessary, one, that the widow be not in body only but in heart also. That is to say, that she be fixed in an unalterable resolution to continue in her widowhood. Those widows who are but waiting the opportunity of marrying again are only widowed in externals, while in, will they have already laid aside their loneliness. If the widow indeed chooses to confirm her widowhood, by offering herself by a vow to God, she will adorn that widowhood, and make her resolution doubly sure. For the remembrance that she cannot break her vow without danger of forfeiting paradise, will make her so watchful over herself, that a great barrier will be raised against all kind of temptation that may assail her. Saint Augustine strongly recommends Christian widows to take this vow, and the learned Oregon goes yet further. For he advises married women to take a vow of chastity in the event of losing their husbands, so that amid the joys of married life they may yet have a share in the merits of a chaste widowhood. Vows render the actions performed under their shelter more acceptable to God, strengthen us to perform good works and help us to devote Him, not merely those good works which are, so to say, the fruits of a holy will, but to consecrate that will itself, the source of all we do, to Him. By ordinary chastity we offer our body to God, retaining the power to return to sensual pleasure, but the vow of chastity is an absolute and irrevocable gift to Him, without any power to recall it, thereby making ourselves the happy slaves of Him, whose service is to be preferred to royal power. And as I greatly approve the counsels of the two venerable fathers I have named, I would have such persons as are so favored, as to wish to embrace them, do so prudently, and in a holy steadfast spirit, after careful examination of their own courage, having asked heavenly guidance, and taken the advice of some discreet and pious director, and then all will be profitably done. Two, further all such renunciation of second marriage must be done with a single heart, in order to fix the affections more entirely on God, and to seek a more complete union with Him. For if the widow retains her widowhood merely to enrich her children, or for any other worldly motive, she may receive the praise of men, but not that of God, inasmuch as nothing is worthy of his approbation, save that which is done for his sake. Moreover, she who would be a widow indeed must be voluntarily cut off from all worldly delights. She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives, Saint Paul says. A widow who seeks to be admired and followed and flattered, who frequently balls in parties, who takes pleasure in dressing, perfuming, and adorning herself, may be a widow in the body, but she is dead as to the soul. What does it matter, I pray you, whether the flag of Adonis and his profane love be made of white feathers or a net of crepe? Nay, sometimes there is a conscious vanity, in that black is the most becoming dress, and she who thereby endeavors to captivate men, and who lives in empty pleasure, is dead while she lives, and is a mere mockery of widowhood. The time of retrenchment is come, the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Retrenchment of worldly superfluity is required of whosoever would lead a devout life, but above all, it is needful for the widow indeed, who mourns the loss of her husband like a true turtledove. When Naomi returned from Moab to Bethlehem, those that had known her in her earlier and brighter days were moved, and said, Is this Naomi? And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, which means beautiful and agreeable, call me Mara, for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Even so the devout widow will not desire to be called or counted beautiful or agreeable, asking no more than to be that which God wills, lowly and abject in his eyes. The lamp which is fed with aromatic oil sends forth yet a sweeter odor when it is extinguished, and so those women whose married love was true and pure give it a stronger perfume of virtue and chastity, when their light, that is, their husband, is extinguished by death. Love for a husband while living is a common matter enough among women, but to love him so deeply as to refuse to take another after his death is a kind of love peculiar to her, who is a widow indeed. Hope in God while resting on a husband is not so rare, but to hope in him when left alone and desolate is a very gracious and worthy thing, and thus it is that widowhood becomes a test of the perfection of the virtues displayed by a woman in her married life. The widow who has children requiring her care and guidance above all in what pertains to their souls and the shaping of their lives, cannot and ought not on any wise to forsake them. Saint Paul teaches this emphatically and says that those who provide not for their own and specially for those of their own house are worse than an infidel, but if her children do not need her care, then the widow should gather together all her affections and thoughts in order to devote them more wholly to making progress in the love of God. If there is no call obliging her in conscience to attend to external secular matters, legal or other, I should advise her to leave them all alone and to manage her affairs as quietly and peacefully as may be, even if such a course does not seem the most profitable. The fruit of disputes and lawsuits must be very great indeed before it can be compared in worth to the blessing of holy peace. Not to say that those legal entanglements and the like are essentially distracting, and often open the way for enemies who solely the purity of a heart which should be solely devoted to God. Prayer should be the widow's chief occupation. She has no love left save for God. She should scarce have aught to say to any, save God. And as iron, which is restrained from yielding to the attraction of the magnet, when a diamond is near, darts instantly towards it as soon as the diamond is removed. So the widow's heart, which could not rise up wholly to God or simply follow the leadings of his heavenly love during her husband's life, finds itself set free when he is dead to give itself entirely to him, and cries out with bride and the canticles, Draw me, I will run after thee, I will be holy thine, and seek nothing, save the savior of thy good ointments. A devout widow should chiefly seek to cultivate the graces of perfect modesty, renouncing all honors, rank, title, society, and the like vanities. She should be diligent in ministering to the poor and sick, comforting the afflicted, leading the young to a life of devotion, studying herself to be a perfect model of virtue to younger women. Necessity and simplicity should be the adornment of her garb, humility and charity of her actions, simplicity and kindliness of her words, modesty and purity of her eyes. Jesus Christ crucified the only love of her heart. Briefly, the true widow abides in the church as a little March violet, shedding forth an exquisite sweetness through the perfume of her devotion, ever concealing herself beneath the ample leaves of her heart's lowliness. While her subdued coloring indicates her mortification, she dwells in waste uncultivated places, because she shrinks from the world's intercourse, and seeks to shelter her heart from the glare with which earthly longings, whether of honors, wealth, or love itself, might dazzle her. Blessed is she if she so abide, says the holy apostle. Much more could I say on this subject, but suffice it to bid her who seeks to be a widow indeed, read Saint Jerome's striking letters to Salvia, and the other noble ladies who rejoiced in being the spiritual children of such a father. Nothing can be said more, unless it be to warn the widow indeed not to condemn or even censure those who do resume the married.
![A highlight from Tim Burton - 'Wednesday' [LIVE]](https://storageaudiobursts.azureedge.net/site/images/stationIcons/22531.png)
Awards Chatter
A highlight from Tim Burton - 'Wednesday' [LIVE]
"Hi everyone and thank you for tuning in to the 507th episode of the Hollywood Reporters Awards Chatter Podcast. I'm the host Scott Feinberg and my guest today is a filmmaker unlike any other. With directing credits dating back some 40 years including 1985's Pee Wee's Big Adventure, 1988's Beetlejuice, 1989's Batman, 1990's Edward Scissorhands, 1994's Ed Wood, 2003's Big Fish, 2005's Corpse Bride, 2007's Sweeney Todd, 2012's Frankenweenie, 2014's Big Eyes, and most recently in 2022, half of the eight episodes that comprise the first season of Netflix's giant hit drama series, Wednesday, for which he is personally nominated for two Emmys, Best Directing for a Comedy Series, and as one of the show's executive producers, Best Comedy Series. The New York Times has called him a visionary artist, noting, quote, he has developed a singular if not easily pinned down sensibility. His style is strongly visual, darkly comic, and morbidly fixated, but it is rooted just as much in his affection for monsters and misfits, which in his movies often turn out to be the same thing. He all but invented the vocabulary of the modern superhero movie, brought new vitality to stop motion animation, and has come to be associated, for better or worse, with anything that is ghoulish or ghastly without being inaccessible. He may be the most widely embraced loner in contemporary cinema, close quote. His most frequent collaborator, Johnny Depp, who he has directed in 19 films, said that he is, quote, a filmmaker I admire, but he's much, much more than that. Without embarrassing him, he's a true artist, which is something I wasn't sure was possible in today's cinema. But he's the real thing. He's a visionary, an auteur, totally uncompromising, close quote. He's talking, of course, about Tim Burton. Over the course of a conversation in front of a large audience at the Burbank International Film Festival, including two of Burton's most celebrated and longtime collaborators, the composer Danny Elfman and the costume designer Colleen Atwood, the 65 -year -old and I discussed his complicated childhood and how it led him to pursue drawing and attracted him to characters regarded by others as freaks, how he wound up working at Disney Animation and then making his feature directorial debut with a live action film, the challenges of getting films made even with hits under his belt and what ultimately led him to TV for Wednesday, plus much more. And so, without further ado, let's go to that conversation. Hello, everyone, and Tim, thank you so much for doing this. Great to see you. I normally begin every episode of this podcast asking our guests where they were born and raised, which I think we have addressed, but I do want to get into it a little bit more because, you know, over the years, you have expressed that sort of what you just alluded to, that, you know, you were very shaped by Burbank. For better or worse, there were elements that were great, elements that were complicated. Can you talk about, but one thing that you've always said is that without Burbank and without those childhood experiences, the filmmaker we know today would not exist. So just break it down. Well, I mean, you know, I keep reading that I hate, you know, like the press has a way of sort of taking what you say and take out the nuance and subtlety and, you know, like go right to the core. But I think, you know, and when I said about whatever I said about Burbank, it had more to do with my own psychological state of mind than it did with the actual city of Burbank. You know what I mean? So and that's a bit too complicated and psychological to go into now, but in the sense that, you know, you grow up in feeling a certain way, Burbank helped shape me because, you know, there was like my first film school was the Cornell Theatre. There was this amazing theatre that was torn down, I think, in the late in the 80s. I don't know when it was, but, you know, they would for 50 cents, you could see a triple feature. Like, I saw one amazing, I saw War of the Gargantuas, Monster Zero and Destroy All Monsters in one go, you know, 50 cents. So that's where I learned my love of film and that really, so there was amazing places and it was incredible. There was like five movie theaters, Burbank at a certain time, and then they all got sort of taken away. But for me, that place, especially that theater was very, very special to me. And you've said that during your years in Burbank, which I think up until 12, you're living at, was it Evergreen Street? Is that where you were? Yeah, right down the street. Just down the street here. You can all walk over there after this. Yeah, we'll do a little. Check it out. Then you moved in with your grandmother also in Burbank, right? But as a bit of a loner, as a kid, you were kind of thinking about things, dreaming about things in everywhere from some of the cemeteries in town to... Yeah, the one right next door here, you know, I used to play around there, you know, that was, yeah. Yeah. You know, and I could look out my window, the thing that freaked me out, I looked out my window at Disney and this was like the weird, called the Bermuda Triangle of Burbank. Because I could see where I was born at St. Joseph's and then I could see the cemetery where everybody, all my family was buried. And I was, so it was like a weird Bermuda Triangle that I had to escape at a certain point because it was just too scary. Now, you've also said that as a kid, you were, you know, not only a bit of a loner, but sort of not particularly communicative, verbal with other people. You lived in your imagination, which manifested itself through drawing. Can we talk about how that entered the picture? And as was noted, I mean, to the extent that it was, you were talented enough that in Burbank, your work, anti -littering art was on the back of every garbage truck. I wanted $10, and at that time, that's probably like about a million now. Right, right, right. But drawing was an outlet for you. What kind of things were you drawing as a kid? Posters for trash trucks, I don't know, I mean, whatever. But also, I mean, the movies that you were drawn to, and I believe maybe therefore some of things the you were drawing were things that other people might find frightening or scary, but that you actually, in a way, related to, right? Like what are we talking about? Yeah, but I mean, like, you know, I didn't feel that different. It felt like, you know, I love famous monsters. I wait for that magazine to come out. I love monster movies. I live near a cemetery. You know, I mean, you use what you have, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it was good. Totally. And I think also, too, growing up in Southern California, where you don't really have seasons, I think that's why I kind of got into, you know, like things like Nightmare for Christmas or Halloween, just because it gave you a sense of occasion, a sense of season that you didn't get through the weather, you know, I mean, to experience, like holidays, you had to go like to the main, like, at Save On and look at the holiday displays to kind of experience.
Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts
A highlight from IDL82 Part 3 Chapter 38 Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales Discerning Hearts Podcast
"Discerning Hearts provides content dedicated to those on the spiritual journey. To continue production of these podcasts, prayers, and more, go to discerninghearts .com and click the donate link found there, or inside the free Discerning Hearts app to make your donation. Thanks and God bless. Part Three, Chapter 38 of the Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. This is a Discerning Hearts recording read by Corey Webb. Chapter 38, Councils to Married People. Marriage is a great sacrament both in Jesus Christ and His Church, and one to be honored to all, by all, and in all. To all, for even those who do not enter upon it, should honor it in all humility. By all, for it is wholly alike to poor as to rich. In all, for its origin, its end, its form and matter are wholly. It's the nursery of Christianity, whence the earth is peopled with faithful, till the number of the elect in heaven be perfected, so that respect for the marriage tie is exceedingly important to the commonwealth, of which it is the source and supply. Would to God that His dear Son were bidden to all weddings as to that of Cana? Truly, then the wine of consolation and blessing would never be lacking. For if these are often so wanting, it is because too frequently now men summon Adonis instead of our Lord, and Venus rather than our Lady. He who desires that the young of his flock should be like Jacob's, fair and ring -streaked, must set fair objects before their eyes, and he who would find a blessing in his marriage must ponder the holiness and dignity of this sacrament, instead of, which too often weddings become a season of mere feasting and disorder. Above all, I would exhort all married people to seek that mutual love so commended to them by the Holy Spirit in the Bible. It is little to bid you love one another with the mutual love. Turtle doves do that, or with human love. The heathen cherished such love as that. But I say to you in the apostles' words, Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as unto the Lord. It was God who brought Eve to our first father Adam, and gave her to him to wife. And even so, my friends, it is God's invisible hand which binds you in the sacred bonds of marriage. It is He who gives you one to the other, therefore cherish one another with a holy, sacred, heavenly love. The first effect of this love is the indissoluble union of your hearts. If you glue together two pieces of deal, provided that the glue be strong, their union will be so close that the stick will break more easily in any other part than where it is joined. Now God unites husband and wife so closely in himself that it should be easier to sunder soul from body than husband from wife. Nor is this union to be considered as mainly of the body, but yet more a union of the heart, its affections and love. The second effect of this love should be inviolable fidelity to one another. In olden times, finger rings weren't want to be graven as seals. We read of it in holy scriptures, and this explains the meaning of the marriage ceremony, when the church, by the hand of their priest, blesses a ring and gives it first to the man in token that she sets a seal on his heart by this sacrament, so that no thought of any other woman may even enter therein so long as she who now is given to him shall live. Then the bridegroom places the ring on the bride's hand, so that she in turn may know that she must never conceive any affection in her heart for any other man so long as he shall live, who is now given to her by our Lord himself. The third end of marriage is the birth and bringing up of children, and herein, O you married people, are you greatly honored in that God willing to multiply souls to bless and praise him to all eternity? He associates you with himself in this his work, by the production of bodies into which, like dew from heaven, he infuses the souls he creates as well as the bodies into which they enter. Therefore husbands, do you preserve a tender constant hearty love for your wives? It was that the wife might be loved heartily and tenderly that woman was taken from the side nearest Adam's heart. No failings or infirmities, bodily or mental, in your wife should ever excite any kind of dislike in you, but rather a loving, tender compassion, and that because God has made her dependent on you and bound to defer to and obey you, that while she is meant to be your helpmate, you are her superior and her head. And on your part, wives, do you love the husbands God has given you tenderly, heartily, but with a reverential confiding love? For God has made the man to have the predominance and to be the stronger, and he of his flesh, taking her from out of the ribs of the man, to show that she must be subject to his guidance. All holy Scripture enjoins this subjection, which nevertheless is not grievous, and the same holy Scripture, while it bids you accept it lovingly, bids your husbands to use his superiority with great tenderness, loving -kindness and gentleness. Husbands dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. But while you seek diligently to foster this mutual love, give good heed that it do not turn to any manner of jealousy. Just as the worm is often hatched in the sweetest and ripest apple, so too often jealousy springs up in the most warm and loving hearts, defiling and ruining them, and if it is allowed to take root, it will produce dissension, quarrels and separation. Of a truth, jealousy never arises where love is built up on true virtue, and therefore it is a sure sign of an earthly sensual love, in which mistrust and inconstancy is soon infused. It is a sorry kind of friendship which seeks to strengthen itself by jealousy, for though jealousy may be a sign of strong hot friendship, it is certainly no sign of a good pure perfect attachment, and that because perfect love implies absolute trust in the person loved, whereas jealousy implies uncertainty. If you, husbands, would have your wives faithful, be it yours to set them the example. How have you the face to exact purity from your wives, asks Saint Gregory Nazianzen, if you yourself live an impure life? Or, how can you require that which you do not give in return? If you would have them chaste, let your own conduct to them be chaste. Saint Paul bids you possess your vessel in sanctification, but, if on the contrary, you teach them evil, no wonder that they dishonor you. And you, O women, whose honor is inseparable from modesty and purity, preserve it jealously, and never allow the smallest speck to soil the whiteness of your reputation. Shrink sensitively from the various trifles which can touch it, never permit any gallantries whatsoever. Suspect any who presume to flatter your beauty or grace, for when men praise wares they cannot purchase, they are often tempted to steal. And if anyone should dare to speak in disparagement of your husband, show that you are irrecoverably offended, for it is plain that he not only seeks your fall, but he counts you as half -fallen, since the bargain with the newcomer is half -made when one is disgusted with the first merchant. Ladies, both in ancient and modern times have worn pearls in their ears, for the sake, so says Pliny, of hearing them tinkle against each other. But remembering how the friend of God Isaac sent earrings as first pledges of his love to the chaste Rebecca, I look upon this mystic ornament as signifying that the first claim a husband has over his wife, and one which she ought most faithfully to keep for him, is her ear, so that no evil word or rumor enter therein, and not be heard save the pleasant sound of true and pure words, which are represented by the choice pearls of the Gospel. Never forget that souls are faithfulness lead to familiarity and confidence, and saints have abounded in tender caresses Isaac and Rebecca. The type of chaste married life indulged in such caresses as to convince Abimelech that they must be husband and wife. The great St. Louis, strict as he was to himself, was so tender towards his wife that some were ready to blame him for it, although, in truth, he rather deserved praise for subjecting his lofty, marital mind to the little details of conjugal love. Such minor matters will not suffice to knit hearts, but they tend to draw them closer and promote mutual happiness. Before giving birth to St. Augustine, St. Monica offered him repeatedly to God's glory, as he himself tells us, and it is not a good lesson for Christian women how to offer the fruit of their womb to God. Who accepts the free oblations of loving hearts and promotes the desires of such faithful mothers? Witness Samuel St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Andrea Deficile, and others. St. Bernard's mother, worthy of such a son, was wont to take her newborn babes in her arms to offer them to Jesus Christ, thenceforth loving them with a reverential love as a sacred deposit from God. And so entirely was her offering accepted that all her seven children became saints. And when children begin to use their reason, fathers and mothers should take great pains to fill their hearts with the fear of God. This the good queen Blanche did most earnestly by St. Louis her son. Witness her oft -repeated words, My son, I would sooner see you die than guilty of a mortal sin, words which sank so deeply into the saintly monarch's heart, that he himself said there was no day on which they did not recur to his mind and strengthen him in treading God's ways. We call races and generations, houses, and the Hebrews were to want to speak of the birth of children as the building up of the house, as it is written of the Jewish midwives in Egypt, that the Lord made them houses, whereby we learn that a good house is not reared so much by the accumulation of worldly goods as by the bringing up of children in the ways of holiness and of God. And to this end, no labor or trouble must be spared, for children are the crown of their parents. Thus it was that St. Monica steadfastly withstood St. Augustine's evil propensities, and, following him across sea and land, he became more truly the child of her tears in the conversion of his soul than the son of her body in his natural birth. St. Paul assigns the charge of the household to the woman, and, consequently, some hold that the devotion of the family depends more upon the wife than the husband, who is more frequently absent, and has less influence in the house. Certainly King Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, refers all households' prosperity to the care and industry of that virtuous woman whom he describes. We read in Genesis that Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren, or as the Hebrews read it, he prayed over against her, on opposite sides of the place of prayer, and his prayer was granted. This is the most fruitful union between husband and wife which is founded in devotion, to which they should mutually stimulate one another. They are certain fruits like the quince, of so bitter a quality, that they are scarcely eatable, save when preserved, while others again, like cherries and apricots, are so delicate and soft that they can only be kept by the same treatment. So the wife must seek that her husband be sweetened with the sugar of devotion, for man without religion is a rude rough animal, and the husband will desire to see his wife devout, as without her frailty and weakness are liable to tarnish an injury. Saint Paul says that the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband, because in so close a tie one may easily draw the other to what is good, and how great is the blessing on those faithful husbands and wives who confirm one another continually in the fear of the Lord. Moreover, each should have such forbearance towards the other that they never grow angry or fall into discussion and argument. The bee will not dwell in a spot where there is much loud noise or shouting, or echo, neither will God's Holy Spirit dwell in a household where altercation and tumult, arguing and quarreling, disturb the peace. Saint Gregory Nenzen said that in his time married people were wont to celebrate the anniversary of their wedding, and it is a custom I should greatly approve, provided it were not a merely secular celebration, but if husbands and wives would go on that day to confession and communion, and commend their married life specially to God, renewing their resolution to promote mutual good by increased love and faithfulness, and thus take breath, so to say, and gather new vigor from the Lord to go on steadfastly in their vocation.
Evangelism on SermonAudio
A highlight from Evangelism and Church Growth
"Well good morning. I appreciate the confident prayer of Jeff as he thanks the Lord before he even hears me utter a word. There's a bottle of water under here. Am I allowed to steal this? I don't know whose it is, but charge it to Larry I suppose. Well in light of whatever I have to bring and wherever I've been privileged to serve and whatever God has been gracious to teach me, may it be today as with our forefathers that we would simply think of ourselves as ministers of the Word. Let's let's pray together and I mean wave that by Mike Woodall and I don't think he just wants to say hi. How's that Mike? Is that better? All right now we can pray I suppose. Oh God may we be absolutely brought to the end of ourselves when we come to the gospel. Let us see not just at the cross the good news of our deliverance, but let us see the horrible cost of our rebellion. And let us believe God in the cross and in the cross alone there is Oh God we would pray this day as we come this morning to the start of a new day together we thank you God for all that you have planned for us. For we know God by virtue of your word and how you have been so good in days gone by we know you will continue to be faithful. So we call God upon that faithfulness and trust in it now that you would come and that you would take your word and that you would by your spirit make it effective to speak to our hearts stir God our every affection and passion and wrap it around the cross of Christ. God we would thank you praise and you and God may it please you to send forth your word may you watch over it God even now to perform it in Christ's name. Amen. Did Jesus have to die for the church to grow? I think that is a question that needs to be fought through by every faithful preacher of the Word of God. Did Jesus have to die for the church to grow? For in fact much is taking place in today's church that is considered growth that doesn't seem to be related at all to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did Jesus have to die for the church to grow? I think we need to think about that question not just in the realities in regard to its truthfulness but also if true we need to consider it in regard to the implications that it has for the labors of our own ministry. It is a question that texts like John 12 24 bring to mind. Jesus speaking of the hour of his being glorified in his cross he states these words truly truly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies it remains alone but if it dies it brings forth much fruit or think of these words of Jesus just a little later in that same chapter Jesus said and I when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men myself to or think of Christ's words in John chapter 10 he says I am the Good Shepherd and I know my own and my own know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep and I have other sheep that are not of this fold I must bring them also and they listen will to my voice when the seed dies it brings forth fruit when Christ is lifted up all men are drawn to him when the Good Shepherd lays down his life the sheep will follow it is these kinds of texts and bold declarations that led the Apostle Paul to draw the theological conclusion that there is an inseparable connection between the death of Christ and the end for which he died that is the constructing of a body he would refer to as the church the fruit the people the sheep would all be drawn together in the formation of a tangibly expressed group of people that he would call his own this truth led Paul to declare in Romans 1 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is unless we have a big debate about what is is it is the power of God unmistakable it is the power of God Paul saw the gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified on that gosh on that cross as the very means by which God would manifest divine power to establish equip and one day exalt and lifted up glory the fullness of his redeemed body the church the bride of his beloved son that the gospel of the cross of Christ is indeed a declaration of divine and effectual power for the establishment and edification of the Church of Jesus Christ is a sound truth held out for us in Paul's letter to the Corinthians his first letter in particular I found it encouraging after having picked this text a few years ago when our meeting when we kind of lined out this conference a little bit my heart began to lean toward this passage and just recently in the last few weeks I came across this note by John Stott he makes this comment about this particular text he says in it we find no clear exposition in the New Testament of the place of he divine power says it is perhaps the passage of scripture which preachers should read and study more than any other and by which we should judge and reform our ministry that was quite a statement to me I think he is quite right believing the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ to be a reality created and sustained by divine power to this text we want to look this morning to receive a commission as preachers of the gospel as a commission as deliverers if you will of divine power and by the grace of God to be seen as servants through whom all men will come to believe to the increase of the kingdom of Christ and the building up of his church now in this text from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians the Apostle Paul sets forth what I would say is his theological understanding of and commitment to this precious gospel of the cross yet as he sees as he sets it forth it it is not what many might expect to hear we need to read 1st Corinthians 1 18 through chapter 2 verse 5 as if the gospel is a surprise as if it's not what we would have expected we we've read that passage so long we probably go okay that's the gospel but when the when the world hears this gospel they don't go oh yeah that's good news it catches them completely by surprise it is completely unexpected it sets everything they ever thought about the gospel in reverse consider before we actually turn to the text several points of observation in the proclamation of the gospel an unexpected word goes forth that accomplishes unheard of and quite unexpected results it is a word that from all observable criteria would not have been received by any in the world it already being enamored with its own word and finding it more to its liking and pleasure a word that to the world was void of any real significance a word that was not shaped properly to be embraced by their self -shaped passions it is a word that appeared weak if not utterly impotent and foolish if not utter madness in a world that was consumed with the pragmatic wisdom of man a word went forth that in truth worked if you want pragmatic if you want something I that works present to you brothers preach the gospel because that works the rest of it is just play you want to be novel and innovative in today's world preach the gospel nobody's doing it so be different I should love all these people don't want to be different they all look the same it's like nothing they've ever seen and nothing they ever expected furthermore in the proclamation of the gospel the substance of which we find to be the very power of God something unexpected occurs in the lives among those to whom it is proclaimed God takes very unlikely subjects who do not travel in the acceptable circles of the world's elite academically politically socially and he takes them into his school he brings them into his courts and he invites them to his celebration he takes those who are far away and brings the mirror near he takes those who are nobodies in the world and makes them the somebodies of his own economy he takes the blind and gives them sight the deaf and makes them hear the mute and makes them speak the lame and makes them walk he takes dead people and makes them live that's what the gospel does like a farmer who has at his disposal see that he casts upon the ground hoping the ground to be rich and ready and some power from above like rain to fall in abundance on the seed with which he was also supplied he didn't make it himself he wants that rain to make it grow in the preaching of the gospel a man takes a message that appears from all human estimation to be weak and without power and cast it upon the unlikely the rejected the unexpected the undeserving the on everything by falling by the falling of the Spirit of God from above upon the soil of the heart into which the gospel seed has been cast God brings light out of darkness and life out of barren death one last thing to think about before we look at the text itself in the proclamation of the gospel God comes to people in a form of human weakness you ever wonder why he called you to preach every Sunday morning about 1025 I'm having this argument on my office not me yes you not me no I'm not a charismatic everybody hear that you understand you must be kidding I have a mirror in my office and every now and then I get bold enough to look at it and I'm thinking not me yes you so shut up and preach because you're the guy to do it today God comes in the form of human weakness he chooses the most unlikely bearers for his glorious gospel and comes to men in weakness fear and trembling and furthermore were it not for the true power of the message itself there would have been no lasting impact made by the vessels themselves who were in truth rather impotent and unworthy vessels to begin with but we will do well brothers to recall this gospel comes in an unexpected word it performs an unexpected work and is in truth delivered and unexpected and even unimpressive wrappings like an insignificant creature that one can take in his hand in its apparent weakness which at the same time is found to dwell in the palaces of Kings so this gospel which comes to men in the appearance of weakness and insignificance and is in truth the very wisdom and power of the king of heaven itself now this is strange to impact and change the world to say the least with such a message but it is in truth the very gospel of the cross of Christ by which the church in every age grows up into her head the ever -glorious Christ it is most important however that the claims that we have just made in summation of the text before we actually gave you the text and exposition those claims need to be rooted in the scripture themselves so I'd like you to find with me again that text in 1st the text in the broader context of the whole of Paul's letter and see why Paul would write such words about the cross of Christ helpful in this were some words by Earl Ellis and a book he wrote called prophecy and hermeneutic in early Christianity and dr.
Mike Gallagher Podcast
A highlight from The Mike and Mark Davis Daily Chat - 09/11/23
"There stars are in the southern sky and if ever you decide... If my research is correct, this was what the Madison Square Garden crowd heard to begin the show that Mike was in attendance for when he was in New York. I'm just watching guys play tennis, but this is what Mike did. I bet it was awesome. Mike and I were in New York City at the same time doing very different things. Wait a minute. Don't say Mike and I were in New York City. You created quite the drama by your refusal to spend even a second of time with me when you and your beautiful bride were celebrating your anniversary. Well, excuse me for not peeling away for schmooze time on an anniversary event. It took Peg Hudson to set Joe and me straight. Let me give you the backstory. Yes, there's always backstory. Your research is spot on. That was what they opened with. They all lined up across the front of the stage, including the great Vince Gill. Oh my God. That show was unbelievable. I mean, when's the last time you've gone to a concert and for two hours you hear the band just do hit after hit after hit after hit? Who can do that? It's not a long list. The Eagles can do it. And they did it. Opened up by Steely Dan. And in fairness, there's an example, three quarters of the songs, I don't remember it. I never heard of, but there's a couple of hits there for some of the great Steely Dan. And then of course, the Eagles with what was an incredible night at Madison Square Garden. But anyway, you're here, you're in town. I'm in town with Joey and Peg. We're seeing the Eagles and we saw a couple Broadway shows and I figured when Mark and Lisa go do stuff, it's Mark and Lisa time. And I should have known that. So I delicately said, hey, you want to get together for lunch or dinner while you're here? I mean, we don't see each other in person very much. And of course, as predictable as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, oh, we're slammed. Thank you. We're very busy. We're very busy. We're slammed. We're a little maxed out here. We're maxed out. And so Joey and I got all up in arms about it Saturday night. My man, my man, buddy card is being revoked. We went to dinner at a place called Centurion, New York, and I had a table set for you and Lisa. I mean, we were in a private room on the 55th floor of one Wondervelt. I'm not kidding you. It was unbelievable. It's this brand new dining experience. And we had a room with a table of six with three of us. And I kept saying, gosh, what, how perfect that would have been for Mark and Lisa to have joined us. And Joey and I started bellyaching about your rudeness. And then Peg says, it took a woman to point out, are you guys high? Right. Well, she says, do you think they want to spend their anniversary weekend with you talking shop? And I said, well, first of all, we're more than just shop. It's not just work. We're friends. Exactly. There's all kinds of commonalities and tastes and the culture in our lives. And we're intertwined, of course, it would have been lovely. But it wasn't because you didn't give us the time of day. I know my priorities. Well, you're right. Okay. I mean, good for you. And I hope you had a lovely weekend. So what exactly should I have given up? Should I have, well, here's a weird story because we thought that one night was going to be at the Arthur Ashe Stadium for tennis purposes. And the other one was going to be at Elio's in the Upper East Side, the restaurant where I proposed to her in March of 2002. So which of those should I have cashed in, you know, go hang out with y 'all as much as wonderful as that would have been. I mean, is the proposal restaurant all that significant? Come on. Yes, it is. But here's what's weird. Here's the weird thing that happened on tennis day. Do you know how weird tennis is trying to attend it? If you want to go to the Cowboys and the Eagles on December 10th, you can get a ticket right now for the Cowboys and the Eagles on December 10th. But if you want to go see Novak Djokovic, which is what my bride wanted to do, because from 10, 15 years ago, we're watching Nadal and Federer, and she just loves these guys. And we have loved watching tennis together on the TV box. And I said, for this anniversary, I'm taking you to the U .S. Open. It's like, great, we'll go see Djokovic or other great players, Daniel Medvedev, the young Carlos Alcaraz, who may be the next Nadal. But if you want to see Djokovic, you can't. He's not guaranteed to play on a particular day at a particular time. You can nail down the day. We did not know until hours ahead of time that Djokovic and Ben Shelton, the American, would be the early match. And silly me, I thought, there's no way. He's got to be the late match. So I bought tickets to the late match at no small expense. But then all of a sudden it's like, ding, ding, ding. Nope. That is Medvedev. He'll be playing Alcaraz at night and beat him, of course, because it was Djokovic and Medvedev. And Djokovic won in the final that we watched last night. It was great. So here's what I had to do. I've never done this before. I'm a big fan of the secondary market. So I had these tickets on Ticketmaster. In the old days. You tell me you sold tickets because I was desperately trying to get tickets to go. I'm going to kill you. What? No. I wanted to go so bad. To the open? I wanted to go to the open so badly I could taste it. And I went on the secondary market. You know, God's been good to me and I have a pretty good living. I ain't spending $14 ,000 a ticket. Okay. You want to talk real dollars? I'm going to do this. I am going to do this for my bride. She doesn't do mink coats or huge jewelry. You know, she's just one of the million reasons I love her. We were in unbelievable seats for the night, for the night one in the hundred level, the loge level. And they were $1 apiece. ,700 $1 ,700 apiece. So $3 ,400 to put my wife and me in these magnificent seats. Then we learned, guess what? Djokovic ain't playing at night. He's playing in the daytime. So now I got to go get seats to that. But here's the thing, since the world expected Djokovic to be at night, that's why those seats were $1 ,700. The moment it was announced, I flip immediately to the day session, got the exact same seats on the other side of Arthur Ashe Stadium for $600 apiece. Boom. Then I sold, with my phone still in my hand, sold the ones that I had bought. Obviously, their price went down a little bit. So I didn't make it all back. But I essentially paid for the other ones with the sale of the first ones. It is a crazy modern world, man. It is a crazy modern world. And heaven forbid you would have said to your talk show buddy, you want a couple tickets to the open because I would have bought them from you direct. I wouldn't even know. Funny, I don't know how to transfer them to another actual human being. Well, there's a way. There's got to be a way. All right. I think there's enough about that. Here's my proclamation. If I come to Dallas for a weekend, I'll make time to see you and Lisa, okay? And I will find a restaurant with a private room and a seat for anybody you want to bring. All right. We'll replicate it, Texas. Let me share with you the sights and sounds of what I experienced this morning walking into work here at 111 Broadway in lower Manhattan. All the police activity as the commemoration, the bell is ringing, observing the moment the flight hit the North Tower. Twenty -two years, Mark. The moment you know well. Boy. You were in the Empire State. Sure was. And we're going to relive that today on the show as we always do. We're also going to play that beautiful faith -filled tribute called Silent Night that our friends at KRLA in Los Angeles made many years ago where God, you just don't believe it, but he has a plan and he is always, always with us, even in our darkest hours. So, you know, Axios had an interesting piece this morning about how young men and women enlisting today and joining the military. They don't have that sense of understanding or recognition of 9 -11. So many people became members of the military because of 9 -11. It was such a movement in this country and it was beautiful and it continues to be. And they're in their mid -forties now. Correct. You know, ish. And you think about, I mean, there are people of legal adulthood, 21 years old now, who were not alive for 9 -11. Absolutely. For them, it's not like it's Pearl Harbor or anything, but it's just something that happened before I was born. I got to wrap my head around that. It's interesting that I heard, that's a second time today, though, I've heard somebody say, well, it's not like Pearl Harbor. I really feel it is. Just to me, it's, maybe it's because of our age and, you know, we run around. Here's the crazy thing. You and I were both born less than 20 years afterward. Correct. After Pearl Harbor. So it was just something that had recently happened. That's right. Had a certain stigma and, you know. So I think about the people who joined the military on behalf of those who died on 9 -11 and fighting for our freedoms, fighting against tyranny. And Mark, I am stunned at the rapid way tyranny has come to our own governance. I read an article the other day in the New York Times. It's an opinion piece, to be fair. Trump indict Trump's indictments, the key players in the 2020 election effort. And Mark, they did one of these and I read it online, one of these comprehensive articles about how everybody who questioned in any way, shape or form the outcome of the 2020 election is a co -conspirator in the election denialism that is traitorous, that is traitorous, that's treason. Now, attack on democracy. Right now, never mind all the Democrats, including Hillary on down, who lined up in question the outcome of 2016. I guess that doesn't count. I'm sure the New York Times didn't do, you know, an extensive piece on this, but they've got everybody ensnared in this, Mark. Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley. We saw Lindsey Graham almost got indicted in Fulton County. And all they were doing was saying, what happened here? And exactly daring to inquire. And that has become a tactic of the left. And I think COVID, tell me if you agree with me, COVID broke the door open on this. If you dared question the vaccine or if you dared question the lockdowns, you were shut down. You lost your social media status. Some people lost their jobs. Look at the, look at all the airline pilots we lost because they wouldn't get vaccinated. And that kind of opened the door. And now it comes to the, to election integrity and the New York Times and people who think like them want to weaponize our free speech right to question anything. And criminalize it. And so your metaphor is apt. It absolutely is. And I hope it goes a similar way that the COVID extremism did. And that is that the pendulum swings. And now we have relative rationality, even though I did see in New York City, people walking around by themselves in Washington Square Park, wearing a mask outside. But not many, right? Not very many at all. Listen, I almost wanted a mask to keep away from the weed smell. I asked a New York City cop, what's with the weed? And he told me, he said, look, it's legal. You can't have enough where you're trying to sell it. You can't give it to kids, blah, blah, blah. But it's pretty, and I said, has it been a problem? He said, not really. He said, I don't like it either, but it's people doing, so, but not to divert. So your metaphor is apt. I hope that the pendulum swings, as it did with COVID, and I hope it does it maybe even quicker because the, because the Fauci's and the various other people who hit us with this have been proven so terribly, terribly wrong and corrupt so relatively quickly. I hope that can happen on weaponization of election. Well, Mark, there's reason to be optimistic. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling, huge win for free speech where this appeals court upheld the prohibiting government officials from communicating with social media companies. There was a preliminary junction. The defendants include Joe Biden, the U .S. Surgeon General, the Health and Human Services Secretary, and the courts are agreeing that it is absolutely unlawful for government officials to try to censor speech on social media. Of course it is. Well, it took a long time. Sure. Well, listen, justice delayed is justice denied. But that's the pendulum swinging. And I hope you, speaking of New York, I hope you saw the New York -based shrews over on The View Friday, Anna Navarro and the rest of them now complaining about the illegals in New York City saying they need to be resettled elsewhere. Anna Navarro and the rest of them on The View want to kick illegals out of New York. How unwelcoming. Oh, how well, how unchristian -like of them. But listen, I heard somebody say this somewhere else and it's true. People like Greg Abbott and others have called Eric Adams bluff. Yep. We've called their bluff. We've said, all right, you want to be a sanctuary city? Here's what it looks like. This is it. Welcome to Texas. Every day, the amount. Welcome to El Paso. And, you know, so golly, I hope the pendulum is swing. Great to have you back. It is wonderful to be back. Great to kick off a big, big week. I'll be in Philly tonight for a big event with Dennis Prager and Pastor Robert Jeffers. Faith and Freedom Coalition event. And then back here on in New York Tuesday and then back to Florida. So, OK, this is crazy. Mr. Acela corridor. You're in Philadelphia for an event tonight. I'm on the 115 Acela. I love that train. In the morning? 115 this afternoon. To get there. But where are you doing the show tomorrow morning? From Philly, from AM 990. And then taking the Acela back. And I have to admit, I'm not a big train travel fan. Yep. I like that Acela. Yep. Pretty cool. And, you know, I think I've got to be in first class just so I can, as an observer, experience what that first class experience must be like. If you're going to do it, do it. You might as well go up front, you know, and or actually in the back. Sometimes the first class on the Acela is on the way in the back. But I still like walking over to the cafe car and getting a hot dog. Kicking it old school. Absolutely. Yeah. Love it. Love it. Big week. All right. Happy Monday, my friend. Happy Monday. Mike Gallagher there for you on this very. I'm just. Think identity theft won't happen to you? Think again. There's a new victim every three seconds in the U .S., over 15 million this year alone. And many don't even know their victims. LifeLock alerts you to identity threats you could miss, even when you monitor your credit. If your identity is stolen, your dedicated U .S. based restoration specialist will work to fix it. No one can prevent all identity theft, but everyone can save up to 25 percent their first year at lifelock dot com slash Salem. Identity theft protection starts here.
ToddCast Podcast with Todd Starnes
"brides today" Discussed on ToddCast Podcast with Todd Starnes
"All right, we got to take a break, we'll be right back. For an interesting story over at Todd stern's dot com. You don't hear this headline very often. Bearded man with Harry chest featured on cover of bridal magazine. Modern day bride still harkened back to tradition on their wedding day, something borrowed something blue. But one bridal magazine believes girls should also have something hairy, too. Oh, that's clever at rhymes. The Indian wedding magazine brides today sparking Budweiser style backlash after it featured a trans feminine person on its cover. By the way, that's a polite way of saying a very large hairy bearded man. An address. And it turns out that people are really upset over India, but what gets me is in their outrage, their bashing America. A one person said, oh, by the way, the guy on the cover actually has been a big advocate of men using the same bathrooms and locker rooms as biological women, a quote little girls are kinky. Your kids are not as straight and narrow as you think. This guy wrote on his Facebook page. Anyway, people are very upset. Women celebrating being replaced by a man, one person wrote, don't do this in our country, please don't be this woke. It'll only take us on a path of cultural destruction like the west. That's us, by the way. Another woman wrote women are brides. He is not a bride, stop her racing women. And others are just as upset that that there are people in India that are embracing what we're doing here in the United States of America. One person said I literally threw up this is a visual nightmare, putting a dress on does not make him feminine. Makeup dresses and jewelry. Do not define what it is to be feminine or a woman for that matter. I mean, can you imagine, though, can you imagine being the guy and you're waiting at the altar for the soon to be wife that you've never met before? Over in India. Maybe it's an arranged marriage. And they're playing whatever they play. Here comes, I don't know whatever they play. And they see a hairy dude and a dress coming down the aisle. Can you only imagine? They'll have to rewrite the song. Here comes the bride, there goes the groom. I'm outta here. All right, we gotta take a break. 8 four four 747 88 68 toll free telephone number. That's 8 four four 747. 88 68. This is the Todd star show. All right, I don't believe Joe Biden is going to be the nominee. For the Democrats. I want to explain why, first of all, as horrible as it sounds, I just don't think he's going to have the mental capacity. If he's still alive, I don't think he's going to have the mental capacity. To be able to run a campaign, I don't. And by the way, the even the Democrats understand how terrible Kamala Harris is. So they've got a they've got a double reason. To make sure that campaign never happens. So I want to go back to something I've been flirting around with for the past couple of years now. And I've told you, don't be surprised. If the dark horse candidate for the Democrats is none other than Michelle Hussein Obama. And I'm going back to that. I'm going back to the well on this to remind you that this is a very real possibility. When you look at Michelle Obama's polling numbers, she is someone who can radically revolutionize an energized the Democrat party base. Because as they will point out, she will be the first black woman to become president. But beyond that, they always made an issue and I think there was always an issue with Barack Obama having a white mother. So do not be surprised if you see if you see the professional race grifters embrace Michelle Obama and the prospect of an Obama candidacy and folks, that would be very, very significant for the Republicans. Because they're going to have to, they're going to have to get behind somebody. And they're going to have to make sure that doesn't happen. But I'm telling you right now, if Michelle Obama is the nominee, it is going to be a very, very tough race for the Republicans. Now, there was something that happened a couple of weeks ago did not get a lot of attention, but it, but it's important. Susan Rice has left the administration, and there's some speculation. That the reason why she left the Biden White House is to help laid the groundwork and the foundation for Michelle Obama..
The Trish Regan Show
"brides today" Discussed on The Trish Regan Show
"Take a peek at this. Okay, so this is brides today magazine in India. This is their Instagram account and apparently this is their new digital cover, and they're celebrating transgenderism. And if you're listening to this on the podcast, I'm just going to describe it. It is a very, very hairy man. Lots of arm hair, lots of poly back hair. Lots of hair, just everywhere. I mean, lots of hair. Facial hair, the whole bit. And he's wearing lots of jewelry as well in a fancy Sari. And a lot of makeup. And this is how they're celebrating transgenderism. So once again, putting people on a pedestal. Now, I got nothing against, you know, you do, you do you and I'll do me, okay? You want to do that fine. But when you start shoving it down people's throat over and over and over again in society and celebrating in a way that I think leaves a lot of young kids really confused, then we're talking a whole different thing. You heard my interview the other day with Chloe Cole, the young girl who at 12 years old was like, I don't really like this old girl thing because she's going through all the things that girls go through at 12, 13, 14, 15 by 15. They had operated on her and done a double mastectomy, and she realized, you know what, that wasn't going to solve any of her problems. That she actually did want to be a woman. And now she can't even get them to pay for reconstructive surgery. They're of no help. She wants to transition fine. The medical community do anything to help her detransition whole other story. So I think that this sort of push, which is designed to make us all more accepting, it may come from some good intention somewhere I actually don't think it does. I think it's extremely political. But let's just assume that they're trying to do this so that we're all a little bit more open minded. Okay, fine, but you're taking it to a whole other level. Listen, it's pretty basic. We need to be good people. That's where sort of just being a good person. Valuing others, having a relationship with God. I mean, these are things that I think help mold you into a better and more tolerant individual. Nah. Not celebrating nonsense and sort of worshiping it because that's what's this has be common. Everybody has to worship these people and that's a whole different thing entirely. So there are force feeding us this is exactly what they did over at Bud Light. They literally wanted us drinking their beverage and what did we see happen. Everybody fought back. And they're continuing to fight back massive decline in sales numbers down 17% for some of the numbers ending the 15th of April and then we've seen additional numbers coming in suggesting beer sales for bad light are down as much as 30%. So the company is just in a state of chaos. They've already fired. I shouldn't say fired, forgive me. Nobody got fired. They just got put on a leave of absence. Two executives there are being put on a leave of absence because clearly they don't understand their customer. And these woke ideas are taking over in a way that is really, I would still argue kind of detrimental to society. Speaking of which, some of these woke ideas are very detrimental to women. And I consider myself a feminist. And I say that in the most positive, original form of the word in that I believe in the equality of men and women. Doesn't mean that women are going to do the exact same things or look the exact same way. It doesn't mean that women should be competing with men in athletics because there's a whole different physical thing going on, but it means that we should have equal access to opportunity and women to be able to do whatever it is that they want to do. You want to stay home with your children. You want to run a business. You want to be the president of the United States. You want to be an Olympic athlete. Go for it. You need to have equal opportunity to men. And what we've now seen as a result of this whole transgender athlete thing is that women don't have the same opportunity anymore. And it's getting twisted on its head with Leah Thomas now on a podcast coming out and saying that they are using feminism to push transphobic beliefs. She thinks feminism is discriminating against her. Rather than coming to the realization that, look, if you're born with male hormones and you're growing as an individual for many, many years, you're building muscle in a different way than a woman could actually do. I mean, this is kind of just basic science, right? They're like, oh, we respectfully as a woman as a trans woman or whatever. We respect our identity. We just don't think it's fair. You can't really have that sort of half support where you're like, oh, I respect her as a woman here, but not here. I can respect you as a person. You know what? We are all God's creation. Every individual has value. I can respect you while I still disagree with you. That's one thing conservatives actually do really well. The left, however, does not. The left wants it the whole way, right? It's my way or the highway. Either you accept all of me and accept that I can win all the medals because I grew up in a male body and have certain advantages because of it or you're somehow transphobic. That's the nuttiest thing I have ever heard. And by the way, look, I worked many years in TV. I have a background in music. I've known a very diverse group of people and had a very diverse group of friends. There is nothing transphobic about what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that I care about women. And I care about girls. And I want to make sure that every girl has an equal opportunity to get a scholarship to college because she's been working her whole life to try and get it. And I don't want somebody who was raised as a boy, common along. And taken it away out from under. I mean, she's shattering records by a full what was at 1.75 seconds as a big, big deal. So now women have to reach that goal. How is that fair? It's not. And we, as women, we need to speak up. Because we're pretty tolerant, but there's a kind of misogyny going on here. Really and truly, these are men making all these decisions, the man Anheuser Busch, the CEO of the company. There's another male executive at marketing, and yes, it was a I can never say her name, so I'm not going to try..
The Trish Regan Show
"brides today" Discussed on The Trish Regan Show
"If you're appalled by some of these Victoria's secrets, images, you ain't seen nothing yet. Take a peek at this. Okay, so this is brides today magazine in India. This is their Instagram account and apparently this is their new digital cover, and they're celebrating transgenderism. And if you're listening to this on the podcast, I'm just going to describe it. It is a very, very hairy man. Lots of arm hair, lots of poly back hair. Lots of hair, just everywhere. I mean, lots of hair. Facial hair, the whole bit. And he's wearing lots of jewelry as well in a fancy Sari. And a lot of makeup. And this is how they're celebrating transgenderism. So once again, putting people on a pedestal. Now, I got nothing against, you know, you do, you do you and I'll do me, okay? You want to do that fine. But when you start shoving it down people's throat over and over and over again in society and celebrating in a way that I think leaves a lot of young kids really confused, then we're talking a whole different thing. You heard my interview the other day with Chloe Cole, the young girl who at 12 years old was like, I don't really like this old girl thing because she's going through all the things that girls go through at 12, 13, 14, 15 by 15. They had operated on her and done a double mastectomy, and she realized, you know what, that wasn't going to solve any of her problems. That she actually did want to be a woman. And now she can't even get them to pay for reconstructive surgery. They're of no help. She wants to transition fine. The medical community do anything to help her detransition whole other story. So I think that this sort of push, which is designed to make us all more accepting, it may come from some good intention somewhere I actually don't think it does. I think it's extremely political. But let's just assume that they're trying to do this so that we're all a little bit more open minded. Okay, fine, but you're taking it to a whole other level.
The Ben Shapiro Show
"brides today" Discussed on The Ben Shapiro Show
"All right, so apparently there is a magazine called brides today. And brides today in India has a special feature. Oh no. Oh no. The special feature is of a dude. A gender nonconforming I know this is a dude because this person has more hair than the carpet in this entire office. I mean, this person is just covered in human hair. My goodness. The levels of testosterone running for this person's body could populate entire worlds apparently. And truly amazing stuff. In conversation with brides today and this is a dude who's dressed up in Indian bridal garb. in like the country of India. In conversation with brides today, gender nonconforming and trans feminine author, performance artist poet and comedian, Alec vaid menon, who performs under the moniker elok makes a compelling case for love is love. Bride here's the interview. Brian says, you look absolutely fabulous in these photographs. Tell us how you style anywhere. Okay, so first of all, lie, lie, you're not looking absolutely fabulous. You look like a horror show. I'm sorry, you're the one put yourself on cover magazine. Once you put yourself on the cover of magazine, you clear yourself beautiful. Then we all get to comment on it. And nope. I think I'm gonna be a big nope, right? My goodness. Alex has in the U.S. Indian Diaspora were only expected to wear Indian ensembles for community events, like weddings and holidays. However, I like donning Indian outfits across occasions. Indian ware is elegant, vibrant, and timeless. Why would we deny the world its beauty? Sometimes I combine Indian well with western style clothing. That's the fun and fashion. It's playfulness. It's hybridity. Well, I mean, that isn't like, you know, there's traditional mail Indian clothing as well. Brides today says, how would you define your personal style? And he says style is mobile poetry there are no guidelines. I address to be joyful to enhance my capacity for all or amazement in this world. I dress for me. Okay, first of all, that is the biggest crock of crap. People generally dress for each other. You know how you know this because when you're at home and it's time for bed. You don't put on a tux. You put on some PJs, you look like a schlub, because you're dressing for you now to be comfortable. But apparently we're all supposed to believe that when you Don, bridal garb, Indian first of all, I wonder how Indian women feel about this sort of thing. Apparently, okay, is that the answer here? Because I feel like not, bride states and what does love mean to you, quote, loves about expansion and not construction permission, not prohibition, becoming ourselves, not betraying ourselves. Oh, so love just means you do whatever you want. Without any sort of limits whatsoever. Are there no sort of sort of limits at all? None? Because I feel like even you would think there are limits, say, children, or like an infinite number of sexual partners, no? Maybe not. I suppose not. Bride stays as we have been conditioned to abide by the institution of marriage. What are your thoughts on marriage? And he says, I grew up in a sexist culture that conflated marriage with maturity. One that told us we had to be married to be complete. Marriage was less about what we wanted and more about what was expected of us. And this caused so much grief. Yeah, I'm sure. You are a deeply happy individual and an individualist culture dressing up in women's clothing and bearing your extremely hairy belly to the world on the cover of brides today. Marriage is the problem, guys. Probably when I look at the average person, if the choice, which way, western man, I mean, seriously, it's like marriage on the one hand or this. Okay, your choice, your choice, and so then he calls for marriage equality, of course. And by marriage equality, he means that marriage is bad. We just heard that. You should recognize that for a huge number of people when they say marriage equality what they mean is the fundamental institution of marriage ought not be respected. It ought to be deconstructed. And marriage equality is just one tool in that deconstruction. Which, by the way, is one of the reasons why we moved directly from gay marriage, which is a completely different argument to men can be women. Because maybe the argument all along embedded itself in a broader argument, which is that marriage is bad. And once you hollow out the institution from man and woman and children, then all of a sudden, it doesn't exist anymore. It's been completely exploded. So well done again, brides today. And as an interesting choice, brides today. Hey, meanwhile, I would recommend that you not allow your children to watch mighty morphin Power Rangers, reunion, special, you grew up watching mighty morphin Power Rangers, and it was, you know, like a semi acute show with a bunch of young people who would randomly turn into spandex wearing crime fighters and such? Well now, the reunion is going to feature the adult sex lives of the people, which makes perfect sense. According to Entertainment Weekly, power ranger star, David yost, has been open about how the homophobia he faced while working on mighty morphin Power Rangers led him to walk away from the hit series in the 1990s. But now as he returns to the 30th anniversary special once and always, he's seeing the LGBTQ community explicitly represented. On the series, I think it's great we had an element like that, obviously, and to where we are because it's important people see representation yost tells EW of the ones and all we've seen in which yellow ranger trainees daughter min helps a man and his boyfriend fend off some of Rita repulsa's putty patrollers. Yes, it's very important that children see a gay couple being defended from the putty patrollers of retail repulsa. Don't worry, it's not about the kids, guys. They don't want indoctrinate the kids in their values. It's just about exposing kids to different lifestyles and all the rest. The kids, no, again, go back to Joe Biden saying that they're not your kids. They're all of our kids, and you know exactly where this is coming from. Already, guys, the rest of the show continues right now. You're not going to want to miss it. We'll be getting into the vaunted Ben Shapiro Chanel bag. If you want to have your question answered, you have to be a member. If you're not a member, become a member, use code Shapiro, check out for two months free on all annual plans. Click the link in the description and join us.
All Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe Podcasts
"brides today" Discussed on All Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe Podcasts
"Her brother and mother said no. No no no let the main remain with us for a year maybe ten months and only then let her go in has no no. Don't delay. now that a sham made my journey successful send me. I will go to my master at the guy. The salesman finally makes the sale and then the buyer has cold feet and murray can't delete. Don't push it off is a terrible idea. And ultimately they agree to call back on. Ask her what she says. She has the last say. And it's really interesting. If you compare what happened at the night the what happened in the morning at night you know. They were so inspired. What a story incredible so to at this. It's from god. There's no denying yet taker tomorrow. Back to abraham back to isaac and then in the morning they seem to have second thoughts about it. I don't know maybe we should stay here for a little bit longer. Maybe there's a takeaway here that when someone's inspired someone sees the hand of god that's great. That's very powerful but if they let that linger if they sleep on it you sleep on inspiration you wake up in the morning. The inspiration isn't as hot isn't as piping was earlier. You start having doubts. Maybe yes i don't know maybe no there's a question. So rebecca is called. she's gonna be the final choice and she says i'm going to go. They escort her. They bless her our sister. May you become to be thousands of myriads mayor offspring inherit the gate of their foes indeed. That's a blessing that we still offer to brides today. And rebecca arose with her made in the road upon the camels and they had back home. The servant took rebecca and went as they head back home. They meet isaac. Isaac is gone to pray at the erla jairo e and..
Z104
"brides today" Discussed on Z104
"Get up in the memory power. Thank you. My mother Something away. 70 70 Humility. Morning two on Wednesday, may 19th Good morning, actually. Good morning. Good morning Shack More Partly sunny and 80. I hear you got over there your wake up. Hey, I'm good. Okay. Sorry. Sorry Check. Make sure with 81 Bride today nearly hanged and 88. What's wrong? What's wrong today? Actually, my nose is just so stuff. You got the eastbound and westbound tunnels like one time the eastbound tunnel's clear then the West Mountain so much like I feel it in the back of my throat. Just like dangling. We apologize to those of you eating breakfast around. Uh, coming up in 20 minutes today. Zero busy. Can you get through that? Yes, Okay. One of Quentin's Paltrow's Lady Park candles. Almost killed a man I don't doubt that otters. The stock market in your car radio are all up in today's good idea. Bad idea and why One man refuses to be the best man at his own twin brother's wedding. That's ice cold. We'll get to that story, too. But first, it's time for our weekly look at what's trending on the Internet, Twitter and around the stories that are trending in Hampton Roads and around the globe. Ecstasy. Those trends Day Wednesday on C one of four. Do you wanna play the clip? First year? We talk about it, but we could play it first. Let's places from Elizabeth City yesterday. No, A lot of you saw this on the news. Yesterday. The announcement in the prosecutor.