Podcasts

The Acts of the Apostles in the Bible describe the dynamic vitality of the earliest Christian community. The disciples, who not so long before were hiding for lack of courage, are portrayed in Acts as boldly proclaiming the truth about Jesus, welcoming punishment, healing the sick and bringing thousands to the Christian faith. This new vitality was all animated by the coming of the Holy Spirit at the first Pentecost. Is the Holy Spirit still with us? Can our parishes imitate the life of the Christian community described in Acts of the Apostles? Deacon Tim and Cyndi answer these questions.

More and more Catholic parishes around the country are emphasizing discipleship as a key focus. The parishes that have done this are experiencing a dynamic new spiritual vitality. Deacon Tim and Cyndi discuss the elements of these efforts to promote discipleship. They identify specific examples of how and why discipleship brings such profound change to parishes that were previously languishing.

Most believers think that the covid 19 pandemic is a sign from God that something is seriously wrong about the way we are living. They might disagree on what that something is and what should be done about it, but there is a sensitivity that God is mixed up in it somehow. Deacon Tim and Cyndi explore in this podcast how saints in the past have understood such scourges and how their perspective might apply to the current situation.

Deacon Tim and Cyndi continue their discussion of discipleship and in this podcast focus on how to effectively share the Catholic faith with others, something that can be difficult and awkward at first.

What is the job description for EVERY Christian, including and especially Catholics? Go to Mass on Sunday? Yes, but that is only part of our job. Jesus says, “Go and make disciples…” We are all supposed to be followers of Jesus. That doesn’t mean being a follower for an hour or so on Sunday. That means being a follower 24/7, in EVERY aspect of our lives. And we not only are disciples, but we have the duty to evangelize and make disciples of others. Deacon Tim and Cyndi address this responsibility that has somehow escaped the attention of so many Catholics, including clergy.

This is Part Two of Deacon Tim and Cyndi’s discussion of how an individual Christian can discern God’s subjective will for him or her. God is communicating HIs will to us all the time! Deacon Tim tells us how we can pick up these communications and then be faithful to what God wants us to do. The big question for each of us: Are we letting God do everything with us that He wants to?

Deacon Tim has previously explained the mission and identity of Jesus and the mission and identity of the Church. Now Deacon Tim presents the mission and identity of each Christian, not so much the mission and identity all Christians have in common but the mission and identity that are unique to each individual. What is God’s subjective will for each of us? How do we discern God’s will? Important questions!!

Many people who call themselves Catholic don’t believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Many who do believe in the real presence don’t have an adequate understanding of the dynamics of the Mass, and so they lack an appreciation for the power of the Eucharist and how the Eucharist can change our lives. Deacon Tim and Cyndi explain how the faithful who are present in the Catholic Mass can experience the beauty and power of being united with Jesus in the Eucharist.

Perhaps no other sacrament of the Catholic Church is facing more challenges today than marriage. Here Deacon Tim and Cyndi describe the beauty of God’s plan for marriage and how it can successfully be lived out.

As Deacon Tim and Cyndi discuss the sacraments of the Church, in this podcast they focus on the priesthood and diaconate.

Continuing their discussion of the sacraments of the Church, Deacon Tim and Cyndi her reflect on the sacraments of healing and sacraments of vocation: Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Marriage and Holy Orders.

Beginning with this podcast, Deacon Tim and Cyndi will provide helpful and practical perspectives on the sacraments. Here, they discuss Baptism and Conversation, focusing on how adult Catholics can integrate their Baptisms and Confirmations into their daily lives.

We’re now going to focus on the Catholic Church, it’s identity, mission and power. The Church exists so that every one of us alive today is not a victim of history, so that we have access through the Church to everything of significance that Jesus did and said when He walked this earth over 2,000 years ago. Listen in!

Deacon Tim and Cyndi discuss why Jesus needs to be at the center of our lives. The power of the sacraments in the Catholic Church depends on our disposition when we participate in the sacraments, which comes down to the depth of our relationship with Jesus.

Deacon Tim and Cyndi have talked about the negative impact of relativism in a prior podcast. In this program, they talk about the relationship between faith and what is truly, objectively real. They also discuss ways we can connect with the real in the hustle, bustle and confusion of modern life.

In 1973, Our Lady of Akita, in an approved apparition which took place in Japan, said that, "The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see Cardinals opposing Cardinals, Bishops against Bishops." Could this prophecy be coming true in the dispute over the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, on the issue of admitting Catholics who divorce and remarry without an annulment to the Eucharist?