• The Crucifix Prayer

    Blessed are you, Lord God,
    Father all-holy,
    for your boundless love
    The tree, once the source of shame
    and death for humankind,
    has become the cross
    of our redemption and life.

    When his hour had come to
    return to you in glory,
    the Lord Jesus,
    Our King, our Priest, and our Teacher,
    freely mounted the scaffold of the cross
    and made it his royal throne,
    his altar of sacrifice, his pulpit of truth.

    On the cross,
    lifted above the earth,
    he triumphed over our age-old enemy.
    Cloaked in his own blood,
    he drew all things to himself.

    On the cross,
    he opened out his arms
    and offered you his life;
    the sacrifice of the New Law
    that gives to the sacraments
    their saving power.

    On the cross,
    he proved what he had prophesied:
    the grain of wheat must die
    to bring forth an abundant harvest.

    Father,
    we honour this cross as the sign
    of our redemption.
    May we reap the harvest of salvation
    planted in pain by Christ Jesus.
    May our sins be nailed to his cross,
    the power of life released,
    pride conquered,
    and weakness turned to strength.

    May the cross be our comfort in trouble,
    our refuge in the face of danger,
    our safeguard on life’s journey
    until you welcome us to
    our heavenly home.

    Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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  • The Prayer of St. Ephrem

    {Making a prostration}

    O LORD, Master of my life,
    grant that I may not be infected with the
    spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness,
    with the spirit of ambition and vain talking.

    {Making a prostration}

    Grant instead to me, your servant,
    the spirit of purity and of humility,
    the spirit of patience and neighborly love.

    {Making a third prostration}

    O Lord and King,
    grant me the grace of being aware of my sins
    and of not thinking evil of those of my brethren.
    For you are blessed, now and ever, and forever.

    Amen.

    Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings,
    You have power over life and death.
    You know what is secret and hidden,
    and neither our thoughts nor our feelings
    are concealed from You.
    Cure me of duplicity;
    I have done evil before You.
    Now my life declines from day to day
    and my sins increase.
    O Lord, God of souls and bodies,
    You know the extreme frailty of my soul and my flesh.
    Grant me strength in my weakness, O Lord,
    and sustain me in my misery.
    Give me a grateful soul that I may
    never cease to recall Your benefits,
    O Lord most bountiful.
    Be not mindful of my many sins,
    but forgive me all my misdeeds.
    O Lord, disdain not my prayer –
    the prayer of a wretched sinner;
    sustain me with Your grace until the end,
    that it may protect me as in the past.
    It is Your grace which has taught me wisdom;
    blessed are they who follow her ways,
    for they shall receive the crown of glory.
    In spite of my unworthiness,
    I praise You and I glorify You,
    O Lord, for Your mercy to me is without limit.
    You have been my help and my protection.
    May the name of Your majesty be praised forever.
    To you, our God, be glory.
    Amen.

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  • PWJ: S4E103 – Bonus – “Season Finale” (Part 2)

    David, Andrew, and Matt wrap up Season 4 with the Season Finale. This is Part 2 of that Finale. Listener Survey: https://forms.gle/X4zq7Uk69KmYo1v3A

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  • PWJ: S4E102 – Bonus – “Season Finale” (Part 1)

    David, Andrew, and Matt wrap up Season 4 with the Season Finale. This is Part 1…

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  • PWJ: S4E101 – Bonus – “Jack vs Tollers”

    After the previously-planned interview fell through at the last minute, David sat down to record a solo episode to talk about his newborn son, Sidecar Day, blue flowers in Narnia, and also to make his tongue-in-cheek case as to why C.S. Lewis is better than J.R.R. Tolkien.

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  • PWJ: S4E100 – AH – “After Hours” with The Gray Havens

    The Gray Havens are an American Christian folk pop husband and wife duo, David and Licia Radford, from Crystal Lake, Illinois. On October 8th they will be releasing their new album, Blue Flower, so David Radford came on the show to talk to Andrew and David about how C.S. Lewis inspired their recent work.

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  • PWJ: S4E99 – AH – “After Hours” with Mike “Gomer” Gormley

    As we approach the end of Season 4, David is joined on the show by Michael “Gomer” Gormley. Among other things, they discuss Ted Lasso, tea, and the Atonement. Also, find out what Gomer would do if he ever became the Pope!

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  • PWJ: S4E98 – AH – “After Hours” with Patti Callahan

    New York Times bestselling author, Patti Callahan, returns to the show to talk about her forthcoming book, “Once Upon A Wardrobe”, which will be released on October 19th.

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  • PWJ: S4E97 – AH – “After Hours” with The Tolkien Road

    A few months ago, John and Greta from The Tolkien Road podcast did a series of episodes on religion in Tolkien’s Legendarium. David invited him onto the show to talk about those episodes and to encourage the Pints With Jack listeners to listen to them.

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  • PWJ: S4E96 – AH – “After Hours” with Rod Bennett

    Author Rod Bennett joined David to talk about a presentation on he gave at a big Christian rock festival about C.S. Lewis’ relationship to “Pulp Fiction”.

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When you’re forced to say silly things…

Yesterday morning I was standing outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic and, as we prayed the rosary, I was reminded of a video I saw a few weeks ago and I made a mental note to share it here today. The video was of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, an American Politician, being interviewed about her children…

Here’s a transcript of the interview with my comments interspersed:

Interviewer: In your opinion, were [your children] human beings before they were born?

This is a simple question. It deserves a simple “Yes” or “No” answer. Of course, the answer is obvious: yes! Of course, they were human beings before they were born, it’s a simple matter of biology. They were living organisms with human DNA – they were therefore human.

Schultz: You know, I believe that every woman has the right to make their own reproductive choices.

Notice how a simple question was completely avoided. Instead of an answer, we were treated to a political slogan.

Interviewer: But what did you believe about your children?

The question is politely repeated…

Schultz: That I had the right to make my own reproductive choices, which I was glad to have and which I was proud to have.

Again the question is avoided. However, her response dresses in very nice language her rather distressing viewpoint, that she had the right to kill her children if she had so desired.

Interviewer: So were they human beings? Just yes or no.

Yet again, the question is politely repeated…

Schultz: They’re human beings today, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to make my own reproductive choices, as — a right that every woman has and should maintain.

So if they’re human beings today, what on earth were they before? Ants? Elephants? Dolphins? What species transitions into humanity? Aren’t we pro-lifers meant to be the ones who are unscientific? Sheesh…

I look back over this interview and marvel. I understand why this politician responds in the way she does – her philosophy demands it…even if it makes her look rather silly. Since she is in favour of “reproductive choices”, she is forced to avoid answering basic biological questions…because to do so honestly would bring her worldview into sharp conflict with reality.

The Antichrist

Pope

“….throughout the short history of Protestant-styled Christianity, Evangelicals have identified the single antichrist as many entities: Queen Mary, Ronald Reagan, Adolph Hitler, Islam, Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Saddam Hussein, Barrack Obama, George Soros, even the Visa Corporation, and many others.

“When false teachings and imaginary enemies are revealed as simple Evangelical speculation, the system is rebooted and the title of antichrist defaults to the pope. It is expected; Jesus was accused of being demon-possessed. It is fitting for the Vicar of Christ to share some labels”

– Patrick Vanderpool

The Testament of St. Francis

One of the books I read on sabbatical was St. Francis and the Cross by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. In the book they reflected on “The Testament of St. Francis”, a work which the great Saint dictated to a scribe shortly before his death.

I have, on occasion, met Anglican Franciscans, but after having read Francis’ Testament, I don’t really understand how one could wish to embrace Franciscan in spirituality and yet not become part of the Catholic Church. Below is the document in its entirety.

St. Francis

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