• 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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TOT: Discernment with Fr Matt Spahr

Fr. Matt SpharIt’s “Theology On Tap” time again here in San Diego!

For the next four weeks at Phil’s BBQ here in San Diego the Young Adult Catholic community will be hearing talks from a number of different speakers:

Aug 7: “What is your purpose? What is your call?”
Learning to listen to God’s voice and follow it. -Fr. Matt Spahr

Aug 14: “Citizens and Disciples”
Voting your conscience! What does that look like?- Cy Kellet

Aug 21: “How to live the single life AND meet Mr/Mrs Right”
Living the single life according to God’s will.- Karen Saroki

Aug 28th: “Love, dating and relationships”
Calling all people wanting to love and be loved according to God’s holy desire.” -Jackie Francois

This week we heard from Fr. Matt Spahr, the pastor at the Immaculata parish here in San Diego speak on the subject of discernment (I’ve written quite a bit on the subject of my on discernment here: “Discerning Thoughts”“Discernment Frustrations”“That Special Something”“Three Images of Discernment”).

Here is Fr. Sphar’s short biography:

Father Matthew Spahr, a priest of the Diocese of San Diego, was born and raised in San Diego. He attended local Catholic schools including the University of San Diego and North American College in Rome. He was ordained in 1992 and is currently director of the Office for Priestly Formation for the Diocese, and the pastor of The Immaculata Parish on the campus of USD.

I was really pleased that we finally managed to get Fr. Matt to speak at Theology on Tap. I will unabashedly say that he is my favourite homilist here in San Diego. Every time Carrie, the Young Adult Coordinator for our Diocese, asked me who we should have to speak at the next Theology on Tap, I would always ask her to try again to secure Fr. Matt. Here is the audio:

Theology On Tap

                                         
Fr. Matt – Main Talk                        Fr. Matt – Q & A

(The intro/outro music is Public Domain and available here)

Leading a Bible study Feedback: Part 3

Over the last couple of days I’ve been looking at the comments I received in response to my Leading A Bible Study series. So far I have considered the feedback concerning the meeting location and the feedback concerning the discussion portion of the evening.

Today I would like to finish by looking at some of the suggestions I received regarding the conclusion of the meeting.

Homework Frustration

Assigning “homework” or a challenge each week can really help bridge the gap between life inside and outside the Bible study… but, if you’re not careful, it can end up feeling like a burden…

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Leading a Bible study Feedback: Part 1

Last month I published a series entitled Leading A Bible Study. I wrote those posts for two reasons. The first reason was to clarify in my own mind some of the lessons I had learned from leading various church groups. The other reason was to provide a resource for those beginning similar endeavours.

Upon completing the series, I sent out requests for feedback. I contacted friends, other Bible study leaders, as well as some random people on the Internet!

suggestion-box-shredder

In response to the feedback I received, I decided to write a few follow-up posts on this subject. I will devote a post to each area of feedback, quoting the feedback received and offering my own comments in RED.

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Sunday Lectionary: Bread from Heaven

I’ve been on vacation this week so my notes are late and not quite as polished as they are normally.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: 2nd August, 2012

Our Readings this week focus again on the subject of sacred food.

In the First Reading, we read how the Israelites were fed with manna in the desert. The manna is also the subject of this week’s Psalm, as psalmist proclaims “The Lord gave them bread from heaven”. These are also the words quoted by the crowd who come to Jesus after “The Feeding of the Multitude”. The crowd comes expecting another free meal, but rather than filling their stomachs, Jesus directs them towards deeper spiritual realities, declaring Himself to be “the bread of life” and that “whoever comes…will never hunger, and whoever believes…will never thirst”.

Our understanding of the Second Reading may be illuminated by considering the rite of Baptism in the early centuries of the Church. In preparation for the Sacrament, someone wishing to be baptised would receive a period of instruction. Afterwards, he would then arrive at the Baptismal pool and shed himself of his clothes, symbolically demonstrating that he wished to put away the old self of [the] former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires”. He would then descend into the baptismal pool where he would be washed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,renewed in the spirit of [his] mind”. He would then ascend and be clothed in a white garment to show that he had put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth”. After having been washed in the waters of regeneration, this newly-born Christian would be admitted to the liturgy of the Eucharist where he would finally receive the bread of life.

We too have been washed in the waters of baptism, we too have been admitted to the altar.  Let us live our lives this week in the “holiness of truth” . We do not receive simply the “bread of angels”, but something even greater, “the bread of life”  Himself.

When, through the hand of the priest, you receive the Body of Christ, think not of the priest which you see, but of the Priest you do not see. The priest is the dispenser of this food, not the author. The Son of man gives Himself to us, that we may abide in Him, and He in us – Alcuin

Eucharist

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