St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

Why did St. Josemaria choose St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, as an intercessor for Opus Dei? 
In this meditation, Msgr. Martin Schlag explores the spiritual friendship between these two saints and the profound lessons St. John Vianney offers us about priesthood, fatherhood, and the transforming mercy of Christ. 
Despite the wounds he carried, St. John Vianney allowed the love of Jesus, especially through devotion to His Sacred Heart, to transform his suffering into a source of love and mercy for others. The man who had experienced rejection became a spiritual father to countless souls. 
His example invites us to bring our own wounds to the Heart of Christ and allow His grace to transform them, too. 
PAUSE AND REFLECT: 
Does my attitude towards priests reflect the Christian virtues of reverence, understanding, and hope? 
How do I react to the Sacrament of Confession?
How could I support my local pastor better?  What about my local bishop? 
How can I allow the wounds of Christ to be a source of mercy and love for me? 

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In the final meditation of our series, “Contemplating the Holy Rosary”, Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha explains how each of the Luminous Mysteries shines a light on how God comes to accompany us in our daily needs. By these “lights”, we can better see and dwell upon His unending love.  
Fr. Donncha invites us to renew our love for the world each time we pray the Luminous Mysteries as they speak to St. Josemaria’s teaching of raising up the material to the divine: “There is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most ordinary circumstances, and it is up to each one of you to discover it” (Conversations, no. 114).

PAUSE AND REFLECT: 
Baptism of Our Lord: What in my heart is incompatible with the love of Christ? 
Wedding at Cana: Following Mary’s example, how can I grow in faith and trust in Jesus? 
Proclamation of the Kingdom: What challenge in my life today am I inclined to avoid that I should instead more fully rely on the grace of Christ for support? 
Transfiguration: How can I make more room for prayer and silence in my life so that I can recognize Christ in the ordinary, seemingly mundane, things of my life. 
Institution of the Eucharist: How can I deepen my love for Jesus and become a more Eucharistic soul? 
 
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In this meditation, Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha leads us to contemplate the love of the heart of Christ by referencing these words that St. Josemaria wrote for the fourteenth station of his Way of the Cross:  "An inexhaustible source of life is the Passion of Jesus. Sometimes we renew the joyous impulse that took Our Lord to Jerusalem. Other times, the pain of the agony which ended on Calvary… Or the glory of his triumph over death and sin. But always!, the love — joyful, sorrowful, glorious — of the Heart of Jesus Christ” (14th station, commentary no. 3).  
St. Josemaria himself entered into the wounds of Christ to find respite in that Heart and to dwell on how much God loves each of us. And Fr. Donncha shows us how to follow that same path, by way of the Rosary and by way of the Eucharist. Fr. Donncha concludes: "It is in the self-giving love of Jesus Christ that we discover, that we touch, as it were, that God is love."

PAUSE AND REFLECT:
Christ's Agony in the Garden: Let us consider that Love becomes flesh.
Christ's Scourging: Let us consider that Love becomes wounds.
Christ's Crowning with Thorns: Let us consider that Love becomes passion.
Christ's Carrying of His Cross: Let us consider that Love goes towards the Resurrection.
Christ's Crucifixion: Let us consider that God is Love, and that God is Love for me.

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In this meditation, Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha continues our series on the holy Rosary with a reflection on the glorious mysteries which provide us reason for greater trust in God for our apostolic mission. Our attempts to share the life and love of Christ are fruitful because the Risen Lord is the one who bears fruit, having overcome the tomb. 
Referencing Scripture and the writings of St. Josemaria, Fr. Donncha leads us in petitionary prayer, asking God to grant us greater confidence and trust in Him. Furthermore, the repeated experiences with our own weaknesses remind us to turn to the aid of Our Lady, just as the first Apostles did. We can turn to through the Rosary, which helps center us on Christ, regardless of how distracted we may become. 
PAUSE AND REFLECT:  
Resurrection: Can I use my imagination to picture the first time Mary saw Jesus after his Resurrection?  Do I have faith that enduring joy comes from meeting Jesus, the Risen Lord, repeatedly in my own life? 
Ascension: Can I hear the voice of Jesus tell me to 'go out and preach to all nations'? Does this fill me with greater confidence for my apostolic mission, a divine confidence that helps me to get past any feeling of being overwhelmed by the idea of mission? 
Descent of the Holy Spirit: Do I ever take myself and my mistakes too seriously to depend on the action of the Holy Spirit in my day-to-day life? How does the Holy Spirit fill me with greater confidence for my apostolic mission, a divine confidence that helps me to get past any feeling of being overwhelmed by the idea of mission? 
Assumption of Mary: Do I view apostolate fundamentally as loving people?, If not, how could Mary, my mother, help me to refocus my vision today, so I can draw closer to those people around me? 
Coronation of Mary: What areas of my life can I entrust to Mary, assured that she is interceding for me from Heaven? 
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In this meditation, Fr. Donncha Ó hAodha invites us to enter into each scene of the Joyful Mysteries through the eyes of the Blessed Mother.  
Drawing inspiration from St. Josemaria’s meditations on the Holy Rosary, Fr. Donncha connects these mysteries of the life of Christ to His work in our lives today: “[St. Josemaria call us] to be contemplatives in the middle of the world... that we live with the awareness that we are loved as beloved children of God. That you, Lord, in your incredible love, have come into our world, and you continue to come into our world... The Lord doesn’t stop coming to us, and therefore, ‘many great things depend—don’t forget it—on whether you and I live our lives as God wants’ (The Way, no. 755). Our lives can be beautiful and fruitful, and truly human and truly humanizing, to the extent that we embrace the Lord who comes towards us.”
PAUSE AND REFLECT: 
Annunciation: How can I lean more on the Blessed Mother, that she teaches me to pronounce a heartfelt 'yes' in response to God's will for me? 
Visitation: What can I learn from St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist about how I could respond to Our Lord choosing to come so close to me? 
Nativity: How could I respond with more humility, patience ,and gentleness to this God, who comes to me as such a little child? 
Presentation: How shall I welcome Our Lord so that my life too is transformed, just like the lives of Anna and Simeon that had a 'before' and an 'after' to meeting Our Lord? 
Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple: The learned scholars respond to Christ's presence by spending 'overtime' with Him—and what about my response and my time? 
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