The Gift of Holiness – Advent Retreat Reflection by Deacon James Keating Ph.D. Deacon James Keating reflects on the spiritual journey of focusing on “the one thing necessary,” inspired by the story of the Magi in Matthew 2, and the human tendency to be attracted to many distractions and how the saints exemplify unwavering commitment to God despite …

St. Therese of Lisieux said the following: “If I did not simply live from one moment to another, it would be impossible for me to be patient. But I only look at the present. I forget the past, and I take good care not to forestall the future.” In these remarks, St. Therese is trying to point to the truth that is buried deep within the Christian rev…

The patient one is also the meek one. In meekness, we have received God’s love so deeply, that we securely possess our own identities. Meekness is not weakness or some type of emotional withdrawal. To be meek, is to have suffered the coming of God’s love so deeply in our hearts, that we finally know who we are. And so we are no longer motivated to …

In the area of the new evangelization, we need to receive more in prayer. Even more than give witness to an action or word. The deeper we receive his love in prayer, the fewer our words will have to be to have great effect. God’s harvest awaits those who have received His love deeply. And for those who have received his love deeply, they bring fort…

The impatient one, above all, desires to speed up time and to get what he wants, when he wants it. In this way, impatience is related to violence. Whereas patience takes suffering upon the self. The impatient …

I will wait, and wait, and wait with the Lord. I will wait with and in the Lord, rather than violate charity. Wanting to speed up time, and make things happen now is a violation of charity. It does violence to the nature of things. But the patient person keeps a perspective that is beyond expedient. Beyond what is immediate, and sees before him or …

AR#7 – Advent Reflections with Deacon James Keating, Ph.D. Since we are God’s creation, we have come from God and we are returning to God; God has great confidence in His own grace. He has great confidence that his love for us can change us. He knows that we can make progress and be restored to spiritual and moral health. Do you have confidence in …

AR#6 – Advent Reflections with Deacon James Keating, Ph.D. One of our greatest sufferings as Christians is our own impatience with ourselves. We want to be good and holy immediately. St. Francis de Sales said “Have patience with all things. But chiefly, have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage, in considering your own imperfections. But ins…

AR#5 – Advent Reflections with Deacon James Keating, Ph.D. As human beings, we tend to sin. We all know this about our characters. And many times, it moves us to despair. God sees our sin, but He never loses his patience with us. And one of the reasons why God never loses His patience with His creation, is, of course, because He loves us. But also …

AR#4 – Advent Reflections with Deacon James Keating, Ph.D. Human beings are called by God, to find their fulfillment patiently, to a life of cultivating virtue. We don’t become saints immediately; we don’t even grow in disdain of our sins immediately. For we are so attached to them, and the immediacy of pleasure that they give us, that it takes tim…

. AR#3 – Advent Reflections with Deacon James Keating, Ph.D. As human beings, we have disordered desires. One of our greatest disordered desires is to want things now, to be impatient, and to want things through our own efforts, without waiting or cooperating with God’s will. To wait and cooperate with God’s will, is to unleash the wonderful charac…

AR#2 – Advent Reflections with Deacon James Keating, Ph.D. We want everything accomplished right away. God only knows that accomplishment follows one thing after another. He knows that it takes time for us to learn what it means to be human, to be those who are loved so deeply by His most Sacred Heart, His mother, and the saints. He knows that it t…

AR#1 – Advent Reflections with Deacon James Keating, Ph.D. One of God’s attributes is patience. He suffers His own creation, as it comes to fulfillment in His love. The God that we worship is a God who truly loves us. And in this great love, He waits. He waits for us to respond to all that He has given us. And He doesn’t simply wait in a passive wa…

Episode 5: Hell – Salvation Begins Now: Last Things First Deacon James Keating discusses the theology of hell, emphasizing it as a reality shaped by human freedom. Hell is the consequence of dying in a state of unrepented mortal sin, where individuals knowingly and freely reject God’s love. This eternal separation from God is marked by isolation an…

Episode 4: Heaven – Salvation Begins Now: Last Things First Deacon James Keating explores the nature of heaven as a relationship with Christ rather than a physical place. Heaven begins now, insofar as we are “in Christ.” This communion, nurtured through prayer, sacraments, and repentance, is the essence of heaven. Sin disrupts this union, leading t…

Episode 3: Purgatory – Salvation Begins Now: Last Things First Deacon James Keating and Kris McGregor discuss the nature of purgatory, referencing saints’ mystical experiences to explore purification, suffering, and holiness. Saints like St. Catherine of Genoa offer images of purgatory that allow us to meditate on sin’s disruptive nature to the Bod…

Episode 2: What is Death? – Salvation Begins Now: Last Things First Deacon James Keating and Kris McGregor explore deep themes of Catholic theology around death, salvation, and the journey of purification, both in life and after death. Humanity’s fear of death often stems from the fear of isolation, as humans are created for communion with God and …

Episode 1: Introduction – Salvation Begins Now: Last Things First Deacon James Keating and Kris McGregor explore the Christian understanding of life, death, and the eternal destiny in light of Catholic teaching on the “last things” (heaven, hell, death, and the final judgment). Contemporary Catholics may struggle with these concepts, as the vocabul…

The Eucharist and the Hope of Conversion with Deacon James Keating Ph.D. In “The Eucharist and Hope for Conversion,” Deacon James Keating discusses the deep spiritual significance of the Eucharist and the Sacr…

The Desert of Consumerism – Crossing the Desert: Lent and Conversion with Deacon James Keating In this episode, Deacon James Keating and Kris McGregor discuss Lent as a spiritual oasis in life’s desert, where distractions of consumerism often obscure our deeper needs. Deacon Keating reminds us of Lent’s call to surrender to God’s providence, confro…

Spring is in the air...well, something like that. Now is the time folks are starting to prep for their "big day"...are you prepping for a wedding or are you prepping for a marriage? BIG DIFFERENCE! Take a listen to what Deacon Wally shares on the topic! Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends time on prayer and our need to transform our lives to be more like Christ! Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends a little time discussing and applauding bishops for taking a stand and not allowing preferred pronouns in thier diocese. This is a great example of teaching what we believe. Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends time on the importance of mom and dad learning their faith and teaching their children what we believe. Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

Deacon Wally briefly speaks on season 1 and looks forward to exciting new season this year. The first topic is Believing What You Read! How do we do this? Spend the next 38 minutes with Deacon Wally to find out more! Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends some time on the history of Advent, ideas on how to experience a more active participation spiritually during Advent, and some really great and fun family ideas for Advent. Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In today's episode, Deacon Wally spends time on the various parts of the Mass and the peoples posture, sacred silence, singing and receiving Eucharist. Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

On this, the 25th pod cast of Living My Catholic Faith, Deacon Wally spends time on the development of liturgy over 700 years which lead to Vatican Council II. The reasoning behind this podcast is due to the numerous attacks on bishops and priests for not standing against limiting the TLM. Support the show…

Deacon Wally spends time on the Mass using the GIRM, Apostolic Letters, demonstrating the beauty of the Novus Ordo which many for whatever reason do not understand. Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends time on understanding of who is my neighbor? Begining with life, the misconception of transgenderism. Who is my neighbor? Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends time on what it means to be a sponsor or Godparent for baptism and confirmation. Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In this episode; Deacon Wally spends time on various sins that inhibit us from receiving Holy Communion and why! There are many reasons why we would want to refrain from receiving Holy Communion and there are many people who simply do not understand the intent behind refraining or being instructed by ones bishop to refrain from receiving. Support t…

Today's podcast spends time on Mary! The Mother of God! Specifically on the Dogma of Theotokos. Mary has a very unique and wonderful role for our salvation, and one of the dogmas of the Church is that of her being the Theotokos, God Bearer or Mother of God. To understand the rest of the dogmas about Mary, one really needs to understand this dogma. …

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends time discussing God's infiinit mercy. God is Merciful towards us, God wants to share His Mercy with us and Deacon Wally talks about two chaplets, the Chaplet of Five Wounds and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Have you heard of the Chaplet of Five Wounds? The history and the chaplet itself is simply filled with lead…

In this episode, Deacon Wally walks through the history of Holy Week and the importance of our daily participation during Holy Week. What we can do, meaning our participation, on Monday, Tuesday, Spy Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The correct Psalm I'm referring to is Psalm 22. My apologies for referring to the wrong Psalm…

In this episode, Deacon Wally provides a historical and theolgoical understanding on this great sacarment and what it means to be reconciled. Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

During this episode, Deacon Wally spends time explaining the Eucharist, the Who and What we are receiving. As well as shring some information on how we should "receive" our Lord. Support the show由Deacon Wally Calabrese

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends time discussing our understanding and our participation in Fasting, Almsgiving and Prayer! Why Lent is so much more than simply that. Why we should spend time understanding and more importantly participating in this great season! Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally discusses vices (captical sins) and virtues and their affect upon us and why we should strive to live a virtueous life. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally talks about the errors of abortion, sex outside of marriage, and lack of faith in the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ presence in the Eucharist. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally discusses issues with social media. There have been a lot of good, but mostly it appears that social media is trending to the bad. Listen to understand why! Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally talks about the sacrament of marriage and understanding the ceremony and of course the responsibility of correctly preparing of the couple. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends time on two pratical ways of inviting our fallen away brothers and sisters home. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally talks about COVID, vaccines, fear that has been created and having hope! Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally speaks of not only abortion but also the history of the Catholic Church providing care for those in most need. Deacon Wally brings the theme of Pro Life together by understanding conception until natural death. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally continues with the understanding of the domestic church and our desire to know God. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this evenings episode, Deacon Wally continues with the discussion on the Domestic Church. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally spends time discussing the domestic church and the Church. This introduction will lead to other episodes where Deacon Wally will spend more time on the family and what this means and what this looks like in the 21st Century. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode, Deacon Wally and Amy disucss various aspects of what is appropriate and what isn't appropriate for Mass. Interesting topic that we hope you enjoy listening too. God Bless. Support the show由Deacon Wally

In this episode we have with us our daughter Lori and son-in law Thomas join with us on this discussion, tell me you're Catholic without telling me you're Catholic. Support the show由Deacon Wally