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Divine Intimacy Radio

Divine Intimacy Radio is a haven of rest and wellspring of spiritual life for those seeking intimacy with God and the enlightened path of Catholic mystical and ascetical wisdom. Weekly we will explore topics like prayer, spiritual direction, meditation, contemplation, holiness, and much more.
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Now displaying: April, 2016
Apr 29, 2016

This week, Dan and Melissa discuss the first Rule of the Discernment of Spirits by Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

Topics/Questions covered in the show:

  • Rule 1 -  "In the persons who go from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy will propose apparent pleasures, making them imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to enslave them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons, the good spirit uses a contrary method, pricking them and disturbing their consciences through the process of reason and moral judgment."
  • The devil will work to convince someone with a poorly formed conscience or who might be new to the spiritual life that peace obtained through sinful behavior is from God. However, this is a false sense of peace.
  • God will "prick us" to disturb the conscience through the process of reason and moral judgement. He will cause an uneasiness within us to bring us back to living a virtuous life.

  • Knowing how the enemy works and how the flesh works can help you fight sinful inclinations.

  • The life of Saint Augustine is a good example of overcoming habitual, mortal sin through the grace of God.

Resources:

Apr 22, 2016

This week Dan and Melissa explore Saint Ignatius of Loyola's techniques for tackling the negative thoughts and lies that enter into our minds and lead us away from God.

Topics/Questions covered in the show:

  • What is the best way to expel the negative thoughts, lies, and/or feelings of depression that enter into our minds?
  • Reject the lies and negative thoughts and replace them with the truth from Scripture.
  • Saint Ignatius of Loyola presents a type of spiritual warfare to handle these lies called, Discernment of Spirits.
  • Discernment is understanding the forces working for or against us and what to do with them.
  • Discernment of spirits is the ability to join God and fight the enemy with respect to our thoughts.
  • Saint Ignatius begins his rules for Discernment of Spirits by suggesting that we become aware of the lies, understand the source, and choose to reject or accept these forces.

Resources:

  • SpiritualDirection.com - website
  • EWTN Religious Catalogue - online
  • Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation
  • EWTN Global Catholic Radio
  • Philippians 4:7-8 - "Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." - USCCB Bible link
  • On Suffering - Prose by Dan Burke on SpiritualDirection.com
  • Romans 8:6 - "The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace." - USCCB Bible link
  • Romans 12:2 - "Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect." - USCCB Bible link
  • 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 - "For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses. We destroy arguments and every pretension raising itself against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ, and we are ready to punish every disobedience, once your obedience is complete." - USCCB Bible link
  • Evagrius of Pontus: Talking Back
  • Ephesians 1:3-4 - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him" - USCCB Bible link
  • Jeremiah 1:5 - "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." - USCCB Bible link
  • James 4:7-8 - "So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds." - USCCB Bible link
  • Divine Intimacy - A book of daily meditations by Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen
  • John 16:33 - "In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world." - USCCB Bible link
  • Matthew 16:24 - "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." - USCCB Bible link
  • Navigating the Interior Life - Book on spiritual direction by Dan Burke
  • Consolation and Desolation...What are Spiritualized Capital Sins? - Post on SpiritualDirection.com
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:23 - "May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." - USCCB Bible link
  • Questions? Send an e-mail to Questions@myavila.com or call 818-646-7729. — please leave your name, location and question.
Apr 15, 2016

This week Dan and Melissa discuss a follow-up question about the writings of Father Anthony de Mello leading someone to the Catholic Church.  Also, Dan answers questions regarding the need to disclose your past during spiritual direction, as well as discerning God’s voice in prayer.

Topics/Questions covered in the show:

  • Regarding Father de Mello’s writings, the Holy Spirit will always bring us to the Truth even if by unusual means. But once he has recognized Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the individual must leave those lesser means behind and begin to use authentic Catholic teaching to bring him/her to the fullness of the Faith.
  • Because our humanity is affected by original sin, we must not be lead by emotions to make decisions about the Faith. We must use our intellect to form our consciences according to the teachings of Jesus through the Holy Spirit, in and through the Magisterium of the Catholic Church.
  • The purpose of a spiritual director is to help one advance in prayer and virtue from his or her current spiritual height. Past events in the directee’s life are not always necessary to discuss unless there is a blockage in spiritual progress based on something negative from the past.
  • When discerning whether or not one hears God’s voice in prayer, we must identify whether the  message was the work of the Holy Spirit and moved us to an increase in faith, hope and love. Also, what was said must come to pass and not produce pride or clinging to the revelation. 
  • More can be found on discerning God’s voice in prayer from The Ascent of Mount Carmel by Saint John of the Cross, Book 2, Chapters 28 and 29.

Resources:

Apr 8, 2016

Who is Fr Anthony de Mello and can we trust his spiritual writings to lead us to a deeper union with Christ? Dan and Melissa discuss the problems with Fr de Mello’s influential spiritual guidance and the Catholic Church’s position on non-Christian teachings.

Topics/Questions covered in the show:

  • Melissa’s experience of spiritual consolation at Mass, and the importance of properly orienting our hearts to God before entering into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
  • Who is Fr. Anthony de Mello and why are his writings on spirituality problematic in the Catholic Church?
  • A warning issued by the Vatican regarding Fr. de Mello’s writings as “incompatible with the Catholic Faith and can cause grave harm”
  • The Catholic Church document, “Nostra Aetatae - Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions” on handling truth found in non-Christian religions as “a reflection of a ray of truth”.  
  • No one can be saved outside of the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ.  (John 14:6 - “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”)
  • The misleading teachings that led Fr de Mello down the wrongful path of questioning fundamental truths of the Catholic Church.

Resources:

  • SpiritualDirection.com - website
  • EWTN Religious Catalogue - online
  • Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation
  • EWTN Global Catholic Radio
  • Divine Intimacy - Book of daily devotions by Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen
  • Spiritual dictionary terms used in this show from Dan's book Navigating the Interior Life (click on the term to see the definition):
  • SpiritualDirection.com posts on Fr de Mello:
  • Notification Concerning the Writings of Father Anthony de Mello, SJ - from The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith
  • Nostra Aetate - Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Paragraph 2: "The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ 'the way, the truth, and the life' (John 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself."
  • John 14:6 - “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me.” - USCCB Bible link
  • Romans 1:20-21 - "Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened." [The witness of creation is sufficient for someone to recognize the one true God.] - USCCB Bible link
  • 2 Peter 3:9 - "The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard 'delay', but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." - USCCB Bible link
  • Apophaticism or apophatic theology -- Orthodox Wiki link
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:23 - "May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." - USCCB Bible link
  • Questions? Send an e-mail to Questions@myavila.com or call 818-646-7729. — please leave your name, location and question.

 

 

 

 

Apr 1, 2016

Easter is upon us! Rejoice in the triumph of Christ! On this edition of Divine Intimacy Radio, Dan and Melissa discuss the glory of the Resurrection and the dramatic changes that it brought about in the lives of Christ's disciples.

Topics/Questions covered in the show:

  • The Apostles rejoiced when they were persecuted for the sake of Christ.
  • Easter as a foreshadowing of Heaven.
  • How do we find joy in suffering?
  • Two things necessary to access God - humility and grace.
  • The Gospels examined by the standards of legal evidence.
  • The Apostles after the Resurrection: Who would die for a lie?
  • What if we all had a "spiritual dashboard"?

Resources:

  • SpiritualDirection.com - website
  • EWTN Global Catholic Radio
  • Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation
  • Acts 5:40-42 - "After recalling the apostles, they had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Messiah, Jesus."
  • Divine Intimacy - Fr Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen: #142 "Whom Seek You?" wherein Fr Gabriel reflects on Mary Magdalene and the stone rolled away at the empty tomb.
  • Mark 16:1-8 - The Resurrection of Jesus
  • 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 - "... he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once...After that, he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all...he appeared to me [Paul]."
  • The Testimony of the Evangelists: The Gospels Examined by the Rules of Evidence - Simon Greenleaf
  • Matthew 16:21-23 - "From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, 'God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.' He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.'"
  • John 21:18-19 - Jesus hints at the manner in which Peter will die. "'...Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.' He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, 'Follow me.'"
  • John 20:27-29 - "Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.' Thomas answered and said to him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.'"
  • Dark Night of the Soul - St John of the Cross
  • National Catholic Register
  • St Teresa of Avila's Vision of Prayer - Dan Burke speaking event in Darien, CT, on April 5, 2016
  • Host an Event - link on SpiritualDirection.com
  • Aspen Catholic presents: 'Encountering Mercy' - Speaking event with Dan Burke, Dr Jonathan Reyes, and Dr Anthony Lilles in Aspen, CO, May 13-15, 2016
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:23 - "May the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." - USCCB Bible link
  • Questions? Send an e-mail to Questions@myavila.com or call 818-646-7729.
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