Oro Valley Catholic

Reform Vatican style and the Gospel

Over 21 Centuries, the Church, like the people of Israel, has had a lot of ups and downs, decline and renewal. The mission of the Church has been to help people reform their lives, but, itself, is often in need of reform.
Music by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum under license from One LIcense # A-726294

See, Judge, Act - The Discernment of Spirits

Fr. Jean Pierre de Caussade taught that life was a sacrament; a sign of the unseen. “If we could lift the veil and if we watched with vigilant attention, God would endlessly reveal himself to us and we should see and rejoice in his active presence in all that befalls us. At every event we should exclaim: “It is the Lord!” – Jean Pierre de Caussade
Join Fr. John Arnold as he discusses St. Ignatius of Loyola and the discernment of spirits in your life.
Music provided by the Melissa Troppy and Russ Ronenbaum under license from One License # A-726294

A Vineyard, A Labor Dispute and Envy

Today's podcast is about the four senses of scripture and, in the end, about how envy destroys our life. Envy is a loser’s game. The world gives us all reasons to envy if we are so inclined, but gratitude, on the other hand, is to live in thanksgiving for what we have. The Eucharist, after all, is Jesus sacrifice of thanksgiving on the eve of his betrayal, passion and death. Gratitude is life-giving.
Music Blackbird (ID 1226) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Contempt has walls 4,000 miles thick!

Spiritual freedom isn’t standing up for the people with whom you agree, it is understanding the person with whom you disagree. Not possible without the spirit of forgiveness, the light of the Holy Spirit, without which darkness reigns in the walls of , four thousand miles thick.
Music pursuant to license by OneLicense # A-726294

Conflict can be good, so lean into it!

In 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published “The Sorrows of Young Werther,” a novel about a young man, Werther, hopelessly in love with a woman, Charlotte, engaged to another man, Albert. Obsession, self-destruction and the are a constant of human society. European society, especially the young, dressed like Young Werther, romanced like him and in some cases took their own lives. How to avoid obsessing about something? The Gospel of Matthew provides a path.
Music today recorded by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum by permission under One License # A-726294

The Art of Living and Dying Well

Albert Camus, the famous atheist, existentialist philosopher and author once wrote that the only real question for philosophy was whether one ought to commit suicide. You cannot answer that question without first responding to Jesus question, "Who do people say that I am?"
Music provided by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum under license from One License # A-726294

Riots, Space Aliens and God: Jesus walks on the waters

During this pandemic, people, not just Catholics, are angry, fearful and prone to anxiety. Lots of reasons; restricted access to the Catholic mass, rioting in the streets, a national election, devastation around the world, most recently, a needless loss of life in Lebanon. Our lives are upended our health threatened, our economy erratic in ways we have never experienced. In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus walks on the water.
Adoro te devote performed by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant under license from One License A-726294

For God, too much is not enough: The 18th Sunday

Only the lover can understand the folly of a love to which prodigality is a law and excess alone is sufficient. Yet if it is true that the creation lives from excess or superfluity, that man is a being for whom excess is necessity, how can we wonder that revelation is the superfluous and for that very reason the necessary, the divine, the love in which the meaning of the universe is fulfilled?” — Introduction To Christianity, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI.
Music performed by St. Mark Choir under license from One License A-726294

Buy low, sell high, diversify your portfolio? The Pearl of Great Price

Meaning and happiness in life… is there a difference? More than you might think. Researchers suggest that happiness and meaning in life overlap, but they are not identical. Satisfaction of our needs and wants helps to make us happy, but those same indicators alone are not what give life meaning. Happiness is mostly about my sense of well-being now, in the present. I may have fears about the future or regrets about the past that can affect happiness, but happiness, or the lack thereof, are very much about the present. Meaning is different.
Adoro te devote performed by Marisa Troppy and Russ Ronnebaum under permission from One License # A-726294

Viruses, the living, the dead and the age to come

So, is a virus alive like bacteria and germs, or are they something different? There are a variety of opinions. Some scientists think that virus are basically a chemistry set, that is, they don’t reproduce like living creatures. Living beings consume, process, expend energy and reproduce. A virus cannot reproduce on its own like the process of cell division in mitosis.
As Gregory the Great (540–604) says, ‘because man has existence (esse) in common with stones, life with trees, and understanding (discernere) with angels, …Lewis, C. S.. The Discarded Image .
Where do we all fit into the big picture?
Music arranged and performed by Russ Ronnebaum