Oro Valley Catholic

Who needs mercy? Me, that is who!- Ep. 19

"So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Mt. 5:48
Jesus is talking about charity. We should be generous with others as God is generous with us. If taken out of context, his words can kill the spiritual life reducing faith to a game of chutes and ladders. We all have a need for mercy.
Lent begins Wednesday. We engage in prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Fasting give us a spiritual exercise in controlling out appetite. Prayer is the reminder that we need relationship with God always. Salvation is not self-help, but our recognition of our need for a savior. Almsgiving, reminds us of the importance of generosity in our life.
The music is published under license from One Note and performed by the Kit Kats. F

How to make your boss happy! Be engaged in what you are doing!- Ep. 18

In this podcast, Fr. John discusses the interior affection for either virtue or sin and how that determines our happiness in this life. I also discuss Arthur C. Brooks and his podcast that you can listen to at
https://megaphone.link/VMP9796575007
Music is provided by the St. Mark Festival Choir under a license from One License.

Childhood Sexual Abuse: One woman’s story about the Body of Christ- Ep. 17

This is the story of Alli Gebhart a victim of sexual abuse by a priest in the Diocese of Tucson. In so many ways, her story of abuse is typical of the pattern. Her story of God's grace is unique, remarkable and inspiring. She has shared her story in the hopes of helping others. Her courage and faith is a great cause for hope as the Church battles to protect the young and the vulnerable from predators.
This episode also features the music of Kevin Heider, "The Body" which will also be the topic of a future episode. Kevin's albums are available for download on Amazon and many other outlets. Support his work, if you can. Give yourself a treat. "The Spark" and, if your are a Springsteen fan, "Ohio" are great listens. You can also support him at his podcast "The Song and Story Podcast." I am a listener and subscriber.

What is the Glory of God? The Feast of the Presentation- Ep. 16

Psalm 74 said “Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.” Lintels don’t magically get taller, defying the limitations of wood. If we are the Temples of the Glory of God, we don’t grow larger physically to allow him in. Our hearts and souls grow. Our minds see the reality of the goodness of God all around us. By God’s grace we transcend our limitations. Transcendence is growing beyond natural limits through the power of God’s grace. That is what Christianity offers; a grace filled relationship with and in God.
Music performed by the St. Mark Choir and license under OneLicense.

Fr. Eusebio Kino, S.J. and the Catholic Film Director James Kelty- Ep. 15

Film director James Kelty has made movies about the French Jesuit Missionaries in Canada, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, St. Junipero Serra, O.F.M. and Servant of God, Eusebio Kino, S.J. here in Sonora and Arizona. The stories of the saints and the back story about how both film directors and films are made are the subject of this podcast.
The music in this podcast is performed by the St. Mark choir under license from One License.

Jessica Cox and religious education for persons with learning disabilities- Ep. 14

In this podcast, we discuss Jessica Cox, who was born without arms and has become a leading advocate for people otherwise enabled. St. Mark Parish has a great religious education program for children and adults with learning disability. On February 1, 2020, Jessica will give the keynote address at the St. Mark Disability Awareness Conference starting at 3 pm. After the conference, Bishop Emeritus Gerald Kicanas will celebrate mass at 5 pm. Everyone is invited.
The music for the podcast is provided by the St. Mark Music Program under license from OneLicense, # A-726294

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord- Ep. 13

In the Gospel today, Jesus descends into the waters of John the Baptist’s baptism and tells John that it must be so “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus is removing the weight of sin as death. He is paying the debts of all humanity. He is making all things right, ‘fulfilling righteousness.” Like with Noah and the Ark, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove as a sign that salvation in near. The heavens are torn open as is the veil of the Holy of Holies at the Crucifixsion.
Today Jesus said that he was baptized by John to ‘fulfill all righteousness.”
The baptism of the Lord links Christmas and Holy Week.
1. In Advent, we started out with Jesus’ prophecies about the end of the world and the story of John the Baptist and the coming Messiah
2. In Christmas, Jesus is laid in a manger, a place where animals eat. He would become food for us at the Last Supper. Jesus is wrapped in swaddling clothes. He will be wrapped in a shroud and laid in a tomb, instead of a manger.
3. At the Epiphany, Jesus is given gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh Gold is a gift for a king, for the charge above his head, the king of the Jews; Frankincense, used in the temple, because he is the priest and the sacrifice; Myrrh, used to prepare a dead body, because this will all be accomplished when he turns death into a doorway to eternal life.
The readings of Advent and Christmas come together in the story of the Lord’s baptism. The baptism of the lord links Christmas to the Paschal Mystery. When we participate in liturgy, we participate in these mysteries and so can answer yes to the great spiritual, "Were you there when the crucified the Lord.” We are there, because he is with us.
The music on this podcast was recorded by the St. Mark Choir and is used under a license provided by OneLicense # A-726294.

Feast of the Epiphany: Echoes of the pagan world- Ep. 12

The Story of the Magi from the east is an echo of the ancient, pagan world. We take Christian history for granted and forget the power of the ancient, pagan world and the influence of the East on the Western World. A good example is that the ancient Babylonians named the weekdays after the five planetary bodies known to them and the other two days they dedicated to the Sun and Moon (Sunday and Monday).
The Jews, of course, explained the seven days of the week differently. The Romans followed the Babylonian example, not the Jewish, and the Emperor Constantine established the seven-day week in the Roman calendar in 321 A.D. designating Sunday and Monday as the first two days of the week. The names of our days of the week came later in European history. The other English weekday names were derived from Anglo-Saxon names for gods from Teutonic mythology. Tuesday comes from Tiu, or Tiw, the Anglo-Saxon name for Tyr, the Norse god of war. Tyr was one of the sons of Odin, or Woden, who in turn gave his name to Wednesday. Thursday originates from Thor, the god of thunder. Friday is derived from Frigga, the wife of Odin, representing love and beauty. Saturday comes from Saturn, the ancient Roman god of fun and feasting. We kept Sunday in honor of the Sun and Monday in honor of the moon. The echoes of the pagan world are all around us.
The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the mass conversion of the pagan world to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The worship of the Creator, not the created.
The music is licensed under One License and is performed by the St. Mark Choir.

Feast of the Holy Family: A tale of two fathers- Ep. 11

The Feast of the Holy Family is a time to consider the happiness and the place of family in our lives. Everyone wants to have a happy family. But love and happiness are never far from suffering and sacrifice. That is just the reality of love. Today in the Gospel, St. Joseph has a choice between what he wants his life to be and what it will be if he follows God.
Music under permission from One License, A-726294, performed by Dan Marsh and the Kit Kats.

Christmas: The Incarnation of God and the Miracle of Human Pregnancy- Ep. 10

Christmas is the celebration of the marriage of heaven and earth. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The Creator chose a woman to bear his son and our Savior. We believe that Jesus, the Eternal Word of God, spoken by the Father in time, took on human flesh to show us how to love God and one another. That Word is not foreign to us, but can be discovered in our own bodies, because we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are not God, but he has shared something of himself in our bodies. Our bodies tell us something about our relationship with God and with one another. One beautiful example is pregnancy itself.
"God is Good" performed by Dan Marsh and the KitKats under One License A-726294