Starting in Luke 19:28, we join Jesus in his final pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover. From the time of Christ until the destruction of the Temple, the Passover reaches its highest point of prominence in the Jewish liturgical calendar. Swelling three-times its size, the crooked, oriental streets of Jerusalem are crowded with pilgrims and lambs to be slaughtered. Juxtaposing the violent end that will befall Him, He enters the city in a peaceable manner – by riding a colt (also referred to as an...
Mar 02, 2008•52 min
Our study in Chapter 18 begins with two classic parables that urge religious individuals to go substantially deeper in their faith: The Corrupt Judge and the Pharisee and the Publican. In the first, Jesus again (cf. 11:5-10) teaches His disciples to persist in prayer, "you ought always to pray and not lose heart." In the second, He exhorts His disciples to humility and upbraids the haughty and self-righteous.Verses 15-17 describe Jesus blessing the children faithful mothers bring to Him; these s...
Feb 23, 2008•28 min
Chapter 15 contains three classic parables, each targeting the self-righteous and speaking of the need to rejoice and repent. Jesus likens his close contact with sinners to that of a shepherd who risks death to save his lost sheep. Unlike the murmuring Pharisees, we must seek the lost, encourage our pastors to seek out the lost and then rejoice when sinners repent. The parable of the woman who finds her lost silver coin emphasizes our need to rejoice at the finding of the lost.In the famous para...
Feb 16, 2008•46 min
Timeless Parables and True DiscipleshipBeginning in Luke 12:13, we see that Jesus' teachings sharply contrast worldly notions of fiscal prudence and advocate extreme trust in God's provisions. Speaking tenderly to his disciples, Jesus is serious when he says "do not live in fear, little flock ... sell what you have and give alms."Jesus gives an unprecedented promise to those who live justly and are prepared for the Day of the Lord's Coming, saying in a parable, "blessed are those servants who th...
Feb 09, 2008•31 min
At the start of Chapter 10, Jesus sends out 70 missionaries to minister to the towns of Galilee. He sends them in pairs in order that they may be a microcosm of the Church, and also because Torah establishes the validity of a claim by the testimony of two witnesses. Making no specific provisions for the lambs that He "sends among wolves," these missionaries are radically dependent upon their Heavenly Father and others' hospitality. Notice the "wages" Jesus gives His laborers: they receive nothin...
Feb 02, 2008•49 min
Beginning in Chapter 8, our study continues Luke's account of Jesus' active ministry. Accompanied by "the twelve [...], some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities; Mary, called Magdalene [...] and many others," Jesus draws large crowds when he preaches (v. 2-3). To one great crowd, Jesus delivers the parable of the Sower and the Seed, or what we might more aptly call the Parable of the Soils. These different soils are a good illustration of a number of stages of the spiritual...
Jan 27, 2008•41 min
At the start of Chapter 6, the scribes and Pharisees confront Jesus on two occasions regarding how He and His disciples observe the sabbath. Jesus implies that while the law of the Lord is perfect and provides guidance, the law is not an end in and of itself, but a means to the end – a roadmap to God, if you will.We see the scribes and Pharisees scrutinize the actions of Jesus and His disciples, watching for even the smallest mistake and demanding a strict observance of the law. When his discipl...
Jan 19, 2008•40 min
In Luke 4:31 Jesus teaches at the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath. For the first time, Jesus publicly commands an unclean spirit to listen to Him, and instantly it comes out of the man. This very important event along with the healing of Peter's mother-in-law are the first episodes that bring Jesus into the public eye as a healer and miracle-worker. These form a turning point Jesus' ministry, for He is now unable to travel anywhere without large crowds following Him. In Chapter 5, Luke ope...
Jan 12, 2008•28 min
At the start of the Gospel proper, Luke focuses on John the Baptist: his ministry and his message. It seems Christians today often shrink the role of John the Baptist and the roles other Prophets in the history of salvation, and instead embrace a "let's cut to the chase" mentality. The fact that John is present at the onset of all four Gospels speaks to his priority early Christians gave him. Far more than Jesus' emcee, John is a thundering voice who preaches repentance and preparation for the o...
Jan 06, 2008•48 min
Following the Presentation Luke omits the flight into Egypt and focuses on Jesus' upbringing in Nazareth. He emphasizes that throughout this time "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man". The childhood of Jesus has serious Christological implications. The Gnostic Gospels show Jesus acting on a whim but the Scriptures attest that Christ did nothing in his life unless it was the will of His Father. At age 12 Jesus entered the Temple on his own two feet. After his p...
Dec 29, 2007•21 min
The study begins with the controversy regarding the census that sent Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem and the dating of the birth of Christ. The historical reading of the historian Josephus is that Herod died in 4 B.C. and thus it is logical for Christ's birth to be sometime before that. Although some favor 6 B.C. as Christ's birth year, modern readings of Josephus push his death up to around 1 B.C. and complicate the matter. Because "history is a history of fragments," both the issue of Christ...
Dec 22, 2007•59 min
In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sends the mighty Archangel Gabriel to Mary, announcing that this "virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David," will conceive and bear a son, Jesus (LK 1:26-28). He specifically chooses this Holy Virgin for an absolutely amazing vocation: to be the mother of the Messiah, the instrument through whom the infinite God becomes incarnate. Great will be his dignity and he will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him ...
Dec 15, 2007•34 min
Starting at Luke 1:5, this session focuses on the man God destined to "prepare the way of the Lord," John the Baptist (Is 40:3). He is the long-awaited son of the Zechariah the priest of Abijah and the barren Elizabeth, an elderly couple who were "blameless before the Lord, following all this commandments and ordinances" (Lk 1:6) The so-called "Little Annunciation" refers to Luke 1:8-22, when the Archangel Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the Temple and announces that Elizabeth will conceive of J...
Dec 08, 2007•45 min
Part 2 of the introduction to Luke. See last week's (updated) show notes for a full description.
Dec 01, 2007•23 min
Laying a firm foundation for the Gospel of Luke will allow for a much greater appreciation of this incredible book, which is written in the unique literary form of the gospels: not a biography of Jesus but more of a "snapshot" narration of specific events in his life. We refer to Luke as a synoptic gospel, a term that means "of the same viewpoint," because Luke's account shares nearly three-quarters of the same material with those of Matthew and Mark. All three are seemingly derived from the sam...
Nov 24, 2007•34 min
When Todd Duncan, a 22 year-old cradle Catholic from Erie, PA, was growing up everyone thought him to be the model young parishioner who had a marked maturity in his faith. Todd thought so, too. Everything changed when he entered his first year at the Rochester Institute of Technology and realized that his Protestant friends had a much better grasp than he did on matters of faith, the Bible and even theology. But God's grace led Todd to true fellowship, to the St. Irenaeus Center and to a profou...
Nov 17, 2007•44 min
Joseph Pearce was born the son of a fierce anti-Catholic in the late 1960s. Hear the story of how God's grace carried a young, uneducated "agnostic Protestant bigot" who was "racist to the core" into the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church. Now a professor of English Literature at Ave Maria University and the author of 147 books, including notable autobiographies of 20th Century's greatest Catholic writers, his conversion is a story of providence triumphing over political anger, r...
Nov 11, 2007•52 min
Dr. RJ Stansbury's talk from the 2007 Chesterton Conference discusses the crucial role that monasticism played in the conversion of St. Augustine.
Nov 03, 2007•57 min
On October 6th, 2007 the Rochester, NY Chesterton Society held their annual conference, entitled "Conversion of Heart". David Higbee opened the day with this talk on the conversion of St. Paul.
Oct 27, 2007•41 min
The final prophetic words of the Old Testament.
Oct 20, 2007•26 min
A Broader Condemnation
Oct 13, 2007•47 min
Wherein God uses language you can't discuss in mixed company.
Oct 07, 2007•30 min
Malachi - The Refiner's Fire
Sep 30, 2007•45 min
Acquisition of the Holy Spirit.This is the final session from the retreat.
Sep 22, 2007•52 min
Living in the Spirit.
Sep 16, 2007•21 min
A process, and a growth, and a transformation from glory to glory.
Sep 08, 2007•40 min
The conclusion of our retreat's first session (of three), this podcast continues the discussion of the role of the Holy Spirit.
Sep 01, 2007•16 min
Hidden in the depths of the Christian life a great treasure awaits us! Christ and His apostles pressed certain spiritual truths for a very important reason. They are the much needed medicine for what ails us and the Church today. This meditative, soul searching, and instructive retreat will be podcast in its entirety.
Aug 26, 2007•35 min
Episode 3 of 3.
Aug 18, 2007•41 min
Episode 2 of 3.
Aug 11, 2007•27 min
