Sinopsis
Father and Joe is a podcast series of a continuing conversation about my struggles and successes of being close to God. Father Boniface provides spiritual direction through my problems of daily life. According to statistics, I share the common American's church habits. -We went to church when we were forced to but somewhere along the way, I drifted away. The ultimate goal of this podcast is to help us get back to church, regardless of what faith you hold, and create a stronger union with God.
Episodios
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Father and Joe E396: Perfection in Love: Navigating Charity and Virtue in Daily Life
04/02/2025 Duración: 18minIn this enlightening episode of Father and Joe, hosts Father Boniface and Joe Rockey delve into the profound concept of the "Perfection of Love" and its implications in our daily lives. Building on previous discussions about drawing closer to Mary and Jesus, this episode explores the multifaceted nature of charity and how it manifests differently in each individual's life. Father Boniface clarifies the church's technical use of the term "charity," derived from the Latin "Caritas," which transcends mere acts of giving to embody the perfection of love.The conversation navigates through the complexities of human relationships, emphasizing that no two relationships are the same due to the infinite ways we can interact with one another. Father Boniface highlights Pope Benedict's teachings on how various forms of love—self-emptying service, love of country, family, friendship, and romantic love—find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ. This episode challenges listeners
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Father and Joe E395: Finding Hope Through Mary: A Journey of Faith and Devotion
21/01/2025 Duración: 18minIn this enlightening episode of Father and Joe, hosts Father Boniface Hicks and Joe Rockey delve into the profound role of Mary, the Mother of God, in our spiritual lives. As we navigate the Jubilee of Hope, Father Boniface and Joe explore the significance of intertwining our daily communication with God and Mary, emphasizing the importance of devotions to Mary in fostering hope and spiritual growth.Father Boniface shares insights into how Mary, as the Mother of Holy Hope, exemplifies unwavering faith and hope, even in the face of despair. Through her experiences, particularly at the foot of the cross, Mary teaches us to hope beyond hope and trust in God's plan. The episode highlights the mysteries of the rosary as a beautiful way to connect with Mary and see our lives through her eyes, aligning our journey with that of Christ.Joe reflects on the challenges of understanding and embodying a mother's perspective, drawing parallels between his own experiences as a parent and Mary's unique relation
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Father and Joe E394: Episode Title: "Trusting God: From Conscious Effort to Autopilot Faith
14/01/2025 Duración: 21minIn this deeply introspective episode of "Father and Joe," hosts Father Boniface and Joe Rockey delve into the intricate journey of cultivating an autopilot faith in God. Joe opens up about his personal struggles with trust and the desire to seamlessly integrate his faith into everyday life, much like the unconscious act of breathing. This episode explores the challenge of transitioning from a conscious effort to a natural, instinctive trust in God.Father Boniface provides spiritual guidance, drawing parallels between the autonomic nervous system and our spiritual lives. He explains how intentional practices, like controlled breathing, can help manage anxiety and foster a deeper connection with God. The conversation highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing the underlying causes of anxiety, rather than merely treating the symptoms.The hosts discuss the significance of forming habits of holiness through intentional practice and reflection. They emphasize the value of daily spiritual exer
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Father and Joe E393: Pilgrims of Hope: Embracing the Jubilee Journey
07/01/2025 Duración: 18minIn this enlightening episode of "Father and Joe," Joe Rocky and Father Boniface Hicks delve into the profound theme of the Jubilee of Hope for the year 2025. Father Boniface explains the deeper meaning of hope beyond the everyday wishes and desires we often express. This episode explores the concept of being "Pilgrims of Hope," emphasizing the journey towards a destination that transcends worldly aspirations. Father Boniface draws on Pope Benedict's teachings, distinguishing between "little hopes" that pertain to our daily lives and the "great hope" found in Christ's victory on the cross.Listeners are invited to reflect on the courage it takes to embark on meaningful ventures, acknowledging that setbacks and failures are part of the journey. The discussion highlights the importance of community and mutual support among pilgrims, as well as the significance of the Jubilee year, which offers a unique opportunity for spiritual renewal and forgiveness.Father Bonif
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Father and Joe E392: Small Steps, Big Impact: Embracing Hope and Change in the New Year
31/12/2024 Duración: 19min""In this special New Year's Eve episode of "Father and Joe," Joe Rocky and Father Boniface Hicks delve into the profound impact of small, seemingly insignificant decisions in shaping our lives and the world around us. As we stand on the cusp of a new year, they explore the notion that every choice, no matter how minor, can contribute to significant change and growth, both personally and societally.Father Boniface reflects on the importance of historical context, reminding us that history often overlooks the small steps that lead to monumental achievements. He draws parallels between technological advancements and moral progress, emphasizing that just as technology builds upon itself, so too can our moral and spiritual lives. The conversation highlights the power of incremental change, encouraging listeners to recognize the potential of their daily actions to create a ripple effect of positivity and hope.Joe shares personal anecdotes from his experiences in sales and business, illustr
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Father and Joe E391: The Challenge of Discipleship: Embracing Love in a World of Power
24/12/2024 Duración: 23minJoin Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks in this heartfelt and thought-provoking episode of Father and Joe. Together, they explore the complexities of discipleship, the power of love, and the challenges of living a faith-filled life in today’s world. Using the Gospel message from the third week of Advent as a starting point, they reflect on the historical context of Jesus' time and its relevance to our modern struggles, while emphasizing how love remains the most transformative and powerful force.Joe begins by sharing his personal struggle with excuses and reflects on the Gospel passage where John the Baptist foreshadows Jesus' transformative mission: "I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit." This sparks a deep discussion about what it means to be a disciple, especially during difficult times. Joe asks an important question: "If we were living in Jesus’ time, would it have been easy to be a disciple, or would we have hesitated because of the c
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Father and Joe 390: Understanding God's Mercy: Forgiveness, Confession, and Healing in Faith
17/12/2024 Duración: 20minAre you ready to deepen your understanding of God’s infinite mercy and its role in our lives? In this episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks dive into the profound concepts of forgiveness, confession, and the spiritual journey toward healing and growth. Through relatable stories, heartfelt reflections, and practical insights, this episode is perfect for those yearning to bring more faith, understanding, and peace into their lives.Key Themes Discussed:The complexities of confession: Why fear and misunderstanding often hold us back from experiencing the full mercy of God.Overcoming the fear of judgment: "It is hard to face these things, hard to be honest with ourselves, hard to look ourselves in the eye."Shattering misconceptions: Why early teachings on sin and judgment might have missed the mark, and how to reframe them for deeper spiritual connection.A firm purpose of amendment: What it truly means to sincerely want to change and grow.The role of attunement in emotional and
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Father and Joe 389: Facing Life's Toughest Questions: Faith, Family, and the Moral Dilemmas of Life and Death
10/12/2024 Duración: 23minIn this heartfelt and thought-provoking episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks tackle one of life's most challenging and deeply personal experiences: navigating fear, uncertainty, and moral dilemmas during a medical crisis. As Joe shares his personal journey of emotional and spiritual turmoil after receiving a distressing letter about his wife’s pregnancy, Father Boniface provides guidance, wisdom, and insights grounded in faith.The conversation begins with Joe reflecting on his reaction to the emotionally-charged letter and the subsequent weeks of waiting for clarity. “I don’t even know if the way that I handled it and addressed it was right, fair, proper, sinful, or amoral,” Joe shares, admitting his struggle to reconcile worry and faith. For three agonizing weeks, Joe was forced to confront one of life’s most difficult questions: What would I do if faced with choosing between the life of my wife and our unborn child?Father Boniface offers clarity and hope, diving deep into the
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Father and Joe 388: Understanding the Promises of Christ: Building Trust and Relationships
03/12/2024 Duración: 21minIn this episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks dive deep into the promises of Christ and their transformative power in our lives. Reflecting on the profound truth that "heaven is being in perfect relationship with everyone," this discussion highlights the essence of God’s love, forgiveness, and constant presence in our lives.Father Boniface eloquently reminds us:"Jesus promises really always to forgive and to have mercy. He promises always to be with us. I will be with you always to the end of the age."The conversation centers on how Christ’s promises are eternal truths designed to guide us, console us, and draw us closer to Him. Yet, as Joe notes, it’s often our own trust issues or subconscious fears that block us from fully receiving God’s grace:"It’s not God letting us down; it’s our own hesitations and resistance that keep us from trusting in His promises."Through heartfelt reflections and relatable examples, this episode delves into:The universal nee
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Father and Joe 387: Rebuilding Family Bonds: Why Relationships Matter for Your Spiritual Journey
26/11/2024 Duración: 21minIn this deeply insightful episode of Father and Joe, hosts Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks tackle a pressing issue that affects countless Americans: the growing disconnect within families. Recent surveys reveal that over 50% of Americans feel a sense of dread or disinterest when it comes to seeing their family, particularly between adult children and their parents. This troubling trend of family disintegration isn’t just a societal issue—it’s a personal one. How do we heal broken family bonds, especially during the holidays or challenging seasons of life?Father Boniface draws on his Catholic perspective and personal experiences to shed light on the importance of family, no matter how difficult those relationships may seem. As he notes:“Heaven consists of a perfect communion of love between all persons. And that includes the people that you’ve canceled in your life.”The episode explores powerful motivations for working on strained relationships:Spiritual Growth: Healing family bonds isn’t just about earth
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Father and Joe 386: Parenting, Trauma, and Building Resilient Relationships
19/11/2024 Duración: 17minHow can we navigate parenting, relationships, and emotional growth in a world filled with challenges? In this heartfelt episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks dive deep into the art of parenting, emotional resilience, and building meaningful relationships. Drawing from personal experiences, psychological insights, and spiritual perspectives, they discuss topics that resonate with parents, couples, and anyone seeking to strengthen their connections with loved ones and with God.Joe begins with a personal parenting story about his son, who experienced a small but meaningful injury, sparking reflections on the importance of communication and emotional understanding in relationships. “A lot of times we don’t know the right question to ask,” Joe observes, echoing a theme we all face in our daily interactions. How do we truly understand others, or even teach our children to ask the right questions? Joe’s story sets the stage for Father Boniface to offer wisdom on navigating life’s challenges
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Father and Joe 385: Exploring the Power of Curiosity in Faith and Relationships
12/11/2024 Duración: 18minIn this episode of Father and Joe, hosts Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks dive into a profound yet often overlooked aspect of faith and life: curiosity. While curiosity isn't explicitly commanded in scripture, its presence is seen throughout the Gospel, serving as a catalyst for growth, understanding, and deepening relationships. Father Boniface shares, “Curiosity in one sense is a luxury. It’s the kind of thing you can only do when you’re not in danger of being eaten,” highlighting how essential safety and freedom are to allowing curiosity to flourish.Curiosity, as Joe and Father Boniface discuss, isn't just a casual interest; it’s a choice—a vital force that encourages us to step out of our comfort zones, fostering new connections and enhancing the relationships around us. By choosing curiosity, we open ourselves to discovering new insights, encountering diverse perspectives, and building deeper bonds with others and with God.Father Boniface explains that when we feel secure and supported, cur
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Father and Joe E384: Strengthening Relationships Through Future-Focused Messages
05/11/2024 Duración: 22minIn this episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks dive into the powerful concept of nurturing and strengthening relationships by focusing on the future. Over the course of nearly 400 episodes, one recurring theme has been how relationships form the foundation for living a holy and fulfilling life. Today, they discuss a unique and practical tool that Joe shares with his clients—recording regular voice or video messages for loved ones, addressing them at future milestones in their lives.Joe explains, “The real secret of life has really not been articulated correctly. It’s not the accumulation of power, money, or time. It’s building the best relationships.” These weekly messages—crafted with love and intention—are intended to help us visualize the long-term development of our relationships, ensuring they remain strong over the years. Joe suggests setting aside 20 to 30 minutes on Fridays to record a message, thinking about how you want your relationship to look a decade from now.Father Boni
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Father and Joe E383: Healing Wounds from the Past and Overcoming Control – Trusting in God’s Guidance
29/10/2024 Duración: 21minIn this heartfelt episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks explore the deep-rooted issues of trust, control, and healing. Through an insightful conversation, they uncover how past wounds, fear, and betrayal shape our present lives, impacting everything from relationships to business leadership. Joe opens up about his experiences as a consultant, where he helps business owners learn to delegate and trust others. The challenge many face, however, is letting go of control and learning to trust after being hurt.Father Boniface reflects on how our need to control, whether in business or personal relationships, often stems from past pain and disappointment. "If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together," he shares, illustrating the importance of collaboration and trust. He emphasizes that it’s essential to look inward and explore the reasons we struggle with these control issues: “We don't trust unless we have a reason for it…often an experience of b
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Father and Joe E382: How to Overcome Loneliness and Build Meaningful Relationships
22/10/2024 Duración: 18minIn this insightful episode of the Father and Joe Podcast, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks delve into a profound and timely issue – loneliness. As society faces an unprecedented wave of isolation, driven largely by the modern digital world and changing social structures, it can often feel impossible to form meaningful, Christ-centered relationships. But, as Father Boniface shares, these relationships are not only vital for our emotional well-being, they are essential for our spiritual growth."We cannot grow as human beings without what kind of relationships? Well, let’s just call them Christ-like relationships, in the sense that relationships of real trust and mutual love."Father Boniface explains the importance of cultivating relationships of love and trust, where individuals affirm each other’s goodness and uniqueness. It is through such bonds that we truly thrive as human beings. This episode explores the detrimental effects of being relationally starved, and how loneliness can become a self-
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Father and Joe E381: Mastering Holiness: How to Embrace Christ in Everyday Life
16/10/2024 Duración: 20minIn this enlightening episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks dive deep into the journey of becoming a saint, breaking down the practical steps that lead to holiness. Drawing parallels between mastering worldly skills and growing in faith, they offer insights into how we can gradually build the habits of virtue that will lead us closer to Christ.Joe starts by reflecting on how seemingly difficult tasks, like getting on the front page of Google, appear impossible until we learn the specific steps. He compares this to the spiritual journey: “Many people have this feeling of becoming a saint as so strange or foreign that there’s no way I'd be able to do it.” However, just as with learning a skill, holiness requires consistent effort and daily practice.Father Boniface builds on this by discussing the importance of making Christ a part of our everyday actions. He explains that “learning Christ” is more than a mental process—it's something that must be embodied, much like learning t
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Father and Joe E380: Finding Inner Peace Through Silence | Overcoming Distractions to Strengthen Your Relationship with God
08/10/2024 Duración: 13minIn this insightful episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks dive deep into the concept of silence and how it plays a crucial role in strengthening your relationship with God. For many of us, silence is often misunderstood as just the absence of external noise, but it goes far deeper than that. As Father Boniface explains, silence is not just about the absence of sound, but about achieving interior peace. It's about quieting the mind and soul amidst the distractions and chaos of everyday life.Joe opens up about his personal struggles with finding silence, saying, “There’s always something going on, whether it be inside my mind trying to think of a solution, or listening to a book or podcast, or falling asleep with the TV on. Yet in prayer, that’s not the case, and it feels weird sometimes.” Father Boniface thoughtfully responds by breaking down what silence truly means, highlighting that it's more about calming our inner restlessness rather than simply eliminating noise. "
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Father and Joe E379: Faith, Holiness, and Trusting Jesus
01/10/2024 Duración: 23minIn this thought-provoking episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks explore how to live a life rooted in faith, even when it seems overwhelming or impossible. Can we truly live like Christ? What does it mean to be called to holiness in our everyday lives? Drawing from the lives of saints like Pope John Paul II and Blessed Karl of Austria, Father Boniface sheds light on how we can all respond to God's call to holiness.Joe begins the conversation by reflecting on the miracles attributed to saints like John Paul II, who lived in recent history. While the temptation is to think that holiness is reserved for people like popes and priests, Joe and Father Boniface delve into how everyday people can grow closer to Christ, even amidst the demands of family, work, and societal pressures. Father Boniface explains, “We can either draw principles about how to live from the gospel, see them applied in the lives of the saints, and then see how they apply in our own life, and then we’re setting out
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Father and Joe E378: Navigating Desires and Complex Choices: Parenting, Self-Control, and Faith
24/09/2024 Duración: 18minIn this episode of the Father and Joe podcast, hosts Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks explore the deep and often complex relationship between human desires, self-control, and the journey of faith. Through thoughtful and personal examples, Joe shares his experiences as a parent of a toddler, facing the daily challenges of saying "no" to his son and teaching him what is truly best in the long run. Father Boniface provides insightful reflections on how our innate human tendencies, from childhood through adulthood, can shape how we approach life's choices—whether it’s something as simple as craving candy bars or something as profound as navigating sexual desires.As Joe explains, "What we want now keeps getting debased lower and lower with less and less forethought down the road...this is why you see much more obesity, diabetes, etc. because, ooh, it tastes good now." This concept of instant gratification versus long-term good is central to the discussion, with Joe and Father Boniface
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Father and Joe E377: How to Guard Your Mind in a Divisive Political Climate: Faith, Love, and Responsibility
17/09/2024 Duración: 23minIn this episode of Father and Joe, Joe Rockey and Father Boniface Hicks tackle a pressing issue we all face today: navigating the hateful and divisive political climate that is so prevalent during election seasons. Joe shares his observations on how political advertising today is filled with negativity, hate, and division. He explains, “One of the responsibilities of building a successful society, of being holy, is to not spread hate. Hate being pretty much the opposite of love.”Together, Joe and Father Boniface reflect on how we can protect ourselves from falling into these traps of negativity, starting with personal responsibility. As Father Boniface highlights, “When you notice something that is irritating, frustrating, or hurtful, rather than simply condemning others for it, you're asking the question, 'Am I doing that?' That attitude is already such a remedy. If we were all doing that, we'd be much better off.”Father Boniface takes the conversation deeper by connecting it to the examp