Holiness For The Working Day

Feast of the little known St. Arnulf of Metz, July 18

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2025 In this episode, Fr. James reflects on The Backpack Effect—the paradoxical truth that the more you travel, the lighter you pack… not just in your luggage, but in life. Drawing from Jesus’ instructions to the 72 disciples in Luke 10, we explore how the spiritual life calls us to travel light, to surrender control, and to cultivate deep interior peace through trust in God’s providence.   This isn’t just a homily—it’s a call to mission. But before we can share peace, we must receive it. Before we can preach the Good News, we must experience it ourselves.   The Backpack Effect: Life isn’t about how much you carry, but how free you are to move. Mission as Formation: Jesus sends us not to use us, but to form us in freedom and trust. Detachment as Freedom: Let go of stuff, stories, and control—so you can receive peace and purpose. 1. Detach from What Weighs You Down Physical Clutter: Ask, “What do I own that owns me?” Let go of one thing a day. Emotional Baggage: Identi

July 4th weekend 

Happy Independence Day! 

Episode Summary: In a world that glorifies burnout, this episode invites you to step back, breathe deeply, and remember: you are not a machine. With wisdom from saints, psychologists, and mystics, we explore the healing power of rest, rhythm, and above all—humor.   Fr. Jacques Philippe reminds us that balance begins with limits. Jesus Himself rested, laughed, and lived in rhythm. And saints like Teresa of Ávila and Philip Neri teach us that true holiness is steeped in joy. Drawing from neuroscience, spiritual tradition, and the wit of G.K. Chesterton, this talk unveils a forgotten truth: laughter is not a distraction—it’s a sign of spiritual maturity and trust.   Whether you’re battling spiritual exhaustion or chronic self-seriousness, this episode offers a gentle reboot for your soul, your schedule, and your sense of humor.   Reflection Questions for Journaling and Prayer:   Where in your life are you resisting limits? What might God be inviting you to release? How do you experience rest? Is it true rest

Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul 

The Body and Communion – Wholeness in Flesh and Relationship Wholeness Series, Episode 4 Episode Summary: What if your body wasn’t just a tool for work or a source of shame, but a sanctuary—a vessel of memory, worship, and communion?   In this episode, we explore the profound connection between our physical bodies and our spiritual lives. From a grandfather’s Sunday jacket to St. Francis calling his body “Brother Ass,” we rediscover the body not as an obstacle to holiness but as a companion on the journey. Drawing from Aquinas, John Paul II, and modern psychology, this talk weaves theology, discipline, and delight into a new vision of embodied wholeness. Whether it’s fasting or feasting, movement or rest, this episode offers a vision of the body as a living altar, capable of carrying burdens, expressing love, and becoming holy through small, daily acts. We don’t need perfect bodies. We need present ones—offered, disciplined, and led gently toward communion with God, others, and ourselves.   Questions for Pray

Feast of Corpus Christi 2025

Healing and Wholeness: The 18-Inch Journey from Head to Heart “The glory of God is man fully alive.” —St. Irenaeus “God does not love some ideal version of you. He loves you—with your particular history, wounds, and desires.” This episode takes you on what may be the most important journey of your life: the 18 inches from the head to the heart. Through the story of Blaise Pascal’s mystical night of fire, the gentle wisdom of Harvey’s Elwood P. Dowd, and the wisdom of the Church, we explore what it means to become an integrated person—one who lives not in fragmentation, but in communion. We are not just minds or spirits—we are embodied, emotional, historical persons. And while trauma, generational wounds, and spiritual lies may have fractured our inner life, God is drawing us back into wholeness. This is not a journey of perfection, but of integration—of learning to live fully alive. You’ll hear about: The role of the family in shaping our early spiritual imagination The wounds that distort identity and th

Living in Divine Communion: The Heart of Spiritual Health In this episode, we explore the foundation of spiritual health—not as a religious add-on, but as the very core of what it means to be fully human. Drawing from Scripture, the theology of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and the ache of the modern soul, we reflect on how our deepest wounds and longings are not problems to fix but invitations into divine communion.   We examine what happens when we try to create ourselves apart from God—and how returning to our true identity as beloved sons and daughters brings clarity, peace, and wholeness. Through stories, reflection, and practical wisdom, this episode invites you to abide in Christ, reorder your desires, and live from the inner room where God dwells.   Spiritual wholeness isn’t about perfection—it’s about presence. Not about doing more—but about dwelling more deeply in the love of the One who made you.   At the end of the episode, you’ll find 10 journaling prompts and reflection questions to help you li

Holy Trinity Sunday 2025 What do a baffling university quote, swirling incense, and the mystery of the Trinity have in common? More than you think. In this episode, we begin with Fr. Robert McGuire’s infamous “Red Zinger”—a cryptic saying meant to puzzle and provoke—and follow its thread into the deepest mystery of the Christian faith: the Trinity. Drawing from ancient philosophy, modern skepticism, and a splash of incense smoke, we reflect on why mystery isn’t something to solve, but something to enter. God is one, and God is three—and that paradox isn’t a bug, it’s the feature. The Christian claim isn’t merely that God loves, but that God is love. In the Trinity, we discover not just a doctrine, but an invitation: to imitate the divine rhythm of love, self-gift, and communion. We also confront our modern allergy to mystery. What can’t be measured, predicted, or tested is often rejected. Yet the deepest truths—love, meaning, beauty, even God—can’t be placed under a microscope. They must be lived. They must b

Pentecost 2025 Graduation season is a time of giving—gifts to celebrate, to remember, and to send forth with love. But what if the greatest gifts we receive aren’t wrapped in ribbons, but in the presence of the Giver Himself? In this episode, we explore the love language of gift giving—not as materialism, but as the sacred act of saying, “You are seen. You are loved. You matter.” We then turn to the most profound gifts of all: the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, given by the Paraclete—our Advocate, who stands beside us as we step into the unknown. Let this be your commissioning: to carry these gifts boldly into the world.

In this opening episode of The Road to Wholeness, we begin with a map—not of streets and cities, but of the human person. Drawing from St. Teresa of Avila, Benedict XVI, and the deep wells of Christian anthropology, we explore what it means to be made in the image of God. Before any healing can begin, we must remember who we are: someone, not something. This episode charts the terrain of the soul—our intellect, will, and capacity for love—and lays the foundation for a journey of restoration, not into self-perfection, but into divine communion. It’s not self-help. It’s grace.   Here are some journal and prayer prompts to help you dive deeper:  What lies have I believed about myself, God, or others that keep me from living in the truth of who I am? How do I respond to beauty when I encounter it—in art, nature, or another person? What does that response reveal about my soul’s longing? When was the last time I felt truly seen and known? What did that moment teach me about communion and trust? What rhythms o

This episode reflects on the quiet aftermath of great missions—whether in war, in the early Church, or in our own lives. Drawing from a scene in Band of Brothers, the Ascension in the Gospel of Luke, and a moment from Black Hawk Down, it explores the kind of silence that follows profound revelation. Not a silence of fear, but of purpose. The Apostles didn’t retreat after the Lord ascended—they returned to prayer, to wait, and then to go back in. So must we. This homily is a meditation on that return: the hush before the mission continues, a mission that flows from the Ascension of Our Lord. 

In this episode, we journey into the heart of the interior life—where sonship is not just a theological idea but a lived identity, rooted in the truth of God’s love. Fr. Searby explores how misbeliefs about ourselves and others become strongholds for spiritual distortion, and how forgiveness and spiritual warfare begin in reclaiming truth. This is a call to detach from the lies of the enemy, re-align our hearts with the Father’s voice, and live in the radical freedom of those who know they are deeply loved.

This episode explores the deep, sacred power of memory—not as nostalgia, but as a living, active force that shapes who we are. True remembrance, inspired by the Holy Spirit, makes the past present and meaningful. In the Church, memory is not just intellectual—it’s spiritual, personal, and redemptive. Through the Mass and the quiet reminders of grace, we are invited to remember who we are and carry that fire into the world.