Burning Hearts with Rachel Herbeck

This week we discuss the first reading from Acts that the Church gives us the day after Christmas. We focus in on the importance of the Church presenting us with the martyrdom of St. Stephen right after Christmas day.

Christ is the true light of the world. He shines in the darkness, bringing us each new life for all of eternity. Jesus calls us to receive his light and then go out and reflect his light into a dark and broken world.

Christmas day has arrived and we reflect on the reality that Jesus comes to us today. And as He comes, in himself He brings true and eternal life. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us receive this life in a new way.

As we enter into Christmas eve, we continue our discussion of John 1. We read how everything was made through the Word and see how’s God’s love creates. It overflows and desires to give of itself, resulting in the creation of the world and of us.

We continue through John 1 today as we reflect on the reality that Jesus has existed with the Father from all of eternity. Because of this, we have existed in God’s mind, totally and completely loved.

We begin this week of Christmas with my guest, Katey Norman. We discuss our advent preparations and John 1. As we walk through this week, we ask the Holy Spirit to build in us anticipation for Jesus’ coming as the Word made flesh.

Finally we see that God doesn’t want to just rid us of bad things, but He desires that we be filled with supernatural charity that is part of our relationships with others. As God transforms us, we become more like Him and we change not only for eternity, but in our communities as well.

We see Paul inviting us to put more things to death in us, including anger, malice and wrath. We focus in a unique way today on malice, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten our hearts of any ways that we have held onto internal hostility toward others.

Today we focus on the Church’s teaching regarding the wrath of God. We see God’s wrath and good, holy, and just – not a state in His mood or losing His temper.

As we examine Colossians 3, we see that putting to death what is earthly in us is a call to action. God’s Spirit moves in us, giving us power to grow, power to change, power to be made new. But we are challenged and convicted to engage our wills – to truly respond to god’s conviction with action.

Today we begin to look into Paul’s teaching in Colossians 3. Because we have such a powerful identity in Christ, we are commanded to put to death what is earthly in us so that we can have access to the new life God has given us.

Jesus who is Lord and Teacher shows his meekness and humility through washing the disciples’ feet. He invites his disciples to do the same, to take the lowest place and to serve one another with all meekness and humility as well.

The washing of the feet prefigures Baptism. Jesus tells Peter that unless he washes his feet, he has no part in Him. Jesus washes us clean so that we can be incorporated into His body and a part of God’s family.

Jesus serves His disciples and takes the form of a slave as the one who washes people’s feet. This is an image of what He does when he leaves his heavenly throne, taking the form of a slave and ultimately cleansing our sins through his blood.

Jesus was secure in his identity as the beloved son of the Father. From this place he served and fulfilled his mission – this place of being loved by the Father. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us walk and live secure in our identities. 

As we begin the Last Supper discourse, we see Jesus in John 13 serving his disciples in a radical way. Today we discuss that Jesus knew his hour was at hand and in his final hour he chose to serve.

Today, we see how Paul suffers for the gospel and communicates to the Romans that the thing that will give us a crown in Heaven is suffering with Christ.

As we strive to put to death things of the flesh, we need to root ourselves in our true identity as sons and daughters of God. Paul shows us how to internalize this truth each and every day.

Paul instructs the Romans to put to death the things of the flesh and to live a life in the Spirit. Today, we examine how to put to death our flesh in order to live lives under the reign of Jesus.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in each one of us. Today, we discuss what happens when God’s resurrection power is at work in us.

This week, we walk through Romans 8 and discuss what it truly means to be justified through faith and sanctified through the power of the Spirit.

Paul teaches us today that our new life in Christ is a life lived by faith in the Son of God who loves us and gave Himself up for us. The guiding principle of our lives becomes faith in Jesus Christ.

We are crucified with Christ and, as we die with Him, our new life is found in Him. We are raised to new life and He lives in us. Today we see what it truly means that Christ lives in us.

Today, we see the heart of the Galatians 2: through our baptism we have been crucified with Christ. The true life of discipleship is dying to our flesh to live with Christ.

As we continue in Galatians 2, we examine the truth that we are dead to sin and alive to God. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us live in that identity, truly alive in Christ Jesus.

This week, we begin to dive into Paul’s famous passage from Galatians 2 where he discusses being crucified with Christ. In today’s episode, Paul warns us that if we rely on our own strength, we will end up in sin.

As we end our week, Paul teaches us that the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation are all necessary pieces of our armor. We discuss in particular how we guard our minds from the enemy.

As we continue to learn the elements of our armor, Paul instructs us to protect our hearts. God desires to protect our hearts with his righteousness so that our hearts stay soft and tender to his love.

Paul instructs us to clothe ourselves with the armor of God. Today, we begin to learn about the elements of God’s armor, starting with truth as our belt.

As we dive into the spiritual battle we are in, Paul shows us that in the battle Jesus fights on our behalf. Our job is to imitate Mary at the foot of the cross: standing in the victory God has won for us.

This week, Rachel shares stories from her trip to Rwanda and we begin to dive into Ephesians 6. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us see the spiritual battle that we are in and help us learn how to fight.

Are we paying attention to the voice of God or are we ignoring his voice and plan?

What does it look like to both pray constantly and pray humbly?

Are we relying on old blessings or open to new things God wants to do in and through us? Are we more concerned about the distractions of this world or the priorities of God?

What does it mean to have faith? Do we even have a "little" faith?

This week, we talk about a few of Jesus’ parable, why they are important, how we should approach them, and the impact they can have on our lives. 

As we finish Romans 12 today, St. Paul gives us radical instructions for living as Christians who are both in the world and set apart from the world. His instructions are challenging and counter-cultural, underscoring what it really means to have a transformed mind.

St. Paul calls us to fix our desires upon what is good and to genuinely love one another with mutual affection. Amid this passing world full of strife, he gives us a prescription for navigating our earthly pilgrimage: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.”

Each of us believers are knit into one body, one family, through a profound sacramental union and this reality must transform our daily lives! Our fallen human nature is tempted towards division, hatred, and jealously, but when we hate or resent members of our Christian family, we are wounding our own body.

St. Paul makes it clear that part of what makes it possible for us to discern God’s will for our lives is an inward change, being transformed by the renewing of our minds. The total transformation of our minds is only possible by the help of God’s grace, the outpouring of his mercy, and the supernatural aid of the Holy Spirit.

This week we’re looking at Romans 12 and St. Paul’s instructions to Christians on how to respond to the saving work of Jesus. Today, we talk about responding to Jesus’ selfless and sacrificial love by modeling that love through offering of our whole lives back to Him as a living sacrifice.

The culmination of human, spiritual, and intellectual formation leads to pastoral formation. In coming to know and love the Lord, we are able to serve Him by bringing others to do the same.

In addition to human and spiritual formation, St. John Paul II highlights the need to form the intellectual formation so that we can know Whom we love. In knowing more about Him, we can love Him more and help others to do the same.

Human formation paves the way for spiritual formation which leads to intimacy with God. St. John Paul II highlights the need to allow the cross to shape our life and draw us closer to the Lord. 

St. John Paul II explores the necessity of forming the human nature of a person. This includes virtue, temperament, and the way we process emotion. He calls us to this formation so that we can live a full spiritual life.

We introduce Chris Baker and the beginning of St. John Paul II’s document, Pastores Dabo Vobis. In this document, JPII outlines four pillars for personal formation.

Each one of us belongs to God’s family through our baptism. Paul gives us the task to have peace with every member of the family of God.

Throughout the scriptures, Paul has a major concern about unity. He instructs us to do everything to avoid division and love each other with the love of Christ.

In addition to holiness, adoption, and eternity, Paul tells us that we need to walk in humility, meekness, and patience. That is what it means to live a worthy life.

Paul tells us exactly what to focus on in our journeys with the Lord: growing in holiness, living out our adoption into God’s family, and living for eternity.