The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast)

As Catholics, we're used to praying prayers that we find on holy cards. It's a beautiful tradition, but sometimes it can feel like the prayer we are praying is hard to fully make our own. In this episode, Jeff reminds us that we don't have to be saints to write our own carefully crafted prayers—prayers that help us enter more fully into the different seasons of our life. After listening, you might just want to write your own holy card.

Each and every day of the believer’s life should be lived with an understanding that God keeps a calendar. By following his calendar, we won't waste time and energy during the course of our life, because the calendar will keep us focused on God's will rather than our own. This week, Jeff Cavins discusses how the liturgical year helps us anchor our lives in God's life.

Jeff gives ten tips to help you live a spirit of gratitude in every season of your life.

Are you on the spiritual “bunny hill?” Have you practiced your faith enough to be able to handle harder challenges, or are you still operating in the faith of your childhood? In this episode, Jeff encourages you to commit to your faith in a serious way and mature in it every day.

Catholics are comfortable reciting prayers out loud, but that's not the only way we're instructed to pray. We're called to speak to God in the most natural way. Wouldn't you like to be able to talk to God out loud just as you would talk to a loved one sitting beside you? In this episode, Jeff Cavins gives you advice to help you start your own conversation with God—out loud.

Jeff Cavins has an announcement to make: He's done watching network news. In this episode, he reminds us that instead of passively consuming the "same old same old" from the news, we can use our time to grow in our relationship with God and with others.

Have you ever put down your smartphone only to realize an hour has gone by? Do certain apps tempt you to sin? Are you sometimes overwhelmed with a desire to have the latest and greatest technologies? Here are ten simple ways you can “baptize” your smartphone for the glory of God and for your spiritual growth, while becoming more a part of God’s family, the Church.

What's the difference between "believe-ism" and true Christian faith? In this episode, Jeff explains how to distinguish between the two, and he points out how we can more fully entrust ourselves to Christ and walk in faith, uncertain as life may be.

Catholicism is filled with beautiful complexities, but when it comes time to explain our Catholic faith to a friend, we often don't know where to begin. In this week's episode, Jeff gives tips to help us start the conversation, and he reminds us to remember the most important reason for sharing our faith- God's desire to be in relationship with each of his children.

Do you need some humility in your life? This week's episode of the Jeff Cavins Show is for you. Learn new ways to grow in humility starting today, and discover the fruits that will come from that growth.

If God were to design a test to help diagnose the root of any problems in a marriage, he might ask about three areas in a couple's life together. Have both spouses left their old ways behind them? Have both spouses cleaved to one another in difficult times? Has the couple truly become one in their core beliefs and vision for life? Jeff walks through these questions, helping couples troubleshoot their marriages and more fully embrace God's plan for their lives.

Forgiving isn't easy, but it's what we're called to do. In this episode, Jeff encourages us to show mercy to others just as Christ has shown mercy to us, and he suggests several concrete actions we can take to forgive those in our lives who have hurt us.

You might think you need to be well-versed in theology to be an evangelizer, but Jeff wants you to know that evangelizing is easier than you think. To demonstrate how opportunities for evangelization naturally present themselves in the midst of normal life, he shares a moving story from his most recent motorcycle trip through the mountains of Montana.

What's your instinct when you're discouraged? Are you tempted to sulk and to draw away from God? Today's show will uplift you and give you a powerful tool to help you resist that discouragement and dwell in hope, instead.

Are you distressed by today's political landscape? Jeff gives a scriptural perspective on the anger that is brewing across political spectrums. He reminds us that as Christians, we are not ultimately political creatures but children of a God who promises to redeem our fallen humanity.

What do you think about getting old? Is it something you fear, or are you looking forward to the days where your face will be etched with wrinkles and the color of your hair will reveal your wisdom? In this episode, Jeff explains how Scripture celebrates the elderly as those who have the wisdom of the ages, and shares how adopting a Godly view of aging has impacted his marriage.

In today's episode, Jeff connects an old World War II song to a popular Gospel story, giving the phrase "living on a wing and a prayer" new meaning. Tune in for a reminder that we can always reach out to Christ when we're at risk of losing hope.

If you've ever read the story about the woman caught in adultery, you know that the Jews who wanted to stone her walked away after Jesus bent down and wrote something in the dirt. The Gospel never tells us what he wrote, but by putting together four different scriptural clues, Jeff thinks he's got a pretty good guess. Find out Jeff's take on the story, and how his interpretation shows God's desire to free you from shame.

Have you ever considered offering up your "less-than-ideal" days to your Heavenly Father? Jeff wants you to know that the suffering that you encounter in your life is not meaningless, and that our ability to unite our frustrations, pains, and hardships with Christ's sacrifice on the cross makes all the difference in this world (and in the next)!

Every expert athlete knows the value of isolating one muscle, technique, or practice and focusing all one's energy on perfecting it. Jeff explains how the same thing is true when it comes to our spiritual life--sometimes we need to choose just one spiritual practice and exercise it over and over in order to grow.

Sometimes we feel like a period of our life is coming to a close, and we decide we're going to throw in the towel. Jeff encourages us not to close doors too quickly, because sometimes God wants to surprise us with something more.

God wants to speak to you every day—don't you wish you could hear him? You can. In this episode, Jeff walks you step by step through the practice of Lectio Divina, teaching you how to listen for the personal messages God wants to give you each day in Scripture.

Did you know that Genesis reveals to us the three main categories of our sins, and that Jesus reveals to us three antidotes to help us overcome them? Jeff explains how we can discern the roots of sin in our lives, and how we frequently make idols out of created things instead of putting our Creator first. Jeff then reminds us of the three keys Jesus gives us to help us put God first in our lives.

Do you ever feel like throwing in the towel? Whether its a job, a relationship, a life situation, or a health complication, there are times when we just feel like quitting. Jeff wants to share with us inspiration for those tough times, and so he tells the story of three Bible heroes who demonstrated remarkable tenacity in the face of incredible obstacles.

Do you ever feel like God might be calling you to become a Catholic speaker or writer? Learn from Jeff how to take the first steps towards answering that call: Discover your passion, study it in depth, identify your audience, and use wisdom to apply that topic to your audience's lives.

One of the greatest pains many people suffer is the pain of watching one's children leave the Catholic Church. In this episode, Jeff explains four common reasons why people leave, how to address the factors that drew them away, and why you should never give up hope that they might return.

Have you ever wondered why every time you decide to read the Bible from cover to cover, you end up putting it down after a month? In this episode, Jeff gives 5 tips to help you start (and keep) reading your Bible successfully.

Jeff has a PSA for you: one of our most amazing God-given abilities is our ability to smile, and the more we smile, the happier we'll be. In this episode, Jeff shows how Scripture and science support each other when it comes to this amazing God-given ability, and he challenges you to give everyone you meet today a genuine smile!

Have you ever thought about the fact that one of the best ways for someone to get to know your dad is to ask you about him? Tune in to hear Jeff share a story about how a trip to a hardware store helped him understand Jesus' relationship with his Father- our Father.

What does it mean when you wear a cross around your neck? Is it just jewelry? Is it a sign of your identity to other people? Is it a reminder to you of Christ's command to pick up your cross and follow him? Jeff shares about what it means to him when he wears his crucifix, and challenges us to wear ours with meaning, too.

One reason our lives are so complicated is because we haven't truly dealt with our past, and because of that, most of us are burdened by shame, regret, and unforgiveness. To help us identify those burdens and surrender them to the Lord, Jeff gives us a helpful exercise wherein we examine the "5 rooms of our heart." Jeff then shares tips for making a good confession and cleaning up your past, once and for all.

Is your life complicated, busy, and way too cluttered? You can use planners, organize closets, and give things to Goodwill, but those things aren’t the root of the problem. Jeff explains that Biblically, there’s a very important key to simplifying our lives, and without it, nothing else will bring us peace.

You might not be able to make it to the Holy Land this week, but if you're going to Mass, consider yourself a pilgrim. Jeff uses the Jewish understanding of pilgrimage to help us prepare our hearts to meet God in the Mass and receive his blessing in our lives.

Jeff explains that the best way to mark your Bible is the way that makes most sense to you. So, he gives some helpful guidelines to help you develop your own marking system that lets you "live" in your Bible and connect it to your everyday life. Jeff also shares his personal Bible-marking mistakes along with his favorite way to keep track of important moments in his life.

When someone close to you suffers, do you fall into "Hallmark Theology," or do you have the courage to "touch the wound"? Jeff talks about the difference between these two responses to suffering, and shares candidly about his father-in-law's recent passing.

God wants to use you, but before he does, he needs to prepare you so that you can "hit the mark." Jeff explains this time of preparation using the steps taken by an archer to create the perfect arrow.

You might not know this, but Jeff is a father to all daughters. In this episode, Jeff is joined by Steve Motyl, who is also a father to all girls, to talk about what they’ve learned from their daughters. You won’t want to miss hearing them discuss a passage from the letter of James that reveals the seven marks of a wise father. Find the shownotes at: http://ascensionpresents.com/raisingdaughters/

Did you know that the Bible spells out a game-plan for grandparents? Grandparents aren't just supposed to spoil their grandchildren with candy, love, and outings- they are called to help bring their grandchildren to heaven. Jeff gives you tips to help you rise to the occasion!

What’s the link between your eyes and your heart? Jeff Cavins explores this connection and gives you food for thought to help you check your “spiritual vision.”

Something has made a big difference in Jeff’s prayer life over the past month, and he wants to share it with you. Find out how the Communion of Saints can transform your spiritual life and learn tips for developing your own "spiritual posse."

Jeff shares a story of a frightening encounter with an enraged driver and discusses how anger can make us unrecognizable. He then gives practical tips for dealing with anger in our everyday life so that we can treat others with charity and act as true disciples of Christ.

Have you ever rolled your eyes at someone else's perfect life and wished they had it a little harder? Jeff explains how envy roots itself in pride and blossoms into hatred. He shows how envy surfaces in many key biblical stories, and he encourages us to ask God for freedom from envy in our lives.

Jeff Cavins introduces his new podcast and recounts the story of his 2016 Harley Pilgrimage. As he shares the challenges, dangers, and joys of traveling thousands of miles on his motorcycle with a group of Catholic men, he connects his experience to our everyday pilgrimage of faith.