Journeying With The Saints

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for meeting up with me today. There are some that don't believe that God created our universe and everything in it. However, they can't answer one very important question. What is that? We will discuss on the other side.

We are reading today from Book Thirteen, Chapter Thirty on page 341.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Only ten more readings. Can you believe it?

Well, let's get started by turning to Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-Nine on page 341.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Beauty is all around contrary to what doomsayers say. Where do you find beauty? We'll talk about that on the other side of our reading.

Our short reading today is found in Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-Eight on page 340.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. The readings are very short from here on out.

Today, we are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-Seven on page 340.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. A bit of a break from the longer readings today and I don't know if you've noticed, but we have very few pages left. So, let's persevere to the finish line.

We are reading today from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-Five on page 337.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. If you are ever in a funk, what should you do?

Give of yourself. I promise you that will bring you joy. Keep this in mind as we read today.

Please open to page 338 to read from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-Six.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. A bit of a longer reading today, but tomorrow's will be shorter, so hang in there. The topic today is an interesting one. St. Augustine is discussing the verse where God commands men to be fruitful and multiply.

Let's hear what he has to say by turning to page 334 to read from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-Four.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for pushing play today. I may, I may, get on a soap box today. Hopefully, I can keep it cool. But, we will be talking about judgment today. Can we as humans judge? Anything? At all? We'll talk.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-Three on page 332.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. What St. Augustine talks about today is something that I take to heart. I once was a Christian who lived according to my own will. I did not have a remaking of my mind. That changed and while I don't live the Christian life perfectly, I do understand that I must strive to live differently than what the world models for me.

We will be reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-Two on page 331.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. A bit of a longer reading today, so we will jump right in.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty-One on page 329.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine is going to talk about the heavens, and the deep water, and all the majesty that is God's creation. After our reading, I want to read a short reflection from Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa that touches on these very same issues.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twenty on page 328.

Hello again, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to another reading. The universe is just a crazy, crazy place and that is what we will discuss after our reading.

Please open to page 326 to Book Thirteen, Chapter Nineteen. NASA Photo: Pale Blue Dot

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Do you know what your spiritual gifts are? I think mine is reading out loud. Just kidding. God gives each of us gifts and, if I've learned anything in the spiritual life, it's that you will always want the gift that you don't have.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Eighteen on page 324.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Seventeen on page 324.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Super short reading today. St. Augustine references Psalm 143, so I will read that for us after our reading.

Please open to page 323 to Book Thirteen, Chapter Sixteen.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. A little bit of a longer reading today, but a good one. All about the Word of God—Jesus and actual Scripture.

We are reading today from Book Thirteen, Chapter Fifteen on page 321.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. The spiritual life is really and ebb and flow of highs and lows. Moving ahead and falling back. And once you know that, it helps to just keep going.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen on page 320.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope you are having a good day.

If we call ourselves Christians, there has to be—there must be—a difference in how we live our lives. We will talk about that after our reading.

Which today is from Book Thirteen, Chapter Thirteen on page 319.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Baptism brings us into the light of Christ and that is what St. Augustine will be talking about today.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Twelve on page 319.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today's reading is so interesting and it gives much food for thought.

We will begin today on page 318, reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Eleven.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Very short reading today, but on the other side, I want to briefly discuss light.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Ten on page 317.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back today. We know that we are restless here on earth and only will find our rest when we fully rest with God. But, what gets us to that place?

Love does. And the Holy Spirit helps us to have more love.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Nine on page 316.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. One of the things that people struggle with is the fact that God gave us free will. People struggle because. on the one hand, they don't want to be forced into anything, but then, on the other hand, they don't get why God just doesn't make everyone perfectly good.

We will discuss on the other side of our reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Eight on page 316.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, we are still focused on the Holy Spirit and I want to talk about what the Holy Spirit does and what He does not do.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Seven on page 315.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We know that the Trinity is Three Persons in One God, but I've heard people say that they think the Holy Spirit gets ignored. I disagree, but we'll talk about it on the other side.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Six on page 314.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We haven't heard St. Augustine really talk about the Trinity and today, we will hear him explain how he reads about the Trinity in those opening lines of Genesis.

We are reading today from Book Thirteen, Chapter Five on page 314.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have another short reading, but a good one, nonetheless.

We will be reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Four on page 313.

Hello, my fellow Pilgrims. Welcome back. Today, we have a short reading on the words, "Let there be light; and the light began." This is what St. Augustine is reflecting on today.

We are reading from Book Thirteen, Chapter Three on page 313.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Do we as created beings have the right to demand anything of our Creator? No, we do not. Nothing created has the right to demand anything of the Creator. We will hear about this as we read from Book Thirteen, Chapter Two on page 311.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the start of the last book--Book Thirteen! We are nearing the end.

We are reading today from Book Thirteen, Chapter One on page 311.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the end of Book Twelve. We made it! I know this was probably one of the more hard books to make it through. There was a lot of repetition, a lot of deep theological questioning, and wondering about issues that, quite frankly, maybe don't concern you too much. I get that. But, you hung in there and that's saying something.

So, let's finish off Book Twelve by reading for Chapter Thirty-Two on page 309.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Only two more readings here in Book Twelve. You will see as we read these last two readings, St. Augustine is winding down his thoughts.

But, let's go ahead and open to Book Twelve, Chapter Thirty-One on page 308.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a short, very understandable reading today.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Thirty on page 307.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today.

We are reading from Chapter Twelve, Book Twenty-Nine on page 306.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today is a bit of a repeat from other chapters, so let's get started right away.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty-Eight on page 304.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It's good to have you with me today. In our culture, it is popular to sanitize God or make Him just a really cool guy. We must resist this at all costs.

We are reading today from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty-Seven on page 303.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today's reading is very short and it's basically St. Augustine thanking God for giving Moses the gift to write the book of Genesis.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty-Six on page 303.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today's reading is a really good one. We will hear St. Augustine struggle to be patient with people who are arrogant and refuse to listen to anything anyone else has to say. Boy, do I understand that.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty-Five on page 301.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have another short reading today and it focuses on staying humble when reading Scripture.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty-Four on page 300.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome, welcome. Short reading today and this one isn't too much of a brain buster.

Let's read from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty-Three on page 300.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. It's another great day to learn and think with St. Augustine.

We are going to jump right in by reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty-Two on page 298.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Today, again, we are getting a nuanced list of explanations for what some purposed was meant by "the earth was invisible and without form and darkness reigned over the deep." So, again, if you don't get all the differences. It's okay.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty-One on page 297.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. You wanna talk nuance, today, we are gonna hear nuance on a level you've never seen before.

Honestly, though, don't worry too much about trying to fully get all of what we are going to read. It's not long, but don't worry if you don't pick up on all the nuances.

Let's read on from Book Twelve, Chapter Twenty on page 297.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I want to give you another example today where our understanding of Scripture can have layers of truth. I'll do that on the other side of our reading.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Nineteen on page 296.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Have you ever gotten into a dispute over Scripture? I bet you have. I know I have.

Let's hear what St. Augustine has to say by reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Eighteen on page 295.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we start the back and forth conversation St. Augustine must have had with people who didn't quite agree with his take on the opening sentences of Genesis.

It's pretty nuanced, but let's jump into it as we read from Book Twelve, Chapter Seventeen on page 294.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims, welcome back. Today, we are getting a bit of preface before St. Augustine goes into a back and forth with people who disagree with his take on the beginning sentences of Genesis. We won't see that back and forth today, but he's prepping us in a way.

With that, let's read from Book Twelve, Chapter Sixteen on page 293.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for pushing play today. We have a longer reading, so settle in and let's begin.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Fifteen on page 290.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today on a short reading about Scripture.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Fourteen on page 290.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining up with me today. It's important to remember as we read today's reading that we understand that at the beginning of time, days were not a 24 hour period of time. Just keep that in mind and we will discuss after we read.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Thirteen on page 289.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to our short reading today.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Twelve on page 288.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another great reading from our teacher, St. Augustine.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Eleven on page 287.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a wonderful, heartfelt prayer from St. Augustine today. One where I think most of us can relate in some way or another.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Ten on page 286.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope you all are having a wonderful day.

We are reading today from Book Twelve, Chapter Nine on page 286.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me on our reading today.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Eight on page 285.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. We will hear more today on God creating the Heavens and the earth in our short reading.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Seven on page 284.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Have you ever imagined what the earth looked like when it was formless, put another way, shapeless? St. Augustine wondered about it and couldn't come up with anything.

Let's hear about this as we read from Book Twelve, Chapter Six on page 283.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Don't get spoiled now, but we have another super short reading today.

Which is from Book Twelve, Chapter Five on page 282.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a short reading today that is piggy-backing off of yesterday's thoughts on the Bible.

We are reading from Book Twelve, Chapter Four on page 282.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to be hearing a lot about the beginning of the all creation, so be ready for that. It will be in mostly bit-sized chunks, which I think we be helpful. And I will try to give bite-sized chunks of information on the science behind all this.

Let's go ahead and open to page 282 to read from Book Twelve, Chapter Three.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are going to talk about beauty today and I may or may not be a tad controversial.

Please open to Book Twelve, Chapter Two on page 281.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to Book Twelve. We have this book—Book Twelve—and then Book Thirteen, which is so awesome. We've come so far.

Let's get started on our short reading today from Book Twelve, Chapter One on page 281.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to the end of Book Eleven. I know I started out saying that we were going to dive into Genesis, but I didn't realize that we would literally just be exploring the opening line of Genesis. So, if you were ready for more, I'm sorry that I misled you. I beg your forgiveness.

We are reading today from Book Eleven, Chapter Thirty-One on page 279.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Just two more readings in Book Eleven. How have you done with this book? Okay? I hope so. I know it's been a lot of philosophy and maybe you didn't anticipate that. That's okay, I didn't either.

Let's go ahead and read our second to last chapter in Book Eleven by turning to page 279 and reading from Chapter Thirty.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. What is your goal? Or goals? What do you think most people would say if you asked people on the street?

How many do you think would say that their goal is Heaven?

We are reading today from Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty-Nine on page 278.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are coming down to the end of Book Eleven, only a few more readings to go.

We are reading today from Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty-Eight on page 277.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we need to focus and put our thinking caps on. I had to do a lot of research for this chapter, but I don't want you to start sweating and worrying.

As we read this, just take it in and then I'll explain. Don't try to analyze it to death while I'm reading. It's probably not going to make a ton of sense right away, but we'll get through it. We will, we will.

I'm not saying this to scare you, I'm saying it because I want you to just relax while I read it. I know that when I start reading something that is challenging, I start to get tense and then just stress over the fact that I don't understand. But, relax, I've got you.

With that said, let's open to Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty-Seven on page 275.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for coming to listen to this episode today.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty-Six on page 274.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We have a super short reading today which we will jump right into.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty-Five on page 273.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Today's reading is one of the more confusing ones. Don't be scared, it's short, so there's not too much time for the mind to wander.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter 24 on page 272.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today's reading may seem a bit muddled and confusing. To help us out a bit, remember this is the question that St. Augustine is trying to answer, "If the past no longer exists, and the future doesn't yet exist, and the present is constantly disappearing, what exactly is time?"

How do we experience a day? A hour? What does that even mean? Those are some of the philosophical issues we are hearing about today.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty-Three on page 271.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Is there a mystery of God that you wish you could fully understand? Maybe the Eucharist, the Trinity, the Incarnation? Or maybe even trying to understand time and how God is outside of it?

St. Augustine wishes he understood time better in our reading today from Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty-Two on page 270.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. Being able to measure time is extremely important to us and we've had numerous ways to measure it through the centuries. The measurement of time is what we are reading about today.

Please open to Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty-One on page 269.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We are getting spoiled with these very short readings. Perfect for the busy person.

We are reading today from Book Eleven, Chapter Twenty on page 269.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Very short reading today on how the prophets told the future.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Nineteen on page 268.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Thank you for joining me today. I wanted to let you know that we are under a hundred pages left. So, we are just over 3/4 of the way through the book, which is awesome.

We are reading today from Book Eleven, Chapter Eighteen on page 267.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. We continue our readings on time and you might be thinking, "This is a lot of information about time. When is he going to get to the Genesis part?" We will, I promise. What I think we can take from this, is that off the very first sentence of the Bible, "In the beginning," St. Augustine has meditated deeply. This might seem like a lot to you, if you've never really taken the time to meditate deeply in the way that he did.

Don't worry, I'm not saying you are bad or anything, it's just that this is what you can get to when you do take the time to contemplate the mysteries of God.

With that, let's open to Book Eleven, Chapter Seventeen on page 266.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Another short reading on time and it's a continuation of what we read about yesterday.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Sixteen on page 266.

Welcome back, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, is a little bit longer reading and it's not complicated, it's just that St. Augustine is going to say past, present, and future a lot. What he is saying, though, is very interesting, so don't get scared off. Just take in what he is trying to convey.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Fifteen on page 264.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine is going to get very philosophical on us today when it comes to thinking about time.

And now is the time to read from Book Eleven, Chapter Fourteen on page 263.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine wants us to be very clear that there is no time for God. He is outside time.

Let's here his thoughts as we read from Book Eleven, Chapter Thirteen on page 262.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Short reading today on how to handle people that are asking questions about God.

We will be reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Twelve on page 262.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for coming to join me today. We are going to be hearing more about eternity and in my reflection, I'm going to have to appeal to people smarter than me.

First, though, let's read our short reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Eleven on page 261.

Jimmy Akin Article

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Before time began and space was created, what was God doing? Relaxing? Pondering? Drawing up the diagram for creation? The answer—none of these. St. Augustine is going to talk about how it's wrong to think of God in this way.

Let's open to page 261 to read from Book Eleven, Chapter Ten.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. St. Augustine is going to talk today about how it is the Lord that rescues us and, so, that is what we will discuss.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Nine on page 260.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Today, St. Augustine will touch on one of the teachings of our faith that I find the hardest to wrap my mind around. That is—how Jesus is the Word.

Let's see what we can learn by opening to page 259 to read from Book Eleven, Chapter Eight.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. The things that St. Augustine is talking about in this book are the things that just fascinate me. Those things being what was going on before time and space. What actually is eternity? When God speaks, what does that mean exactly?

All fascinating things which we are reading about today in Book Eleven, Chapter Seven on page 259.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome back. When God speaks, things happen and that's what we are going to hear about today.

Please open to Book Eleven, Chapter Six on page 258.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to another really important reading today. We need to talk about the Big Bang Theory and, no, I'm not talking about the TV show.

Let's get started by opening to Book Eleven, Chapter Five on page 257.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Today, we are gonna nerd out just a bit on St. Thomas Aquinas. Don't panic. Hopefully, I can explain things in laymen's terms, but it's good to stretch our minds a bit.

Let's read from Book Eleven, Chapter Four on page 256.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thanks for coming back and hitting play. We are diving into Genesis today, so I invite you to sit at the feet of teacher St. Augustine and learn something new.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Three on page 256.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Today, I want you to view our entire reading as a beautiful prayer, because, well, that is what it is. It is a prayer to the Father and it can be our prayer, too.

We are reading from Book Eleven, Chapter Two on page 253.

Well, hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome to Book Eleven. There are 31 chapters in this book, so not as long as Book Ten.

This book will be an exploration of Genesis. Now, you may be thinking, "Oh, I've heard Genesis a million times. I know it." But, I encourage you to learn from St. Augustine and see what his mind can teach you.

With that, let's open to Book Eleven, Chapter One on page 253.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims, to our last reading from Book Ten. This was a long book and I think you for hanging in there with me.

Let's finish out Book Ten by reading from Chapter Forty-Three on page 250.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. I hope this is a good day for you. This is the second to last reading from Book Ten, so you've really come a long way. Nice job!

We are reading from Book Ten, Chapter Forty-Two on page 250.

Well, hello, Catholic Pilgrims. Welcome. Okay, so another short day, which is good for all you busy people out there.

We will jump right into Book Ten, Chapter Forty-One on page 249.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. We are starting to wind down this Book, so some of what we are going to read about is St. Augustine summarizing a little bit, the path that he took purge away a lot of sins. The reflection may not be suitable for young ears.

Let's read from Book Ten, Chapter Forty on page 248.

Welcome, Catholic Pilgrims. Thank you for joining me today. We have another short reading on the temptation to be self-complacent.

Please open to page 248 to read from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Nine.

Hello, Catholic Pilgrims. After a few days of longer readings, today is very short. It's a continuation of yesterday's reading on the praise of men.

Let's open to page 247 to read from Book Ten, Chapter Thirty-Eight.