Lent – You Have Stood By Me with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast

From "Last Retreat Day 13" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 32. “Instaurare omnia in Christo.” 194 Again it is St. Paul who instructs me, St. Paul who has just immersed himself in the great counsel of God195 and who tells me “that He has resolved in Himself to restore all things in Christ.” So that I may personally realize this divine plan, it is again St. Paul who comes to my aid and who will himself draw up a rule of life for me. “Walk in Jesus Christ,” he tells me, “be rooted in Him, built up in Him, strengthened in faith, growing more and more in Him through thanksgiving.” 196 33. To walk in Jesus Christ seems to me to mean to leave self, lose sight of self, give up self, in order to enter more deeply into Him with every passing moment, 197 so deeply that one is rooted there; and to every event, to every circumstance we can fling this beautiful challenge: “Who will separate me from the love of Jesus Christ?” 198 When the soul is established in Him at such depths that its roots are also deeply thrust in, then the divine sap streams into it199 and all this imperfect, commonplace, natural life is destroyed. Then, in the language of the Apostle, “that which is mortal is swallowed up by life.” 200 The soul thus “stripped” of self and “clothed” 201 in Jesus Christ has nothing more to fear from exterior encounters or from interior difficulties, for these things, far from being an obstacle, serve only “to root it more deeply in the love” 202 of its Master. Through everything, despite everything, the soul can “adore Him always because of Himself.” 203 For it is free, rid of self and everything else; it can sing with the psalmist: “Though an army encamp against me, I will not fear; though war be waged upon me I will trust in spite of everything; for Yahweh will hide me in the secrecy of His tent” 204 and this tent is nothing else but Himself. I think that is what St. Paul means when he says: “be rooted in Jesus Christ.” The post BTP-LR18 – Day 13 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 11 pt 1" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 27. “The Lord brought me into a spacious place, because He was gracious toward me. . . .” 159 The Creator, seeing the beautiful silence which reigns in His creature, and gazing on her wholly recollected in her interior solitude, is enamored of her beauty and leads her into this immense, infinite solitude, into this “spacious place” sung of by the prophet, which is nothing else but Himself: “I will enter into the depths of the power of God.” 160 Speaking through his prophet, the Lord said: “I will lead her into solitude and speak to her heart.” 161 The soul has entered into this vast solitude in which God will make Himself heard! “His word,” St. Paul says, “is living and active, and more penetrating than a two edged sword: extending even to the division of soul and spirit, even of joints and marrow.” 162 It is His word then that will directly achieve the work of stripping in the soul; for it has this particular characteristic, that it effects and creates what it intends, 163 provided however that the soul consents to let this be done. The post BTP-LR15 – Day 11, pt. 1 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor explore the spiritual insights of Day 10 from St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s The Last Retreat and the command “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” which St. Elizabeth understands as a call to live in the eternal present—a mode of existence modeled on God the Father’s unchanging love and divine solitude. The post BTP-LR13 – Day 10, pt. 1 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From "Last Retreat Day 9 pt 2" found in The Complete Works vol 1: 23. Speaking to Abraham God said: “Walk in My presence and be perfect.” 134 This then is the way to achieve this perfection that our Heavenly Father asks of us! St. Paul, after having immersed himself in the divine counsels, 135 revealed exactly this to us when he wrote “God has chosen us in Him before the creation of the world, that we might be holy and immaculate in His presence in love.” 136 It is also by the light of this same saint that I will be enlightened so that I might walk without deviating from this magnificent road of the presence of God on which the soul journeys “alone with the Alone,” 137 led by the “strength of His right arm,” 138 “under the protection of His wings, without fearing the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the evil that stalks in darkness, nor the attacks of the noonday devil. 139 24. “Strip off the old man in whom you lived your former life, “ he tells me, “and put on the new man, who has been created according to God in justice and holiness.” 140 This is the way set forth; we have only to strip off self to follow it as God wills! To strip off self, to die to self, to lose sight of self. It seems to me the Master meant this when He said: “If anyone wants to follow Me, let him take up his cross and deny himself.” 141 “If you live according to the flesh,” the Apostle also says, “you will die, but if you put to death in the spirit the works of the flesh, you will live.” 142 This is the death that God asks for and of which it is said: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 143 “O death,” says the Lord, “I will be your death”; 144 that is: O soul, my adopted daughter, look at Me and you will forget yourself; flow entirely into My Being, come die in Me that I may live in you! The post BTP-LR12 – Day 9, pt. 2 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor explore the ninth day of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s "Last Retreat," focusing on the divine call to holiness. The post BTP-LR11 – Day 9, pt. 1 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Day 8, Part 2 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity- Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor reflect on paragraph 21 of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s Last Retreat, focusing on the soul’s journey into adoration and silence. St. Elizabeth describes adoration as a silent, ... Read more The post BTP-LR10 – Day 8, pt. 2 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Anthony Lilles reflects on Day 7 of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity’s Last Retreat, delving into the mystery of suffering, self-emptying, and divine union. The post BTP-LR8 – Day 7, pt. 2 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor reflect on the seventh day of The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. Dr. Lilles explains how Elizabeth sees the soul as a “heaven” that proclaims the glory of God, drawing from Psalm 19, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” The post BTP-LR7 – Day 7 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Dr. Anthony Lilles and Kris McGregor delve into the sixth day of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s Last Retreat. The post BTP-LR6 – Day 6 – The Last Retreat by St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

From Dr. Anthony Lilles' blog "Beginning to Pray" "You have stood by me in my trials and I am giving you a Kingdom."  This solemn declaration was made by the Lord even as He faced betrayal, denial, and abandonment - suffering these unto death. To enter into His Kingdom, we must follow Him down this same pathway.  This means that we will face what He has faced. To enable us to follow Him, He must purify us and strengthen us to remain standing with Him even after our sin. To the degree that we are afraid of death, suffering, and sin, we are afraid also of His mercy. But His merciful love overcomes our fear.  Accepting His mercy, we learn to see in our own life experience that sin, suffering and death ultimately do not stand between us and the love of God. Indeed, He has made of them a pathway.  More... The post Lent – You Have Stood By Me with Dr. Anthony Lilles – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.