Dr. Italy

7 minute Podcast on why the Church celebrates the Conversion of Saul of Tarsus, aka St. Paul, with a special feast.  Dr. Italy on the Sonrise Morning Show of EWTN.

There is a cost of discipleship -- Jesus sometimes calls us to leave behind professions, friends, even family.  Does that mean that work and human relationships are at odds with growing in our relationship with God?  The concept of detachment can help us understand this problem.

When people today hear "St. Anthony," they usually think of the 13th century miracle-working Franciscan who is best known for finding lost objects.  But a thousand years earlier, there lived the first St. Anthony who was also a miracle worker in a most remarkable way.  This Anthony, an Egyptian, was a leader in the movement called monasticism.  Giving away property and privilege to follow Jesus into poverty, Anthony left the comfort of civilization to go alone into the desert to battle the devil in imitation of Jesus Christ.  Anthony prayed, healed, and fought many battles, not only against demons, but against the Arian heretics who denied the divinity of Christ.  In this podcast you will learn about his impact upon the entire Roman world through the book written about him by another famous figure of that era, the great Athanasius.

Yes, we are called to holiness.  But no, vocation is not a matter of a particular state in life.   Holiness surely involves purity.  Yet it does not include a prudish disdain for the body and the pleasures of ordinary human life.

Everyone has heard of the river Jordan, where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.  But few know much about it or can visualize it. Dr. Italy has taught on the banks of the Jordan upwards of thirty times over the past twenty years.  Here he paints a visual picture of the Jordan emerging in far North Israel from the base of the snow-capped Mt. Hermon, and flowing downhill to the Sea of Galilee at the location of the ancient town of Bethsaida and just  a short distance from Capernaum.

This commentary on the Feast of the Epiphany uncovers the meaning of the term epiphany and explains why the Magi -- Caspar, Balthasar, Melchior, the three kings of Orient riding camels and carrying gold, frankincense, and myrrh -- are found, complete with crowns and camels, in every nativity scene.

January 1 is a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics.  Not because it is New Year's day, but because it is the octave (8th day) of Christmas.  This feast of Mary, the Mother of God, brings home the reality of the incarnation. In Jesus, the Creator truly became man.  And that man had, and still has, a mother.  So affirmed the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in AD 431.

Pick up your mat and Go Home -What the healing of the paralytic as recounted in the Gospel of Mark teaches us about the faith of the community and even infant baptism.  A reflection on the readings for the seventh (7th) Sunday in Ordinary Time, liturgical cycle B.

The Feast of the Holy Family challenges us to grow in the virtues of piety, honor, patience, and forbearance.  And to learn to laugh together.

14 minute podcast in which Dr. Italy describes the town of Bethlehem and the field of the Shepherds at the time of the birth of Christ.  Helps bring the Christmas story alive as we read of the little town that was the city of David. At Christmas we sing “O little town of Bethlehem.”  But what was this town like at the time of Jesus?  And how likely is it that the Church of the Nativity, on Manger Square, is built over the actual birth site of Jesus.  What is it like to enter and explore that church and to descend into the cave that is traditionally regarded as the place where Mary gave birth to Christ?

We all know the elements of the Christmas story: Caesar's census and Herod, shepherds and Magi, ox , swaddling clothes & manger, a stable and not room in the inn, Bethlehem and the Prince of Peace.  But underneath each of these people, places, and things, there is deeper meaning that often goes unnoticed.

The biblical term "mystery" refers to a long thread running through history, hidden under ordinary faces and events.  It comes to a climax in an Angel's annunciation to a Virgin that puts together many biblical concepts -king, messiah, emmanuel, son of God - for the fourth Sunday of Advent.

In this 13 minute podcast, Sonrise Morning Show host Anna Mitchell Interviews Dr. Italy on Advent as a season of Hope.  What precisely is Scripture talking about when it tells us that hope is one of the most important things a Christian needs?  And what does hope have to do with Advent?

Advent’s theme can be summed up in the word’s of Isaiah 40: Prepare the way of the Lord!  But what are the mountains that need to be leveled and the valleys that need to be filled in?  Here’s a road map through the desert of Advent road construction to the joy of Christmas. Advent is a time of joyful anticipation. For someone even bigger than Santa Claus is coming to town.

The Gospel of Luke presents Mary, mother of Jesus,  as the model of faith, showing us what faith must include to be authentic and effective.  And imitating Mary's virtue is key to an authentic Marian devotion and an adequate understanding of the deepest meaning of the Immaculate Conception -- that it's all about grace.

For the past 500 years, devotion to Mary has been a bone of contention between Catholics and Protestants. But the meaning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 highlights some amazing common ground between these two groups. Would you believe that on this feast, Catholics actually honor Mary as the perfect example of the greatest Protestant virtue? To understand why true Marian devotion actually should bring us together, listen to this podcast.

In this 14 minute podcast, Dr. Italy shares some insights into our predicament - we tend to be lulled to sleep spiritually through the constant motion of modern life.  This is especially true in Advent, which is perhaps the busiest time of the year due to how our society prepares for Christmas.  Yet the Lord calls us in Advent to wake up to his presence and to move aside the obstacles that block his path into our lives.  Pride is the chief obstacle, followed by the noise that makes it impossible to hear the still, small voice of the Lord.  The mountains of pride and distractions needs to be made low.

Have you ever had one of those days when you just wish God would show up, snap his figures and work miracles? The people of Israel had about 500 years worth days like that, groaning under the oppression of one tyrant after another. The book of Isaiah gives voice to these sentiments: “O that you would rip open the heavens and come down, with the mountains quaking before you!

The Season of Advent provides us a rich selection of Scriptures from both New and Old Testaments.  One recurring theme of many of these readings is that it is now time to rouse ourselves from sleep and become much more spiritually awake and alert.

The Feast of Christ the King reminds us that Jesus will judge the living and the dead.  Matthew 25 hints that the pious, decent folk may be in for a surprise . . . sins of omission, failing to love, may figure more prominently in the last judgment that we may think.