Taste & See

Zac Wierschem
  • 5.0 (19)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

Taste & See is a weekly podcast of heartfelt reflections and meditations on the Sunday readings. Join Zac Wierschem from Paradisus Dei as he guides you into a deeper encounter with Jesus—alongside a global community that prays together each week. Learn more about Paradisus Dei and our life-changing programs at: paradisusdei.org

  1. Sep 29

    Welcomed Back to the Feast

    For the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on Matthew 21:33-43, the parable of the wicked tenants who kill the landowner's servants and finally his son, showing how Jesus told this hard parable to the chief priests and elders not to condemn them but to bring them to contrition, just as Fr. Frank once led a hardened penitent to tears by describing her sins as thorns pressed into Christ's head. Zac says that sin is never just rule-breaking but a personal wound inflicted on someone who loves us, and that even the tenants in the parable could have been welcomed back to the landowner's banquet had they repented. The episode closes with an Examen guiding listeners through gratitude, an honest review of where they served God or wounded Christ that day, a moment of receiving forgiveness, and a resolve to love Christ better tomorrow. Reflection Questions: Fr. Frank described sin as a thorn pressed into Christ's head. Does thinking of your sins as personally wounding someone who loves you change how you view them?Jesus tells this parable as an act of mercy, not condemnation. Have you ever experienced a hard truth from someone as love rather than judgment?The parable ends with the vineyard given to "a nation producing its fruit." What fruit do you sense God is currently asking you to produce in your own life? Here's a link to the text of the examen: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hj8oe6AMrTL-qpn6Q4hSdT9002xjxdDo4U0z67WPXps/edit?usp=sharing Here's my email if you want to reach out with your prayer intentions: zac.wierschem@paradisusdei.org _______ Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here. The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations. Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

  2. Sep 22

    From Resentment to Redemption

    For the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21: 28-32), unpacking why Jesus told the chief priests and elders that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom before them — because contrition and a changed heart matter more than outward piety. He grounds this in his years as a missionary in Kenya, recalling a single mother who prostituted herself to feed her children, and argues that people sin not to spread evil but because they've forgotten who they are and are searching for love in the wrong places. The episode closes with a first-person meditation from Matthew himself, recounting the childhood bullying and paternal rejection that drove him to tax collecting, and his tearful gratitude at hearing Jesus declare that sinners like him were entering the Kingdom first. Reflection Questions: Jesus says the first son, who initially refused but later obeyed, did his father's will. Where in your life have you said no to God but eventually changed course?St. Augustine's quote — "those who are lost in their passion are less lost than those who have lost their passion" — what do you make of that paradox?The second son said yes but never went. Where in your own life is there a gap between what you say you believe and what you actually do? Here's a link to the text of the meditation for you to pray with: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JM6BzaPYj4fMgYIvFXsY0vDFxLLaBJDLYhdLsK3PZNk/edit?usp=sharing _______ Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here. The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations. Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

  3. Sep 15

    Generous Beyond Justice

    For the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on the parable of the workers in the vineyard, using a childhood memory of sibling rivalry over a Capri Sun to illustrate the difference between demanding what's "fair" and receiving what's freely given in love. He contrasts the grumbling laborer's focus on the dignity of work with the landowner's focus on the dignity of the person, arguing that God pursues each of us at different hours of life not to reward effort but to lift us into our own dignity through grace. The episode closes with a first-person meditation from Benjamin, a resentful laborer numbing a childhood wound with wine, who is confronted by the landowner's piercing question — "Are you envious because I am generous?" — and left transformed. Reflection Questions: The landowner sought out the idle laborers rather than waiting for them to come to him. Where have you experienced God pursuing you before you were looking for Him?The parable shows God working alongside the laborers, not just directing from afar. Does your image of God feel more like a distant boss or a co-laborer?Are you, right now, more like the grumbling laborer or the late-arriving one — and what would it look like to take one honest step toward holiness from wherever you are? Here is the link to the text of the meditation to bring into your personal prayer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JzWWqgOhNVBH3UVTE-L-4ghDOdYfv1tS1_goVfBilzo/edit?usp=sharing _____ Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here. The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations. Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

  4. Sep 8

    Impossible Debt—Infinite Mercy

    For the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, marking the podcast's 100th episode, Zac unpacks the parable of the unforgiving servant, using the true story of St. Maria Goretti's deathbed forgiveness of her killer to show how even our deepest wounds are a "smaller debt" compared to the infinite debt of sin God has already forgiven us. He explains why genuine contrition is what moves God's mercy at confession, and why receiving that mercy is meant to transform how we treat those who've wronged us. The episode closes with an original first-person meditation voiced by Noam, the unforgiving servant, who speaks from a place of torment and pleads with the listener not to repeat his mistake of letting mercy touch his eyes but never his heart. Reflection Questions: Is there someone in your life you've said "I can never forgive them for that" about? What would it take to revisit that conviction?"We have a debt we could not pay, so He paid a debt He did not owe." Sit with that line — what's your honest reaction to it?If Christ asked you today, as He asked the unforgiving servant, "Shouldn't you also have had mercy?" — who would come to mind first? Here's the link to the meditation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TvpJnX-WjvdIphZQe9d25jQkv4aF_38pwmNiqPWJGto/edit?usp=sharing _____ Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here. The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations. Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

  5. Sep 1

    Remember Who You Are

    For the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on Matthew 18:15-20 and the practice of fraternal correction, arguing that Jesus' opening words — "if your brother" — mean correction only makes sense once we first recognize the other person as family. Drawing on his own relationship with his adopted sister, who has distanced herself from the faith and hurt him deeply, Zac reframes spiritual siblinghood not as a given based on likeness but as an adoption that holds regardless of how the other person acts or looks. He ties this to the sacrament of reconciliation and the Mass as places where "two or three gathered" in Christ's name make His presence real, closing with a meditation in which Christ speaks identity and belovedness directly over the listener before calling them to extend that same mercy to others. Reflection Questions: Before you've ever tried to correct someone, do you first see them as a brother or sister — or as a stranger who happens to be near you?Fraternal correction is meant to flow from love, not from the "emotional sharpness of a knife." Think of a recent correction you gave or received — which was it closer to?Mufasa tells Simba, "Remember who you are." What has caused you to forget your identity as a son or daughter of God lately, and what might help you remember it? Here's the link to the text of the meditation to bring into your personal prayer and go deeper: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11sFeeNHXn8EbfGGuy53U9TqG1p0-pjekzaLj2YXqV5w/edit?usp=sharing _____ Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here. The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations. Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

  6. Aug 25

    Receiving the Cross as Gift

    Reflecting on Matthew 16:21-27, Zac recounts getting sick right before his friend Vince's funeral, forcing him to skip singing in the choir he'd hoped to honor Vince with, and how his frustration at being sidelined mirrored Peter's rebuke of Jesus for embracing suffering. Recognizing himself in Peter's "Get behind me, Satan" moment, Zac realized he had been treating his illness as an obstacle to be resisted rather than a cross to be received as a gift from God. The episode closes with an Ignatian-style Examen guiding listeners to reflect on their own recent crosses, how they reacted to them, and one small resolution to receive suffering differently going forward. Reflection Questions: Where in your life have you said, in effect, "Get behind me" to a suffering or inconvenience God may be using to draw you closer to Him?Zac says most spiritual lessons have to be "relearned in different contexts." What's a lesson you thought you'd already learned that God is asking you to go deeper into?What's one small, concrete resolve you can make tomorrow to receive God's gift of the cross more readily? ⁠Here's a link⁠ to the text of the Examen we prayed this week: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mrcgTAxB7UKCKMb0R8VnetvtNUiWw1-vRoaw5JUmIMc/edit?usp=sharing _____ Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs ⁠here⁠. The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations. Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

  7. Aug 18

    A Friend's Death and the Living God

    Reflecting on Matthew 16:13-20, Zac shares the story of his late friend Vince — a man who bore juvenile arthritis and many surgeries with faith— and Vince's sudden death just a week after a road trip together, prompting Zac to imagine Christ asking Vince at his particular judgment the same question He asked Peter: "Who do you say that I am?" Zac unpacks how Peter's confession of Christ as "the Son of the living God" was a freely given gift from the Father, not a product of reason, and how that same gift invites believers to go on the offensive against "the gates of hell" through the overflow of joy in their own hearts. The episode closes with a meditation spoken in Christ's voice, assuring the listener that despite their fears of being forgotten or unloved, they are known, sought, and worth dying for. Reflection Questions: Who in your life, like Vince, has shown you Christ through their suffering carried with joy?If Christ asked you today, "Who do you say that I am?" — how would your actions answer, not just your words?What would it look like to love Jesus "more" by trying to know Him more this week? Here's the link to the text of the meditation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1titdKHhdT-CNArb9nMWfk0-O1hQvPJd_Gu_fdeSDw60/edit?usp=sharing ____ Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here. The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations. Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A

  8. Aug 11

    Exalted Through Humility

    This episode pairs Francisco Bayeu's The Assumption of the Virgin with the Gospel story of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28), drawing out humility as the thread connecting both. Just as Mary appears at the bottom of Bayeu's painting despite being assumed into heaven's heights, the Canaanite woman humbles herself to accept being called a "dog" and asks only for crumbs, and both are exalted precisely because of their lowliness. The episode closes with a meditation imagining Our Lady witnessing the Canaanite woman's encounter with Jesus, framing Mary's own self-description as "lowly handmaid" alongside Justa's perseverance and faith. Reflection Questions: Where in your life are you being invited to take "the lowest place" rather than assert your own worth?Jesus is silent to the Canaanite woman at first. How do you respond when God seems silent to your own pleas?Bayeu placed Mary at the very bottom of a painting meant to be viewed looking upward toward heaven. What does it mean that God "fills from the bottom up"? Here's a link to Francisco Bayeu's The Assumption of the Virgin: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nbow2W0msv8rd74d6L0XfcNIzyHmYCvq/view?usp=sharing Here's the link to the Google Slides presentation for experiencing this episode as a group: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Udx5GRu9M23yvCLzSsCV25eDb2d0_R4N-E2GG2ctDHk/edit?usp=sharing Here's the link to the text of the meditation: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g4E6-CA4nNPoqMs8bOmGY55MWO_ZN4fEzMgF17b-XVg/edit?usp=sharing

    Exalted Through Humility
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

Taste & See is a weekly podcast of heartfelt reflections and meditations on the Sunday readings. Join Zac Wierschem from Paradisus Dei as he guides you into a deeper encounter with Jesus—alongside a global community that prays together each week. Learn more about Paradisus Dei and our life-changing programs at: paradisusdei.org

Information

  • Creator
    Zac Wierschem
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    104
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Zac Wierschem
  • Show Website
    Taste & See

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