Catholic Heritage with Dr. Italy Marcellino D'Ambrosio

The gospel story of the raising of Lazarus found in John 11 shows us why Jesus can love some friends and disciples more than others, why death is not natural and beautiful, the difference between resurrection and resuscitation, and the deeper meaning of Jesus' miracles or "signs" as they are called in the John's gospel.

The Solemnity or Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord is celebrated on March 25.  Here, in his typically lyrical language, Leo the Great ponders the unfathomable mystery of God becoming man in the womb of a Virgin, at the moment of conception. Through the Father's love and Mary's faith, the divine Word became flesh and dwelt among us, assuming a full human nature.

In this 14 minute podcast recorded on the occasion of the Feast of St. Benedict on July 11, host Sonrise Morning show host Anna Mitchell interviews Dr. Italy about the significance that Benedict and the Benedictine way of life holds for Christians today.

The gospel story of the healing of the man born blind is notable for the method Jesus used to work this miracle - he made mud with spittle and clay and rubbed it on the man's eyes. This is a figure of the sacraments in which the Lion of Judah communicates his healing power through earthy realities like water, oil, wine and bread.

Saint Joseph always appears in Manger scenes during Advent and Christmas time and even has a special Solemnity or Feast in his honor, St. Joseph's Day, March 19.  But he is so often neglected that St. John Paul II decided to write a special teaching about his role as foster-father of Jesus.  This essay makes a case that St. Joseph teaches us some crucial things about the nature of faith that we can't afford to forget.

In them, we recognize ourselves. For many of us, then, Lent is time for the spiritual equivalent of New Year’s resolutions. We set aside forty days to work on ourselves so we don’t end up wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years. We do things to burn off the excess fat that’s weighing us down, try to improve our spiritual diet, and do some meaningful spiritual exercises to strengthen the spiritual muscles we call “virtues.”