Wrestling with God Show

Father Len explains how all the big problems in our nation are soul problems. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to More Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len helps us recognize and grapple with decisions we make that control the trajectory of our lives and determine our happiness. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom The Most Important Decision in Life – College commencement speech by Bishop Robert Baron that inspired this episode The most important question in this life is what kind of soul you will have. “To love is to be vulnerable.” – CS Lewis “What you do with your soul really is a map to your future.” – Father Len Your soul is not your mental ability or your psychological profile. It’s a thing that contains all the virtues of God and the spirit of God. The Old Testament describes heaven as a place of true relationship where people relate to each other soul to soul. From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks Happiness comes down to care of your soul, not success in the world. “Everybody worships something. Everybody adores something. Everybody has something that gives their life meaning and worth. Everyone lets something capture their imagination. That thing will control the direction of your life. If you worship money and things, then you’ll never feel like you have enough. If you worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, in time, you’ll be resentful because you’ll never be beautiful enough. You’ll feel ugly. And, as time and age starts to show, you will die a million deaths. If you worship power, you’ll end up feeling threatened and afraid. Read any biography of a dictator. You will need evermore power to numb you against the fear of being afraid. If you worship intellect, being seen as smart, you’ll end up feeling stupid and a fraud and on the verge of being found out. The most insidious thing is, that for most people, it will remain unconscious, but it’s their true religion.” – David Foster Wallace Whatever you worship shapes your soul and controls your life. Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body by Daniel Goleman Meditation is one of the best ways to care for your soul and good for your health. Not all worship is good. Worshiping or calling on the name of God can be a way of manipulating evil. Good worship is supposed to lead you to self-sacrificing love. What will what you worship do to your soul? We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to More Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len grapples with the causes, effects and solutions to the anger and division present in our country, our churches, and our families. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom Dividers are often inspired and motivated by their own psychological needs. Dividers are judgmental. People with a deep desire for division make up their own rules and condemn others for not following their made-up rules. In the Bible, the Pharisees made up hundreds and hundreds of rules. They condemn Jesus and others for not following the rules they made up. They love to proclaim how much more religious and holy they are than everyone else. People who seek division are the enemies of Christ and true religion. How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks Father Len shares the story of a guy who lived much of his life as a divider though he was very religious. His sense of religion was very legalistic and judgmental, critical of everybody. Remarkably and unconsciously, at the age of 50, he experiences a remarkable deep conversion to his faith and becomes a disciple of love with a desire to unite everyone. Some people accidentally and unconsciously end up working for division in a community out of their own sense of anger, insecurity, or pain. Division or unity is a fundamental choice. At some point in life, we must decide between division and unity, hatred and love. Father Len tells the story of a woman who experienced an awful childhood of rape and incest, yet she devotes her life to helping the wounded and broken of the world to reject shame, heal their souls and feel loved. It’s not what happens to you in life that matters. It’s how you react to what happens that matters. Saint Paul warned people to keep away from those who cause division and put obstacles in their way because they don’t serve the Lord. Satan loves division. Satan loves to dress up as something good, but the only fruits he offers are not good, just more division. Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert Putnam Social capital is a sense of unity and solidarity, the need to take care of others and build up an entire community or nation. The United States was built on and succeeded because of social capital. Division is where injustice and hatred grow. Higher social capital tracks with more justice, more societal success, and more happiness. Societies that are more narcissistic, about me, me, me, are less happy and have more crime, corruption, and injustice. Social capital is connected with holiness. “Let’s move away from the current plague in our country and our church that we need to attack each other. We can build a great country and church with social solidarity. We can’t build anything putting each other down constantly.” – Father Len We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to More Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len helps us grapple with what it means to truly listen and why God calls us to be professional listeners. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom Shema Prayer: "Listen O Israel, the LORD your God is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength and your neighbor as yourself." Shema means listen, but it really means pay attention. The Shema is the central prayer of Judaism and Catholicism. The Bible says, ears that Shema will discover God and what God has made known. Our society is not trained to listen, but to overpower each other with counter accusations. God meant us to become professional listeners, listening to the word of God and the voice of God in other people. Listening forms community. Not listening or paying full attention destroys community. Marriage is a type of community. The gift of hospitality is your full attention. We can become what we listen to so we must be careful what not to listen to. “First seek to understand, then to be understood.” – Stephen Covey “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R Covey “The only commandment I ever obeyed – ‘Consider the lilies.’” – Emily Dickinson “The number one sin that people are confessing these days is anger.” – Father Len “All morality comes down to attentiveness, attentiveness to God, attentiveness to other people. The essence of immorality is not to be attentive to others or God, not to see or hear other people.” – Iris Murdoch, Irish philosopher “Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again” by Johann Hari We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to More Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len explains why we need a Savior now more than ever and why many of us don’t know it. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom “Now that we have science, we no longer need religion.” – Chris Hayes, MSNBC Host “God of the Gaps” theory: People invented God and religion began because there was a lack of scientific knowledge to explain things like lightning and wind. Science wouldn’t exist without the Catholic Church. For the Catholic Church science has always been a way of studying and understanding God. All early major scientists believed in God including Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Roger Bacon, Louis Pasteur, Nicholas Copernicus and Blaise Pascal. They came to God because of science. Many were Catholic priests. Religion began out of gratitude and awe for God. Those who believe there is no greater power in the universe than the human person must ignore humanity’s long history of ignorance, violence and shocking denials of the truth. Those who believe science can answer every question won’t be able to find God or recognize the need for a Savior because they have too much ego. Our country has a depression and suicide crisis. Our society has become narcissistic. Narcissism steals our joy. Narcissists believe they have no need for a Savior. Much of our country no longer trusts in God. It trusts in science, technology, and government programs. If God doesn’t exist and life on earth is all there is, why not cheat, be cruel, or commit suicide? There is a difference between joy and pleasure. Meth addicts have plenty of pleasure, but no joy. Even with all the knowledge of science and the power of technology, we do not have the power to overcome death. “Our country has the highest standard of living in human history and the greatest technological inventions. So, why do we have such high suicide and depression rates? That just proves humanity needs a Savior.” – Father Len We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to More Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len invites us to grapple with the virtues and character we value, permit, model and promote and the effect they have on us and those around us. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom Culture over time is the most important force in shaping our identity. When an entire community prizes certain things, these things just seep into our pores. Our emotions and values are very infectious. They move through a community faster than a virus. Change happens, for better or worse, when entire communities unite around virtues and character they value. There’s undeniable proof that an individual’s character and values effect all of society. We take on the values of the communities to which we belong. Virtues and character that are valued by a community are inherited by the community’s children. If we want to change the world, we have to change our hearts. We are the culture. We are the system. What impedes us empowers us. Failure and struggle cause the hero in every hero story to become a hero. Grit is frequently a greater predictor of success than talent. Grit or fortitude is a gift of the Holy Spirit. You need grit to become a spiritual person. It takes grit to forgive when you’ve been wounded. It takes grit to become prudent and know how and when to hold your tongue. It takes grit to become patient. We can lose our grit when life is good. Grit is like a muscle. You’re not born with it. You train yourself into it. “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth “Democracy in America” by Alexis De Tocqueville Beatrice Webb Patrick Lencioni What virtues and character do you value, permit, model and promote and how do they match up with the values of the communities to which you belong and, importantly, what are you going to do if they don’t? We all have a big stake in our community’s culture and the effect it has on us and those around us. We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to More Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len reveals that pride is damaging lies we tell ourselves about ourselves. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom Pride is a cancer that often goes undetected until it’s too late. “The Truth Detector: an Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide for Getting People to Reveal the Truth” by Jack Schafer The moment you tell a lie about yourself you are owned by the lie. Happy people don’t need to feel superior. The fall of humanity began when Adam and Eve were enticed by pride to define for themselves what is moral. The prideful lie is always about portraying yourself as superior in some way. Pride produces a damaging ripple effect on us and everyone around us. Father Len compares Albert Einstein and Richard Dawkins to illustrate the damaging effects of pride and the positive effects of humility. “I am not an atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in a position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows somebody must’ve written those books.” – Albert Einstein The prideful are not open to truth because they feel compelled to defend the lies they tell about themselves. The prideful are always defensive and feel the need to posture, provoke, pick fights and bully because they fear wrestling with the truth. Confident and humble people don’t fear grappling with the truth and allow themselves to be challenged, probed, and questioned. The prideful can never be happy because they make their insecurities and flaws the center of their identities. The prideful don’t recognize or appreciate their self-worth. Lies about who you are, what you know, what you’re good at, and what you’re not good at are sure signs you have a pride problem. We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to More Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len presents stunning evidence from hundreds of personal experiences that supports the reality of an afterlife. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom Consciously or unconsciously, how we operate in this life has a lot to do with whether we believe there is an afterlife. Father Len reflects on hundreds of personal experiences with death and dying, during 30 years of priesthood, that offer compelling, inspiring and uplifting evidence that there is an afterlife. Catholics believe that nobody dies alone. The moment you die, the dead are there to welcome you to the afterlife. Father Len shares some amazing stories that totally support this belief. There is a thin veil between heaven and earth. Catholics believe the Holy Spirit creates this mysterious and unbreakable bond between the living, the dead, and God that is stronger than death. The dying process produces healing that can’t be accomplished during our ordinary lives. All the evidence that there’s far more to life than just the here and now begs us to be more attentive to the sacred and the mysteries of life. Heaven is a great feast of love. If there is a hint that all those who loved in this life go to heaven, why wouldn’t you want to be in that community? Why wouldn’t you change your behavior now? In one sense, death is always kind of ugly, but at the same time it produces great beauty. There’s very little evidence that death leads to oblivion. Being fully present while witnessing death and dying will almost always give you a sense of the afterlife. We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

A high school listener asks, “Will I go to hell if I have sex before marriage?” Father Len offers some sober, surprising, and humorous answers and insight about passion, sex, and promiscuity. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom There’s nothing wrong with sex. It’s so natural. Nothing could be more natural. It’s part of the drive of life that God gives us. Sexual passion is good. It drives us to seek each other out. It brings us together, but there’s something better. Augustine’s highly promiscuous life taught him what was missing in his life. Sometimes things are wrong, not because they’re evil, but because they’re not good enough. Promiscuity is wrong because it can train you to use and hurt other people and not be committed. Being sexual is part of what it means to be a human being, but the best part of being human is something greater. Commitment and love. Passion and pleasure can be blinding, but also be very enlightening. True passion opens you up for God. We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len exposes the dangerous effects of trying to boost self-esteem with excessive or false praise and compliments. Support Wrestling with God Productions: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom. “Self-esteem is like a four letter cuss word that when you say it you need to wash your mouth out” – Father Len Father Len illustrates the negative effects of self-esteem by sharing the story of his encounter with a young man and his big dog during his quest to rid the church grounds of dog poop. Our current culture promotes a competition to become the greatest victim. Religion is about becoming a better person, not making you feel good about yourself. Religion is about being in a relationship with God and others built upon the virtues of love, compassion, and justice. People with self-compassion gain grit and determination and are more likely to pick themselves up after a failure and try again. Attempts to boost self-esteem with excessive or false praise and compliments produces fake self-esteem that rejects critical or negative feedback capable of producing personal growth and success. Fake self-esteem based solely on feelings of “I’m special and smart and beautiful and people love me” is fragile and produces social comparison and constant anxiety. Kids become bullies to boost their own self-esteem. Fake self-esteem prepares you to become a victim. Real self-esteem based on achievements and making and keeping commitments is important for emotional and spiritual health. Real self-esteem embraces failure and believes everyone can improve. We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Reacting to why actor Seth Rogen says he and his wife don’t want kids, Father Len explains the relationship between making commitments, happiness, love, and having kids. Support Wrestling with God Productions here: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom “It’s not an easy haul having kids. You can’t be narcissistic. You have to give yourself over to parenting. Kids have got to be the priority.” – Howard Stern God asks of us that our lives be life-giving. Living life for yourself, free from commitments, is an immature definition of happiness. Commitments lead to greater happiness. Lack of commitments lead to greater unhappiness. You’ll never find yourself through your feelings and aspirations. What defines you is your commitments. "Without being bound to the fulfillment of our promises, we would never be able to keep our identities; we would be condemned to wander helplessly and without direction in the darkness of each person's lonely heart, caught in its contradictions and equivocations."-Hannah Arendt Being unable to settle on something means not being settled ever. People willing to commit to marriage and having children almost always test out happier than those who don’t. The world tells us self-fulfillment comes from being free of commitments. Truth says fulfillment comes after commitments. People who avoid commitments and constantly pursue pleasure in pursuit of an easy life tend to end up bitter and unhappy. Christ challenges us to not to choose the easy way, to make a sacrifice and give ourselves away. Life is not supposed to be easy, but rather a great adventure. Pursuing pleasure as happiness always ends up in unhappiness. Each year since 1972, there has been a gradual decline in people’s overall happiness in the United States. This despite the average person spending 22% more on eating out and entertainment, living in homes that have doubled in size, having huge screen TVs, access to the Internet, and social media. The moral question is not whether you should or should not have kids. The moral question is why you would not want to have children. Religion challenges us to look at everything in life and decide what kind of life we want to have. Once you fall in love, you can’t help but want to give yourself away. That’s what real love feels like. God’s perpetual command is to make an offering of our lives, to give ourselves away. Those who don’t know the power of commitment are yet to know what love is. God is a trickster who tricks people into falling in love and willing to sacrifice everything for those they love. We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len explains how the radical ideas Jesus introduced 2000 years ago and the church he established to spread those ideas have changed the world forever. Make a financial donation here: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom “You’re talking about the single event that probably influenced civilization as we know it now. It’s created our laws and behavior. The knowledge of good and evil. It’s influenced art and literature. It’s affected every possible aspect of anyone’s life, whether they know it or not. It’s absolutely everything. If it wasn’t, what would there be? – Mel Gibson, producer/director, The Passion of the Christ The Gospel of Luke describes how Jesus changed morality and remapped society around meals. In Jesus’s time there were meal codes about how you eat and who you eat with. Jews ate with Jews, never with Gentiles. Jews ate as a family. Men, women, and children together. Gentiles, the Romans and the Greeks, ate with people of their own class and caste system. Rich and poor never ate together. Men and women didn’t eat together. Men ate first and then women because men were considered superior to women. Jesus broke all the meal codes of his time drawing people together by a much different morality. He offered radical hospitality to everyone. He welcomed men and women, rich and poor to sit at table with him. The one person who changed the world the most was not a king or an inventor. The greatest mark on history was made by a traveling preacher named Jesus who established a church community and gave it the responsibility to redraw the world according to hospitality. “I am an historian. I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all of history. Is it any wonder that to this day, this Galilean is too much for our small hearts?” – HG Wells Jesus broke all the rules on how to treat women. Prior to Jesus women were treated inhumanely. They were viewed as inferior to men and nothing more than property. In Jesus’s eyes, women and men are equally valuable. Jesus was friends and ministry partners with women. He treated them with dignity and respect. The idea that all humans – men and women, rich and poor, rulers and peasants – are equally valuable and should be treated with dignity and respect was extremely rare before Christianity. The church Jesus founded, the Catholic Church, started hospitals, universities, and food banks. Jesus started an organized movement to care for the poor and the needy. Religion before Christianity, except for Judaism, wasn’t really concerned with morality or taking care of the poor. The origins of science are rooted in Christian belief. All the early scientists were religious. They were inspired by their faith in Christ to do science. They all viewed science as a means of uncovering the traces of Christ’s handiwork in the universe. The concepts of social justice, education, human rights, women’s rights, and freedom all fit into the idea of radical hospitality that Jesus introduced to the world. Jesus has changed the personal lives of billions of people throughout the world by introducing the theology of the cross. Dying to yourself, dying to your ego, becoming a whole new person by living a life of sacrificial love. Wisdom is path, not a door. The path of daily choices you make on how to live your life. Wisdom is gained through daily small activities. Small choices that become the whole direction of your life. The way of the cross is daily making moral choices, making small choices of virtue. Dying to your pettiness, anger, and selfishness. We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions

Father Len reveals the real “reason for the season” is us. Make a financial donation here: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom “When I look at the world upside down, that’s when it seems right to me.” – Jeret "Speedy" Peterson Father Len tells a story about geese to illustrate why God became a human being. Christmas is a revelation of who we are meant to be. To be good is to become a true human being. Our true humanity is to live like Christ. “Christianity is the attitude of amazement at the dignity of the human person.” – Pope John Paul II “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” – Irenaeus “Paradise Lost” by John Milton “Faust” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Sin is the temptation to stop being a true human being. Evil is the no to human goodness. Evil is the no to all that is good. Satan is not one who hates God. Satan is one who believes that God can’t love him or us. The good news of Christmas is that God became one of us to show us how to become true human beings and discover the goodness of being a true human being. Salvation is not the story of God rescuing us from an evil universe. Salvation is the story of God coming as one like us to teach us what true goodness looks like. Absolute love will embrace death. Absolute love cannot be contained by the tomb. Sin is anything that deprives us of our full humanity. Christmas is the beginning of the journey to our true humanity to love and to be connected. We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738 Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/

Father Len explains that sadness is our lot in life and how embracing it will bring us wisdom, love, a sense of purpose, and help guide our path to heaven. Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom The pain of sadness wakes you up to be more tender and compassionate. Sadness is a superpower that can transform you into being more creative. Depression sucks all the life out of you. Denying sadness can lead to self-absorption and a toxic life. Father Len shares the story of how the sadness of prison life became a university for growth for Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Depression makes you listless and less concerned for action and the suffering of other people. Depression is when you’re alone. Sadness is when you’re with other people. Those who embrace sadness have a greater sense of purpose in their lives. American society is obsessed with positivity and always being happy, happy, happy. Studies have found Americans smile more than any other country, but test out to be more depressed. Obsession with positive thinking is just a form of denial of sadness. The more you repress something, the more likely you are to act on it. America’s obsession with positivity and always having a positive attitude is a form of repression. Sadness is hard, but it also gives birth to love. Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/ Make a financial donation here: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738

Father Len grapples with the tendency we all have of lying to ourselves about ourselves and the effect it has on us and those around us. Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/ Make a financial donation here: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738

Father Len makes a compelling case for empathy being the solution to most of our societal problems, including mass shootings.

Irish shares the journey that led him to Father Len and the creation of the Wrestling with God Show. He also reveals plans for Wrestling with God Productions, the new association he’s founded to build bridges to faith, religion, and the Catholic Church. Show Notes Books & Publications Mentioned in this Episode: “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” by Pope St. John Paul II “One Bread One Body” published by Presentation Ministries, Cincinnati Ohio “Divine Intimacy” by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. (published by Baronius Press) Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/ Make a financial donation here: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions We welcome your questions and comments: Email: irish@wwgproductions.org Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738

He’s back! Father Len returns to grapple with doubts expressed by Irish’s daughter about the legitimacy of priests and leadership in the Catholic Church. He reveals how it’s all part of God’s plan for Christ’s eternal priesthood.

Father Len explains why God allows evil in the world and how we choose to react to evil can cause bane or enlightenment. Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom God gives us free will to choose our actions. It’s up to us to choose good or evil. If God took away our choices, we’d no longer be human beings. We’d be preprogrammed like toasters and robots. “It makes no sense to pray for somebody to do something. I pray that someone’s heart will be open to see the right choice.” – Father Len God loves us so much that he allows us to choose our own actions. God allows us to choose how we react to evil and evil doers. Will we choose the path to bane or enlightenment? “The Plague” by Albert Camus “The evil that is in the world comes out of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding.” – Albert Camus “A loveless world is a dead world.” – Albert Camus “All a man could win in the conflict between plague and life was knowledge and memories.” – Albert Camus Our choices are not predetermined. God exists outside of time and space. God’s view of our lives appears much like a painting does to us. God can see it all from beginning to end. All the choices we make in our lives are in full view to God. They are not predetermined by God. Throughout our lives, God will constantly urge, beg, and intervene to try to change our hearts to make the right choices. God allows us to choose light or darkness.

The effect of freedom depends on how you define it. Father Len reveals how God defines freedom and how other definitions can produce destructive consequences. Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom Freedom involves being free from something in order to be free to become something. The American Revolution was about becoming free from the tyranny of a king and the injustices and oppression of a political system. 70% of Americans say they are free or mostly free. Two thirds of Americans define freedom as being “free to do whatever I want.” Being “free to do whatever I want” is an immature definition of freedom and the least likely to lead to happiness. Being “free to do whatever I want” is a form of tyranny that allows you to intrude on the life and liberty of others. “The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos” by Sohrab Ahmari We create laws to set the parameters for a working society. To be free theologically means that we are always working on freedom. Working to become free from the tyranny of selfishness, oppression, and injustice. When the people of a country define freedom as selfishness, it will always be divided and destroyed. People who report the highest level of happiness tend to be religious and meditate regularly. People who report the most freedom from moral constraints tend to be the least happy. “Suicide, A Study in Sociology” by Emile Durkheim The really hard part of becoming freer is wrestling with our own egos and recognizing when we’re being selfish. “If your definition of freedom is, I get to do whatever I want, just historically, it ends terribly. If our country just believes, I’m free to just think about myself, that’s a loss of freedom. I think it destroys our country.” – Father Len Christians who believe giving up liberties for the sake of others makes them less free don’t understand the freedom of the cross of Christ. Support the work of Wrestling with God Productions by making a financial donation here: https://www.givesendgo.com/wwgproductions