Discipleship and Goodness: My conversation with Pat Oedy-Murray

Did you miss my conversation this morning with Pat Oedy-Murray on Ave Maria Radio?  Pat invited me to talk about discipleship and whether it is enough just to be a good person.  The blog I wrote is titled "Influence the World for Good." (janetcassidy.com, Jan. 26, 2026)

My interview with Pat can be found at https://morningoffering.substack.com/.  I come on about 48 minutes in, but I encourage you to listen to the whole podcast!

My thanks again to Pat! 

In honor of Black History Month, I would like to invite you to a replay of my 2024 interview with Deacon Arthur Miller.  

Deacon Arthur Miller, Part I 

Deacon Art recounts Emmett Till's death and how it signaled a key turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.  

https://youtu.be/B5lOZ4M1JxE 

Deacon Arthur Miller, Part II

In Part II, we moved from our discussion of Emmett Till, to a broader conversation about the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Deacon Art shared his wonderful insights and offered us sound wisdom based on Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Not surprisingly, we ended up having a very personal, thought-provoking conversation that you should definitely check out!

https://youtu.be/_IACHopqBoI 

I hope you enjoy my conversations 

Janet Cassidy
Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/ https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy  

Resting like an athlete

Exciting news! 

I am thrilled to be a guest on "Morning Offering" on Annunciation Radio and Ave Maria Radio this Tuesday, February 17th. I look forward to speaking with Pat Oedy-Murray live at 8:45 am. Listen online at: https://www.avemariaradio.net/listen-ave.

 

I was slogging along on my treadmill while watching the winter Olympics. I was no match for the agile, fast, sleek fast skaters gliding along their icy track.

Have you been able to watch the various events?

It simply cannot escape us how hard the athletes work--and for how many years they practice--to achieve their level of expertise. Sometimes the result of all their practice is satisfying, and sometimes not so much.

It seems to me that our journey to a mature faith can take no less time to achieve a level of communion with God. I've been reading Thomas Merton lately and he seemed to acquire a sense of unity with God that goes beyond words.

Merton put it this way:  

"the contemplative . . . [is] he who has risked his mind in the desert beyond language and beyond ideas . . ."

He continued . . . "if you dare to penetrate your own silence and dare to advance without fear into the solitude of your own heart, and risk the sharing of that solitude . . . you will truly recover the light and the capacity to understand what is beyond words and beyond explanations because it is too close to be explained."

This really gets at the heart of prayer, doesn't it? Prayer is communion with God, resting in and being with God, where our heart of love can experience more than words, because as has been said, it is the love of God that is within us that creates that oneness. It is not something we manufacture.

All of this is just a fancy way of saying--make sure you take time to sit in silence with your heart open to God. It may not seem like anything is "happening," but it is never a waste of time. Like a skilled spiritual athlete, resting in the quiet and practicing solitude may seem like work, but it is well worth our time.

Janet Cassidy
Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy 

 

 

 

 

Always learning

 

 

I've studied a lot of theology and such, so you can imagine my surprise when I learned from a little reflection that Jesus tells us who he is in the Beatitudes.

I mean, how many times have we sat with the Beatitudes, reflecting on them and praying with them?

How is it I have never heard anyone suggest that Jesus is revealing himself to us in them?

If you are unfamiliar with the Beatitudes altogether, you can find them in the 5th Chapter of Matthew's Gospel. They are so beautiful in their call for us to be meek, merciful, clean of heart, peacemakers and so forth. 

Naturally, when you read them with the idea that Jesus is describing himself, you can see him in every line, right down to the acknowledgement that he/we will be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. 

I encourage you to open your bible to the Beatitudes and see them with new insight and allow God to call you one of the blessed for the ways that you strive to imitate Jesus through them.

Janet Cassidy
Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy 

Here is a link to the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5