On Thursday, Jerry and Debbie welcome your takes on being part of a mixed-race marriage or family. The Church has always celebrated the universality of her members and the entire human race. People of different races and cultures have a tremendous amount of gifts to offer to one another. This is particularly true when they come together in the same family. If you have experience with this, be sure to call with your take. We look forward to hearing from you! (P.S. The lower picture is Jerry’s sister, Mary, and her husband, Larry. Sincere thanks to all of you who have been praying for her. She passed away on February 7, and her funeral was February 15).

There are many different forms of music. All good forms require talent and synchronization among performers. But when listening to classical music, typically performed by orchestras or symphonies, it’s hard to imagine a collection of musical artists performing on the same page like they do, with such precision. And there’s a certain beauty in classical music that is absent in some other forms of music. Of course, the Church has been blessed by countless sacred compositions over the centuries. Let’s talk about this, and how we can all perhaps grow in our appreciation of classical music.

We had a great conversation on Monday about how to encourage and accommodate a child who exhibits the capacity to excel at academics, music, sports or any other human endeavor. Lots of great takes were shared by our listeners. We also realize that some kids need a little extra prodding or encouragement to fulfill their God-given potential. That’s what we’ll talk about on Tuesday’s show. If you’re the parent, family member, teacher, neighbor or friend of a child who struggles to reach his or her potential, let’s talk about ways that they can be encouraged, motivated and helped in any way to achieve the heights God wants for them.

Every age has seen children who excel at virtually everything they do, to the point of surpassing most of their peers in academics, music, sports and a variety of other pursuits. That sometimes presents a challenge to parents and others involved in the formation of those children to find ways to keep them stimulated and interested in their particular activities, and to best facilitate their exceptional abilities. If you have (or had) such a son or daughter, share your story with Jerry and Debbie on Monday’s show. As always, what you impart to our listeners could well be just what a parent somewhere needs to hear in order to help them with their own child prodigy.

It’s one thing to gather with people you know and share beliefs with on Sunday. Maybe you even attend a prayer meeting or Bible study during the week. But our faith is meant to be lived 24/7. That means we should seek out opportunities to grow in our relationship with God whenever they present themselves. Are you part of a mom’s group? A men’s fellowship? Do you go to parish missions, retreats, conferences, etc.? Where is it that you “feed your faith” outside of weekend worship? Join Jerry and Debbie and share your inspiring take on this topic on Friday.

At some point in life, we all will be accused of doing something we didn’t do. Whether it’s being blamed by a sibling for a wrongdoing when we’re kids, or something much more serious later in life, false accusations are sure to come our way. The questions is, how do we handle it? Do we fight back? Do we humbly surrender to God’s plan for our lives? This is a huge issue and one of great importance for discussion on our show. Even a great saint like Gerard Majella faced a horrible false accusation – and remained silent so as to not damage the reputation of his accuser. Jerry will be attending his sister’s funeral on Wednesday, so be sure to call and keep Debbie and her special guest company during this illuminating discussion!

RESOURCES:
Amazing Grace Overcoming Race

Hurting in the Church: A Way Forward for Wounded Catholics
by Fr. Thomas Berg

It’s usually understood that women spend a lot more time contemplating what they are going to give to someone, whether it’s a card or a gift, than men do. But how much time is too much when it’s spent looking at virtually every card in the greeting card section in the store? Does the perfect card or gift even exist? Do recipients of cards and gifts think for a second that maybe the giver cut corners and just grabbed the first option that presented itself? Let’s examine this issue on Tuesday – Valentine’s Day!

Technology has changed at light speed in recent years. Gone are the days when we store our memories on polaroid pictures, reel-to-reel tapes, in photo albums and scrapbooks, on VHS tapes, etc. Do you still have a treasure trove of memories in those formats? If so, what do you plan to do with them? Do you intend to get them transferred to more current and user-friendly formats? Are you like many people who take hundreds of photos (with your phone, for example) and never even look at them a second time? This will be a fun and informative discussion with Jerry and Debbie on Friday. Join us!

It’s never a comfortable thing to let an employee go. Sometimes you’re the owner of the business. Other times, you may be the supervisor who has been told to let someone go. Maybe you’ve been the one who was let go. Let’s talk about this on Thursday. Even something like dismissing an employee should be handled with class and with a recognition of the other person’s human dignity. What have you learned from such an experience?

A Prophet of our Time Don (Fr) Dolindo Ruotolo

On November 19, 1970 Don (Fr) Dolindo Ruotolo died at the age of 88. Padre Pio once said of this priest from Naples, Italy, “The whole of paradise is in your soul.” His name “Dolindo” means “Pain” and his life was rich with this pain. As a child, a teenager, a seminarian and a priest, he experienced humiliation, which was the realization of the prophetic words of a bishop who said “You will be a martyr, but in your heart, not with your blood.”

In his profound humility, he was able to hear the words of God. Even with his hidden life he was one of the greatest prophets of the last century. He wrote to Bishop Hnilica in 1965 that a new John will rise out of Poland with heroic steps to break the chains beyond the boundaries imposed by the communist tyranny. On this postcard, he wrote words of consolation for Poland and all the countries suffering under the communist regime. This prophecy was realized in the papacy of John Paul II.

In his tremendous suffering, Dolindo became more and more a child who lived his self-offering to the Divine Father. “I am totally poor, a poor nothing. My strength is my prayer, my leader is the will of God which I let take me by the hand. My security over the uneven path is the heavenly mother Mary.”

One of the treasures from the words which Jesus spoke to Dolindo was the teaching about total abandonment to God. In this novena, Jesus is talking

Day 1

Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 2

Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything. It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother’s way.

Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care, so that only I act. Saying “You take care of it.”

to Don Dolindo and also to you.
Words of Jesus to Don Dolindo Ruotolo

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 3

How many things I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need turns to me, looks at me and says to me; “You take care of it,” then close its eyes and rests. In pain you pray for me to act, but that I act in the way you want. You do not turn to me, instead, you want me to adapt to your ideas. You are not sick people who ask the doctor to cure you, but rather sick people who tell the doctor how to. So do not act this way, but pray as I taught you in the Our Father: “Hallowed be thy Name”, that is, be glorified in my need. “Thy kingdom come”, that is, let all that is in us and in the world be in accord with your kingdom. “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”, that is, in our need, decide as you see fit for our temporal and eternal life.

If you say to me truly: “Thy will be done”. Which is the same as saying: “You take care of it”. I will intervene with all my omnipotence, and I will resolve the most difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 4

You see evil growing instead of weakening? Do not worry, Close your eyes and say to me with faith: “Thy will be done, You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that I will intervene as does a doctor and I will accomplish miracles when they are needed. Do you see that the sick person is getting worse? Do not be upset, but close your eyes and say “You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that there is no medicine more powerful than my loving intervention. By my love, I promise this to you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 5

And when I must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you; I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. What troubles you and hurts you immensely are your reason, your thoughts and worry, and your desire at all costs to deal with what afflicts you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 6

You are sleepless; you want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything and you surrender to human strength, or worse- to men themselves, trusting in their intervention,- this is what hinders my words and my views. Oh how much I wish from you this surrender, to help you and how I suffer when I see you so agitated! Satan tries to do exactly this: to agitate you and to remove you from my protection and to throw you into the jaws of human initiative. So, trust only in me, rest in me, surrender to me in everything.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 7

I perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever performed miracles, not even among the saints. He does divine works whosoever surrenders to God. So don’t think about it any more, because you mind is acute and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs, do this all of you and you will see great continual silent miracles. I will take care of things, I promise this to you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 8

Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace; close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. Repose in me, believing in my goodness, and I promise you by my love that if you say “You take care of it.” I will take care of it all; I will console you, liberate you and guide you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Day 9

Pray always in readiness to surrender, and you will receive from it great peace and great rewards, even when I confer on you the grace of immolation, of repentance and of love. Then what does suffering matter? It seems impossible to you? Close your eyes and say with all your soul, “Jesus, you take care of it.” Do not be afraid, I will take care of things and you will bless my name by humbling yourself. A thousand prayers cannot equal one single act of surrender, remember this well. There is no novena more effective than this:
“O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!”

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

Mother, I am yours now and forever. Through you and with you I always want to belong completely to Jesus.