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.

This is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus by Mary in the Temple. Our Lady presented Jesus to the Father to offer Him for all that the Father wanted Him to accomplish. We all know people we want to “present” to the Father for his will, His grace, His mercy, His love. In a spiritual sense, when we offer those we love to the Father, we are asking Him to lead those individuals to His heart. Is there someone special in your life that you’ve “presented” to God in this way? If so, share it with us on Thursday.

God asks us to be open to life, especially within a marriage and family. That doesn’t mean having as many children as you possibly can. But when God blesses you with a number of kids, priorities and decisions take on a new meaning. Given economic uncertainties, the loss of a job, or any number of other circumstances, a family can find itself hanging on by a thread when it comes to paying the rent or mortgage, feeding the kids, etc. Share your experience of finding yourself in a precarious position and almost not managing to get by. How did you manage? What did God do to rescue you?

God makes every human being to know him, love him, serve him and be happy with him in eternity. Because of fears, insecurities, wounds, etc., many people observe the faith because they want to avoid going to hell. But, in reality, believing in Jesus, belonging to the Church and living an upright life should flow from the realization of who we are (made in God’s image), and because He desires that “all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Join Jerry and Debbie on Wednesday to talk about your deepest motivation for going to heaven.

On Friday, it’s your next opportunity to call with your questions, comments, takes – you name it – on anything going on in your life or in the world. Take 2 is all about having a conversation that will leave us all better at the end of the hour. Share with Jerry and Debbie what’s on your mind or heart, and how you believe we can all strive to make the world better!

Until we leave this earth, life is about learning, growing, changing, evolving. It’s never too late to learn a new sport, language, hobby, etc. Life is a journey. Tell us your latest adventure. Recently in the news there was a 100-year old man who just received his college degree. What new hobby, job or activity have you picked up lately?  Share your take on Wednesday with Jerry and Debbie.

We are called to be like Christ. And that means to be color blind. To view all people – regardless of the color of their skin – with the dignity and respect that are theirs as having been created in the image and likeness of God. How well do we do that in today’s world? We can say we don’t judge based on color, but still their are many instances where race is the determining factor in how we relate to other people. Join Jerry and Debbie for a discussion of this important and current issue on Monday at Noon ET.

There are many reasons so many of us look forward to weekends. Is it because we get to relax, watch sports, forget about work…or do we look forward to the Sabbath, with church and a chance to refocus ourselves? Lots of great takes will be shared with Jerry and Debbie – and you – on Friday. Join us at Noon ET, with a replay at Midnight ET.