On Monday, He is Risen! What a great way to kick off the Easter season on Take 2 With Jerry and Debbie. It’s our monthly episode where you get to call and share with the world your prayer intentions. It could be for a friend or loved one. Or health. Or employment. Or for the mending of a relationship. It’s entirely up to you. Let us know who or what you’re praying for on Monday.

The Triduum is here. Already. Time to enter into one of the most solemn times of the liturgical year. It’s also one of the most glorious, as we commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus that won our eternal forgiveness and salvation. On Holy Thursday, we remember in a particular way The Last Supper, when the Lord gave us the unfathomable gift of Himself in the Holy Eucharist. It’s an ancient custom in the Church that the faithful spend time adoring Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday, especially after the liturgical celebration. Do you avail yourself of this great tradition? Not just on Holy Thursday, but let’s talk about how valuable it is to your spiritual life to spend time anytime in  Eucharistic Adoration.

By some counts, the word joy (or words related to joy) appears close to 200 times in the Bible. Its uses range from when we’re told that God will turn our mourning into joy, to James’ exhortation to “count it all joy” when we experience all sorts of trials. One of the most important things to know and remember about authentic joy is that it’s not necessarily something we can manufacture on our own. It is a gift from God that flows from knowing who (and who’s) we are and living according to the Lord’s purpose for our lives. When we do that, nothing can take away our joy, regardless of how difficult life can be at times. Would you consider yourself a joyful person? Do you have a deep and abiding joy that the world and all its tribulations can’t rob from you? If you’ve ever lost your sense of joy, how did you rediscover it? This will be our illuminating conversation on Monday. Hope you can join us and call with your take!

As we get older, it’s not as easy to remember things as it once was. And, today, with technology and gadgets to help us remember and keep track of virtually everything, we don’t have to commit things to memory or tie a string around our finger like we used to. Is your memory still strong? Do you find yourself forgetting what you were going to do, even as soon as after taking a few steps down the hall toward whatever that was? Do you exercise your brain and your mind by engaging in various games and exercises? Let’s talk about this on Thursday.

In 1984, the band Foreigner released their song, “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Of course, they weren’t the first ones to ask that age-old question. The Bible tells us that God is love. That should be our standard when entering into a conversation about what authentic love is. Unfortunately, given humanity’s fallen nature, there are now countless understandings and definitions of “love.” St. Paul talks about “speaking the truth” in love. Love separated from truth is not love. In fact, it can amount to a violation of one’s true dignity. How can we converse with today’s world about love, when there is so much confusion about what it really means? That’s our topic for discussion – and your takes – on Wednesday’s show. Please join us!

The Bible contains no spoken words by St. Joseph. But he is a featured character in the drama of salvation. If you could put a few words in Joseph’s mouth during his lifetime, what do you think he would have said? That’s our question for you on Monday’s Take 2 With Jerry and Debbie. Give it some thought and prayer, then call with your take!

Joseph’s Song by Michael Card.

Bullying has been around forever. Every generation sees its share of it. It’s always ugly, and never acceptable. On Friday, live from the annual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, Jerry and Debbie will tackle this thorny topic – as always, with your insights and wisdom. There’s no doubt that bullying has taken on new dimensions in our day, especially with the ability of people to harass one another via social media. How prevalent is this in your lived experience? Do you have or know kids who have been bullied? Perhaps you yourself have been a victim. With all the emphasis on “tolerance” and “diversity,” why is that there are still so many among us who make life miserable for others, sometimes to the point of encouraging them to take their own lives? Be sure to join us for what should be a lively discussion.

RESOURCES: Stompoutbullying.org

Have you been in jail or prison? Do you have a loved one who has been or is currently serving time? Do you visit them? How has it impacted your family. Do you volunteer to visit those in prison? What is the spiritual climate like in our jails and prisons? Have you seen someone come to faith while incarcerated? There may be a lot more faith inside prison walls than we can imagine. Let’s talk about this on Tuesday.

Rare is the household that doesn’t have a television set. Some homes have several. According to a Nielsen report, adults in the United States watch an average of 5 hours of TV per day. Extend that out and it amounts to approximately 76 entire days annually. Is that good for us? Bad for us? Clearly, the answer to that question depends on what we’re consuming. And, wow, how television content has changed over the years! Join Jerry and Debbie on Monday and share your take on what role TV viewing plays in your and your family’s lives. There are some very real connections to our spiritual lives.

For any sin to be forgiven, there has to be authentic contrition, or sorrow, for having committed that sin. Thankfully, as the Catholic Church teaches, our sorrow can be “imperfect” and we’re still forgiven. Naturally, the goal is to strive for “perfect” contrition. The latter is sorrow driven by the motive of love for God and having offended Him, and nothing else. The former may include an element of that, but might also be motivated by something like a fear of going to hell. In any event, sorrow must be present or sins are not forgiven. Have you ever confessed your sins, then wondered, “Was I really sorry?” After all, so many of us have that “besetting sin,” the one that keeps coming up over and over in confession. Do you fear your sorrow may not be adequate because of the very real possibility that you will commit the same sins again? On Friday, join Jerry and Debbie as we have a conversation about this important subject. Share your take on how you cultivate sorrow for your sins, and whether or not you might at times struggle to accept that your contrition is sincere.

Here is a link to a good article on confession on EWTN’s website.

Here’s a link to a great examination of conscience by Fr. John Trigilio.