Is having better than wanting? It depends how well you are prepared for having. We probably all have received opportunities, gifts, relationships that we just weren't prepared for. God is preparing us for his greatest gift - His Son. Would we rather be in control or can we trust in Him.  Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122125.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

This week on OVC, I discuss Faith and Skepticism. Not everyone will come to faith through the Gospel. Skeptics may require a different pathway. Nonetheless, to understand God, you must first believe. Faith and Skepticism exist side by side - skepticism with no openness to the possibility of faith is an empty intellectual endeavor. Faith without a critical eye leads the soul down some empty paths. Trusting in God, the Gospel and the Church is the one trustworthy path back to God.  Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/113025.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The final Sunday of the Liturgical Year is the The Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe. Proclaimed by Pope Benedict XV after the massively destructive First World War it was meant Europe that violence without boundaries would insure constant destruction. What does the feast have to do with the founding of Christian Europe and the occult nature of the Nazi Reich. This week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112325.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The end of the liturgical year approaches and Jesus turns to teaching about the end times. With Jesus death and the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, an old world ended and a new one began. What can it mean? This week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111625.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

St. John Lateran is the seat of the Bishop of Rome. Pope Leo XIV is the Bishop of Rome. Learn the story of the arch-basilica and why it is a symbol of the unity and authoritative teaching of His Church this week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110925.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Purgatory? Keep following Christ, you are almost there, heaven that is! This week on OVC I discuss the scriptural basis for prayers for the dead and the doctrine of Purgatory. Our prayers for the dead are rooted deeply in scripture and tradition.  Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110225.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294 Art: Carving "Soul in Purgatory," 1938 Ethel Dougan  

This week Jesus heals ten lepers, but only one returns to give thanks and worship. Worship of God in spirit and in truth makes us fully human. Learn about Luke's story of the ten lepers, this week on OVC. The Ten Lepers are Cleansed, probably c. 1576/1580 - Léonard Gaultier Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101225.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Every new technology provides challenges. The presence of Artificial Intelligence is another example. What good can come of it? What should we be wary of? What role does transhumanist thinking play? This week on OVC along with Lazarus and the rich man.  Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092825.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294  

The tragic death of Charlie Kirk and all those victims of evil in the recent history of our country might bring us to wonder what is going on. The perpetrators are all young men in their early twenties. Why is America so toxic? This week on Oro Valley Catholic. Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294 Readings for the Exultation of the Cross: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091425.cfm

The Ark of the Covenant, thought to be lost at the time of the Babylonian Conquest, is as it turns out, not so lost. Read Revelation 11:19 and following. Learn about the scriptural basis for the dogma of the Assumption. 199. In what way is the Blessed Virgin Mary the eschatological icon of the Church?  Looking upon Mary, who is completely holy and already glorified in body and soul, the Church contemplates in her what she herself is called to be on earth and what she will be in the homeland of heaven. Music "Ave Maria" performed by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License  A-726294.

Prayer for the dead and expiation of sin is a Jewish practice continued by Christ and the Church. Learn more about Purgatory on this week's OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081025.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Martha is anxious about many things. So are we! This week on OVC. Reading: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/072025.cfmMusic by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Julian Osborn, a first year seminarian, discusses the call to priestly vocation and the seminary life this week on OVC.Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294          

The Feast of Corpus Christi where Christ takes, blesses, breaks and gives his body and blood to his disciples ... you and me. What does it mean? This week on OVC. Readings:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062225.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294 Chalice: German ca. 1230–50

Jackson Landers, a member of the St. Mark teen group describes his pilgrimage to Rome and attending Pope Francis' funeral. What did he think? This week on OVC.Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Their is no up or down, only closer to Jesus or further away. Why is that important? Because eternal life in heaven is about relationship to God through Jesus. This week on Oro Valley Catholic.
Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060125-Sunday.cfm
License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The Acts of the Apostles tells the story of the Early Church's proclamation of God's Will and the Church. You cannot love Christ and despise his Kingdom - you cannot put a wedge between Christ and His Church. This week on OVC. Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052525.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

What does it mean to be a 'self'?  Am I the result of social pressures? Is my true self to be found in my emotions? Am I a creature made in the image and likeness of God, whatever that means? Oh, yes! It means quite a lot. The Acts of the Apostles, early Christian preaching and my true self, this week on OVC.Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051825.cfmPortrait of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Augustin de Saint-Aubin French After Maurice Quentin de La Tour French 1777Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The Book of Revelation is mysterious, unless you know the code. The secret code is the true worship of God. Revelation is based on the liturgy of the Mass. Through all the ups and downs of life, Catholics are called to true worship. Art: The Last Judgment, Master of the Orléans Triptych French ca. 1500 Readings: bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/051125.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The Greco-Roman world had very dark understandings of death and the possibility of continued existence. The Jews, late in their history, came to a belief among, at least the Pharisees, that a resurrection of the dead would happen at the end of time. The Christians upended all of that - Christ is risen and the tomb is empty. Deal with it! Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/050425.cfm Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294