 Hey friends, you're watching behind the scenes divine intimacy radio today. We're gonna be talking about I don't know I Think the single most important Topic I'm questioning myself if that's true For the church today I Think it is we have dr. Joseph Holcraft from high-calling program Joining us and Kyle Langan who will introduce So I think it's gonna be really really. Yeah, I just can't think of a more important topic given what's going on in The church today. So before we do that Couple of opportunities for you one is I'm going to be doing a webinar on Thursday, February 2nd on how to have a transformational lens and What I'm not going to propose is Sort of an extreme there's been really in vogue lately to do all of these extreme things Which I think are you know can be helpful, but what I'm gonna do is dig into Our tradition and what our tradition teaches us is the most important thing To really blossom in and through the graces that come at Lent. So if you Have already started you know your New Year's resolutions. You signed up for the gym and you've yet to go Which is really common or you've gone and then you know I used to live near a YMCA that I passed every day before I drove to EWTN and It was always humorous in January parking lot just jam-packed By the end of January for February into February It's like back to the same people who went there all the time and with no extras, you know If you don't want to end up like those fools and you want to Really have make this a transformational year Then sign up for this webinar spiritual direction comm board slash events the webinar is called jump into the deep set step to a jasma and I'll explain what that strange multi-syllabic word means if you're not Somebody who knows what that means we'll jump into that the other one is Holy Spirit in life of the church course The Avala Foundation. We have a new professor. Dr. Cynthia Tulin Wilson and She's gonna help students understand the work of the Holy Spirit throughout history and If you feel called to draw near to the Holy Spirit, this course will help you Avala-institute.org. I want to also say a word of thanks to EWTN EWTN the United the church in the United States. I believe would be the church like the church in Germany right now If it wasn't for mother Angelica and it wasn't for you know, of course before her or a Fulton sheen, you know Was a huge had a huge part in holding back the tides of insanity and And and of course Intermittently good good bishops good priests faithful lady Helping along the way but EWTN in particular Deserves your support Very excited that my friend Moncy Alvarado, which is to point at the president of EWTN news Which is a position I held. I held the first slot first consolidation of all the news from all over the world Catholic news they are Fantastic organization Michael Warsaw is is it just one of my favorite humans on the planet to work for and So very excited for Moncy very grateful to EWTN for holding the line of the faith and the truth and I expect only good things continuing there at EWTN and we're grateful that you'll be able to do this show So with that, let's go ahead and jump into the show and talk about the most important thing For the church in our time on your market set go Welcome to divine intimacy radio. This is Dan Burke with Kyle Langen and you're listening to your radio Haven of rest your hermitage of the heart your monastery of the mine where we lift our hearts and minds to heaven To draw from the wisdom of the saints tradition the magisterium the life-changing reality That is the Catholic Church and Jesus presence in it the blessed Trinity's presence in it It is the only legit saint-making machine on the planet And so we are grateful to be a part of that and I want to introduce my co-host today It's he doesn't look anything like Stephanie nor does he sound like her So I'm sure you you're wondering who he is, but his name is Kyle Langen Kyle is a friend who? Is has some particular experience relevant to our conversation today Which is about renewing the priesthood and prayer and the interior life? Kyle was up until recently a seminarian. He's been at two seminaries the Joseph enum and then Also the Munde line in Chicago, so he just turned out of diocesan priesthood Right before Deaconate ordination, right? Correct. Yeah, and so now he's He the reason he did is because he's convicted that he's called to Contemplative religious vocation so Kyle is staying with us here at the Retreat Center in the home base of the Avila Foundation and contributing greatly to our quasi monastic life And I thought he'd be a great voice on this show to talk about How to renew the priesthood Dr. Joseph whole craft is the Director of the high-calling program for the Avila Foundation Avila Institute he is also the author of heart of evangelizing and Unleashing the power of intercessory prayer was just published recently by Sophia his supress and Joe is a graduate from Franciscan University as is Kyle and then he he received his PhD from theological Foundation with studies completed at Oxford University Joe is an husband a devoted father He lives in Fulton, Ohio With his beautiful life Jackie and their four children my favorite of the four is Avila for for obvious reasons maybe But Colby Isaac and Sienna are also his children not to leave them out just because Avila is my favorite But Joe great to have you back on the show. Well, that's great to be with you and again, Dan You know my youngest daughter Sienna She she still has a bone to pick with you because you keep emphasizing Avila You're causing quite a stir over our dinner table conversation. Yeah, well, I'll guess we'll cause some more I like all your kids, but you know, Teresa of Avila is one of the reasons I loved when I when you named her that I just thought that was the most awesome thing when I discovered that So I didn't know you at the time when you did it, but Anyway, Joe you one of the things I love about you I mean I watched your recent interview on EWTN with doc with Mitch father Mitch Pacqua and I I love your fearless emphasis on The one Most important ingredient to drawing to union with Jesus. There's more than one, but one that's most least emphasized in our time and that is Mental prayer and I think sometimes, you know, when we I was talking to Kyle the other day one of the most common questions I'm asked is Usually from executives. How do you get so much done in my aunt and I've asked been literally asked dozens of times And I asked my answer is first prayer Yes, and they always go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah what else and I always know that they have an impoverished view of prayer in that moment I do have other ways of managing that are I you know, I guess sophisticated leadership, you know mechanisms at work but the most important greening is prayer Joe and I think the most important ingredient to Renewal of the priesthood in our time is prayer and I love to hear both you and Kyle's thoughts on that Yeah, you know, it's interesting when you go back to the origin of the high calling program Dan and You know, you're a part of that meeting. There are about 20 of us There were four guiding principles all really rooted in one thing. The first was The need for men to re-encounter Christ the interior life that the second was The need for spiritual direction and conversion mentorship The third was what healing and that men might live life to the full and the fourth was deeper discernment greater clarity all of that takes place, right? Once you are in a very real tangible relationship with Jesus Christ once you have essentially Encountered Christ in the interior life. So When you look at I love that word impoverished for you when you look at The the more authentic understanding of what prayer is you're talking about that which is life giving right? It makes perfect sense that we're going to be more fruitful in what we do and all that we do If we have a robust relationship with Jesus Christ because when you talk about Mental prayer and that interior conversation of heart speaking of heart That's going to shape and form everything you do and it's going to give a sense of direction to what you do and also when you're doing that you begin to see God reveal himself and all of the The little moments in our life and that then itself becomes more prayer, right? And if we are a saint trees of abla we just talk about saint trees of abla if we are in this Very real relationship courtship with Christ. We are in terms of what with Christ, but friends This is 24 7 365 around the clock This is the kind of thing That truly does then give life to everything that we do and when guys discerning a call to the priesthood Are inside of that life encountering Christ each and every day Oh my goodness. What is that going to do to to the future of their seminary in life? Their priesthood the their parishes. They're going to set those parishes on fire You talk about is this the most important thing? We are in the this season of Eucharistic revival Dan and and Kyle We need priests just not priests, you know in some quantitative sense, but the qualitative sense priests who are steeped in a devoted Beautiful relationship with Jesus Christ because those are going to be the priests that are truly going to revive and renew the church And so yeah, prayer is at the center of it because that's is what is going that is the That is going to be the thing that ultimately leads us to to where we need to be as a church Before I get your answer because I really want to hear yours as well Kyle the Just so folks know when joe talks about the high calling program if you don't know what it is This whole this this show the divine intimacy radio Is sponsored by the Avala foundation We have the Avala Institute for spiritual formation graduate studies in spiritual theology years ago at the behest of a ratio issued by the pope We were the first to develop a program to prepare men for seminary so we take guys For one year and you know joe joe already described the you know the key emphases Joseph already described the key emphases of Of that program and so we've got about a hundred guys right now in the program From 40 different dioceses and I think we're about to grow god willing by another 50 percent This year in terms of the number of guys or the number of dioceses that we serve But kyle so let's ship to you. You know you heard joe's and passion for For prayer and the renewal of the priesthood. What are your thoughts? Yeah, um As joe is talking the thing that was coming to mind for me actually was Really what we're striving for in the priesthood Is what you see in the gospel when you look at jesus christ ultimately the person Who is the priest? Should be an alter christus. Yeah another christ And when we look at christ in the gospel, what do we see constantly? Yeah, he's peeling off to pray Yeah, and he's he's always Like the people are coming after him they're looking for him And he's he's in prayer and um And so You know, I think all the power and all the efficacy of of christ's ministry Comes from His life of prayer. Mm-hmm, right and so Um, I don't think it's it's a super complicated Problem where we have to do in-depth research of trying to figure out How to fix this amen crisis of our of our time um, if we just stick to the gospel and And stick to prayer just the way that christ did I think We'll we'll see all the fruit that we desire um The the difficulty I think also though is Is um the deep conversion that's required To forego all else for the sake of of prayer and to really understand that If I completely surrender all things to the lord and and trust in him and And invest first and foremost in my own personal prayer life in my own conversion my own personal deepening intimacy with the lord that god himself will step in and fill the gap and um And he got himself in the power of the holy spirit will be um the energizing force behind all of our actions and um, that's I think why we see christ in the gospel saying things like um You know the will of the father Is is my food that sustains me all he cares about is Is living in intimacy with the father years ago I wrote a post called he walked away And it was I was meditating on the gospels and there's this striking scene if it's easy to miss It's a huge huge huge crowds had gathered, right? and To hear him and he leaves I'm thinking wow no evangelical would have ever done that You know, and I'm a I'm a former evangelical, right? Or no no no, you know big catholic name probably huge crowd I'm gonna talk I practically it makes no sense I right I got to speak because everybody's here and they want to hear me and he walks away and he goes to pray You know, I think that speaks volumes to The need for him to pray to of course be To fulfill his mission is to be in union with the father Before we go to break. I think when I come back when we come back from the break What I'd like to talk about joseph is And kyle how specifically are we helping to form a new kind of priest if you will? Uh, and and when we talk about prayer a lot of you know faithful catholics are going. Yeah. Yeah. I pray I pray the rosary That's not what we're talking about rosary is really important. That is not what we're talking about Um kyle alluded to it so did joseph We're talking about union with christ and a different kind of prayer that unfortunately is rare in our time And what we're doing so we'll be right back and after the break We'll jump in with dr. Wholecraft on the future of the priesthood and a kind of prayer that is rarely found unfortunately in most catholics But that must be in the heart of every priest for him to help renew the church. We'll be right back Friends, uh, just as we take this quick break I want to remind you if you didn't hear at the beginning of the show By the way, please share this show on facebook and Whatever social media you use To you know put the word out. We have a website. We want to send guys to there's any guys listening. You think you have a call to the priesthood Uh my high calling dot com. Is that right joe? That is correct. Yeah. Yeah, that's my high calling dot com Uh guys can can go to if you know anybody who's called to the priesthood That yours you think might be called to the priesthood Say it be bold and say hey go check out this website my high calling dot com Joe can you describe real quickly? Well, you know what I wonder if Maybe maybe we'll We'll do we'll talk about mental prayer, which is the next part of the show Then I think joe Let's talk about the the new website because I don't think we've talked much about that Sure to tell to tell people about it. Uh and what they'll find there So we can we can get folks going there, but anyway share this And uh like it and you know, whatever Help us get the word out because it's the the algorithms are not always friendly to us The last thing before we jump into the show Webinar a free webinar Jump into the deep Really preparing for lint to have a transformational lint Thursday, February 2nd spiritualdirection.com He in the events area you can find all the things that we're doing including pilgrimages and All that good stuff. Uh, so check that out. So let's go jump back into the show Martin sick dope welcome back. This is dan Burke and kyle legan Talking about renewal of the priesthood and by the way, the lady have a role in the renewal of the priesthood We're also with dr. Joseph Holcraft who's the director of the high calling program That's a formation program for men heading into seminary The lady have a role too, you know, I was so blown away by a priest recently At a retreat center. He said He said if priests don't pray, you know, we're going to Lose our priesthood. We're gonna lose lose our way if the lady don't pray if the lady don't pray Yes, we're gonna lose You know Yeah, any anyway, I'm not gonna get the quote right but he was just Had so clear in his mind. I know this priest is a very holy priest So clear in his mind that priests need to pray Or they're going to lose their vocation. They're going to wane and if the lady don't pray The priests are going to be more susceptible to You know drifting into darkness system is kind of a word that he used phrase that he used and I was really struck by it So dr. Holcraft Let's talk about two things. I want to make sure is one we're not talking about Vocal prayer, which is important. We you know, every priest needs to pray their liturgy the hours We pray it together. Kyle and I and others at the Retreat center the home base the Avala foundation. We pray it three times a day. I pray it four times a day another time separately And it's we believe in vocal prayer. It's canonically obligated for ordained you're ordained and religious, but I think there's a kind of prayer Joe that is In a sense, it's the fuel to all other good prayer It's the thing that brings us to Jesus uniquely and powerfully Talk to us about What is this thing called mental prayer? Why is it so important for the life of a priestly formation? Yeah, so so mental prayer and you know, certainly to Dan I'd like to focus even on the word contemplation and contemplative prayer, right? Because it is it is the prayer of the heart the prayer of of gazing at The prayer of science the prayer that allows Ultimately for that courtship with Jesus Christ that we've been talking about To just not go to the next level But as as we've already used the word to go to that intimate level, right? I've didn't think you know the language in the words we use reveal much You know you guys and you look at the word contemplation contemplatio you break that word down and it is um The act of of looking at something sacred it's it's to look at something But it's the act of looking at something sacred so When you when you break that down and think about it critically it is to It is to gaze it is to look at that which is most sacred Jesus Christ and so uh, if if one can just imagine themselves in Adoration the blessed sacrament the act of looking at that which is sacred now Putting this in the context of courtship. This is really important for us because uh, you know I'm 18 years married here and um, I find still yet today 18 years later that the more I get to know jackie my beautiful beloved The the the more I fall in love with her and there are times and in my courtship and my time spending with her that I just I do find myself just looking at her You know and in the looking at her in the looking at her I'm falling more in love with her because I've been getting to know her So as prayer takes on many forms sacramentally Biblically for sure getting to know Jesus Christ in the gospels as kyle was referencing That quiet time of just being with Jesus just looking at Jesus if you're doing everything else You will find yourself going deeper and deeper and deeper in your relationship And the men who come to us You know guys as they have shared with me and many men have shared this You know dr. Holcraft I spent an extra hour in adoration and I did what you encouraged. I was just With jesus I wasn't trying to figure out my vocation in as much as I was just receiving jesus Well, oh by the way just receiving jesus is is how you figure out your vocation, you know Right because our vocations are not a problem to be solved but a gift to be received and god reveals Your vocation to you when you are with him And it's beautiful It's a mystery but a mystery that he discloses and he does so when we are just with him And and it's it's a process as benedict would say of falling more in love contemplation Mental prayer is is that process by which we fall more in love with jesus And I think it's a beautiful way to encounter Just not our faith, but jesus christ who is who is a person alive and well living calling us to him And we all know priests, you know who I know a lot of good priests. We just are blessed Priests who are in love with jesus priests who pray are different They're very different They don't just have a temporal effect on their parish there you can be you have a smart priest a crafty priest You know who has some worldly wisdom who can organize and manage well But those aren't the ones that rock the world of their parish The in fact one of my friends priests In washington told me one time like he his whole parish when he was leaving It's like the the biggest mournfest ever in the history of any church and But one of the things he told me is his goal was to be a lousy administrator and I thought oh, you're gonna be a great priest I'm sure you're a great priest, you know But his goal because he knew That his job was to make sacrifice right for for the people to lead them to god And all that any out of deep prayer life. So I don't know Kyle. What are your thoughts about what? Yeah, you know the The thing I think that is so essential about what we're talking about with prayer and the priesthood is that the priest ultimately The goal of the priest is to manifest the glory of god and the person of jesus christ for the people Which isn't just a I mean like you don't do that by just Thinking really hard about what you're gonna do or what you're gonna say Not just academics. It's a formation of of your soul Right so that when people see you when they hear you speak or when they See how you deal with a situation or whatever you have to do as a priest They say wow There's there's a holy person. Yeah, right and that Growth and holiness can't just be something that Again, that's that's limited to our own Means of of trying right? One of my favorite things that pope Benedict wrote in a book Behold the pierced one He says that That we can't Come to know christ unless we enter into his own prayer Which is something that I really dove into that and personally I love that quote because We can read about christ in the gospel and everything but what we see in christ in the gospel is really the manifestation Of his intimacy with the father, which is his prayer, right? And so how can a priest today Manifest that same reality? There is no other way besides the life of mental prayer And and so that's that's why I think what we're talking about is so essential and that's actually Like we said earlier one of the reasons why I decided to To take a step back from ordination to really pursue The prayer life for myself Because It's just so essential. I think you know amen So folks if you're if this is you know if you're if you're getting excited because you Understand these things at a deep level And you're thinking I've got to support this program or I've got to send a guy there that I know Whether they're diocesan or religious Or I mean whether they feel like they have a call to the diocesan life or prayer life or priestly life or religious Priestly life Joe tell them a bit about the high calling the new high calling website Yeah, so my high calling calm is a website we built In order to serve the man who on one hand Yeah, he knows he wants to be a priest and he just needs some direction but but also and maybe more importantly Um The man who is discerning or thinking about the priesthood and anonymity, right? So the website has a number of things We have quizzes set up for the guys to take um based on those quizzes that all that information comes to me they contact me There's a resource page that has vocation stories bio stories videos videos from vocation directors Um Tips for discernment that sort of thing We even have a resource page that we're building with Reflections from folks in the pew what makes a holy priest, you know, so guys are you know thinking about this and so Um, there's lots there It there's a whole section devoted to What the high calling program itself is but it is at its heart A website that engages the man and where he's at Right, certainly. It's just not a website but also an app. So A guy of any age can pull it up on his phone Um, and again can engage it on his phone. In fact, I don't know if I told you to stand but about a week ago I got a response from a gentleman in the uk And he pulled it up. He was on um the train somewhere in western europe And he said well, this is pretty cool that i'm looking at this video You know on a train Headed into italy. I think he was going on the uk or something. You know, I just thought that was pretty cool Um, and that's that's the idea in principle that truly we are meeting these guys where they're at whether it be in a train um, you know in a classroom Um, just maybe you're going you're going to bed You put your head to pillow and you think about the priesthood and you you do a little google search and there it is you know, um So we're getting a ton of responses. Yeah, and if you can support that Just not monetarily, but also by prayer that would be huge The high calling program itself right now with all the guys in it. It's just The guys have told me this year in particular. They've told me this each year, but this year in particular Man dr. Ocraft, do I feel supported by the prayer that you've been telling me about the prayer The avala army the team You know, it's it's a year-long program There's going to be you know high points of consolation but also desolation right guys will experience that desolation But because they have an understanding of prayer as something now tangible as we've been talking about it carries them through the process It carries them through the process that that leads them to a point of You know being more firm and and zealous in their yes to to the next step and so the prayer is huge and uh, you know the The impact of the website has been really positive up to this point and I look forward to know what is yet to come Amen, so my high calling calm and you don't even have to have talked to a diocesan priest If you're just a guy thinking about the priesthood This is a we built this for you whether you're thinking about religious life or diocesan life This is for you. It's it's kind of a safe place where you can explore where nobody's going to magically Suck you into a caller against your will And and then of course you get to talk with dr. Holcraft who himself discerned the priesthood at one time With was it with the cfrs? Out for the to earth francis. You are yeah So check that out. Thank you for listening To divine intimacy radio until next time may the god of peace Make you perfect in holiness may he preserve you whole and entire spirit soul and body irreproachable At the coming of our lord jesus christ