 behind you all the way behind you by the window? Oh no. Okay, live radio. I'll use my phone. I'm looking forward. So hey, folks, welcome to behind the scenes divine intimacy radio you're experiencing a lot real time. What it's like to to to do radio. And I have to say, I'm so impressed by people who do live radio every day. And I think it's quite miraculous to see the shows coming off so well, when we record and you know, I still struggle. So anyway, I figured out the timer for the show this morning. Before we jump in. And I'm excited because we have a guest that I have a great deal of respect and affection for Father Boniface Hicks. But before we jump in and talk about his new book, I want to tell you about a few few opportunities for spiritual growth that are important. Avalos Summit 2022 spiritual warfare and discernment of spirits. We're very blessed to have Father Chad Rippiger with us on in that event. Father Dennis McManus, who I will say is an extraordinary teacher. I know one of the best speakers I've ever heard in my life. I mean, and it's amazing. He is just so powerful and his ability. But he helped I think Pope Benedict work on the current right of exorcism, if I remember. But anyway, and he's also going to be in the line of speakers for the summit. Yeah, at the summit. So if you would like to dig deeper in the realm of spiritual warfare, Friday, July 15, through Sunday, the 17th 2022 next year at Ave Maria University, go to spiritual direction.com events. The event is getting pretty close to full. So we have believe it or not. Yeah, we are. Yeah, we're many months out and we're getting close to being sold out. I think we have 500 seats and work. Yeah, that's all they can hold. And that's why we're not at the shrine because we kept selling out the shrine, right? And then we had these huge hundreds on the waiting list. So it's because of Father Boniface. He's been at a lot of our conferences. He's at the last two and he just was keep keep blowing out. Right, you know, the next one is Divine Intimacy and Marriage, which is a look at marriage through the Catholic mystical tradition and Scripture Shrine and the Most Blessed Sacrament on a Valentine's Day next year. Yeah, where you're truly you and I will be doing it. Yeah. Yeah. So just for the guys, if your points inventory is depleted, and you want to really get it filled up again, sign yourself up. And by the way, will not this event is not. How would I how should I say it? Some of these kinds of events really make men super uncomfortable. This event is manly for men and women leave for women. I don't know if that's a good way of saying it. But we don't try to get guys to act like women. And we don't. You know, usually, that's what goes on. Right. The guys actually love it. They do. They really do. So it's not easy. And then the women are relieved because their husbands are there and enjoying it. And there's a there's there's been a lot of spiritual fruit from it. So please come join us as we book it over Valentine's Day so you can offer it as a gift to your spouse ahead of time and say, Hey, honey, you know, I know you've you would really love this. And I know you listen to this couple on the radio. So hey, you know, let's let's go spend a weekend with them and focus on one another. And I mean stars going off like fireworks, everything like your wife will faint in the kitchen if you come in and offer that gift to her. Right. So come on, guys. Step up. You'll your marriage will be better for it. And you will never regret it. You will not regret that time. It will it will bear fruit. And here's the deal. Even if the event's lousy, it's at the shrine of the most pleasant sacrament in Hanseville. Right. I mean, how could you go wrong with that? I mean, the place is a beautiful venue. Yeah, it's like, it's like a church out of Europe. So all right. Last thing I'll mention, Rosary Crusade, they're really pushing back the darkness and the difficulties that we're all facing in the church and the world. Thursday, October 7 beginning at 6 30 p.m. Central Christophonic, Kathleen Beckman, Dr. Kevin Bose, Demaculee Gazi. Sure. I messed that up. The Discounts Nuns of the of Sacramento, Lila Rose, Father Don Calloway, Scott and Kimberly Hans, Teresa Tomeo. Anyway, it just goes on and on. All of these events can be found at spiritualdirection.com forward slash events. Yeah. All right. Should we do the show now? Yes. Okay, I think people are saying, would you please get to Father Hicks? And please let him talk. I've been on shows where people said the host talked too much. Like what? You know, they're hot the host. What do you expect? Okay. You ready, sister? Producer lady? On your mark, get set, go. This is Davant. Who is this? Stop. Resid. See, this is father. This is why I will never do live radio on a regular base. Okay. And your markets that go. This is Dan and Stephanie better. Wow. How is this possible? This is maybe father needs to pray making you nervous, Dan. Sorry. I know. You always scare me. You're beard. I have a manly beard, but you so you make me feel so diminished. Okay, ready on your markets that go. This is Dan and Stephanie Burke. Welcome to divine intimacy radio. Why did? Oh, I didn't do it right. I'm waiting for her to do something. This is crazy. Okay. All right. I hope it's entertaining to our live stream audience. Yeah, I'm awake. So at least one of us is wow, this is so, so crazy. And your markets that go. This is Dan and Stephanie Burke. Welcome to divine intimacy radio your radio haven of rest, your hermitage of the heart, your monastery of the mind where we lift our hearts and minds to heaven to draw upon the wisdom of the saints to help us to navigate the challenges of life. And today, we have a let's see what would you call him a navigator extraordinaire of the interior of the interior life. We regularly invite him to our conferences. He sees a wonderful, I don't know man priest who contributes to the spiritual well being of the church along with Father Thomas Acklin, Father Boniface Hicks. We're going to talk about a great book today. But before we do, Stephanie's going to introduce Father Boniface for those of you may not know him. So Father Boniface Hicks became a Benedictine monk of St. Vincent Arch Abbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1998. Since his ordination to the priesthood in 2004, he has provided spiritual direction for many men and women, including married couples, seminarians, consecrated religious and priests, even as he completed his PhD in computer science at Penn State University. He became the programming manager and on air contributor for we are one body Catholic radio in 2010 and has recorded thousands of radio programs on theology and the spiritual life. He has extensive experience as a retreat master for laity, consecrated religious and priests. He became the director for spiritual formation for St. Vincent Seminary in 2016, and director of the Institute for Ministry Formation at St. Vincent Seminary in 2019 and has offered many courses on spiritual direction and the spiritual life. He is the author of a of the book, Spiritual Direction, a guide for sharing the father's love and personal prayer, a guide for receiving the father's love, all published by our friends at Emmaus Road Publishing. Welcome, Father Hicks. Thanks. Great to be with you. I will say this to this show is not about the your spiritual direction book, but I've written a very popular book on spiritual direction, which is just an introductory book, which is mostly the kind of stuff that I do. But Father Hicks and Father Acklin have written what I consider the best book on spiritual direction in print. And you should check it out as a spiritual direction, a guide to the father's heart. Is that right? Did I get the title right? Sharing the father's sharing the father's heart. Great. Thanks. Very good. So it's an excellent work. But today, we're talking about his newest book, Through the Heart of St. Joseph. And we're excited to do that for a number of reasons. We annually, I mean, we started this year, consecrating ourselves to St. Joseph and the community of Apostles of the VA. As well, Father, I don't think you and I have ever talked about this, but I was actually healed by St. Joseph. Really? I won't tell the whole story because I want you to talk more. But basically, I had a required two heart surgeries. And one went the first one went well, the second one, what it was intended to correct, which was of course, all medically verified. I had a priest pray over me who had the gift of healing and my second artery that was blocked, not completely, but 60% was unblocked. And he said to me after praying over me, please do something for St. Joseph. St. Joseph is the one that healed you. Wow. And so I through the intercession through the intercession of St. Joseph. So I for years struggled a little bit with how to do something more for St. Joseph, but it's one of the reasons I wanted to have you on and we've had Father Calloway on his great book on on consecration, just to honor St. Joseph. And you've really done an extraordinary work. I think, you know, Father Calloway endorsed your book, maybe a bit of a contrast might be helpful from you regarding his book and yours because his is focused on consecration. And then maybe give us an overview of the book and tell us a bit about it. Well, I also endorsed his book. He didn't print all of the endorsements in the book, but it's on the website and I was grateful to read it before it came out. And I love what he did in bringing together a tremendous amount of research quotes from saints really pressing into the tradition and making so accessible to so many people along with a 33 day way of consecration to get to know and to draw closer to St. Joseph. I would say that my book is a a nice compliment to his book. If you've read his book, I think you'll be able to go deeper with my book. I think my book also can can lead into his book. I really think it's a nice compliment. My my focus was and I started writing this book about four years before it was published. And St. Joseph has been really important in my own life. I got to know him just starting as a as a Deacon, New Glyordean priest. And then especially about 10 years ago went deeper into that relationship. And then I've just become fixated. I don't know, obsessed in some way, maybe not quite that extreme, but really have enjoyed growing in relationship with him. And I wanted to write a book that would help others to grow in relationship with him. So I really wanted to emphasize that relational aspect of of prayer to St. Joseph. And Stephanie mentioned the other books that I've co authored with Father Tom Acklin. Another way to look at this for those who have read those books is through the heart of St. Joseph is kind of a an application of the book personal prayer to a relationship with St. Joseph. So again, I really wanted to focus on how do we develop a relationship to St. Joseph? Not just who is he? And let's learn a lot about him. Let's get the facts straight. Father Callaway did tremendous work in all that. And I was so glad that he did. But but how do I develop a relationship? So I basically offer five pathways. Two of those pathways are ways that we can adjust ourselves so we can present our hearts such that we enter into a relationship with him. Two of the pathways are becoming like St. Joseph to enter into relationship with him. And then another pathway which is the afflictions of life which come at us. We don't choose those but St. Joseph is a great help. So just to list those quickly and those are the each of the chapters are each one is focused on a different pathway of relationship by becoming little we can experience St. Joseph as a father by becoming vulnerable we can experience St. Joseph as a protector. To become like him we can become silent and discover that he is silent with us. We also can become hidden and we can discover that he is there in the hiddenness with us. And then as I mentioned the last pathway is one that we wouldn't choose but comes to all of us which is affliction and St. Joseph is a comfort in our affliction. And then the last chapter kind of brings it together and presents a way that we can share St. Joseph with others by creating a an atmosphere an environment in which St. Joseph is is lived out and I would propose that St. Benedict was the first to do that and put it in a rule which has lasted for 1500 years. Benedict and monasteries in some way are the Joseph option to create an environment in which others can live the life and grow closer to St. Joseph. So that's sort of the structure of the book and happy to dive into to any any part of that a little more deeply. That's really beautiful father. So why don't we start with this idea of becoming vulnerable because I think it's a really difficult concept for most people today. Like this understanding of you know how do I become vulnerable? Won't I get hurt? I mean we live in a world that is so brutal that we tend to go to self-protection and I know that for a lot of people to enter into prayer to even enter into a relationship with the Lord this idea of becoming vulnerable is like a mountain too high to climb. Tell us about becoming vulnerable so that we can receive St. Joseph's protection. How do we do that or how do we understand that? A beautiful question and you're absolutely right Stephanie it's so hard and it's so critical and we have the example of our Lord Himself. Our Lord became absolutely vulnerable entrusting Himself as a zygote we could say as a fetus into the holy family and we know the struggle that was there and St. Joseph engaged in that struggle what his role was to play but God asserted I chose you for this and I want you to remain and even act as the Father for this child you shall name him Jesus and so we see God's own example in becoming absolutely vulnerable and as a fetus as an infant and then even threatened by the evil ruler Herod and God entrusts Himself to St. Joseph's care to our Lady and St. Joseph to the holy family and it's St. Joseph that then the angel appears to in a dream to send to Egypt to protect the child and this becomes the mode of St. Joseph's protection. He is a certainly a strong man and we can imagine he may have had the idea to I don't know fight back raise an army defeat Herod but the instruction of God was to be obedient to be humble to be silent to disappear and so he gathers up his little family and he disappears to Egypt so one answer to your question Stephanie is learn to become like God look at the example of Jesus one of the things he revealed to us is that divinity which we often think of as infinite power is revealed actually an infinite vulnerability beginning with the infancy of Jesus and then culminating in his crucifixion God reveals himself as infinite vulnerability that's what divine power manifests itself as and so he gives us the example that gives us courage he does that also entrusting himself to St. Joseph and our Lady and that also helps us it's easier to become vulnerable when we're with someone who protects us someone that we can trust and and that is the way that you know how the healthy way that vulnerability develops so I'm not encouraging everybody to go and hemorrhage their entire life onto facebook so this is not healthy vulnerability right to splash everything on the headlines but we develop through a relationship of trust with someone who is a faithful protector and we find that in St. Joseph so we take a step in vote he takes a step in presenting himself as protector we take a step in vulnerability we experience his protection and this is the kind of growing cycle that we can enter into you know we're going to head into a break here when we get back I would like to know Father what was your first encounter with St. Joseph for me there was a few one the movie the nativity this is a Protestant construction but it really showed the strength of St. Joseph in a striking way very beautiful the other is through the writings of St. Teresa of Avila those are the two that really begin to draw me to you know take interest of course you you cover that in your book but St. Teresa noted that if you can't find a good spiritual director go and trust yourself to St. Joseph which I did for a time in a sense but when you get back from the break tell us a bit about your own personal story how you came we're first connected with St. Joseph which of course led to your devotion and all all the good work that you're doing we're headed into a break and we'll be right back for those just real quick during the break for those we're live streaming to one thing I want to mention that you should check out and I forgot to mention at the beginning of the show and this is a there's a course at the Avila Institute that you'll be deeply blessed by it's called exploring theosis so understanding salvation through this promise of becoming one with God and sharing or partaking in the divine nature and it's a deep spiritual reflection provided by Dr. Michael Gamma who's just an extraordinary professor it's a it's a course that is not a graduate level or even undergraduates even easier than that so those who are busy but really want to grow spiritually and you can find that at the aval institute avala-institute.org and then the last course I'll mention today last formation opportunity today masterpiece of the divine artist it's gonna it explores the beauty and sanctity presented any and say neither Stein's writings in her own life and events of her life Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell another extraordinary professors these two professors I could listen to endlessly and they're just absolutely profound in the way that they teach in their heart they're both holy men and women who really love the Lord and know know the reality of what they're teaching beyond just giving you ideas so avala-institute.org the theosis course begins October 28th and then or you have to apply by October 28th and for the masterpiece of the divine artist course you have to apply by Friday number fifth so let's get back to the show and we'll head back in and your mark gets set go this is Dan and Stephanie Burke welcome back to divine intimacy radio we're with father Boniface Hicks sharing with us about his new book through the heart of St. Joseph which I think you can find at EWTN's religious catalog when you buy books there two great things happen one is they actually send you the book and you help the ministry of EWTN father for the break I mentioned I want to hear a little from your own heart you know what what led you into this relationship with St. Joseph thanks Dan I love to share that story because it's part of God's story in my life but also as an encouragement for our listeners because I think the most important thing about developing a relationship to St. Joseph is just asking first of all and that was the beginning of my journey which actually began back with Our Lady I'm a convert to the Catholic faith and when I was on my way into baptism at Penn State University back in 1997 when I was 21 years old I didn't know a lot about Our Lady and I knew that she was important for Catholics and I just asked her Mary I want to know you more and I just I don't get it but please help me and within nine months I was making the Louis de Manfred consecration and had had several encounters and had developed a very warm relationship with her so several years later I was preparing for my diaconate ordination I was on retreat with Father Tom Acklin who you mentioned earlier and is the co-author of two of the books that I've written and it's been a spiritual father for me for now it's 18 years and I was praying in the chapel the Passionist Nuns in Pittsburgh and I was kneeling where I was kneeling there was a statue of St. Joseph right in front of me and I looked up at him and I thought you know I don't really know you and this prayer worked with your wife so let me give it a try again St. Joseph I would love to get to know you better and then I was assigned as a deacon to the parish of St. Joseph I returned there as a priest to preach the solemnity of St. Joseph and in the meantime one of my brother monks discovered a book by Andrew Doze called The Shadow of the Father it's a different book than Pope Francis mentions which is also called The Shadow of the Father Andrew Doze was a chaplain at Lord's and he brings out a number of really interesting insights among them was the connection with St. Teresa of Avila and the history in which he figures prominently an opening up devotion to St. Joseph and a number of really interesting starting points for reflection and that's what really launched my own personal relationship with St. Joseph I began to read more to study more and again to pray more I really wanted to develop a relationship with him not just learn a bunch of facts I'm in danger of living in my head too much I'm a happily intellectual person and I love the intellectual life but I wanted my relationship to St. Joseph not just to live in my head with a lot of interesting facts and trinkets and comparisons and ideas and things like that but to develop into a real relationship and so I took a lot of the text from scripture into prayer I reflected on a lot of the things that I was reading and I really I took so long to write this book through the heart of St. Joseph because I wanted to pray with everything and be able to validate in my prayer everything I was writing that's awesome father what I love about your question to both Mary or just really your recognition of Mary and Joseph and saying you know hey I don't know you but I'd like to know you is how incredibly personal that is and the affirmation that the saints are really their souls their souls that go on forever they're real and they want to have a relationship with us so I really love the simplicity of that but in order for you to do that you needed to enter into prayer and you needed to enter into silence so you in your chapter on a friend in silence you know it's noted that St. Joseph has no dialogue there's no sentences attributed to him in the bible so how is he a friend of silence is it strictly on that or is there other aspects about him and how can we become a friend with him in that silence yeah St. Joseph received the full revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ the son of God and his role was to hide it was to keep it to himself was to live this hidden life in contrast to the apostles role which was to proclaim it and we get that sense and and it's developed also just through the tradition of the church he's not recorded as saying anything in scripture of course we know he said things he was told to name the child Jesus presumably he did that he also married our lady and there's a ritual that goes with that and lots of other things that he certainly had to use words for but the Christian tradition the pious tradition has been that he was a man of silence and that's signified by him not having any recorded words in scripture and he certainly was a man of silence in cultivating that hidden life that interiority receiving the revelation of God and keeping it to himself and so we have a picture of a man with a lot of interior strength and not a lot of words to go with him and that's a beautiful invitation for us to also enter into his example yeah I mean you said not a lot of words you think about the as we were talking about Facebook everybody splashing their innards if you will all over the Facebook but what's what's radically different or I always say it there's such a difference between doing that and and true intimacy and a true self-revealing and silence I think can be a very powerful spiritual practice where we spend time on a weekly basis or of course daily in mental prayer but even in terms of how we live out our lives so few of us have silence I remember Pascal and Penzies noted or Penzies noted that people would just spend a little time in silence it would change the world so Saint Joseph is a beautiful witness of that talk to us a bit of course about Saint Teresa of Avila and her role in promoting Saint Joseph and how she speaks of him and how we ought to heed her counsel related to all of that Well Saint Joseph's silence extends to the church's early tradition about him as well and there was no feast of Saint Joseph until the 900s I believe one of the original feasts is attributed to Benedictines and then just a beginning of there's some early discussion about him and the fathers of the church and then some beautiful things from Saint Bernard in the beginning of the 12th century Saint Bernardine of Siena and the Council of Constance a few things percolating about him but Saint Teresa of Avila discovered Saint Joseph after she lost her own earthly father and found a father in Saint Joseph who then provided for everything and she recognized in him a master of the interior life she entrusted her first carmel of the reform to his care and she spoke in glowing terms about the way that he provided for in in her needs and it created a stir of devotion that was also inspired in part Saint Francis de Sales who promoted Saint Joseph broadly around the same time and there was a real surge in a recognition of and devotion to Saint Joseph really spurred on by Saint Teresa of Avila she becomes a real watershed in the history of Saint Joseph devotion we're talking with father my brain just went dead Bonifacex I was the thing I know Father Acklin I know both of them but they came to my head yeah so we're talking with Father Bonifacex about through the heart of Saint Joseph and a great companion if you've read Father Calloway's or done the consecration to Saint Joseph they're really two books that go well together but Stephanie had a question about suffering absolutely you know you talk about him one of his attributes being steadfast in suffering and it's something that a lot of people are experiencing right now a lot of young people are trying to avoid a lot of people are trying to avoid suffering at all costs often to their own destruction so how can Saint Joseph help us to deal with suffering which is a reality of life which is something that we should learn how to carry and offer up to the Lord to join it to his suffering for the salvation of our own soul and souls of others how can he help us be steadfast in that when sometimes that cross can be really crushing well we see in Saint Joseph a man who had passions that were well developed and were brought together for a real strength of heart and so he endures suffering and is steadfast in the midst of the kinds of affliction like being told to get up in the middle of the night and take his beautiful wife and infant child and go to Egypt which requires a fair amount with no hotels and no Google Maps and he had to pack up a few tools I presume his trade of carpentry and hoped that he was going to be able to find work on the road be able to provide for his family there's a suffering of uncertainty where is this going how long will it last there's the suffering of that protective heart that cares for his wife and infant son and those examples of Saint Joseph demonstrate for us the way that his passions his manly passions in the in the tomistic sense of that word his manly strengths and movements of heart were brought under the guidance of reason and so there's a real strength that manifests itself there and in the book I go into a little bit of the passion of anger which is good and can be also under the guidance of reason form into a virtue and Saint Joseph didn't lash out but rather channel that anger certainly against Herod and the evil that was being done in order to find strength for the journey and to persevere in protecting his family so he gives us a model of virtue and a model of trust, obedience, humility the way that he engages that is under the care of God and under the guidance of the angel in a dream and those are good examples for us to look to as well he of course couldn't unite it to the cross because that wasn't an option for him in his life but of course it is an option for us knowing that all suffering has been taken up into Christ and has been offered for us and made a fruitful offering to the Father and so ours also can become fruitful with his we've been talking with Father Boniface Hicks a new wonderful book through the heart of Saint Joseph I will say this about Father Boniface there are a handful of folks who are really doing some exemplary work in the church to encourage and strengthen the faithful he's among them and I would say that anything he does look it up follow it read it you're going to be blessed we're grateful Father for having you with us today and for all the good that you are doing in the church along with Father Acklin and helping the faithful deal with the challenges of our time to grow in holiness thank you so much for all of your good work thanks Dan I feel the same way about you and Stephanie and Avila and so grateful to be with you and to work together with you awesome thank you Father so 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 amen amen amen all right