Ep86 Is empathy a solution to our societal problems?

August 11, 2022Uncategorizedwrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:39 — 40.0MB)

Father Len makes a compelling case for empathy being the solution to most of our societal problems, including mass shootings.

Ep85 Irish’s Story: The Inspiration for the Wrestling with God Show

July 30, 2022UncategorizedArchbishop Charles Chaput, Catholic Church, Christian, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Divine Intimacy, EWTN, Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, father Joseph Fessio, Mother Angelica, One Bread One Body, Pope St. John Paul II, Presentation Ministries, Tom Monaghan, World Youth Daywrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:11 — 18.5MB)

Irish shares the journey that led him to Father Len and the creation of the Wrestling with God Show. He also reveals plans for Wrestling with God Productions, the new association he’s founded to build bridges to faith, religion, and the Catholic Church.

Show Notes

Books & Publications Mentioned in this Episode:
- “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” by Pope St. John Paul II
- “One Bread One Body” published by Presentation Ministries, Cincinnati Ohio
- “Divine Intimacy” by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. (published by Baronius Press)
Links to Podcasts from Wrestling with God Productions
- Wrestling with God Show: http://WWGShow.com
- Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded: http://LifeLessonsfromJesus.org
- A Priest’s Life: https://idahovocations.com/resources/video-podcasts/
Make a financial donation here: https://www.GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions
We welcome your questions and comments:
- Email: irish@wwgproductions.org
- Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738

Ep84 Christ’s Eternal Priesthood

July 22, 2022Uncategorizedwrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:03 — 43.1MB)

He’s back! Father Len returns to grapple with doubts expressed by Irish’s daughter about the legitimacy of priests and leadership in the Catholic Church. He reveals how it’s all part of God’s plan for Christ’s eternal priesthood.

Ep83 Encore: Why Does God Allow School Shootings and Other Evils?

May 28, 2022UncategorizedAlbert Camus, Dumbledore, Free Will, God, Harry Potter, Morocco, Nazism, Predestination, Road Rage, Robots, Toasters, Tragedieswrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:04 — 12.9MB)

Father Len explains why God allows evil in the world and how we choose to react to evil can cause bane or enlightenment.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

God gives us free will to choose our actions. It’s up to us to choose good or evil.
If God took away our choices, we’d no longer be human beings. We’d be preprogrammed like toasters and robots.
“It makes no sense to pray for somebody to do something. I pray that someone’s heart will be open to see the right choice.” – Father Len
God loves us so much that he allows us to choose our own actions.
God allows us to choose how we react to evil and evil doers. Will we choose the path to bane or enlightenment?
“The Plague” by Albert Camus
“The evil that is in the world comes out of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence, if they lack understanding.” – Albert Camus
“A loveless world is a dead world.” – Albert Camus
“All a man could win in the conflict between plague and life was knowledge and memories.” – Albert Camus
Our choices are not predetermined. God exists outside of time and space. God’s view of our lives appears much like a painting does to us. God can see it all from beginning to end. All the choices we make in our lives are in full view to God. They are not predetermined by God.
Throughout our lives, God will constantly urge, beg, and intervene to try to change our hearts to make the right choices.
God allows us to choose light or darkness.

Ep82 Encore: Can Freedom Destroy Our Country?

May 13, 2022UncategorizedAngel of Death, Ben Hur, Catholicism, Community, Egypt, Emile Durkheim, Freedom, God, Hebrews, Judaism, Meditation, Narcissism, Passover Meal, Pharaoh, Religion, Selfishness, slavery, Sohrab Ahmari, St Paul, Suicide, The Bible, Tyranny, United Stateswrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:21 — 22.3MB)

The effect of freedom depends on how you define it. Father Len reveals how God defines freedom and how other definitions can produce destructive consequences.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

Freedom involves being free from something in order to be free to become something.
The American Revolution was about becoming free from the tyranny of a king and the injustices and oppression of a political system.
70% of Americans say they are free or mostly free.
Two thirds of Americans define freedom as being “free to do whatever I want.”
Being “free to do whatever I want” is an immature definition of freedom and the least likely to lead to happiness.
Being “free to do whatever I want” is a form of tyranny that allows you to intrude on the life and liberty of others.
“The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos” by Sohrab Ahmari
We create laws to set the parameters for a working society.
To be free theologically means that we are always working on freedom. Working to become free from the tyranny of selfishness, oppression, and injustice.
When the people of a country define freedom as selfishness, it will always be divided and destroyed.
People who report the highest level of happiness tend to be religious and meditate regularly.
People who report the most freedom from moral constraints tend to be the least happy.
“Suicide, A Study in Sociology” by Emile Durkheim
The really hard part of becoming freer is wrestling with our own egos and recognizing when we’re being selfish.
“If your definition of freedom is, I get to do whatever I want, just historically, it ends terribly. If our country just believes, I’m free to just think about myself, that’s a loss of freedom. I think it destroys our country.” – Father Len
Christians who believe giving up liberties for the sake of others makes them less free don’t understand the freedom of the cross of Christ.
Support the work of Wrestling with God Productions by making a financial donation here: https://www.givesendgo.com/wwgproductions

Ep81 Good News

May 13, 2022UncategorizedCatholic Church, Father Len MacMillan, God, Jesus, The Biblewrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:46 — 5.3MB)

Irish shares some good news about the return of the Wrestling with God Show and the new podcast from Wrestling with God Productions featuring Father Len.

Support the work of Wrestling with God Productions by making a financial donation here: https://www.givesendgo.com/wwgproductions
Life Lessons from Jesus podcast website: http://www.lifelessonsfromjesus.org

Ep80 The Purpose of Prayer

April 21, 2022UncategorizedCatholic Church, Celibacy, Forgiveness, God, Grudges, Hospitality, Jesus, McCall Idaho, Persistence, Prayer, Priesthood, Prophet Abraham, Protestant, Resentmentswrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:52 — 13.6MB)

Father Len explores two Bible stories about the purpose of prayer beginning with the time the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. This is a preview of episode 3 of the new podcast from Wrestling with God Productions, featuring Father Len, titled “Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded.”

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

Father Len shares a fun story about his experience with a Protestant minister and his wife who have a very different idea than Jesus about the purpose of prayer.
The purpose of prayer is not to ask God for help getting something as if God is the big Santa Claus in the sky.
We don’t pray to get something. We pray to become something.
“If your definition of prayer is to get something you want, you better be careful. You may become a very self-absorbed person and then call it religion.” – Father Len
We pray for the bread of life so that our lives become bread for other people. We hand on the bread of life to other people in the way that we live our lives.
Becoming the bread of life for other people requires persistent prayer, day after day, year after year.
The Lord’s Prayer in the Gospel of Luke refers to the forgiveness God gives us when our lives become a force of forgiveness and we free ourselves from all grudges and resentments.
Becoming a constant force of forgiveness isn’t easy and takes a lifetime of prayer.
Prayer is a type of hospitality.
The prayer life of the prophet Abraham, the father of religion and hospitality, was all about welcoming and praying for the life of other people, not for himself.
True prayer is not being concerned about yourself. True prayer is this hospitality where your prayer life feeds other people.
“You have a choice. When you offer hospitality to other people, God grants you greater life. When you only care for your own life, God will take away the little life you have.” – Father Len
Prayer is a constant lifelong dialogue with God about becoming holy.
Bible stories explored in this episode:
- Book of Genesis 18:20-32
- Gospel According to Luke 11:1-13

Please prayerfully consider supporting the mission of Wrestling with God Productions by making a financial donation here: GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions
We welcome your questions and comments:
- Email: irish@wwgproductions.org
- Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738

Ep79 The Religion of Jesus

April 16, 2022UncategorizedBook of Leviticus, Book of Wisdom, Catholic Church, Christ, God, Gospel According to Mark, Jesus, Life Lessons, Messiah, Morals, Prayer Shawl, Regulations, Rejection, Religion, Rules, The Bible, Theologywrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:12 — 13.0MB)

Father Len explores the Bible story of a wealthy and powerful man and a bankrupt and outcast old woman. Both seeking healing from Jesus. The story reveals the essence of the religion of Jesus and puts our personal beliefs about religion on trial. This is a preview of episode 2 of the new podcast from Wrestling with God Productions, featuring Father Len, titled “Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded.”

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

Jesus pushes us to take religion beyond just believing that He is the Messiah and being a good person obeying moral laws.
Jesus dismisses laws in the Book of Leviticus that reject or marginalize people.
“If the best that you can say about your life is that you’re a good person who obeys all the moral laws, you’re boring and lack spiritual depth.” – Father Len
The Book of Wisdom tells us that God is about love, life, and healing. God rejoices in welcoming and loving all people.
Jesus gives us a test of religion. Do we want a religion that is about rules, regulations, and moral laws that causes us reject or marginalize some people? Or, do we want the religion of Jesus that accepts and loves all people unconditionally?
“Let your heart be broken when people are marginalized, rejected, or treated as if they’re dead. Believe in the way of Christ. Believe in life and unconditional love for everybody.” – Father Len
Bible stories explored in this episode:
- Book of Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
- Gospel According to Mark 5:21-43
Please prayerfully consider supporting the mission of Wrestling with God Productions by making a financial donation here: GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions
We welcome your questions and comments;
- Email: irish@wwgproductions.org
- Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738

Ep78 Future of WWG Show & How to Love like Christ

March 29, 2022UncategorizedBoundaries of Love, Catholic Church, Christ, God, Hard Head, Jesus, Life Lessons, Love, Soft Heart, Strong Back, The Bible, worshipwrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:14 — 17.6MB)

Irish explains why there hasn’t been a new WWG Show episode lately and Father Len unpacks three Bible stories about love and illustrates the traits God will help us develop, and we’ll surely need, if we are to love like Christ. This a preview of episode 1 of a new podcast from Wrestling with God Productions, featuring Father Len, titled “Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded”.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

When Jesus began preaching love and pushing the boundaries of love to include loving all people unconditionally, the people didn’t like it. All they wanted to hear was God loves me and people like me.
God tells the prophet Jeremiah, people “will fight against you” when you preach unconditional love, but I will “form you into a wall of brass, a pillar of iron, a fortified wall” so “they shall not prevail against you.”
“If you call yourself a follower of God, you need to push yourself to try to love everyone.” – Father Len
“Some religious people say they want to hear the word of God, but only if it agrees with everything they think and believe already.” – Father Len
“When I die and stand before Christ, the question won’t be, does God love me? The question will be, did I love like Christ?” – Father Len
Bible stories examined in this episode:
- Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
- 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
- Luke 4:21-30
“Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded” is crafted from hundreds of hours of Father Len’s homilies and talks on faith, religion, and life recorded over the past eight years.
“Life Lessons from Jesus and the Church He Founded” is the first new podcast produced by Wrestling with God Productions, the organization founded by Irish with the mission of identifying extraordinary teachers of the Catholic Faith, people like Father Len, and publishing their teachings far and wide.
The new podcast delves into stories from the Bible. Stories that reveal God’s purpose for creating us and his intentions for our lives. Stories about God’s expectations for our relationship with him. Stories about what to worship and how to worship.
The intention for the new podcast is to help listeners grapple with the true purpose of life and deal with the messiness and mysteries, challenges and difficulties that this crazy life seems to throw at us all.
Please prayerfully consider supporting the mission of Wrestling with God Productions by making a financial donation here: GiveSendGo.com/WWGProductions
We welcome your questions and comments
- Email: irish@wwgproductions.org
- Text or voicemail: 208-391-3738

Ep77 Introducing Wrestling with God Productions

March 22, 2022UncategorizedCatholic Church, Evangelization, Faith, God, Religion, Secularization, WWG Showwrestlingwithgodshow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:25 — 11.4MB)

Irish shares a big decision about his future and the expansion of the work he and Father Len have begun with the Wrestling with God Show.

Highlights, Ideas, and Wisdom

Irish looks back at what inspired the Wrestling with God Show, the effect he and Father Len hoped the podcast would have and how listeners have responded to the podcast during its first two years.
Irish describes how producing the podcast, working with Father Len, and the success of the podcast has been the most meaningful and rewarding work he’s ever done and how it’s caused him to leap headlong into a completely new vocation.
Irish introduces Wrestling with God Productions. The organization he’s forming to expand the work he and Father Len have begun with the Wrestling with God Show.
The mission of Wrestling with God Productions is to identify extraordinary teachers of the Catholic Faith, like Father Len, and publish their teachings far and wide to promote the importance and value of faith and religion in life.
The goal of Wrestling with God Productions is to create timeless content, like the Wrestling with God Show, which is available on demand to help people discover truth, meaning, and purpose in their lives.
Irish describes what Wrestling with God Productions plans to do right away and the resources necessary get it done.
Here is the place to send donations if you’d like to help launch Wrestling with God Productions: GiveSendGo.com/WWGproductions