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What does Jesus teach us about sorrow? In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the Second Beatitude, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted, and how it reveals the heart of Jesus. Jesus lived this Beatitude to the full. He did penance on behalf of sinners, embraced poverty, chastity, and obedience for the sake of the kingdom, and ultimately laid down everything on the Cross. Yet his sorrow did not end in death. In the Resurrection, Christ reveals the consolation promised to those who mourn. Join us in Contemplata Episode 64, The Sorrow of Jesus, as Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on Christ as the man of sorrows and the hope we find in his Resurrection. Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the First Beatitude, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and how it reveals the heart of Jesus. From his birth in Bethlehem to his Passion and death on the Cross, the life of Christ reveals a profound humility. Fr. James explores how true poverty of spirit brings together this humility with complete confidence in the Father, and how we are called to grow in both. Join us in Contemplata Episode 63, The Humility of Jesus, as Fr. James Brent, O.P., invites us to contemplate the humility of Christ . Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

What does it mean to be blessed? Before all else, it means being happy.  In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., discusses how God’s own infinite happiness is shared with us through the beatitudes. In Jesus’s preaching, he summarized God’s plan for our own happiness. Through the beatitudes, we can learn to become like Jesus in both his holiness and also in his happiness.  Join us in Contemplata Episode 62, A Portrait of Jesus, as Fr. James Brent, O.P. paints a portrait of Jesus’s all-loving personality through the beatitudes.  Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

What does it mean to share in the life of Jesus? In this episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the extraordinary life of Christ and the gift he came into the world to share with us. Beginning with the Resurrection, Fr. James considers the difference between resuscitation and resurrection, and why the risen life of Jesus is something entirely new: an immortal, undying human life completely permeated by the divine life of the Son of God. Through Baptism, we are plunged into Christ’s death and resurrection and begin to share in his life. But this life is only beginning to grow within us. Fr. James explores what it means to die daily to sin and selfishness while allowing the resurrection life of Christ to take deeper root in our souls. The life of Jesus is not simply something we contemplate from a distance. It is a life he desires to share with us. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

Our lives are in the hands of the Lord. Our ability to call upon the name of Jesus helps us to give us instruction, to neutralize our fears or temptation, and to unify us with God. One way to start is through the Jesus prayer. It goes “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., in Episode 60 of Contemplata, The Jesus Prayer, and learn a simple, but powerful, prayer to God.  Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

The word of God is the perfect icon of the Father. When you and I see Jesus, we come to know not only him, but his Father as well. As Jesus says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”  Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., in Episode 59 of Contemplata, Jesus, Word of the Father, and learn about Jesus in a new way.   Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

Jesus is the Son of God in a special way. As the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus’ Sonship is a mystery that can bear fruit in our spiritual lives. In Episode 58 of Contemplata, Jesus, Son of God, learn about what Jesus’ Sonship means for you.  Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he teaches us to pay closer attention to Jesus the Son of God.  Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

Learn about how we can grow close to God in Episode 57 of Contemplata, Listen to Jesus. Through the example of the Saints like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, we can discover new ways to be receptive to the voice of Jesus Christ.  Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how we can listen to Jesus ever more attentively.  Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

Learn about how God fulfills His promises in Episode 56 of Contemplata, The Secret of the Upper Room. What should we learn from Mary’s undoubting and faithful example? What should we learn from her life of trust in God’s promises?  Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how God wants to fulfill his promises to us through our prayers.  Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

Learn about the divine graces that flow from the Eucharist in Episode 55 of Contemplata, Ask it From the Eucharist. What should we learn from this sacrament, and how should we use it to practice the beatitudes? Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how God wants us to receive graces upon graces from the Holy Eucharist.   Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

In Episode 54 of Contemplata, Be Thou My Wisdom, we learn about the path of divine wisdom. Why is it worth pursuing? And who should we turn to, in order to participate fully in God’s plan for our lives?  Join Fr. James Brent, O.P., as he explains how Jesus Christ is the source of wisdom God has chosen for us. Drawing from the Biblical book of Wisdom, Fr. James discusses how Jesus has all the qualities of a wise man, and how we can begin to imitate him, acquiring our own wisdom.  Contemplata is available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

In Episode 53 of Contemplata, A Word of Love, we reflect on the truth at the heart of the Gospel: God loves us with an everlasting love. Drawing from Sacred Scripture, this meditation invites listeners to receive the Word of God not merely as information, but as nourishment for the soul. As fear, anxiety, and distraction fill our daily lives, Fr. James Brent, O.P. calls us back to the Cross and to the living Word that reveals the mercy, tenderness, and love of God. Through passages from Scripture and the witness of Mary, who pondered the Word in her heart, this episode encourages us to meditate deeply on the love God pours into our souls through Christ and the Holy Spirit. A contemplative reflection on faith, Scripture, and the healing power of divine love. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

In this bonus episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on Mary, Seat of Wisdom, and the interior life of grace in the soul. The Christian life is not only belief in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, but participation in it: being formed by the Son, led by the Holy Spirit, and drawn to the Father in prayer. At the center of this hidden life is the gift of wisdom, by which we come to know and experience God dwelling within us. Within this mystery, the Blessed Virgin Mary has a maternal role in the order of grace, interceding so that Christ may be formed in us and that we may become contemplative souls. Fr. Brent reflects on Mary’s memory, her pondering heart, and her contemplative gaze upon the life of Christ, showing how the Rosary draws us into her prayer. In praying the Rosary, we are united to her contemplation and, as St. John Paul II teaches, mystically drawn to her side. The episode also considers the spiritual power of the Rosary, its capacity to order the soul toward God, and the grace given through faithful prayer of its mysteries, even in their fullness each day. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

In Episode 52 of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., takes a closer look at something we often take for granted: what actually happens in baptism. We say that baptism gives us life, but not just the kind of life we already have. In baptism, something new begins. We receive a share in God’s own life, the life of the Most Holy Trinity, dwelling within us. Fr. James walks through this mystery in a simple way, helping us see how this gift goes beyond every form of life we know. It is not symbolic or abstract. It is real, and it changes us. With this life comes grace: faith, hope, and love, along with the virtues that help us live it out day by day. And it is not meant to stay small. It is meant to grow. Baptism is the beginning of a new life. This episode is an invitation to remember what we have been given and to let it take root. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata

In this bonus episode of Contemplata, Fr. James Brent, O.P., reflects on the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the meaning of our lives in light of it. We were created to know God, not from a distance, but from within. Through grace, we are invited to become contemplative souls, drawn into the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is our calling, our inheritance, and the deepest purpose of being human: to participate in the life of the Trinity through prayer, adoration, and love. Listen to the full episode and enter more deeply into the mystery of the Holy Trinity. Follow us on: Instagram: ​​​​@contemplatapodcast Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DominicanFriarsMedia Support: If you want to support this podcast, please visit dominicanfriars.org/contemplata