Draw Near

The Mountaintop Experience: Encountering Christ’s Glory

March 20th, 2025  |  25 mins 14 secs

christian life, encounter god, faith journey, gospel reflection, lent, prayer, spiritual growth, spiritual renewal, transfiguration, trust god

Have you ever had a powerful “mountaintop” moment in your faith—only to struggle when coming back to daily life? In this episode, we dive into the Transfiguration of Jesus (Luke 9:28-36) and explore:
How to seek moments of transformation in your spiritual life
What it means to carry the light of Christ into everyday struggles
The power of prayer to open our hearts to God’s transformative love
Lent is a season of renewal—don’t miss this episode that will challenge and inspire you to draw near to God in a deeper way!

Into the Desert: Overcoming Temptation

March 13th, 2025  |  1 hr 4 mins

almsgiving, catholic faith, catholic podcast, christian discipleship, cs lewis, faith journey, fasting, jesus in the desert, lent, overcoming sin, prayer life, resist temptation, screwtape letters, spiritual renewal, spiritual warfare

Lent isn’t just about giving things up—it’s about conversion, renewal, and drawing closer to Christ. In this episode, we dive into Jesus’ time in the desert (Luke 4:1-13) and what it teaches us about resisting temptation, deepening our faith, and embracing the call to holiness.

🔥 We also explore:
✔️ How The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis reveal the battle of temptation.
✔️ The distractions that sabotage our prayer life—and what to do about them.
✔️ For some reason, we talk about zombies and we share some news on some big changes coming in April!

Plus, practical ways to grow this Lent through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—not just as obligations, but as pathways to real transformation.

DN Classics: Doing Lent... Well?

February 14th, 2024  |  1 hr 4 mins

ash wednesday, lent

Reaching back into "the vault" from a couple of years ago, we share one of our most popular Lenten episodes. If you think you are good at Lent… You are not. No one is good at Lent. But there is a good reason for this. Lent is often a challenge because it requires letting go of things that hinder us in following the Lord. It requires taking up the cross and denying ourselves for something much greater and more beautiful: a deeper encounter with the love and person of Jesus Christ. This helps us to begin to think more like Christ, to live more like Christ, to love more like Christ. But how do we do this? In this episode we invite some of our friends to share some of their own thoughts and experiences of drawing near to the Lord during Lent.

Return to Me With Your Whole Heart

February 21st, 2023  |  8 mins 46 secs

ash wednesday, lent, reflection, return

It's Ash Wednesday! Our Lenten journey has begun. In this "shortie" episode, Fred offers a reflection on the readings for the day: in particular, the words, “Return to me with your whole heart…” What do these words mean? What is the Lord calling us to and reminding us of? What can we learn from our tendencies in our human relationships? How do we avoid growing cold in our love and taking our beloved for granted? The answers to these questions are found in this reflection. As you begin your Lenten journey, we encourage you to listen and take up the challenge that Fred offers here: "This Lent, may we return to the Lord with our whole heart, so that the fire of his love may be enkindled in our hearts. May we be filled by that fire with the warmth of his grace; and may we inspire others to do the same."

Saints, Karate and Holy Week

April 13th, 2022  |  36 mins

cobra kai, easter, holy week, lent, reflection

In this episode, we spend some time reflecting on the past few weeks and what the Lord has been speaking to our hearts and doing in our lives as we have moved through the end of Lent and into Holy Week. We also discuss the Netflix series, Cobra Kai, and examine some lessons we can draw from it in light of our faith. Finally, Kara ends the episode with a prayerful meditation on the Sorrowful Mysteries as we prepare for Good Friday.

Doing Lent... Well?

March 2nd, 2022  |  1 hr 4 mins

ash wednesday, guests, lent, penance

In this episode we invite some of our friends to share some of their own thoughts and experiences of drawing near to the Lord during Lent. No one is good at Lent. Lent is often a challenge because it requires a letting go of things that hinder us in following the Lord. It requires taking up the cross and denying ourselves for something much greater and more beautiful: a deeper encounter with the love and person of Jesus Christ.