Ponder and Magnify: A Rosary Podcast

S2, E1 - Welcome to Season Two: The Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

• John and Jessica Helling • Season 2 • Episode 1

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The mission of the Ponder and Magnify Podcast is to seek an encounter with Jesus through praying the rosary, relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary. In this episode, John and Jessica introduce Fr. Archer, who is a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri. Throughout Season Two, John, Jessica, and Fr. Archer will be diving into the Scripture of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary together. In this episode, in addition to giving a glimpse into the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, Fr. Archer shares about his relationship with Mary, what is helpful for him in praying the rosary, and how we can know we are being led by the Holy Spirit as we pray. Praise be to God!

Jessica:

Hello and welcome to the Ponder and Magnify podcast, where our mission is to seek an encounter with Jesus through praying the rosary, relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary. I am so happy that you are here. All right, everybody. Welcome to season two. We are so excited to jump in and dive in with you. We are headed into the glorious mysteries. For those of you who are listening in real time as things are coming out, we're right in the middle of the liturgical season of Easter, which is such a gift. We've persisted through Lent and made it here, thank you God.

Jessica:

We're super excited for this season to be joined by another wonderful priest. We'll be joined by Father Archer, who is another priest in the Archdiocese of St Louis. His current assignment is Associate Pastor of St Peter's in Kirkwood here in St Louis, and Father Archer we really felt, john and I, when thinking and praying about the podcast in this season. We really felt that he was fit for the glorious mysteries. The Holy Spirit really put him on our heart because Father Archer has such a strong devotion to Mary that we have honestly, before I witnessed it myself through his homilies and other things heard about it through others. It's been an inspiration to us and to others, and particularly with our last two glorious mysteries with the Assumption and the Coronation. I just, I'm so excited to dive into those with Father Archer and just have the Holy Spirit move all of us and move our conversation. So, come Holy Spirit, we are excited. Father Archer, is there anything else that you feel important for our listeners to know about you?

Fr. Archer:

Oh yes, absolutely A lot of what I've learned

Fr. Archer:

really a huge impact on me as I was growing up was my uh, my swim team captains, when I was a sophomore in high school because, uh, there were four, four swim team captains that year and, uh, john Helling was one of them and the other was George Staley, who now is father George Staley who was just on this podcast, and so it does feel like I'm kind of going back to high school now. I can't tell you they wouldn't exactly lead me in the rosary when we were back in the day in high school, but it's fun reconnecting with some old friends coming to this podcast together.

John:

All I can say is thank goodness that Father George Staley was a captain of that swim team, so there was a positive impact somewhere there.

Jessica:

Oh well, we're so excited to have you, Father Archer.

Jessica:

I would just also like to add that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that has really been that Father Archer has been really blessed with. He is anointed with the gift of being just such a beautiful homilist, and I mean it'll be a daily mass on a Tuesday where we're having a five-minute homily, and it's something that you'll be thinking about for weeks. So I just really appreciate how the Holy Spirit moves in you and thank you for being open to your vocation and to the gifts that the Holy Spirit continues to give you that really serve so many people. And another thing I just want to say about Father Archer that I so love his parish is blessed with a beautiful perpetual adoration chapel and there are many times when I've been around the parish or using the adoration chapel where I'll see Father Archer in there or walking in or out, and it's just so beautiful to have that witness of the priest being in adoration and adoring Jesus and just taking the time to do that. So thank you also for that witness. It's really beautiful.

Fr. Archer:

Thank you, Jess. Yeah, it's much easier to let Jesus do the heavy lifting in ministry. That's for sure.

Jessica:

Absolutely, absolutely, oh goodness, okay, well, father Archer, would you mind um kicking our season off with leading us

Jessica:

in prayer

Fr. Archer:

Absolutely.

Fr. Archer:

Let's begin in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Fr. Archer:

Amen, Lord Jesus Christ, we rejoice in sharing your life, for you have died and risen from the dead to die no more. And so now, in our hearts, in our minds, as we go through the struggles of this life, we are united to you in your glory. We know that you dwell within our hearts, that you strengthen us, that you support us in every possible way so that we can live in the confidence of your resurrection and knowing that our destiny is to be with you in eternal delight before the Father's gaze. Dear Lord, please send your Holy Spirit now into each one of our hearts, into the hearts of all of those who are listening, and stir up that great gift of hope, knowing that this world is a passing thing and we are created for the weight of glory beyond every human comparison. Give us a gift as well of knowing that we are delighted in, even now, by our Father and that there is nothing that can separate us from his love. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Jessica:

Thank you so much. John, It's that time again. What is your one word or phrase to describe how you're feeling right now?

John:

I would say just riding momentum. I'm just excited that season one is, you know, officially in the books and you know you get the first one done and now we're moving on to season two. So it just feels good and feels like we're gonna be, you know, hitting our stride, and just very excited. How about you, Father Archer?

Fr. Archer:

well, um, I'm just loving sipping this decaf coffee that you gave me. Um, I don't know if there's a word for the kind of delight that comes from that, but there is a seminarian friend of mine told me that an old monk once told him, you know, I had pie last week on Tuesday, and I'm still happy about that, and so sometimes it's just those little things that make you happy, and so coffee sipping would be my word for the moment.

John:

Heck, yeah

Jessica:

love that

Fr. Archer:

Jess, how about you?

Fr. Archer:

What is your word or phrase to describe the depths of your heart at the moment?

Jessica:

I am just feeling so grateful. I'm feeling so grateful that we're here. I'm feeling so grateful that this podcast is just coming to be by the grace of God, by his providence, by John's encouragement, by the yeses of these wonderful priests who are joining us. I just like I said last season, this, for me personally, is just a true testament to the fact that the Father desires our joy. This just brings me so much joy. So thank you so much, both of you, for being here, and I'm so excited to dive in.

John:

Let's get after it. So, Father Archer, we're going to start off with interrogating you, asking about kind of your relationship with Mary. How's you know what's that looked like over time? How's it grown, how, how has it developed and changed? Um, you know over time, and just what's your? How'd you describe it?

Fr. Archer:

Um, yeah, that's a great question. It really the growth of my relationship with Mary came very much with my sense of calling to the priesthood. That when I was young, from I don't know second, third grade or so, you know, learning the prayers of the rosary in the context of the family, and then an older priest who encouraged me to pray a decade each night and I would for sure fall asleep before ever finishing a decade when I was at that age. But there was that kind of sense early on of our Blessed Mother being like a very strong presence and a very powerful presence for the good.

Fr. Archer:

And then it was a little bit later in middle school, around the time I got confirmed that I remember praying and having a more keen sense of Mary one day, as I was praying at the end of the day before going to bed in my room and kind of feeling an invitation from her, asking like will you entrust your heart to me? and I stalled for a couple minutes at least because I thought, well, that sounds an awful lot like the priesthood to me and I think I want to get married is where my mind was at at the time. But then eventually I thought well, no, blessed mother, that's a mother, that's not a wife. I can entrust myself to her care and trust my heart to her as a mother. And I you know, it's still possible.

Fr. Archer:

Different things are possible in life, and it doesn't mean my vocation is decided. But I do think that that moment of self-entrustment in middle school ended up being the source of many graces that would come later in life, including the grace of my priestly vocation. In hindsight, I find it curious that even in that moment, in my seventh or eighth grade mind, I had some intuition that entrusting my interior life to the Blessed Mother was at the same time opening up to a call to the priesthood. And then, upon discerning my vocation in college, that's when I did a more formal Marian consecration and fell into a deeper love for the rosary and other forms of Marian devotion.

John:

Wow, that's awesome. So you had an impact early in your life from Mary and were you praying the rosary early when you were in that middle school, or what did that look like

John:

if you don't mind sharing ?

Fr. Archer:

oh sure, I would basically just talk to Jesus and Mary at the end of the day, almost sort of conversation style, and I would often use. St Josemaria has a book entitled the Way which has just little. It's a beautiful book, little points for reflection on different virtues of the Christian life, and so I would read a few of those bullet points and then just talk to God about them or just talk to Mary about them, and I'm pretty sure that's what I was doing when I kind of felt this more breakthrough kind of presence which was one of the first times I had ever experienced God in prayer and our Blessed Mother, the person of our Blessed Mother, in that way.

John:

That's awesome.

Jessica:

I love that you really feel that Mary was part of your vocation. That to me that it's just so, Marian. I've heard people at different times struggle with the relationship of Mary and Jesus and how they go together, when to pray to who or that sort of thing, and I just love that even in a vocation, Mary, in your experience, Mary was leading you to help understand what God had put on your own heart and the joy that he desired for you, and that Mary is always referring us to what will bring us greatest joy, which is God's will for us. So I love that so clearly in your story she was directing you in that way. That's really beautiful.

Fr. Archer:

Yes, I think that's certainly the case. Thank you, Jess.

John:

So is there anything that has like helps you while you pray the rosary? Or is there anything kind of ritualistic about praying the rosary for you Like do you, are you going for a walk, Are you listening in the car, or is it like first thing when you wake up, or what does that look like for you?

Fr. Archer:

Um, I don't have as much discipline as I used to have when, when I was, uh, when I was younger, and so I tend to pray the rosary more often in the car, sometimes on walks, sometimes more at random times and more recently, in some seasons of my life, I've relied more on guided meditations, which have been quite helpful to contemplate the mysteries, which I think is perhaps a really big part of the gift of this podcast. But these days it's often just kind of being in the presence of the Blessed Mother and with our Lord and almost just kind of just relaxing and being with them and not trying to particularly pursue like a goal within prayer. So, um, but in, yeah, in different seasons of life, sometimes it's more intercessory for me, Other times it's, uh, it's more contemplative, but it that part kind of comes and goes a little bit, for me at least.

John:

I like that. That really resonates with me, just the uh, more almost laid back approach to it. It's just like okay, what comes of this? Versus like putting pressure on a certain fruit of it. Because sometimes I feel like if I'm trying to force things then it can be either like disappointing if nothing came from it, or it can confuse me even more sometimes. So I like what you said there.

Jessica:

Father Archer, so when we're praying the rosary on this podcast, a lot of times we're using our imagination with our meditations and trying to really imagine ourselves beside Jesus or interacting with Jesus and Mary. And I'm just curious if you have any insight. When a person is praying with their imagination, how can we know that we're really being led by the Holy Spirit, versus letting our own thoughts or our own biases or that kind of thing influence our prayer?

Fr. Archer:

It's a great question. There's two saints who come to mind who are particularly good with giving an insight into the imagination and the encounter with the scriptures and prayer, which is sort of the basis of the meditations that we do. Saint Augustine in his book on Christian teaching he gives different rules for spiritual interpretations of scripture and at one point he kind of throws in this caveat. It's almost like he's anticipating that people might be critical of how wild and crazy some of his interpretations get. But he says you know, the ultimate rule of scripture is if it increases faith, hope and charity, it's a valid interpretation. So he basically said that, like I'll stand by everything that I've said, because it increases faith, hope and charity.

Fr. Archer:

And then St Ignatius of Loyola picks up on this in his Rules of Discernment you know, over like 1100 years after St Augustine and he will speak of consolation. Spiritual consolation is any increase of faith, hope and charity and the sense of peace that comes with an increase of the theological virtues. And so if we are using our imagination and it is helping us to encounter the person of Jesus Christ and to grow in love and affection for him and for our Blessed Mother and for other people in our life. We can be confident that that is the movement of the Holy Spirit. Just on our own steam, our weak human power. We don't have the power within ourselves to bring about supernatural peace or supernatural charity, and so we can trust that that comes from the Lord, and the devil certainly would not be bringing about peace and charity.

Jessica:

I just think that's so helpful, just such helpful guidance for me and hopefully for others that's fruitful who are listening, just to really know, be able to discern when we're letting the Holy Spirit guide us. And I know for me I've been able definitely at different times, to get in my own way with prayer. So I'm just grateful for that. Thank you so much. As we're charging into this season on the Glorious Mysteries, Father Archer, wondering if you could tell us what the Glorious Mysteries are and give us just a little window of insight into what's happening in each mystery.

Fr. Archer:

Absolutely. I feel like this is a great big buildup to finally announce to everyone on this podcast what we've all been waiting for. Father George told you that Jesus died and I get to tell you he rose from the dead. And so that's the first one is the resurrection that after Jesus died, he descended into Sheol or he descended into the netherworld or to hell, and there he led forth all of those souls that were waiting for the coming of the Messiah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all their spouses, all the holy men and women who had gone before him, and he led them forth into the kingdom of heaven. And his soul was returned to his body on the third day in between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. On that night he rose from the dead to die no more with his glorified body, a body that would never corrupt or decay, and so that's the resurrection. He then spent 40 days appearing first to Mary Magdalene, then to his apostles, and then to others of the disciples over the course of those 40 days, and then to others of the disciples over the course of those 40 days, but when the time was complete, he then had them all gather at the Mount of Olives, and he then ascended into heaven, and they saw him disappear into the clouds of heaven. Two angels then appeared and said to them "Men of Galilee, why are you looking at the sky? Do you not know that he must return someday the way that he departed? And so the Ascension is a great reminder of hope that we're in this in-between times in between his going to heaven and his return to the earth. And then, of course, just 10 days after the ascension, there was the descent of the Holy Spirit upon our Blessed Mother Mary and the apostles and the other disciples who are gathered together at the Feast of Pentecost, and the great rushing wind and fire that descended upon them. And then they began to speak, and as they spoke in their own language, people heard them in their native tongues, gathered from all over the different parts of the Roman Empire, and thousands of people were baptized on that first day, which is the birthday of the church. And what a great reminder of the power of the Holy Spirit and that we do not rely on ourselves and our own efforts to build the kingdom, but we are docile to the inspirations of the Spirit of God.

Fr. Archer:

And then the final two mysteries. Both deal more directly with our Blessed Mother, or specifically, she is elevated in these mysteries in the mystery of the Assumption, in the mystery of the Coronation of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. And so at the end of Mary's life, at the end of her time here on Earth, she was taken body and soul into Heaven. And so she is there as our Mother in the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven adoring her son even with her body. And then there she also was crowned by the Holy Trinity as Queen of Heaven and Earth, representing especially the authority that she has as a mother and as a queen to provide for those who put themselves under her protection. So pretty cool that I got to break the news to all the podcast listeners of what those mysteries are.

Jessica:

Thank you. Is there any one of these that you are particularly excited to discuss, Father Archer?

Fr. Archer:

I like all of them. I do especially like the Assumption and I also especially like Pentecost Um, so I'm very excited for those two, but I'm also I could go through all five and say I'm especially excited- for them too

Jessica:

Hard to choose

Fr. Archer:

it's hard to pick. They all work together.

John:

I was going to give you a hard time and say that's a cheap answer. But that's what I said in season one.

John:

I was like I'm excited for them all.

Fr. Archer:

That's good. So, John, is there any one of these that you are excited to discuss together?

John:

The Resurrection. I promise not to veer too far off, but I have just recently been told about the Shroud of Turin and you know, I had heard of, you know, of course, that Jesus was wrapped in you know the cloth after he was taken down from the cross and um, but I did not know all you know what, you know what they know about the Shroud of Turin, and that stuff is always just super interesting to me and so, in a way, it's the the moment of the Resurrection, and so just because I'm on a Shroud of Turin kick, that's my A final answer the Resurrection.

Jessica:

You got to shout out the podcast you listened to

John:

It's so, thanks to a friend, Brandon, who showed it to me. It's the Pints with Aquinas, and the speaker that they had on it was Father Andrew Dalton, so it's it's worth a listen, if for all those who haven't had the chance yet.

Jessica:

John's been telling everybody about this podcast and it's long but it is absolutely worth it. It's's mind boggling, it's so beautiful. So, yeah, guys, I think I I'm pretty excited just in general. It's hard for me to pick one of these mysteries, but I'm just really excited for the way that the Glorious Mysteries always shift my perspective from what is going on earth to viewing it through more of an eternal perspective. I feel like that's something that even from your opening prayer, father Archer, was really coming through and I just felt that really on my heart and I'm just so excited to dive into all of these. It's always just a challenge to my own heart of how I can get stuck in the trenches of what's going on in my earthly existence and just really pulled out to a more eternal perspective. I'm really excited to dive into that more. And so, yeah, we're really looking forward to this season.

Jessica:

This season will be laid out in the same way as the last season, so we'll have episodes for the next five weeks that'll come out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Jessica:

Our Monday episodes will be discussing the Scripture around each mystery. John, Father Archer and I, I'm pumped for those. Then Wednesdays, we'll have our decade meditations and on Friday we will have a full rosary with the Glorious Mysteries, with some imaginative meditations to help enter more deeply into those mysteries, always, of course, with the goal of encountering Jesus more deeply and just really receiving his love and his delight and his mercy, just that just coming to prayer to receive from Him is just such a gift, just to even be in His presence, like Father Archer was saying, and knowing that Mary is there to aid and facilitate and pray for us, in that that we can enter more deeply into that as well. So thank you all for listening to our introductory episode here. We promise that we will be praying for you over the course of these next five weeks and we ask humbly for your prayers for us as well. Praise be to God. Thank you so much.