Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey guys. Getting ready for reboot in Wisconsin tonight and stopped over in Stillwater, Minnesota. I'm going to talk about the Holy Spirit down by the river. But first I have to show you this town cuz it's just so cool.
Little gems hiding in the Midwest. Dude, this place is incredible.
Check this out. An all wool store.
A German Christmas shop.
Pretty sure my mom would lose her mind here.
Anyway, down to the river. Let's talk about the Holy Spirit.
All right. Down by the river in beautiful Stillwater, Minnesota. And I want to talk about the Holy Spirit. But first about a great friend of mine, Father Dave Pavanka.
Yes. I'm going to honor you, Father Dave. Father Dave did my marriage prep at Steubenville when I was a student there, so it worked.
Still married.
And I'll tell you what, I've watched him grow from a guy who was a chaplain when I was a student to really like kind of a ministry of legend. I mean, traveling the country and the world, given a lot of his life to spreading the message about how to respond to the grace of the Holy Spirit. Becoming very popular. I actually met a guy, speaking of reaching legend status, a guy who had a wild goose, which is Father Dave's video program about the Holy Spirit. Wild goose tattoo on his arm with a wild goose T shirt, obviously. I took pictures of that guy and sent it to Father Dave. I'm like, this is officially your number one fan. And he hosted a reboot anyway.
But watching him grow in his ministry and his reach and along with that, the part that people don't see often is that responsibilities grow, burdens grow, you know, and then to see him become the president of my alma mater, Franciscan University, and you want to talk about a lot of responsibility, guys. I mean, the guy is constantly, constantly in meetings. And every one of those meetings has a serious impact on people's lives.
I mean, probably hundreds of employees, thousands of students. Anything that goes drastically wrong is considered your fault.
And if there's one word I could use to describe him back then when he was a chaplain and now that he's president with all these responsibilities, it's this chill.
I mean, there's something about the guy deep, deep down inside that's just so dang relaxed.
And I think, you know, I've heard it said that, that if, if you could use a word to describe Jesus, if you met him just for a couple minutes, you'd probably say relaxed, which isn't what a lot of people think of when they think of Jesus.
But really think about it. He used two words to describe his own heart.
Meek and humble.
Gentle and humble.
Huh? He didn't say intense. He didn't say base.
He said meek and humble. So, guys, when you think of the kind of person who's got that kind of heart, how are they going to come off to you? They're probably going to walk through life at a steady pace. And while there was an intensity in our Lord's mission, he knew where he was going. And great leaders like Father Dave, they have an intensity. They know what they're about.
That intensity is carried through life like a deep river.
A shallow stream makes a whole lot of noise, guys. A deep river, dude. You're not stopping that water, but you can't hear it. You stand right next to it and it runs smooth, quiet. There's a peace associated with all that power moving behind me. This is what it's like to live in the Holy Spirit. And I was filming Core with Father Dave and he's got these little rosary that he little one decade rosary came from an orphanage in China that he's always passing through his fingers and kind of faster than the average Hail Mary. So I'm thinking this guy really just busting Hail Mary's out really fast. He said, no, I'm praying come Holy Spirit hundreds of times a day as I move these beads through my finger.
Guys, what enables him to stay in that space of peace and the relaxation, the deep interior relaxed that I saw as a student that I see now is that he's constantly calling upon the Holy Spirit. I've actually taken that up since filming Core with him and we were talking about the Holy Spirit. I've been saying, come Holy Spirit a lot more frequently. And guys, it works to keep me in the right mindset. Another. Another hero in faith of mine that reminds me of you, Father Dave. Saint Bede, the venerable who this year his feast day falls the day after Pentecost. And if you read about his, his biography, the story of his life, just this relaxed river of peace just kind of flows through it, reading about it over a thousand years later.
And if you sign up for a daily anchor, by the way, link below the video Plug Plug, I'm sharing about him this week and his death.
His death is one of the earliest described deaths written by an eyewitness. And it's so beautiful, not because it's this intense martyrdom, but because it's just so peaceful.
There's just so much peace in the way this guy went to our Lord.
But Saint Bede, he talks about the Holy Spirit. And about how the dove, he said, I think this is the perfect image for the Holy Spirit because there's nothing harmful in the dove.
Its talons aren't there to rip something to shreds. Its beak isn't there to pierce flesh and even to eat grubs.
Guys, this is how a Christian should be. So here's my challenge for y'. All.
I want you to look up St. Paul's fruits of the Holy Spirit. Look up Galatians, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, and you'll see that the description of these fruits, these are the things that should show out in your life when the Lord is there. Now, the word fruit presupposes that he's present. It presupposes the tree.
All right, so this isn't stoicism. These aren't qualities that we're drumming up by our own power. But those fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, self control, goodness.
And then compare that to your own life. Those words accurately describe you.
And if not, you have some work to do. Now, on one extreme, we can condemn a spirit of stoicism coming into the Church, where we'd think it's by our own power that we muscle up our virtue, change our mindsets, and put on Christ, right? No, no. The other extreme is quietism, which is also a condemned heresy, that you don't have to do anything. In fact, you got to get out of the way. And the less of you there is, and the more of God there is, you reduce your. Your whole human involvement, your will, your intellect, everything, and you just receive the grace and then you become holy.
No, that's actually condemned, guys. That's the other extreme. You see, God wants you in the game. See, the grace of the Holy Spirit works a little more like this. He's given you a muscle, a power, a strength that you could never have on your own.
That's the grace of the Holy Spirit flowing through your life. He's. He's given you the rules for how to live and how to play the game.
That's the Bible.
He's given you the field to play on with the lines drawn in the sand and the paint on the field, that's the church and the world.
But you gotta engage your intellect and will and all that you are and get out there and start playing.
So when you read the fruits of the Holy Spirit, ask, does that describe me? Does that describe how I'm living? Let that light shine on you and use it as an examination of conscience.
And not just does it describe how I'm living in these big ways, but in the everyday. You know, like when you come home from work, does gentleness, kindness, goodness describe how dad presents to the family?
I was talking to January Donovan about this this week. I'm really excited for you to see that interview. Make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel. Don't miss these interviews. They're powerful.
But she was talking about being intentional about those micro victories that when you come home from work, 55% of what you communicate is communicated not just through your words, but through your body language. And if you walk in the door and you're like, hey, what's that communicate? But if you walk in the door and you let your face light up and you say to your wife and kids, hey, it's good to see you, and your wife says, welcome home, guys. That could change the whole day for you guys.
But. But does the Holy Spirit show out in those little things, or are you overlooking the importance of that? Because God doesn't. When he talks about being gentle and good and kind and. And faithful, those are all things that don't just express in the battlefield moments of life or in a glorious martyrdom. Those are things that express in the smallest ways every day. Okay, guys, so bottom line, where it counts in the little things in everyday life, are you letting the fruits of the Holy Spirit show forth in you? When people come near you, do they think God lives on the inside of that guy? Not because he's so intense, but because there's a river of peace flowing through him.
And in order to be that guy, to be a little more like Father Dave Bavanka and Father Dave, you keep being like yourself in order to be like Saint Be the Venerable. It really comes down to those two big things.
Number one, pray constantly, Holy Spirit, give me the grace. And then two, get intentional about cooperating with that grace and being sure that your life, your behavior and the way you present every day is responding to the grace he's giving you.
Simple as that, but really tough. If you live that way, though you.
You will become a river of peace flowing through the lives of everybody you touch.
God bless you guys. Saint Be the Venerable. Pray for us. Come, Holy Spirit.
Come, Holy Spirit. Help us to be holy and to give us the grace to respond to your grace. Amen. Name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Happy Pentecost. Sunday New Richmond, Wisconsin. Two thirds of God's name is go.
Okay, at the end of the reboot, the long line is done. It's, well, what are we at? What time is it? We're nearing 11.
I'm always the last one to leave. I promise, Father, I'll be here. Still here, though. But he outlasted me this time. Like, I'm here until people.
I just walk across the street. I know. My brother here shared an amazing conversion story with me.
Matthew. Sorry, did you want to share, like, give us a 30 second version of, like, what happened?
[00:10:25] Speaker B: So, after 16 years of walking away from my faith, not knowing Catholicism, not anything.
I was wrestling with stuff and couldn't figure out how to answer it. So I went looking.
Ended up talking to a financial lady at a parish for two and a half hours not even a year ago. And I just stepped into the Catholic
[00:10:50] Speaker A: faith this Easter vigil.
That's pretty amazing. Yeah.
Hallelujah.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: The one thing she told me to listen to was his interview with Father John Nepo last June, so.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: Yeah, man, but that was similar to your story. Praise God. God is too good to people. But I also. Dude, this is one of the reasons it's worth staying here till late, because one of your bros gave me this. Sorry.
You got it. He gave me. I'm like, that's a hilarious shirt. And he's like, here, you want it?
Anyway, I'm gonna drive home for you. I don't have any deer.
Man, these. These quiet little Wisconsin towns at night are just heaven.
Okay, time to go to my hotel.
