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EPISODE #29
SOUNDS FROM THE SANCTUARY: CHILDREN’S CHOIR CAMP

Episode No. 29: Children’s Choir Camp

On this very special podcast of Sounds from the Sanctuary, you will hear the sounds of the closing mass celebration that was the culmination of Christ Cathedral’s Children’s Choir Camp for the Summer of 2022! Listen to special messages from Fr. Christopher Smith; and, enjoy some beautiful sacred music performed largely from our “choir camp kids!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally broadcast on 8/6/22

EPISODE #311
EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT: CAMINO DE SANTIAGO

Summertime is the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather in southern California. And when you can couple this great weather with a blessed, holy event, it’s a win-win situation!

 

Our friends at Santiago de Compostela Catholic Church in Lake Forest recently hosted the annual “CAMINO DE SANTIAGO.” Guest Deacon Dan Diesel is a key point person in bringing this event together.

 

What’s this popular event all about? Tune in and find out!

 

 

 

Originally broadcast on 7/3/22

FRESH-AIR PRAYER

Summer is the perfect time to create a welcoming, serene retreat for prayer and reflection – and your own backyard is the ideal place for it. 

At the risk of seeming like the over-enthusiastic host of an HGTV home-improvement show, forming a backyard prayer garden can be an easy task for people like me who are all thumbs, or a challenging endeavor for more experienced DIYers unafraid of complex projects.  

With little fuss and virtually no expense, any place can become an inviting retreat for prayer and meditation.  

 

WHY A RETREAT IS IMPORTANT 

As places of rest and retreat, prayer gardens provide a space for us to surround ourselves with fresh air and sunshine. 

“Especially now, in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic when we are sitting in front of our home computers for long periods of time every day, it’s helpful to intentionally retreat and open ourselves to God,” observes Katie Dawson, the Diocese of Orange’s director of parish evangelization and faith formation. Dawson often prays under a tree in her backyard with a lovely view of her rose garden and pool.  

“Making a space with a focal point like a living plant helps to focus the soul and opens us up,” she says. “So many people experience God in a natural setting. Green things are very calming and centering; they contribute to our mental health. We benefit by interacting with nature.” 

Dawson notes that Japanese homes often include interior courtyards full of greenery that bring the outdoors inside, promoting peacefulness and solitude. 

 

WHAT SHOULD A RETREAT INCLUDE? 

To begin creating your backyard retreat, select an outdoor space that offers peace and quiet. Because we live in temperate Orange County, weather is rarely an issue, but having one place of sanctuary in the shade and another in the sun offers comfort year-round as well as opportunities to grow both sun- and shade-loving plants. 

Perhaps most gratifying to the soul is a garden retreat featuring treats for all the senses: Engage smell, sound, touch, and sight by choosing surroundings that involve soothing scents from different trees and flowers, the musical sounds of windchimes or bells, the colorful sight of brilliant foliage, and the tactile surfaces of smooth stones, rough bark, veined leaves and soft petals.  

Steps to Creating a Backyard Retreat 

A folding chair, houseplant, and small table with a Bible and a rosary is really all you need. But if you have time, space, money and skills, you can build a more elaborate prayer garden featuring your own Stations of the Cross or even a miniature prayer maze. 

Pinterest is full of ideas, suggestions, and photographs illustrating both complex and simple backyard retreats, and on Amazon, Wayfair, Bed, Bath & Beyond and myriad other websites you can purchase plants, religious statues, garden decorations, patio furniture, and virtually anything else you desire.  

Whether you’re surrounding yourself with a full garden or a few strategically selected container plants, choose easy-care, attractive foliage that offers pleasing scents – such as lavender and rosemary – or that represent your faith. Lilies symbolize purity and rebirth. St. Therese of Lisieux’s signature flower is the rose. St. Agatha and St. Thecla carry palm branches. Mary is symbolized by everything from the white ‘Annunciation’ lily, the violet of humility, the pansy or ‘trinity flower,’ periwinkle ‘virgin flower,’ daisy, columbine, monkshood and rose, among others. 

Select comfortable seating unless you prefer to kneel, stand, or walk as you pray. Think about incorporating an old church pew or park bench, or give yourself seating options like big, colorful outdoor cushions, a comfortable chaise lounge, or a folding chair that can be moved with the sun. 

You also may want to make your retreat interactive, with a stone path, a shrine of wood or stone, or a grotto, pedestal, or alcove for an icon of Mary or St. Francis of Assisi. An angel statue tucked along the shrubbery, a favorite flower peeking from a planter, or a pretty stone on the path can remind you to focus on prayer. 

If you hang a bird feeder from the patio eves, suspend a birdhouse from a tree branch, or offer a birdbath on the grass, you’ll attract feathered companions as St. Francis might have. 

The peaceful pattering of a water fountain offers the soothing element of water to a backyard retreat. Some outdoor fountains, which come in all shapes, sizes, and styles, require no pumps or hoses and feature soft sounds with low maintenance. 

A candle, some twinkling fairy lights, or even a firepit provide muted lighting or a gentle glow for evening prayer. 

 

RESOURCES FOR PLANNING A PRAYER GARDEN 

Begin preparing your backyard retreat by visiting a number of Catholic and secular sites and blogs, including: 

 

EPISODE#35
CATHEDRAL SQUARE: GUESTS ARE ASHLEY-ROSE CAMERON AND KWANG NGUYEN OF CHRIST CATHEDRAL ACADEMY

Here comes another episode of Cathedral Square featuring host Fr. Christopher Smith.

We welcome to the program today Ashley-Rose Cameron (the Interim Principal of CC Academy) and Kwang Nguyen (Director of Development and Enrollment).

Today’s conversation covers all the goings-on at Christ Cathedral Academy, including important issues regarding COVID-19 and school closures throughout the diocese.

Amidst it all, we have some good news to share!

 

 

 

 

 

Originally broadcast on 6/13/20

EPISODE #199
EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT: SUMMER CAMPS – FAMILY VACATION TIME TOGETHER

On today’s episode, Deacon Steve welcomes a man whose ministry drive is just about as passionate as his own (and that’s really saying something).

Mark McElrath is, among other things, the executive director at the Santiago Retreat Center in the OC foothills. He is also involved in a cornucopia of Catholic ministries, including “Catholics at Work OC.”

Listen in, and find out about a number of memory-making opportunities that you and your family can take advantage of this summer!

 

 

 

 

Originally broadcast on 6/16/19

 

EPISODE#147
OC CATHOLIC RADIO: THE “1531 FOLK FEST” AT SANTIAGO RETREAT CENTER

Host Rick Howick interviews guests on a variety of topics. On this week’s show, Rick welcomes a trio of terrific guests to the program. Fr. Glenn Baaten (Chaplain of Santiago Retreat Center), Mark McElrath (Executive Director for Santiago Retreat Center) and Chase Moynihan (Titan Catholic at CSUF).

They’re all here to share about all the great summer goings-on at the Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado Canyon.. and that includes the upcoming “1531 Folk Fest” on Saturday, August 11th and the “Compostela Campout” featuring radio host and Catholic apologist, Patrick Madrid.

 

 

 

 

 

Originally broadcast on 7/28/18

 

CALL ME CATHOLIC: GUEST IS LISA HENDEY

Another fantastic episode of Call Me Catholic is in the books.. thanks largely to the peripatetic (look it up) Lisa Hendey. It was so much fun to talk about the blessings of summer. We discussed travel, good books and Catholic traditions that joyfully weave their way into our summer culture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally broadcast on 7/21/18

EPISODE #47
TRENDING WITH CHRIS & TIMMERIE: PORN PLEASE?

75% of those who say religion is not important view porn as morally acceptable. What’s changed? A new Gallup poll reveals that the majority of Americans think porn is acceptable. On Trending this week, you’ll hear Chris Mueller and Timmerie Millington speak about how to overcome a pornography addiction, how parents can help one teacher’s plea for better discipline of children, and how Hungary’s Family Policy drastically boosted marriages and lowered abortion and divorce rates in just seven years.

 

 

 

 

 

Originally broadcast on 6/17/18