The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Two Gifts, Three Stocking Stuffers from Jesus

Episode Date: December 24, 2021

Jeff shares two gifts and three stocking stuffers from Jesus in this Christmas special. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, episode 250, two Christmas gifts, three stocking stuffers, all from Jesus. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show. Well, a Merry Christmas to you. What a beautiful time of the year. It's a white Christmas in Minnesota, deep in the woods. And when you're deep into the woods like I am right now, it is even more beautiful to see the snow on the trees. The water is frozen over on the lakes. And we've got deer in the backyard. And it's just really, really beautiful. Getting ready to go back into town and celebrate Christmas with all of our relatives, really look at. forward to it. But hey, on behalf of my family and on behalf of everybody at Ascension Press, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and certainly a new year that's going to be holy and a lot of good things from the Lord for you. Well, you know, this is the second to last show of the year.

We got one more in the year 2021. And when you talk to people, you'll hear them say, I can't wait for another year because this year is worn out, right, during COVID and everything that people are going through. They are always looking forward to the future. Well, today I've got two Christmas gifts and three stocking stuffers for you, and they are given to you by Jesus. And so it's good news. And I'm always happy to share good news with you. It really has been a strange couple years. not just the last year, but the last couple of years. Hey, before we go any further, I do have some scriptures in these gifts for you today from Jesus, and if you are not getting the show notes, or if you signed up, but then suddenly

they stopped for some reason, sign up again, we'll get you those notes, and all you have to do is type my name as one word, Jeff Kaven's, and you can text it to 33777. That number again is 3377. Hey, by the way, we're getting ready to wrap it up with the Bible in a year as well. And we got a big special retreat coming up next year. Father Mike and I are going to be putting on a virtual retreat with you. And I'll put the information on how to get signed up in the show notes for you. And that's going to to be a wonderful time. Also, next week, I'm going to be introducing a couple of wonderful individuals to you who are going to be doing the Bible in a year in Spanish. Father Mike and I

were going to do it, but, you know, just using that Spanish dictionary, it just didn't work out so well. And so we got two guys that are very deep into scripture, and their native language is Spanish, and they're going to be doing that. I'm going to introduce them to you on New York. Year's Eve. That's coming up. I think you're going to like it. And I would encourage you to share with all of your friends who are Spanish speaking that there's going to be a big, big launch coming up in the Spanish Bible in a year. And also on New Year's Eve at Times Square, look out for the big sign at Times Square that has Father Mike's picture on it. It's the Bible in a year at Times Square. We're looking forward to seeing

that. Okay, so, well, you know that this gift that we celebrate at Christmas, Jesus Christ, the gift of God to us. It's God giving himself to the world. It is the ultimate gift to the world. And I pray that this year, the gift of Jesus Christ, will be the gift that will change your life. And there's two gifts that I want to give you from Jesus today. And they both come from they both are the result, I should say, of reading scripture and studying the faith and spending a lot of really good, good quality time with Jesus. There are two things that you get from the Bible in a year, two things you get from the Great Adventure Bible study, whether it's the 24-week study or the eight-week unlocking the mystery. You're going to get two things from it. And there are

two things that people are looking for today. Lo and behold, these two gifts are right there underneath your tree, just waiting for you right now. That's the underneath the tree of life, I might add. The Eucharist. Well, the two are, number one, a brighter future. That's what people are looking for in life today, is they're looking for a brighter future. And of all the years that we've ever had, I can say pretty much next year is going to be a little brighter than this year. A brighter future. The second thing that people are looking for, which is waiting for you in Christ under that tree of life, is someone to trust, someone to trust. Over the last year, I think we've all learned that you can't trust everybody. And that's not just a negative statement. I mean, that's

reality. You just can't trust everybody. I mean, you can get scammed on the internet, people calling you to scam you, getting people's insights as to whether they should, whether you should do something. Sometimes, you know, you just can't rely on that. But I can tell you this, that with Jesus, there is a brighter future and there's someone to trust. And as you move on into the year, 2022, I would really encourage you to tuck those gifts under your arm and just walk forward with them with that with that Bible, you know, read scripture. Soak yourself in scripture. And I would encourage you to get an insight journal. You can start off the new year with an insight journal. An insight journal gives you the ability to take in and write down the real gold from your life. The things you're discovering, the insights that you're stumbling upon. And so, So I have an Insight Journal right next to me here, and I have an Insight Journal that I began to create for my grandchildren. And one day I'm going to hand it to him and say, you know what, darling, I've been thinking

about you the last 15 years, and I just want you to know I've written down some wisdom for you and some insights, and I want to give it to you. Maybe I'll give that to my granddaughter when she graduates from high school. Maybe when she gets married. I haven't decided yet when I'm going to do that. but an inside journal can be a great tool to write down those things that speak of a brighter future for you in 2022 and also speak of someone to trust who is Jesus Christ. And when you read the Bible, you've got that foundation now.

If you walk in it and you believe it, you receive it as the Word of God, and then you respond in faithfulness, well, you're going to have a brighter future and you will have someone to trust. And those are two gifts that are underneath that Christmas tree of life for you. And I hope you unwrap them and I hope you take advantage of it. Now, there's also three stocking stuffers this year from Jesus for you. And these three are really kind of little, little gifts that God wants you to know about as you conclude 2021 and get going into 2022. The first stocking stuff is this. You're not alone. You're not alone. This is a time of year where a lot of people feel alone, even though they might have relatives around them. And granted, some people are physically

alone. They don't have their family around them. Maybe they are here in the United States or they're in another country and the rest of their family is not with them. Or maybe everybody in your family has moved away or all of your siblings have passed away and you feel alone. I want you to know one of the stocking stuffers this year from Jesus is, you are not alone. It says in Genesis 218,

the Lord said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. And we see this clear back in Genesis that basically it's not good to just be alone and live alone, even though

there are callings in our lives, hermits and so forth, and monks, and sisters who are cloistered, they have chosen a life where they are, they are in a sense kind of isolated from the rest of humanity for the purpose of prayer. But even there, you're not alone. You're not alone.

And even if you're the only person for miles around, you're still not alone. Jesus said this. He said, I will never, I'll repeat that. I will never leave. you or forsake you. I will be with you always, even to the end of time. And that is something that you can bank on. That's a stocking stuffer for you. As you celebrate Jesus' birthday, know this, that even if you feel like it, you are not alone. You've got a wonderful church,

you've got people in the church. You're not alone because you have the communion of saints. And they're not going to walk away. And so I've, this last year, couple of times I was encouraging you to develop your posse. That is the saints that will really be of some benefit to you in your life according to your vocation. So, for example, in my life, I'm not alone because I've got Mother Teresa with me. She reminds me about the disenfranchised. I got St. Francis. I'm not alone. He's with me as well on this journey, and he reminds me of simplicity. We have St. Augustine, who I'm not alone. St. Augustine's with me every day. I ask him to pray for me because I'm a Bible teacher and so is he. And then we have St. John Paul

the 2nd. Who, what a saint. He was so good at facing a society that was contrary to the gospel. And I'm not alone because he's with me as well. I got to meet him in person. And I covered him on EWTN for six years around the world. And yeah, he physically died, but he's a lot. and he's my brother, you know, brother saint. And then finally we got St. Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus, and he's in my posse because I'm a father and I am a husband and I'm not alone. So I'm surrounded by the communion of saints. Not only do I have Jesus and the Blessed Mother and the Father and the Holy Spirit,

oh, it's just an embarrassment of riches here. I'm not alone and you're not alone either. Number two, stocking stuffer, is your soul cast down? well i've got news for you jesus will lift you up jesus will not allow you to remain cast down listen to this this is interesting it says in psalm 42 in verse 11 why are you cast down oh my soul and why are you disquieted within me hope in god for i shall again praise him my help and my god that's psalm 42 11 and the operative word there is cast down cast down those are the words that we're talking about what does it mean for when a shepherd talks about sheep and and says why are you cast down oh my soul well

this idea of being cast down is really understood in the context of a shepherd raising sheep and sheep are kind of funny you know you see them out there standing and they're walking around in community, but every once in a while they lay down and then for one reason or another, they get onto their back. I don't know what they're doing, you know. But they get on their back and then the blood rushes down through their legs to their body and they cannot get up. They cannot turn. It's like this little lump of wool is stuck there. It's called being cast. They're cast down. And if nobody helps, them, they run the risk of dying. They really do. And so what the shepherd does is the shepherd

will see them and walk over and gently set them back up so that the blood runs to their legs and they can eventually stand again. So in light of that, Psalm 42 says, why are you cast down, oh my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God. So my second stocking stocking stuffer for you is that you would not be cast down, but you would walk in hope this year. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. You don't want to be there. You don't want to be there. You want to walk in hope as an anchor for your soul, as Hebrews tells us. And part of the Christmas gift for you. Stocking stuffer, the second one there, is hope. Hope. Now, the third one, the third stocking stuffer is kind of a tool in helping you to write the wrongs in your life.

You know that this time of the year, Christmas, is a time where people think a lot about things. They think a lot about things. And they're going to get a lot of things as gifts. Some of of them they want some of them they'll return but there's going to be a lot of it there's going to be a lot of eating and and all that type of thing it's a festive time of the year but here's something that just to remind you about gifts and this time of the year hebrews 135 says keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have for he has said i will never fail you nor for you. Isn't that beautiful? I think that's interesting that we have this idea of be free from the love of money, be content, and that is juxtaposed to this idea of Jesus say, hey, I'll never fail you.

I'll never forsake you. And I think sometimes we are afraid that God would forsake us, and sometimes we put things or money in the place of God. And that's called idolatry. And so this year is part of your gifts from Jesus. The third stocking stuffer is that Jesus will give you the ability to have a proper relationship with things and money. And that is, you're a steward. You're not an owner. You are free. So that third stocking stuffer is the knowledge of being a steward and not an owner. And a steward just takes care of what the master has given them. And that's what we are doing. And so the gifts are great and open them with glee and joy and thank yous and hugs and everything else. But as you look at it, be reminded, I'm a steward. And there's a phrase that I love. And I have used it for years and

teachings. And it's been quite useful, quite valuable. And it's this, love people use things. don't use people and love things. So keep your life free from the love of money. And by the way, as I close this out, I want to give you our Christmas card. And I've attached our Christmas card to the show notes today, along with those scriptures that I just mentioned. And we do wish you a Merry Christmas. Now, on our Christmas card, I got a picture of the whole family, and they are right in front

of this cabin deep in the woods. So I think it's the first time. I've given you a picture of the cabin that I'm in deep in the woods. And there's a picture of Emily and myself. We were on a riverboat in Portugal, not too long ago, actually, with Marcholino di Ambrosio and Susan, his wife. And then we got a picture of ourselves with the three grandkids, Frankie on the left, Fiona in the middle, Dominic on the right.

And then on the back of the card, I got a picture of my, daughter, my other two daughters, on the front of the card is, is Carly and the family. Okay, they're with us there, Carly and her husband, Patrick. And then on the back is, oh, we have we got, well, we got tubby. Now, tubby is the dog, and that dog is so united with and attached with Antonia Teresa. Tony, our youngest daughter has a picture of Tony there and a picture of our singer, Jackie. she is really singing around the country right now and doing an incredible job. And so this year has been great.

Emily's trip to Jordan is canceled because of COVID. She was going to be doing some archaeological digs over there. That'll be rescheduled. I have been working on the Insight Journal as well as Bible in a year. And I am doing a show on Hallow, a daily devotional on Hallow, with Jonathan Rooney. me from the Chosen. It's a daily devotion. And if you sign up for that, just do a forward slash Jeff Kavens and you get three months absolutely free. And Jackie's about ready to launch an album and Tony's working as a veterinarian assistant. And Carly, she's an anesthetist. And it's just

been a good year. It really has. And so that's kind of my virtual card to you. And you can look at the card that we sent out to a lot of our friends around the country. And you are my friend. And that's why I'm telling you this. So I got one more thing to share with you. And that's this. Coming up on the next show, New Year's Eve, I'm going to introduce you to the two fellas that are going to do the Spanish Bible in a year. They're both priests, one from Colombia and one from Venezuela, lives in Houston now. And we're going to introduce them. But there's going to be a new sound to the Jeff Kaven show starting next week. It's a little bit different in the opening and the clothes and I'm looking forward to it. It's a little bit more jazzed up and I like that and I love

I'll give you a hint. I love electric guitar. I really do. Big fan of Joe Bonamasa, a big fan of a lot of guitar players. All right, my friend, Merry Christmas to you from everyone at Ascension Press and our family and I look forward to seeing you next week. God bless. Thank you.