Your Faith Anew! exists to help souls grow in their knowledge of the Catholic Faith, strive to remain in a state of grace, and encounter the transforming joy of the Gospel. Its mission is simple yet eternal: to save souls, glorify God, and become saints.
Hosted by David Russell, this daily reflection podcast draws deeply from Sacred Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the writings of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta—especially The Book of Heaven—guiding listeners into a deeper understanding of living in the Divine Will.
David is the author of four spiritually rich works: Magi Theology: The Essence of Illusion, The Little Magician – Discovers Bigger and Better, Our Pilgrimage with the Pilgrim Virgin, and his newest release, Our Mother in the Divine Will. With a lifelong fascination for the mystical, David discovered a profound connection between the art of illusion and deeper spiritual realities—an insight that inspired both his theological and children’s writings. His work Magi Theology received both the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur from the Diocese of Knoxville.
In 2010, David was introduced to the writings of Luisa Piccarreta, which deeply resonated with his own spiritual insights. This encounter helped shape the foundation of his ministry.
In 2017, he founded the Your Faith Anew! prayer and study group to help Catholics rediscover and fall in love with their Faith. At the heart of his message is this conviction:
“The Catholic Faith prepares us to receive the Gift of Living in the Divine Will—and this Gift enables us to live our Faith in a divine manner most pleasing to God.”
Join us daily as we seek not only to understand our Faith—but to live it fully, joyfully, and in union with the Divine Will.
Song: Buddy Comfort - vocals and guitar from the album, "Brother Sun, Sister Moon", www.buddycomfort.com
If you want your dream to be, build it slow and surely. Small beginning, greater and heartfelt work grows purely.
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Welcome. This is David Russell and Your Faith Anew, Daily Reflections Guiding You to Live in the Divine Will. Today's reflection is from the Book of Heaven by the servant of God Louisa Picaretta, august twenty seventh, eighteen ninety nine, volume two. Let us begin in the will and name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord Jesus, draw us close to you today. Free us from the need to trust every feeling, fear, or impression that passes through our hearts. Give us the simplicity to remain before you with humility and faith. Let your grace govern our thoughts, steady our hearts, and teach us to recognize your presence by the holiness you bring forth within us. May everything in us surrender to your truth, your love, and your divine will. Amen. A reading from the letter of Saint James, chapter three verses thirteen through eighteen. Who among you is wise in understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without in constancy or in sincerity, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in Paragraph twenty eight forty seven. The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a delight to the eyes and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death. There are moments in the spiritual life when certainty seems to disappear, and it's precisely there that God can teach us a deeper way of recognizing his presence Louisa writes This morning, while seeing my sweet Jesus, I felt a fear in me that it might not be him, but the devil, to deceive me, and Jesus, answering my fear, told me When I am the one that goes to the soul, all of her interior powers are annihilated and recognize their nothingness, and I, seeing the soul humiliated, make my love overbound like many streams in such a way as to inundate her and strengthen her in good. All the opposite happens when it's the devil. How do we know when God is truly at work within us? We may be tempted to look first at what we feel. Was the prayer peaceful? Did I experience consolation? Did I sense the Lord's presence? Did something extraordinary happen? But the Christian tradition gives us a more reliable question. What kind of fruit is being produced? Saint James describes wisdom from above as pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits. That gives us something wonderfully concrete. God's grace does not merely give us spiritual experiences, it gradually makes us more like Christ. This is important because feelings can change quickly. One morning prayer may be filled with consolation, the next may feel completely barren. Neither experience by itself tells the whole story. Instead, look quietly at what God is forming within you. Are you becoming more patient when someone irritates you? More willing to forgive, less concerned about receiving recognition, more peaceful when your plans are interrupted, more ready to admit that you were wrong. These small changes may reveal far more about the action of grace than an intense spiritual feeling ever could. There's also a beautiful protection hidden here. Humility. Humility does not mean constantly thinking poorly of ourselves. Christian humility is simply living in the truth. God is God, and I am his creature. Everything good within me ultimately begins with his grace. That realization does not diminish us, it frees us. We no longer have to manufacture holiness or prove ourselves worthy of God. We can simply receive. And this brings us very close to living in the divine will. The soul learning to live in God's will gradually stops asking what can I accomplish for God? And begins asking something quieter. Jesus, what do you desire to accomplish in me? That changes everything. Our attention moves away from ourselves and toward Him. Then even an ordinary moment becomes sacred territory. Washing dishes, driving to work, caring for someone, enduring an inconvenience or impatient driver, resisting an impatient word. Each of these can become a place where Christ is permitted to live his life within us. Perhaps today we don't need to search for extraordinary signs of God's presence. Perhaps we need only look for the gentle fingerprints of grace, a little more patience, a little less self importance, a quicker willingness to forgive, a deeper desire for Jesus, and when we discover even the smallest movement toward him, we can quietly say Lord, continue your work in me. Let us pray. Jesus, I belong to you. Teach me to recognize your presence not merely by what I feel, but by the holiness your grace produces within me. When I am uncertain, give me faith. When I am proud, give me humility. When I am restless, draw me into your peace. When I am tempted to rely upon myself, remind me that every good thing begins with you. Jesus, I surrender my human will to you. Act within me according to your divine will. Purify my intentions, govern my thoughts, guide my words, and make even the smallest actions of this day pleasing to the Father. May I decrease so that your life may become more visible in me. And when I cannot perceive what you are doing, give me the grace simply to trust you. Jesus, continue your work in me. Amen. Thank you for joining your faith anew today. Until tomorrow, stay in his will, and your faith will be made anew.
