CC#39---Lent 2025: A Deeper Dive into the Holy Mass with The Fourth Cup

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Lent 2025 has arrived and on today's Catholic Corner we will take a deep dive into the Holy Mass.

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Let's begin.

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Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life.

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Now here's your host, David Kaiser.

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Hello, I am David and welcome back to the Theory to Action Podcast and to our Catholic Corner episode.

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Today we are going to talk about Lent and why it's a season that is so central to our faith.

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If you felt like you could go deeper into the meaning of Lent this year, or you've struggled to connect with the season's purpose in the past, this episode is for you.

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Now there's a book I want to introduce right out of the gate.

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It's called the Fourth Cup, by Dr Scott Hahn.

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If you've never heard of it before, don't worry.

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By the end of this episode, my hope is that you will not only understand why this book is worth your time, but also you'll feel inspired to enter into Lent with a renewed purpose and meaning.

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So let's begin with the question what is the book, the Fourth Cup?

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Well, it's a question that strikes at the heart of both the Last Supper and the Cross.

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Dr Scott Hahn dives into this incredible story in his book.

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Essentially, the fourth cup walks us through a deeper connection between the Jewish Passover, the Eucharist and Christ's passion.

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You see, during the Jewish Passover, there were traditionally four cups of wine that symbolized four different stages of the celebration.

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In fact.

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Let's go to the book and grab our first pull quote.

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First, the preliminary course consisted of a festival blessing.

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Kudosh spoken over the first cup of wine, followed by the serving of a dish of herbs wine, followed by the serving of a dish of herbs.

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The second course included a recital of the Passover narrative, along with the psalm known as the Little Halah, psalm 113.

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Halah means praise.

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Then came the drinking of the second cup of wine.

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The third course was the main meal, consisting of lamb and unleavened bread, after which was drunk the third cup of wine, known as the cup of blessing.

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The Passover then climaxed with the singing of the great halaya Psalms 114-118, and the drinking of the fourth cup of wine.

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The Mishnah attributes its Seder instructions to no less a teacher than Gamal the Great, a contemporary of Jesus, recognized in the New Testament as the teacher of St Paul, see Acts 22.3.

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And indeed the greatest teacher of his time, see Acts 5.34.

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Gamal pays close attention to the ritual signs, the foods and the cups, and he insists that they must be interpreted aloud.

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Ah, okay.

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So the four courses of the Passover meal are described above, but let's first back up to what is the Jewish Passover?

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Why is it important?

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Well, a quick summary is the Passover is one of the most sacred Jewish festivals, which commemorates the freedom of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

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It is one of the most dramatic of the many miracles God bestowed on his chosen people After facing many plagues against the Egyptian Pharaoh.

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God instructs Moses and Aaron to give sacrifice by offering a lamb.

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God gives precise instructions to use the lamb's blood to paint the Hebrew doorpost.

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And when the angel of death comes, their firstborn sons would be spared.

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They would be quote passed over.

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They would be, in fact, saved.

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Redeemed is even a better word.

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It's a pretty big deal, right?

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Let's go back to the book.

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As the Jewish scholar Chaim Schaus observed, that Passover was, for the first century Jews and modern day, observing Jews was more than a holiday.

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It has been the holiday, the festival of redemption.

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So we can assume if that was that important for the Jewish people in the first century Jerusalem, then it was certainly important for Jesus, since Jesus was a Jew's Jew.

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Okay, so now to the Passover Seder meal.

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It is the ritual meal to celebrate Passover, the festival.

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So again we know it consists of four parts.

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That first course was to celebrate the festival, blessing spoken over the first cup of wine, followed by a dish of bitter herbs that represented the bitterness of slavery.

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The second course the Passover narrative is recited, followed by Psalm 113, which we know is the little halal.

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Then the second cup of wine is drunk.

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The third course was the main meal of unleavened bread and lamb, after which the third cup of wine, known as the cup of blessing, was consumed.

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And then we know it ends with the fourth course, its climax, the singing of the great halal Psalms 114 through 118, and the drinking of the important fourth cup of wine.

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So the four cups represents the four expressions of deliverance promised by God in Exodus, 6.6 through 6.7.

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I will bring out, I will deliver, I will redeem and I will take so pretty straightforward right.

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Four cups, four parts to the ritual meal, explicit instructions on how to celebrate this holiday reverently before God.

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To change this ritual practice that commemorates Passover would be a very big deal right.

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So now that you know all that, when you get to the Last Supper, you know all that, when you get to the last supper, jesus shares the third cup with his disciples.

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But here's where it gets fascinating.

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He doesn't drink the fourth cup during the meal.

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Instead, he finishes it much later.

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In fact, he finishes it on the cross.

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When Jesus says it is finished, he's not just talking about his suffering.

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He's completing the ultimate Passover sacrifice, fulfilling what began at the last supper and revealing himself as the lamb of God.

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When Dr Hahn explains this connection, it is just like an incredible light bulb goes off.

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Suddenly, the Holy Mass makes so much more sense and you begin to see the passion of Christ in a whole new way.

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So why does this matter for Lent?

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Because Lent is the season it's all about aligning ourselves with Christ, his life, his suffering, his ultimate sacrifice.

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And this book, the Fourth Cup, by Scott Hahn, is a fantastic and brilliant way for us to do just that.

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To go deeper, by exploring the mystery of the Last Supper and the cross, this book makes the events of Holy Week come alive.

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Do you want to participate in the Mass more fully?

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Do you want to enter into your Lenten sacrifices with a deeper understanding of their connection to Jesus, our Lord?

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This book gives you the tools to do just that.

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Dr Hahn beautifully combines theology with fantastic storytelling, as is his nature.

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He shares his personal experiences and spiritual reflections and he makes the book super relatable, even if you're not a theologian like me.

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Thank you.

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It doesn't just feel like a book of heavy doctrine, it's more like a conversation, an open invitation to walk the Lenten journey with a fresh perspective.

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So just three nuggets of spiritual wisdom come from this book.

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First and one of the greatest lessons well, there's many more lessons.

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I should say that Just we're going to cover three in this podcast episode.

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First, and one of the greatest lessons from the book that I took is the idea of sacrifice and covenant.

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Lent isn't just about a time of giving something up because it's the tradition or the way we've always done it.

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It's even as a way to purify ourselves.

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It it's even as a way to purify ourselves, to dig deeper, to get into all the dark crevices and clean up our souls.

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It's about participating in Christ's love.

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His sacrifice was for us, for you, for me, and when we give something up for Lent, it's a way of imitating his love in our daily lives.

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Secondly, and another great idea that Dr Hahn emphasizes throughout the book, is the unity between the Holy Mass and the cross of Christ.

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Think about it what we experience in every Holy Mass is the renewal of Christ's sacrifice.

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We cannot take that lightly when you start reflecting on the fourth cup and the way the Last Supper leads to the cross, it's impossible not to see how the Eucharist can transform us.

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And then, finally, there's the importance of remembering.

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Just as the Jewish Passover is the meal of remembrance, the Eucharist does the same, but in a far, far deeper way.

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Lent is our chance to remember not only the death and the resurrection of Jesus, but also our own covenant with him.

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Through our baptism, we have made a personal covenant with our Lord, jesus Christ.

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So what can we do going forward, now that we know all this?

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If this has sparked your curiosity, here are some great resources to explore.

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First and foremost, I would just recommend to get the fourth cup, buy the book.

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It's an easy book to pick up and, trust me, it's worth every page.

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In fact, you will read it and go back and reread it.

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You can also check out reflections on the book.

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I'll put a link from the St Paul center where Dr Hahn teaches.

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He has a wonderful Paul Center where Dr Hahn teaches.

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He has a wonderful video.

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I'll put a link in the show notes for you, because this is especially effective.

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There's even a one-hour-long talk that Dr Hahn gives about the book.

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I've seen this talk given in my own diocese.

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I was privileged to go with a friend and listen to Dr Hahn speak in person a couple years ago and that's great.

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But this talk is almost identical to the same talk he gave here in Columbus, ohio, so that video is a great way to deepen your understanding.

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To hear Scott tell the story in a video format is pretty powerful.

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Now there's also an audio transcript of one of Dr Han's talks.

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Again, it's probably very, very similar.

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90, 95% are going to be.

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It's going to overlap.

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So this is another fantastic way to absorb the message.

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If you're on the go and you don't have an hour to give, you can read through the transcript.

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The transcript is wonderful to have too, because it allows you to just pick out certain places and meanings and words and really meditate on those throughout Lent.

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So maybe you're feeling inspired, but you're just not sure where to begin.

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Like I said, here's some ideas.

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Read the book.

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Reflect during Mass.

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The next time you're at Mass, ask yourself how is the Holy Eucharist reflecting the sacrifice on the cross?

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Use what you just learned to connect that more deeply with the liturgy.

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If you've been less reverent during Mass perhaps talking too much, being too distracted slowly bring yourself back to you are participating in something that is absolutely holy, absolutely reverent Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming down on the altar.

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Our Lord Jesus Christ is coming down on the altar Now.

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During Lent, most parishes will be offering the Stations of the Cross.

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This is an especially effective devotion during Lent, where many graces can be found from our Lord.

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You can use your new understanding of Jesus' passion to meditate on those Stations of the Cross.

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Our parish offers Stations of the Cross every Friday night during Lent, after the fish fry Takes roughly about 30 to 45 minutes to do.

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It's a wonderful devotion to practice, especially during Lent.

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And then finally, offer your sacrifices.

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Think of your Lenten sacrifices as your own way of drinking from the cup Jesus offers, as your own way of drinking from the cup Jesus offers.

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Consider his love and his covenant with you behind every act and each act of his self-gift.

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How can we increase, or how can Jesus increase and we decrease, as St John the Baptist taught us to say?

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Decrease, as St John the Baptist taught us to say.

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So in today's Catholic Corner, lent is such a rich and meaningful season, but it's also an easy time to miss the depth of this special time If we're not intentional.

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We all live very busy lives, but let's take the time to explore the resources like the Fourth Cup by Dr Hahn, we open ourselves to a greater understanding of Jesus' sacrifice and ultimately offer a closer relationship with him.

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I encourage you to take a step, any step, whether it's reading the book, watching the talk, meditating on the mysteries of the fourth cup in your own prayer time, and, as you do, we wholeheartedly from the Mojo Academy say and offer that this time of Lent may be a time of true transformation for you and a time of many graces showered upon you by our Lord.

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So thank you for joining me today.

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I wish you a blessed and fruitful Lent and, most importantly, as we always say here, keep fighting the good fight.

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Thank you for joining us.

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We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast.

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Be sure to check out our show page at teammojoacademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources.

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Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.

CC#39---Lent 2025: A Deeper Dive into the Holy Mass with The Fourth Cup

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