About the show

The Heart of the Ark podcast is an initiative from the Office for Evangelization in the Archdiocese of Newark. We're coming to you to bring knowledge and courage as we voyage through this life as missionary disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Hosted by Fr. John Gordon, Director of the Office for Evangelization and Secretary of Evangelization for the Archdiocese of Newark, and Jennifer Behnke, Associate Director of Evangelization, our aim is to help equip our listeners to better know, love and serve God.

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Episodes

  • Episode 96: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 40 - Fraternity and Mysticism

    December 1st, 2025  |  23 mins 4 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Pope Francis sketches the ripples of devotion to the Sacred Heart through the eyes of five French men religious with deep theological underpinnings who either inspired, reformed or began movements within the church to minister to the poorest through fraternity, solidarity and accompaniment of the poor and marginalized throughout history. Chapter 5 Paragraphs 177-180

  • Episode 95: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 39 - Being a fountain from which others can drink

    November 25th, 2025  |  18 mins 14 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Pope Francis traces the work of the Holy Spirit, pouring forth from the Sacred Heart of Jesus can be received in the heart of the believer as a river, or fountain that pours from His Love to our hearts, and by our goodness out through the entire human family. From the early church fathers, Pope Francis traces the spirituality of the Christian disciple as a fountain of living water. Paragraphs 172-176

  • Episode 94: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 38 - EXTENDING CHRIST’S LOVE TO OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS

    November 18th, 2025  |  23 mins 15 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    In Chapter 5, Pope Francis gives us insight into the ramifications of the church's view of Human Dignity, and the way that the call of the Sacred Heart of Jesus necessitates the response to His Love to the entire human family. From the early church, Christian communities recognized the reason and the fundamental duty to love all because "He Loved us first". Paragraphs 167-171

  • Episode 93: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 37 - Love for Love

    November 11th, 2025  |  16 mins 55 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth
  • Episode 92: A Torrent of Grace: Turning our wounds into Sacred Gifts with Jesus

    November 4th, 2025  |  46 mins 59 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Mark Joseph Williams, who serves the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, as Special Advisor to Cardinal Joseph Tobin is a licensed clinical social worker and author of the book, "A Torrent of Grace". Jen speaks with Mark and Gina Criscuolo, LCSW, and coordinator for the Office of Accompaniment at the Deparment of Protection of the Faithful for the Archdiocese of Newark.

  • Episode 91: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 36 - Hearts opened to the working of the Holy Spirit

    November 3rd, 2025  |  29 mins 1 sec
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Pope Francis ends Chapter 4 with the two last Spiritual Fruits to be gained from devotion to the Sacred Heart, namely Compunction and Consolation. In referencing his own homily for Mass of Chrism 2024, Pope Francis sees an ordered understanding of compunction as the natural remedy for both hearts heardened towards the world, and indeed the remaining notions of clericalism. Through consolation, God's heart has the means to work its remedies upon our woundedness in order that we have a rightly ordered understanding of what God's love demands of us in regards to worship and service.

  • Episode 90: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 35 - Reasons of the Heart

    October 24th, 2025  |  25 mins 11 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Pope Francis continues with the spirituality of consolation in the writings of Pius XI and giving us theological backing for the understanding of mystical knowledge and spiritual knowledge as separate and distinct between science and opinion. Quoting Thomas Aquinas, we see how things can be seen in complexity or simplicity at the same time when viewed from a human or divine perspective

  • Episode 89: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 34 - THE DEVOTION OF CONSOLATION

    October 17th, 2025  |  25 mins 50 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Pope Francis spends some time with the mechanics of the Devotion of the Sacred Heart, in looking at the writing of Pope Pius XI, who clearly recognizes the mystical possibility of consoling the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the time of His passion, through our own offering of suffering united with the cross. St. Margaret Mary got this idea from the Divine Revelations she received, and the church has approved exactly this concept ever since. Chapter 4 paragraphs 151-153.

  • Episode 88: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 33 - Christ's Heart and Your Interior Life

    October 6th, 2025  |  25 mins 56 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth
  • Episode 87: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 32 - Resonance with the Heart of Christ

    September 29th, 2025  |  30 mins 52 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Pope Francis elucidates why the contemplative practices codified by St. Ignatius of Loyola, are such a natural fit to the devotion to the Sacred Heart, that beginning with St. Claude de Colombiere, and down through the centuries, the devotion has taken a special meaning and become a banner for the Society of Jesus. As someone who makes Ignatian spiritual practices a daily part of her day, to deepen her relationship with the living God who communicates His Word of Love, Jen offers a brief personal witness to the efficacy of lectio divina and examen of consciousness.

  • Episode 86: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 31 - St.Thérèse of Lisieux (2 of 2)

    September 22nd, 2025  |  17 mins 54 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Pope Francis spends significant time in fleshing out the spirituality of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, for whom the Sacred Heart was a fundamental part of her devotional practice in both familial practice and mystical experience. Pope Francis recalls the importance of abandon, trust and confidence in the inexhaustable love of God for each of us, as likened unto a devoted parent whose love gives courage to a precocious toddler.

  • Episode 85: Dilexit Nos in a Year - Session 30 - St.Thérèse of Lisieux (1 of 2)

    September 12th, 2025  |  21 mins 49 secs
    beauty, catholic, church, evangelization, goodness, ministry, mission, prayer, service, truth

    Pope Francis spends significant time fleshing out the spirituality of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, for whom the Sacred Heart was a fundamental part of her devotional practice in both familial practice and mystical experience. We read how she does not understand the Heart of Jesus as demanding reparation, but as "burning with tenderness."