Taste & See is a weekly podcast of heartfelt reflections and meditations on the Sunday readings. Join Zac Wierschem from Paradisus Dei as he guides you into a deeper encounter with Jesus—alongside a global community that prays together each week.
Learn more about Paradisus Dei and our life-changing programs at: paradisusdei.org
For the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on Matthew 21:33-43, the parable of the wicked tenants who kill the landowner's servants and finally his son, showing how Jesus told this hard parable to the chief priests and elders not to condemn them but to bring them to contrition, just as Fr. Frank once led a hardened penitent to tears by describing her sins as thorns pressed into Christ's head. Zac says that sin is never just rule-breaking but a personal wound inflicted on someone who loves us, and that even the tenants in the parable could have been welcomed back to the landowner's banquet had they repented. The episode closes with an Examen guiding listeners through gratitude, an honest review of where they served God or wounded Christ that day, a moment of receiving forgiveness, and a resolve to love Christ better tomorrow.
Reflection Questions:
Fr. Frank described sin as a thorn pressed into Christ's head. Does thinking of your sins as personally wounding someone who loves you change how you view them?
Jesus tells this parable as an act of mercy, not condemnation. Have you ever experienced a hard truth from someone as love rather than judgment?
The parable ends with the vineyard given to "a nation producing its fruit." What fruit do you sense God is currently asking you to produce in your own life?
Here's a link (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hj8oe6AMrTL-qpn6Q4hSdT9002xjxdDo4U0z67WPXps/edit?usp=sharing) to the text of the examen: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hj8oe6AMrTL-qpn6Q4hSdT9002xjxdDo4U0z67WPXps/edit?usp=sharing
Here's my email if you want to reach out with your prayer intentions: zac.wierschem@paradisusdei.org
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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here (https://paradisusdei.org/).
The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.
Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music
Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A
22 Sept 2026
From Resentment to Redemption
For the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21: 28-32), unpacking why Jesus told the chief priests and elders that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter the Kingdom before them — because contrition and a changed heart matter more than outward piety. He grounds this in his years as a missionary in Kenya, recalling a single mother who prostituted herself to feed her children, and argues that people sin not to spread evil but because they've forgotten who they are and are searching for love in the wrong places. The episode closes with a first-person meditation from Matthew himself, recounting the childhood bullying and paternal rejection that drove him to tax collecting, and his tearful gratitude at hearing Jesus declare that sinners like him were entering the Kingdom first.
Reflection Questions:
Jesus says the first son, who initially refused but later obeyed, did his father's will. Where in your life have you said no to God but eventually changed course?
St. Augustine's quote — "those who are lost in their passion are less lost than those who have lost their passion" — what do you make of that paradox?
The second son said yes but never went. Where in your own life is there a gap between what you say you believe and what you actually do?
Here's a link (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JM6BzaPYj4fMgYIvFXsY0vDFxLLaBJDLYhdLsK3PZNk/edit?usp=sharing) to the text of the meditation for you to pray with: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JM6BzaPYj4fMgYIvFXsY0vDFxLLaBJDLYhdLsK3PZNk/edit?usp=sharing
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Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here (https://paradisusdei.org/).
The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.
Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music
Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A
15 Sept 2026
Generous Beyond Justice
For the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Zac reflects on the parable of the workers in the vineyard, using a childhood memory of sibling rivalry over a Capri Sun to illustrate the difference between demanding what's "fair" and receiving what's freely given in love. He contrasts the grumbling laborer's focus on the dignity of work with the landowner's focus on the dignity of the person, arguing that God pursues each of us at different hours of life not to reward effort but to lift us into our own dignity through grace. The episode closes with a first-person meditation from Benjamin, a resentful laborer numbing a childhood wound with wine, who is confronted by the landowner's piercing question — "Are you envious because I am generous?" — and left transformed.
Reflection Questions:
The landowner sought out the idle laborers rather than waiting for them to come to him. Where have you experienced God pursuing you before you were looking for Him?
The parable shows God working alongside the laborers, not just directing from afar. Does your image of God feel more like a distant boss or a co-laborer?
Are you, right now, more like the grumbling laborer or the late-arriving one — and what would it look like to take one honest step toward holiness from wherever you are?
Here is the link (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JzWWqgOhNVBH3UVTE-L-4ghDOdYfv1tS1_goVfBilzo/edit?usp=sharing) to the text of the meditation to bring into your personal prayer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JzWWqgOhNVBH3UVTE-L-4ghDOdYfv1tS1_goVfBilzo/edit?usp=sharing
_____
Learn more about the mission of Paradisus Dei and its life-changing parish programs here (https://paradisusdei.org/).
The World English Bible is in the public domain and was used for all scripture quotations.
Intro music: "My Life (Main)” by Good B Music
Meditation Music: Reawaken Hymns Worship Pads - foundations in the key of A
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