We're in the midst of Advent, a season of waiting and a season a business. As we reflect on the season, we're asking ourselves how we're creating the space for Jesus to enter our lives more deeply. Today, our cohosts share a little on Advent, Christmas, and life in general as well as give a little peek into what to expect in the new year.

The Christmas Novena has been a tradition with the Daughters of Charity communities since 1720 when an Italian priest, Carlo Antonio Vachetta, arranged the music for it based on a novena that had been prayed in Italy for many centuries. Originally sung in Latin, the novena was translated to English in the United States around 1964.

For today's episode, we're headed back to Santa Barbara, California. Our guest, Sergey Salushchev, is the Archivist for St. Vincent's in Santa Barbara. He joins us today to give us a background on the Daughters' westward expansion into California and the history our services there. He highlights how the Sisters were able to adapt to the changes of the time and continue to provide for those most in need in new ways throughout the years there.

When the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Catherine Laboure with the request to create the Miraculous Medal, Mary said that "anyone who wears the medal will receive great graces." Throughout the years since, many stories have been told of those who have received those graces. While living and serving in Taiwan, Sister Martin Dehlinger, DC, witnessed one of these events. This is her story.

This episode, we're joined by Chuck Levesque, Director of Depaul USA, a national nonprofit organization inspired that addresses homelessness in innovative ways. Inspired by St. Vincent de Paul, Depaul USA has grown to 11 different cities, tackling the homelessness crisis in unique ways in each place according to the needs of the community.

Want to learn more about Depaul USA? Check out their website and see how you could get involved: https://depaulusa.org/

If you had the opportunity to leave everything behind and live on a ship to serve those in need, would you? Today's guest, Reanne Newquist, and her family did. The family of five left their lives in California to serve the sick in West Africa with Mercy Ships. For a year, they lived onboard the Africa Mercy Ship, a vessel docked in Senegal. Now, Reanne is sharing with us not only her story, but the mission of Mercy Ships and how they are working to serve those most in need.

To learn more about Mercy Ships:

www.mercyships.org/serve

www.facebook.com/MercyShips

www.instagram.com/mercyships/

www.twitter.com/mercyships

Sister Rocio Briones, DC, has only been out of Seminary (novitiate) for six months, but she's already making an impact in Santa Barbara. Sister Rocio dove in headfirst at her first mission, working at the Father Virgil Cordano Center where they serve the homeless population, as well as on the St. Vincent Campus, where she has been working on an inter-generational program for the seniors and children to get to interact. On this podcast, we hear about all of these programs and ministries, their history, and how Sister Rocio fits into their stories.

Today we're joined by our friend and vocation director, Sister Lisa Laguna, DC. She's answering some of our most frequently asked questions about religious discernment. From spiritual director vs. vocation director to family to social media, we covered it all!

Happy Feast of St. Vincent de Paul! If you've been a listener for awhile, you know that means it's time for the new season to begin! Welcome to season SEVEN!

To kick off the season, we have Sister Theresa Sullivan, DC. Sister Theresa is the Director of Daybreak, a ministry of Depaul USA, that operates as a day resource center for those experiencing homelessness in the area. Sister Theresa is the third director of Daybreak and our very own Sister Elizabeth Greim, DC, just so happens to have been the first. Between the two of them, we hear all about the founding of Daybreak and just how much it's grown since it's founding in 2011. Between adding new buildings and gaining the support of the whole community, it's clear there's been a lot of love poured into this ministry!

This week, we're chatting with our cohosts! We touch on our recent activities, our missions, where we've been finding Jesus, the history of the Daughters in the US, and more! You won't want to miss this final episode of season six.