Raised Catholic

This week we conclude our tiny Bible study of Luke, chapter 7. As I share my own takeaways from the chapter, I hope you'll be encouraged to let God speak to you through a Gospel passage so that you can better know and walk with the compassionate, merciful, healing, proactive Jesus we meet there.

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or at my website.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Luke 7:18-50 NIV

This week we take a look at one chapter of one book of the Gospels, and I'll share my own takeaways while modeling an accessible form of study for yourself. 

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or at my website.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Animated Video: Luke 1-9 from Bible Project

2. Article: Beginner's Guide to Lectio Divina from Busted Halo

3. Podcast series: Beth Moore Bible studies from Living Proof Ministries

4. Bible reading plans/commentary from She Reads Truth

5. Podcast: The Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz

6. Article: Enter the Story: Gospel Contemplation (Ignatian), from Prayer and Possibilities

7. Bible Gateway - a searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages

This week we explore the concept of Providence - what it is, what it is not, and how we learn to depend on the hand of Providence for ourselves by looking back over our own lives.

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or at my website.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Alma Mater: Hail, Providence from Providence College

2. Meditation questions: where might we find God's providential hand in our own history?

What was a time in your life where you thought, “I don’t know how I’ll get through this,” but then something shifted to help you to move you forward, maybe in a small way, whether in your thinking or physical circumstance? Could God have been at work for you at that time in some way?

Who is a person who changed or expanded your thinking on a topic that made you more open, more kind or loving, or who enabled or directed an action you took that changed how you lived your life from that point on? How did you meet this person? Do you remember? What were the circumstances around how you connected, and might God have been present in that for you?

As you look at your vocation or work or even your interests, what were the circumstances that led you there? What influenced your decisions or your direction then, and what or who is guiding you now toward your next steps? Is it possible that God is working in one of these vocational situations, even on a very winding road, which is kind of God’s favorite, but is it possible that God is working in that right now for your good?

What’s a book, movie, podcast, or song that inspires you? How did you come to find it? Does it show up at various points in your life when you really need it? How did or does this piece of art change, comfort or guide you? Do you have a story about that? Do you believe that God works in this kind of stuff?

Think about the hardest thing you've survived. Where can you see God working, even in that, for your good? 

Finally, where are you today, friend? Physically, emotionally, spiritually: where and how do you find yourself today? Is there something in today’s circumstances that you suspect God might have had a hand in? Some small detail of God showing off and showing you a particular kindness? Let’s stop a moment and just say thanks in our spirits for how He works for the good in this day that He made for us.

3. Book: Take Heart: 100 Devotions to Seeing God When Life's Not Okay (I contributed devotion #100)

4. Lyric Video: The Voyage, by Amanda Lindsey Cook

This week we explore the journey of self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-care through a relatable metaphor.

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or on my blog.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Song: Who Am I, by Casting Crowns

2, Podcast: Good Inside: The Voices Inside Our Heads, with Dr. Becky and Dr. Dick Schwartz on the theory of Internal Family Systems - a good primer on this helpful topic!

3. Children's Book: Near: Psalm 139 by Sally Lloyd-Jones - this is a fresh and beautiful retelling for children of all ages

4. Lyric Video: You Are Enough, by Sleeping At Last

5. Podcast: The Humble Parent, on Kelly Corrigan Wonders with guest Julie Lithcott-Haims. What's the upside of knowing how little we know?

6. Instagram follow: Barb Schmidt, @peaceful_barb

7. Book: Let Your Life Speak, by Parker Palmer

8. Article: Self-Love: The Importance of Learning to Love Yourself, by Seattle Christian Counseling

9. Sacred Space, a daily prayer/meditation site run by the Irish Jesuits

This week we discuss the dangerous trend of celebrity Christian culture and explore practices that can help leaders and listeners maintain a healthy faith walk in the modern media age.

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or on my blog.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Article/podcast: Social media is producing 'celebrity priests' - and it's a problem for their vocations, by Gloria Purvis at America Magazine

2. Organization: Homeboy Industries

3. Interview/podcast: Kelly Corrigan Wonders with Fr. Greg Boyle, Founder Homeboy Industries

4. Song (this is the one I harmonized with on my walk): Clean, by Hillsong

5. Song: Give Me Jesus, by Fernando Ortega

6. Podcast series: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, detailing the story of a Seattle church that should be a cautionary tale for all ministers and churches

7. Song: Wonderful, Merciful Savior, by Selah

8. Article: A toxic celebrity culture has infiltrated the church. We must root it out, by Katelyn Beaty 

9. Song: Who Am I (Casting Crowns), cover by Mildred Carriaga

10. Essay: Priests Never Say They're Sorry, by Mary Pezzulo

11. Book: Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church, by Katelyn Beaty

Today's episode comes on the heels of a week of illness for me. It's a short one, but I did want to offer a few thoughts on how to handle our faith lives when we're not at our best. I hope it's a blessing to you.

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or on my blog.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence

2. Song: Goodness of God, by CeCe Winans

3. Album: Be Held: Lullabies for the Beloved, by Christie Nockels (instrumental version here)

This week I'll model my process for finding my word for 2023, and hope that you might find your own, too.

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or on my blog.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Leap of Faith - Path of God scene from Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade 

2. Garden Path scene from You've Got Mail

3. Article: "A Fresh Coat," on the transformation of our neighborhood college botanical bear

4. Word of the Year Generator, by Jen Fulwiler

This week I'm taking a bit of a break to rest after a wonderful and busy family-filled long holiday weekend. Here's a repost of last week's episode for those who may have missed it. The truth is, Christmas really does change everything, and thank God for that.  Peace and joy to you and yours, see you next year!

This week as we head toward Christmas, we explore the God of impossible things. If the impossible story of God becoming a human is true, then that changes everything, for everyone, forever. I am particularly mindful this week of those who feel unwelcome at church or those for whom Christmas might be a particular struggle - I pray you will feel the truth of Emmanuel - of God with us (all of us!), both inside and outside of church walls.

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or on my blog.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Beautiful advent IG post from author Laura Kelly Fanucci

2. Video: Christmas Chapel Music - advent and Christmas music we recorded for our community who couldn't attend church in December of 2020

3. Podcast: Unlocking Us with Brene Brown and Fr. Richard Rohr, on Breathing Under Water, Falling Upward, and Unlearning Certainty, part one of two

4. Children's Book: Jesus' Christmas Party, by Nicholas Allen

5. Song: One Day, by Christina Wells

6. Song: Wonder (Spontaneous), by Bethel Music, Amanda Cook

7. Song: Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, from Handel's Messiah, performed by Oregon Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra

8. Song: Night of Silence/Silent Night, by Marty Haugen

9. Video: Silent Night on harp, performed by my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail. Thank you, Peter, for the gift of your harp music in each and every episode of Raised Catholic. You and your music are a gift.

10. 4th Sunday of Advent mass at St. Cecilia's Boston - don't miss this homily by Fr. John Unni

This week, we take a look at how we view and describe Mary, both as individuals and as Church, and how these descriptors can help or hinder our relationship with her who is our Mother and who always points us to Jesus.

If you'd like to connect with me, find me on Instagram or on my blog.  If you'd like to help support this podcast financially, there's now a way to do just that, and thank you - visit me on my page at buymeacoffee.com! Thanks as always for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow!

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week's topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Mary and Me: Catholic Women Reflect on the Mother of God, by Ginny Kubitz Moyer

2. Article: Mary's Magnificat is Revolutionary, from the Washington Post

3. Song: Mary, by Patty Griffin

4. Article: The Subversive Magnificat: What Mary Expected the Messiah To Be, by Jason Porterfield

5. Song: Ave Maria, Franz Biebl, performed by Chanticleer

6. Art: Modern Depictions of Mary in the Annunciation

7. Rosary: Recorded Rosaries from Fr. Frank McFarland at Boston Catholic Television

8. Video: A Primer on Mary from Fr. James Martin

9. Journal Prompts: What has been my experience with Mary so far? What words would I use to describe Mary today? If I could speak to Mary as a mother, what would I say?

10. My past writings on Mary, Statues, and the stitching of our lives together as a mother would

11. The story of Pope Francis' devotion to Mary under the title 'Undoer of Knots'