Saints for Slackers

St. Francis de Sales was a 16th-century spiritual master who teaches us to reject fear and embrace the crosses in life. This saint reminds us not to worry about tomorrow, for the God who cares for us today will also care for us every day. St. Francis de Sales draws our attention back to what we know to be true: worry is useless and we cannot escape suffering in this life. But take heart, he also tells us, for our God offers us unfailing strength in every hardship we encounter.

Our podcast & reflection for today is by slacker Sefanit Stefanos, a Contributor to the Little With Great Love Team. Sefanit is a seeker of Truth, wife, and mom to two sweet little boys and favorite sister and friend. Originally from Eritrea, born in Rome, and raised in Dallas, Texas, her upbringing in an Eritrean-American home shaped her worldview, which taught her that she is part of a greater community. Her joy is being with family and friends, especially cooking and baking them real food, as she loves making people feel at home in her presence. Her calling in life is to introduce others to the generous love of God that she has experienced. 

She enjoyed traveling and experiencing new cultures before this new and very full stage of her life; hopefully, the future holds more blogging and new travels with a bigger crew. She experienced the best of both worlds as a graduate of Texas A&M and Franciscan University and has worked in full-time ministry for more than ten years. Sefanit lives in Dallas with her husband and kids, and you'll find her seeking joy and gratitude amidst changing diapers and cleaning food off the walls.

Read more about today's featured podcaster and saint here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/st-francis-de-sales/

This podcast is sponsored by: Littlewithgreatlove.com + Redbird.love.

Special thanks to slacker, Jeff Sanchez, for voiceover work; and musician Rev. Dr. Martin Lohrmann.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was the mountaineer saint who loved God and fellow man - to the fullest! Frassati was an Italian, charismatic, and loving young man who spent his time serving the poor and suffering, while also living a full life with his friends by his side. 

Simply put for slackers, Pier loved God, served the poor, played jokes, and scaled mountains.

Our podcast & reflection for today is by slacker Danielle Knight, the Chief Storyteller & Contributor with the Little With Great Love Team. Danielle is an adventurer who likes to inspire hearts through the power of story and creativity. She recently quit her seven-year trek in sales and marketing at a commercial real estate firm. After enjoying a sabbatical of adventure, prayer and reflection, she is now excited about a new life chapter. Danielle wants to share the mysterious and relentless love of God with others. She resides in Houston, TX, where you can find her enjoying the outdoors, hanging out with her boyfriend, or spinning amidst a salsa dance move.

Read Danielle’s blog posts here.

Read more about today's featured podcaster and saint here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/blessed-pier-giorgio-frassati/

This podcast is sponsored by: Littlewithgreatlove.com + Redbird.love.

Special thanks to slacker, Jeff Sanchez, for voiceover work; and musician Rev. Dr. Martin Lohrmann.

St. Pio, also known as the Padre of the famous words, “Pray, Hope, and Don't Worry!”, is the saint who encourages us to keep hope at all times. Worry is useless! These are some of the famous words given to us by this special and holy saint, a Capuchin friar who spent most of his days hearing countless confessions, and the rest of his time being a faithful spiritual father, friend, and counselor of souls.

Our podcast & reflection for today is by slacker Alyssa Sanchez, Contributor, Social Media Manager & Designer for the Little With Great Love Team. Alyssa is a 23-year-old master’s student studying communications. She lives at home in sunny Florida, enjoys watching movies and binging tv shows, hoping to one day produce films of her own in which to act. Creatively she enjoys writing in any medium, fashion, doing makeup and dressing up in costumes. She loves to travel by plane, train, car and especially cruises, and hopes to see the world. Caring, kind and loving, she tends to see the good in all people. Alyssa’s calling is to make people smile through her creativity, sharing God’s message of love through how she lives. Her motto is a quote by Padre Pio, “Pray, hope and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”

Read Alyssa’s blog posts here.

Read more about today's featured podcaster and saint here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/st-pio-pray-hope-and-dont-worry/

This podcast is sponsored by: Littlewithgreatlove.com + Redbird.love.

Special thanks to slacker, Jeff Sanchez, for voiceover work; and musician Rev. Dr. Martin Lohrmann.

St. John Vianney is the saint whose faithfulness made him beloved in all of France. 

He was now for his faithfulness, austerity, and for being a dedicated confessor—hearing up to 75,000 confessions per year. He was so faithful in fighting for souls, the devil never left him alone.

Our podcast & reflection for today is by slacker Tammi McCarthy, a writer and speaker on the Little With Great Love Team. Still, she has been running her own blog and social media for years at Chasing Time Drinking Wine. This whole podcast was actually born out of a conversation that Tammi was having with my sister. The two of them are pretty much the poster children of the slacker movement towards sainthood. But seriously, check out Tammi’s blogs and especially Chasing Time Drinking Wine on Instagram, cause this homeschooling Momma of 5, and Spiritual Momma of the Little With Great love group and many others is lit, as her kids might say.

Read more about today's featured podcaster and saint here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/st-john-vianney/

This podcast is sponsored by: Littlewithgreatlove.com + Redbird.love.

Special thanks to our slacker sister, Bridget Holtz, and musician Rev. Dr. Martin Lohrmann 

St. Faustina is the saint who reminds us that God loves it when we trust him more and more. Jesus appeared to St. Faustina repeatedly, giving her the message of His Divine Mercy, His merciful love for all of souls. He chose to share His message of love and mercy through a slacker who became a great saint.

Our podcast & reflection for today is by slacker Michelle Hillaert, a writer and speaker on the Little With Great Love Team. Michelle is a wife, mother, bestselling author, coach, and a woman of vision. She is passionate about spending time with her family, making memories, and being intentional in cultivating an intimate relationship with Christ. As an entrepreneur, avid blogger, and website design and branding enthusiast, Michelle is a recovering perfectionist who gets a woman’s desire to strive for more. A mom of 6 kids, she is attuned to the needs of busy women striving to stay ahead while still being “good enough.”

Michelle lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and best friend, Trent. They have fun creating a close family culture and sharing the lessons they’ve learned in over 20 years of marriage in their new ministry, Catholic Family Uncorked. Check their podcast, Catholic Family Uncorked, out here on Spotify!

Read more about today's featured podcaster and saint here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/st-faustina/

This podcast is sponsored by: Littlewithgreatlove.com + Redbird.love.

Special thanks to guest slacker, Bill Williams (follow on Twitter @Bill_Williams), and musician Rev. Dr. Martin Lohrmann. 

St. John XXIII surprised his peers by doing the unexpected and carrying the Catholic Church through big changes and growth during his papacy! He was the "Good" Pope who reminds us to always trust in God!

Our podcast & reflection for today is by Dr. Bob McCarty who lives with his wife Maggie in Laurel, Maryland. Bob is a pastoral ministry consultant and trainer and adjunct faculty at The Catholic University of America and The University of Dallas. He offers consultations, retreats, workshops, and training programs in ministry skills and issues internationally. Here’s a fun fact about Bob, he is the mentor of my sister, Lisa Martinez, and serves on the Board of Directors for iAmplify, the nonprofit parent organization of Little With Great Love, one of this podcast's sponsors. 

Read more about today's featured podcaster and saint here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/st-john-xxiii/

This podcast is sponsored by: Littlewithgreatlove.com + Redbird.love

St. Teresa of Avila reminds us that during our hardest times and biggest storms, we never have to be afraid—everything passes and with God, we have all that we need. 

Our podcast & reflection for today is by Barb Smerecki, who hails from the Metro Detroit area of Michigan. Barb is a retiree with over 30 years of law enforcement service as an Intelligence Analyst. She has been a volunteer with Catholic High School youth groups for over 40 years. She continues in this service passionately and jokes that she is always the only “senior citizen” in the group. 

Read more about today's featured podcaster and saint here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/episode-4-st-teresa-of-avila/

St. Teresa of Calcutta, one of our beloved modern-day saints, loved, served, and suffered with all God's poor and forgotten children.

Jesus' thirst for souls took hold of St. Teresa's heart, and the desire to satiate His thirst became the driving force of her life.

Our podcast & reflection for today is by Kelly Breaux of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Kelly and her husband Ryan are the founders of Red Bird Ministries, the sister organization of Little With Great Love. Red Bird Ministries' mission is to serve those who are suffering from the loss of a child from miscarriage through adulthood. 

Read more on today's podcast here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/st-teresa-of-calcutta/

Today Little With Great Love Founder, Lisa Martinez, gives a little insight into the relationship between St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas.

Her 3-minute written reflection and short podcast show us how God chooses whomever He wishes to do whatever He asks, especially the social outcasts.

Read and learn more here: https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/st-albert-the-great

Blessed Solanus Casey shows us how to become saints in the simplest of ways - in being beacons of light and bringing hope to everyone we encounter. 

Our podcast & reflection for today is by Jeff Sanchez, a theology faculty member of Monsignor Edward Pace High School in South Florida. He enjoys craft beers, good food, and family time. Jeff has always had a passion for using his gifts for the Lord, most recently in voiceover work. 

Read more today at:

https://www.littlewithgreatlove.com/blessed-solanus-casey/