Simply Holy with Marge Fenelon

Have your prayers become rote and lifeless? Do you feel as though you are stuck in a rut where prayer is only so many words? In this episode, Marge shares five great and simple ways to get out of the rut and into fruitful communication with God.

This is the third episode in the Simply Holy series, “Springtime in the Church,” which explores the unique and often little-known ways in which lay persons serve the Church through Third Orders, Oblates, Secular Institutes, Prelatures, Associations of the Christian Faithful, Ecclesial Movements, New Communities, Apostolates, and the like. St. John Paul II referred to these men and women as the “Springtime in the Church.” Marge chats with author and blogger Justin Vanlee McClain about his joy in living the life of a Lay Dominican. A husband, father of four (with one on the way), High School Theology and Spanish teacher, Justin tells how his Catholic faith is complemented and his life enriched by his Dominican spirituality.

How can someone be a member of the Order of St. Francis and a lay person at the same time? What is being a Secular Franciscan all about? Michael Groark is a once-lapsed Catholic who wandered into Lutheranism and was called by God back to Catholicism and into the Secular Franciscan Order along with his wife, Anna Marie. Michael shares his own story and the story of his entire family’s conversion to Catholicism, including the path of his son from drug addiction to the Capuchin Franciscan priesthood. He explains the spirituality of St. Francis and the lifestyle he and his wife lead as contemplatives in the world. “A Secular Franciscan,” he said, “is a lay person who has studied the life and spirituality of St. Francis and makes promises to follow the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order.” Learn about what those promises include and the joy it brings to those who follow them.

This is the first of a series titled “Springtime of the Church,” which showcases the many and often little-known ways in which lay persons serve the Church through Third Orders, Oblates, Secular Institutes, Prelatures, Associations of the Christian Faithful, Ecclesial Movements, New Communities, Apostolates, and the like. St. John Paul II referred to these men and women as the “Springtime of the Church.” … Their presence is encouraging because it shows that this springtime is advancing and revealing the freshness of the Christian experience based on personal encounter with Christ,” he said in his message to participants of the 1st World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities in 1998. This week, Marge chats with author and artist Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB about her calling as a Benedictine Oblate.

Have you ever had your prayer completely derailed by God? Don’t let it perturb you! Instead, relax and welcome it as a gift from God. Listen to Marge’s lively recount of derailed prayer and learn about guarding against unprincipled forces in this world and the source of our stability as Christians.

The George Floyd arrest controversy has thrown our country into turbulence with burning, looting, and the spread of hate speech. Regardless of the facts of the case, we as Christians are called to be a peaceful presence in these turbulent times. We can learn much from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans in which he encourages them to cast aside their differences, ask God to fill them with joy and peace, and abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Whether it’s the current situation or another, we need to be a peaceful presence for ourselves and others. Here’s how.

The Apostles and women – including Mary – gathered and prayed in the Upper Room for nine days from Ascension to Pentecost. They were awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit and preparing themselves to go out into the world to be a witness to Christ. That’s not unlike the time we’re in right now, as we prepare to move from the “new normal” of lockdowns, shutdowns, and fear into the “newer normal” of going out into the world, picking up the pieces of a life that’s dramatically changed, and returning to the Sacraments. We must prepare to be witnesses to Christ and for that we need the Holy Spirit!

Being joyful doesn’t just happen. It’s a decision we make regardless of how tough things might be right now. Here’s how to change your attitude, refocus, and become a joyful person with God’s grace.

This is a strange Holy Week. It’s strange not in the sense of the peculiar, but strange in the sense of the unfamiliar. For the first time in memory, there will be no Holy Week services in our churches. It will be strange and it will feel strange. But the strangeness need not ruin the meaningfulness of the holy time that is upon us. It's how you deal with the strangeness that counts. Here are three things to remember during this Holy Week: the fact of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection; the power of God; and our reason for JOY.

This is an amazing time for the entire world. Even amid the hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the illness, isolation, and fear, we have much for which we can be grateful. In this present time, we have access to technology that didn’t exist in previous eras, and we have the ability to use that technology to reach out to others. If we take these small opportunities and truly be Christian in all of our interactions, we can do a great deal of good and lift the hearts of many, many people without even going out of our way. Our world is suffering, and we can help to abate that suffering with godly words and gestures. This is an amazing time for the entire world and COVID-19 could be our best chance ever to evangelize.