In this episode of Soul Food, we’re kicking it back with Joe Oconor with a story he shared on The FaithFeed. For Joe, a search for an opportunity to assist and serve people living in poor communities led him to a surprising discovery. He hadn't expected that his decision to be among such communities would not only be a chance to make a difference for others, but be a catalyst for his own self discovery, confidence and identity.

Podcast backstory: Over 125 people around Western Sydney & the Blue Mountains were consulted for what they wanted in a life & faith podcast. Overwhelming feedback showed interest for “people’s stories” and “everyday experiences sparking deep thought.” This is what the Mission Enhancement Team wants to deliver through the episodes on the Soul Food podcast.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story!

Music Track 1: They Say by Wowa Musik https://soundcloud.com/wowamusik Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Music provided by Audio Library https://youtu.be/E6LCO7SH8kA  

Both Annette and Tony Hoban are pioneers, leaders and core to the life of the faith community of St Luke’s in the Diocese of Parramatta. As a married couple and a deacon couple, they bring so much richness from their respective life & faith journeys. Their experiences have allowed them to know the value of welcome, of pastoral accompaniment; and of surprise, especially when you make the ask of God to speak into your deepest searching.

Podcast backstory: Over 125 people around Western Sydney & the Blue Mountains were consulted for what they wanted in a life & faith podcast. Overwhelming feedback showed interest for “people’s stories” and “everyday experiences sparking deep thought.” This is what the Mission Enhancement Team wants to deliver through the episodes on the Soul Food podcast.

Helen Zammit is a salt-of-the-earth kind of person. She adds flavour and life to whatever community context she finds herself in. Through some early life experiences of grief and loss, Helen has nurtured the gift of holding loss and grief in the stories of others. Her gift of other-centred listening is one that embodies the life wisdom quote by the late Oscar Romero: “There are some things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.”

Podcast backstory: Over 125 people around Western Sydney & the Blue Mountains were consulted for what they wanted in a life & faith podcast. Overwhelming feedback showed interest for “people’s stories” and “everyday experiences sparking deep thought.” This is what the Mission Enhancement Team wants to deliver through the episodes on the Soul Food podcast.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story!

In this episode, Alison, Rachael and Donnie from MET celebrate 50 episodes on the Soul Food podcast! On this milestone episode, the trio recall the gifts and wisdom of previous guests on the podcast, while dropping hints for what could feature in the next 50 episodes and beyond.

Podcast backstory: Over 125 people around Western Sydney & the Blue Mountains were consulted for what they wanted in a life & faith podcast. Overwhelming feedback showed interest for “people’s stories” and “everyday experiences sparking deep thought.” This is what the Mission Enhancement Team wants to deliver through the episodes on the Soul Food podcast.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story! 

Baki Pesaloma is a natural community builder. He has a gift for creating human connection, building community with others through music. For Baki, music touches and reveals what’s most human and sacred in ourselves. And like God, music for Baki has and continues to be the soul friend who accompanies him through the ups and downs of life – a presence of solidarity and grace that reminds him that he is never alone.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story!

How can we make the ordinary extraordinary in our everyday? Or how can you and I bridge the gap between faith and one’s lived reality? These are some of the questions of life, purpose and faith expression that have and continue to be at the forefront of Elizabeth McFarlane’s life. For her, through her Catholic schooling, social action and involvement with the Young Christian Students and Workers movement, she’s come to know that the heart of the Christian story calls people to encounter the mystery that touches reality in a real way, especially in community and the wider world.

Podcast backstory: Over 125 people around Western Sydney & the Blue Mountains were consulted for what they wanted in a life & faith podcast. Overwhelming feedback showed interest for “people’s stories” and “everyday experiences sparking deep thought.” This is what the Mission Enhancement Team wants to deliver through the episodes on the Soul Food podcast.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story!

In this episode Michael Dela Cruz traces some steps and shifts that he can now see as key foundations for where he is right now. Whilst he claims that his life is quite ordinary, Mike’s reflections hold a lot of potential encouragement, even healing, for all of us whose lives are a typical mix of ups and downs, regrets and joys. Starting with lessons from the basketball court and a fascination with Marvel studios, Mike’s talk lands in a few different parts of the world; experiences from which he shares the gradual discovering of his growing self. He builds towards a powerful architectural image that connects to the what he’s now learning as the core values for his marriage with Marie and his life as a father. This is an affirming and insightful talk that will relate to each of us in our own ways and encourage each of us as images of God.

Podcast backstory: Over 125 people around Western Sydney & the Blue Mountains were consulted for what they wanted in a life & faith podcast. Overwhelming feedback showed interest for “people’s stories” and “everyday experiences sparking deep thought.” This is what the Mission Enhancement Team wants to deliver through the episodes on the Soul Food podcast.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story!

Holy Week, the biggest week of the Christian calendar, is a journey with Jesus from Palm Sunday through to his passion, death and resurrection. In this episode, Alison reflects on the liturgies and preparations during Holy Week as a way of finding our story, with all our hopes and challenges, held in the accompanying presence of Jesus, who walks with us through death into new life.

Podcast backstory: Over 125 people around Western Sydney & the Blue Mountains were consulted for what they wanted in a life & faith podcast. Overwhelming feedback showed interest for “people’s stories” and “everyday experiences sparking deep thought.” This is what the Mission Enhancement Team (MET) wants to deliver through the episodes on the Soul Food podcast.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story!

For more works by Pastoral Formation, visit www.pfparra.org.au

Winding through the roads of the Philippines, Marie Dela Cruz was confronted with a young girl who had survived a volcanic eruption. As their eyes met, it would spark for Marie a lifelong openness to the unexpected, leading her overseas and influencing key decisions in her life.

⁠Watch Marie's story via Youtube

Podcast backstory: Over 125 people around Western Sydney & the Blue Mountains were consulted for what they wanted in a life & faith podcast. Overwhelming feedback showed interest for “people’s stories” and “everyday experiences sparking deep thought.” This is what the Mission Enhancement Team wants to deliver through the episodes on the Soul Food podcast.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story!

Charbel Dib is a married man with four children who serves in the Maronite Catholic community as an ordained priest. His journey of life and faith is one of wholeness, integration and wrestling with questions of purpose and meaning. Through family foundations, soul friends and spiritual practices that helped to create space within, Charbel was able to discern key steps that led him to become more fully himself, through both his vocations of marriage and ordained priesthood.

Come along with the team on this journey of storytelling, listening & discovery! Everyone has a story!