Pray along with Nicole as she prays a Rosary, meditating on the Sorrowful mysteries to calming background music. Go find a quiet place and spend this time alone in prayer with God. Lift up any intentions you have prior to the start of the episode and trust in Our Lady's intercession.

The Sorrowful Mysteries are typically said on Tuesdays & Fridays. Below are the bible meditations. Should you decide to pray your rosary at different points in the day,  see the following reference times for each decade:

For more information on How to Pray the Rosary and the Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary,  visit https://www.marian.org/.

Pray along with Nicole as she prays a Rosary, meditating on the Glorious mysteries to calming background music. Go find a quiet place and spend this time alone in prayer with God. Lift up any intentions you have prior to the start of the episode and trust in Our Lady's intercession. 

The Glorious mysteries are typically said on Sundays & Wednesdays. Below are the bible meditations for each decade:

For more information on How to Pray the Rosary and the Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary,  visit https://www.marian.org/.

In this week's episode, Nicole and Tara had not one - but TWO wonderful guests, Gabriel Wanous and Chris Nolin with WorshipNOW Publishing company!  Over the summer Nicole met these two at the National Association of Pastoral Musician's (NPM) annual conference  that was sponsored by WorshipNOW. The event featured several christian artists, including  well-known Matt Maher! WorshipNOW is a new Catholic music publisher that was created with the intention to help parishes integrate modern worship music into their liturgies through hymnals, custom arrangements, digital downloads, music planning, and training - all of which has been approved by the Church for liturgical use! Nicole and Tara had a great conversation with these gentleman learning about their backgrounds working in their respective parish’s music ministries and leading up to the start of this company. They both left successful careers within the secular career force to pursue this passion full time!  Check out their newly launched website for more resources and be sure to follow WorshipNOW on social media!

https://worshipnowpublishing.com/

Facebook & Instagram: @Worshipnowpublishing

This week Nicole hosts another minisode, pondering how time flies. With every passing day, we are constantly running toward something new. We might derive happiness from getting to a new goal, but it leaves us back at the beginning looking toward the next chapter. Life is full of seasons, emotions get the best of us, and in the midst of that - we are in the middle of a storm. Sometimes a storm generated by US. Reflecting a few bible verses, there are ways to be still in the Word of God. It is great to dream. It is even greater to dream with God. Be still. Be present.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! Or whenever you are listening :)

Bible verses referenced:

This week, Nicole and Tara reflected on the age old question of what it means to be spiritual versus religious. It was hard to find clear articles stating either sides to this phenomenon as most of them catered toward the spiritual direction (fitting, especially seeing how society operates today).  After some digging they agreed on an article to reference covering 6 fundamental differences between religion and spirituality from the MindValley website. In addition, Tara shares some of her personal experiences prior to converting to Catholicism and how she sought out to be a good person solely through spiritual being. As a disclaimer, the episode refers to Christianity on the religion side of this conversation and is not meant to discount any who incorporate non-religious spiritual practices into their daily lives. It is a means of shedding light upon what some believe. Ultimately, religion and spirituality go hand in hand as a catholic. Spirituality seems to promote self-discovery and traveling your own path. Applying this concept  to the Christian religion is where you can discover who you are in Christ and let God guide your path!

Another Wednesday means another episode! In this one, Nicole and Tara  chat about Kanye West’s new album - Jesus is King, that was released this past week! It has since been declared a new age gospel album, still holding onto that mainstream  andsecular sound. A lot of controversy and questions have stirred following the release, but interestingly, the catholic community has provided a different reaction. With the world that we live in, celebrities have a huge influence and platform that reaches millions of people every day. Is it possible that Kanye might start a new wave of evangelization to christianity? We don’t know! Of course, it is normal to question the popular protestant belief of prosperity gospel, and Kanye’s tendencies to become overzealous when he jumps on a new trend. All of this aside, catholics seem to be drawn to his conversion alone, and his ability to admit he is now seeking to share the truth as a son of God. This definitely appears to be a good step in the right direction. Ultimately, celebrities need prayers to be guided in the right direction. Maybe we are going to witness a shift in Christian music moving forward...

This week Nicole and Tara talk about RCIA -better known as, The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults! Both have been through this process, one as an actual catechumen and the other as a sponsor, the ladies delve into their personal takes on the program through their parishes. The typical levels of an RCIA program follows four periods: the Period of Inquiry, Period of Catechumenate, Period of Purification and Enlightenment and the Period of Mystagogy. The three official steps of the process are the Rite of acceptance into the Order of Catechumens, The Rite of Election and ultimately the Celebration of Sacraments of Initiation (which occurs at the Easter Vigil). RCIA is a huge commitment, and a life changing experience. At the end of the day, our faith is a life long journey, and RCIA is a place that can open the door to the catholic faith! If you or anyone you know is interested in learning about what it means to become catholic, the below links give more information about this decision!

http://www.beginningcatholic.com/catholic-rcia-stages

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/who-we-teach/rite-of-christian-initiation-of-adults/

This week, Nicole and Tara talk about youth ministry! While to some, they might immediately think of the 'mega church', concert strobe lights extravaganza, the education and fellowship of teens and college students is so important in faith formation. It is a critical age group going through so many life transitions and worldly influences. It seems there is no perfect way to run the right program, but they are out there, and they can surely impact one's experience with Christ! The ladies discuss different catholic parish ministries through personal experiences and compare to the non-catholic youth ministry programs around that seem to have a lot of youth involvement. 

Ultimately, they relate back to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops  on the three main goals of what a catholic youth ministry should strive to achieve! What have you experienced in youth group  growing up that you feel is important for young men and women of faith? 

Resources:

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/youth-ministry/index.cfm

In this episode, Nicole flies solo in our first 'minisode', because normally our episodes are typically a LITTLE bit longer! This week she decided  to talk about a  trilogy of books she has been engrossed in, Through the Eyes of Jesus by Alan Ames. An incredible testimony, Alan started experiencing visions from Jesus in the 1990s, where he would vividly experience some of the daily happenings while Jesus and his Disciples were traveling  the Holy Land a few months prior to the crucifixion. All of these visions, conversations, and thoughts from Jesus were ultimately validated by the Archbishop B.J. Hickey  of Perth in Western Australia who also appointed Alan his spiritual director, Fr. Gerard Dickinson (who also wrote a sweet forward in there!). This information was recorded as individual entries and put into three volumes, where Jesus, himself is the author.  Nicole reflects on her experiences reading volume 1 so far, and how it has positively impacted her faith. There are many resources and videos of Alan Ames also talking about the books and this life changing experience. Alan currently travels around the world where he speaks at events and prays over others with his gift of healing - but that is another topic to talk about in the future, maybe...

Check out the resources below:

http://www.alanames.org/en/publication-trilogy.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsj8rKoSN4s

https://www.amazon.com/Through-Eyes-Jesus-Trilogy/dp/189013709X

Entries referenced in Volume 1:

Rejection in Capernaum - 16th March 1996

In your weakness I am there - 17th March 1996