The Empowered Catholic Podcast

We take things personally because it cuts to our survival instinct. What's at stake, in our brains, isn't "do I get the topping on the ice cream?"; it's " Do I get to eat today?" Our brains are always looking for threats. We quickly interpret what people say or do as being directed at "me." If you are trying to bring that virtuous, charitable, wise "you" to the party, it's so helpful to create some distance and boundaries around the stories you tell yourself. Listen to the podcast for some helpful thoughts!

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Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

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Ruminating undermines you. We can quickly move from necessary self-reflection into repetitive negative thought patterns that get in the way of growth and problem-solving. Midlifers love to chew on their mistakes and keep turning things over and over. And over and over. Rumination isn't solving your problems. It's not bringing health and new growth. Instead, it's making things worse. And some good news is: we don't have to do it. We discuss how to know when you are ruminating, why it's so engaging for our brains, and what some of your options for pushing back could be. We want you to spot your ruminating and know when it's not helpful, so you can disengage.

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Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

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Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/

Are you 'shoulding' on yourself? (Don't lie! We all do it) And it's easy for those tricky 'shoulds' and 'shouldn'ts" to start defining your emotions and behaviors. I should get up earlier. I should work out. I should get more sleep. I shouldn't complain so much. I shouldn't be upset. And what about what others should or shouldn't do or be? Find out why this is distorted thinking and how it undermines who you are called to be and what you are called to do. Let us know how the 'shoulds' are showing up for you!

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Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

Email us: [email protected]

Facebook: The Catholic Midlife Podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecatholicmidlife/

Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/

What? More thought traps? Yes, lots more. Hooray. Listen and spot your favorite one to work on this week. These traps derail us or leave us spinning our wheels. The ratio is great but awareness and curiosity are better for spotting and responding to them. We discuss and share examples of some of them, like Personalizing, Blaming, Unfair Comparisons, Regret Orientation, What IFs, Emotional Reasoning, Inability to Disconfirm, and Judgment Focus. Email us about YOUR "favorite" thought trap!

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Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

Email us: [email protected]

Facebook: The Catholic Midlife Podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecatholicmidlife/

Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/

Humans (like you for instance) have some habits of thinking that are traps. We all fall into them, repeatedly. You have to laugh! These traps can shut down our thinking before we realize it, leaving us stuck or making poor choices because the traps often work at an unconscious level. Asking great questions is the key to uncovering thought traps. We discuss and share examples of some of them, like Mind Reading, Fortune-Telling, Catastrophizing, Labeling, Discounting Positives, Negative Filtering, Overgeneralizing, All-or-Nothing Thinking, and the infamous Shoulds. Listen and decide which one is your favorite, so you can work on it this week. Haha, tell us which one your spouse or friend falls into the most. 😉

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Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

Email us: [email protected]

Facebook: The Catholic Midlife Podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecatholicmidlife/

Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/

All human sufferings are capable of being infused with the same power of God manifested in Christ's Cross, writes JP2 in Salvifici Doloris. We have solidarity with Christ in suffering. This solidarity and participation in the cross that unites us with the Holy Spirit is a reality to be experienced and confounds explanations and theories. Moreover, the church is not passive in the face of the world's suffering; on the contrary, we are asked to go precisely to where people are suffering– and the Spirit comes with us. The disorders of our culture show us where we have not met others in their suffering and have not brought God's healing restoration to them.

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Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

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Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/

John Paul II speaks of the Gospel of Suffering. He says "The Redeemer himself wrote this Gospel, above all by his own suffering accepted in love" in Salvifici Doloris. We, meaning everyone, are burdened with suffering. It's natural for us to wish that, and basically expect that God will take it away from us. Suffering cuts directly to what it means to be human. It demands respect and a response. We suffer when we experience any kind of evil, be it "large" or "small." We want to view suffering through the lens of redemption. Christ answered the question about suffering with his own suffering–and as he did so, John Paul II says that evil was laid bare "before the eyes of Christ's soul". And it could not stand. The cross broke evil, somehow, in a way we don't understand (e.g., read Romans 8). So now, as we approach suffering through the lens of redemption, it is possible to meet there the living waters of life that flow from Christ. WE can actually find redemption in the midst of suffering. We meet Christ there. It's really important that in this lens, we hold together the Cross and Resurrection and DO NOT allow them to be separated. Listen to the discussion on the podcast!

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Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

Email us: [email protected]

Facebook: The Catholic Midlife Podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecatholicmidlife/

Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/

What kind of energy are you bringing to situations where you suffer? Is it the kind of energy that leads to faith and hope, and finding purpose? The energy around your suffering tells you a lot about what you might be able to do differently. There's no "right" way to suffer, nor can anyone tell you what you should do. Indeed, suffering is not going to go away in this present age; it is inextricably wound around us in a tight web. The questions we have for ourselves revolve around how we are going to let suffering shape us and what impact it will have on us and those around us.

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Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

Email us: [email protected]

Facebook: The Catholic Midlife Podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecatholicmidlife/

Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/

When life in the Spirit encounters the world, it doesn't fit. There's suffering at the points of collision. Life in the spirit, living in the new creation, being an agent of King Jesus, living the gospel - however you want to talk about living the new reality created by the resurrection - creates pain points because it doesn't conform to this world. We are not conformed to this world. Instead, with the power of the Spirit, we conform this world to the reality of the new creation in the kingdom of God. That's a via crucis, a road marked by suffering. Sometimes we get pulled into strange ideas about suffering being the coin of our salvation that we use to earn our way to God's favor. That's an idea that misses the point. Instead, keep your eye on the end game, which is participating, through the power of the Spirit, in eternal life in the new creation where the kingdom of God is fully present in the unity of heaven and earth.

Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

Email us: [email protected]

Facebook: The Catholic Midlife Podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecatholicmidlife/

Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/

Sometimes we get bogged down in WHY am I suffering? Scripture does not really give us a direct explanation of why evil and its consequent suffering exist. Instead of a tidy explanation, we see the story of what He has done in history, in the Jewish people, and in Christ. We create theories and explanations but these fall short. "I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution", said St. Augustine. Asking WHY we are suffering in a particular way can easily get us stuck in frustration. Because we cannot "solve" our own suffering. God will draw a purpose for you out of your suffering. That's because God can draw good out of evil. Even though He allows evil to take place, it is not because He wants you to suffer. He does not create evil or suffering. What you learn from suffering is not "why" you suffered. Suffering is transformative and draws us more closely into seeing and experiencing God's glory - the glory of the magnificent, tremendous power of the presence of God ruling over heaven and earth in His amazing, redeemed, new creation kingdom.

Mentioned in the show

Lisa Mladnich's book True Radiance, which is out of print but used copies are available, try Amazon. Listen to her interview in Episode 67.

Contact Info

Email or text us:

Text: The Catholic Midlife podcast: 612-208-9150.

Email us: [email protected]

Facebook: The Catholic Midlife Podcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecatholicmidlife/

Website: https://thmlcoaching.com/podcast/