To the Heights

Hope you are all staying healthy and sane! (Seriously, prayers during this rough time. It's rough on all of us. Be gentle with yourself and speak up if you need help. Know we're praying for all of you!)

We have an episode in store recorded pre-quarantine, so if you need to get your mind off of things, here's your chance. We chatted with Angelique Clark, the face behind Life Dress and a graphic designer for Students for Life of America.

Angelique is a super cool human being–– she is the president of her college's Rebels for Life group, she thrifts and hand-paints clothes with pro-life messages, and she even sued her high school for not allowing her to form a pro-life club... and spoiler alert, she won.

She's a perfect example of using your gifts and talents for good and for God and reaching #totheheights. Angelique, it was a joy to get to know you.

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Oh this one's something!! Meyer Chambers is a campus minister and the liturgical music minister at Boston College, where our host Olivia is a member of his liturgical choir. The Liturgy Arts Group, made up of student singers and instrumentalists, is a tightknit and faith-filled community that provides music for all of BC's liturgies.

Meyer is one of those Catholic guys–– he knows seemingly everyone in the Archdiocese, has worked and volunteered and given his heart to so many organizations, and he radiates the light of Christ through his open office door, big smile, and iconic Meyer laugh. He's one of my favorite human beings, and I hope you can see why.

Of course goats come up, but so does ministering to college kids, the importance of music ministry, and one heck of a life story. We love you, Meyer.

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Many, many times before on this podcast Olivia has mentioned Discipleship Week, the Archdiocese of Boston teen leadership and evangelization retreat that started in the summer of 2016. Olivia was in the first "class" where she meet TTH guest Sarah Ryan and Grexly's Paper Cranes guest Kathleen McCarthy. Podcast friend Mickayla Hagar brings teens and helps run it, as does guest Fr. Sinisa. Other season 1 guests, including Max Loeb and Gavin Larnard have attended and grown from the ministry of this retreat.

Needless to say, Discipleship Week holds a special place in our hearts, and it has been wildly successful as it goes into its fourth year. Olivia sits down with Mike Drahos, one of the organizers of the retreat who is an Evangelizing Consultant for the Archdiocese of Boston.

Mike shares the story of Discipleship Week, concrete and practical tips that contributed to its success, as well as his story of straying from the faith and coming back to it through logic and wrestling in college.

What are your tips for a successful teen retreat? How do you help foster Catholic leadership among young people? Let us know what you took away from Olivia's conversation with Mike @ToTheHeightsCTV!

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We're back from our mini-break with another Daughter of St. Paul–– aren't they just the coolest?! Today we have Sr. Christina Miriam on for a discussion about her vocation story, the importance of sharing our own stories, the line between authenticity and oversharing, self-worth in discerning, and her tips for discerning.

Additionally, we've got an opportunity for you! If you are a young woman who's 18-22 and who is thinking about religious life, the Daughters of St. Paul are hosting a Holy Week discernment retreat during the Triduum. You'll get to live in the motherhouse and hang with super cool #MediaNuns like Sr. Christina. More info can be found here: http://vocations.daughtersofstpaul.com/Events

This was such a beautiful, warm discussion–– I hope you enjoy and feel inspired to keep on reaching to the heights! It's a hard climb, but know that we're praying for ya! Reach out @ToTheHeightsCTV.

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Following last week's chat on sainthood and youth ministry with Mickayla Hagar, Olivia and her Boston College friend Faith Payson circle back to their high school experiences and roles in youth ministry to give practical advice about what worked and what didn't from the perspective of recent high school graduates–– what made a difference for them, what could have been better, and how youth ministry prepared them to keep their faith strong in college.

Faith is beautiful human being who is truly reaching to the heights in her daily life at Boston College. She's a pre-med bio major, she sings in the Liturgy Arts Group choir with Olivia, and she and Olivia lead praise & worship Adoration together every week. Last summer, Faith was a Life Teen summer missionary at Camp Hidden Lake in Georgia, and she shares with us all about that exciting experience.

Listen in to hear a fun conversation with one of Olivia's favorite people!!

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Let's keep the conversation going! What were your takeaways? Tell us @ToTheHeightsCTV!

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If you like chit-chat podcasts, this is the one for you! Youth minister Mickayla Hagar was our first ever TTH guest, and now she's back with us to talk about sainthood–– a topic that connects all of our guests and was on her heart while hiking the Camino since we last saw her.

Listen in as Olivia and Mickayla share their real and unfiltered thoughts on a burning desire for sainthood, authencity, and joy.

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Let's keep the conversation going! What were you takeaways? Tell us @ToTheHeightsCTV!

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Following up on our conversation about beauty last week, this week's episode has to do with our world and our Church's desperate need for beauty.

This week we have John Folley, a fine artist based out of his studio in Massachusetts. He studied philisophy and studio art at Notre Dame, then taught at The Heights School outside of D.C. He moved up to Massachuetts to study under a master artist.

Using art as sacrament and sharing the Gospel message through beauty is so important to me and deeply embedded in how I personally desire to reach to the heights–– so for all seekers of beauty, artists, and makers in any way, this episode is for you. We chat about his story, vocation, kids, favorite projects, art and the Church, and so much more.

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Thanks for listening, and talk to you next week! Keep on reaching to the heights!! Let us know who you want on the podcast next @ToTheHeightsCTV!

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We are so excited to share this beautiful guest with all of you this week: Nell O'Leary, the managing editor of Blessed Is She. Olivia met Nell at a young Catholic innovators event at Boston College's C21 Center (of which the president, Karen Kiefer, has been on the podcast before! Link below!).

Nell shares with us the story of Blessed Is She, an organiziation that so many of us know and love. We get to hear how she went from being a lawyer to the BIS editor, what it's like to organize intentional community for women, and to work with such amazing creatives. Olivia and Nell discuss sisterhood, why this world needs beauty, redirecting career paths based on obstacles, creativity, working on a team of creatives, being a mom, and so much more. Nell is a joy to converse with, and I hope you love this conversation just as much as I did.

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Be sure to follow along @ToTheHeightsCTV for more! Thank you so much to Nell and all the lovely ladies at Blessed Is She–– you inspire us to reach to the heights!!

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Today we're chatting with Kristyn Brown, the creator of The Saints Project. Through photography, she creates stunning modern portrayals of our beloved saints. Olivia and Kristyn dive right in to talk about the saint-photography process, from picking models and saints to post-production.

Get ready for a conversation of the technical details, joys, and challenges of these beautiful images that so many Catholics are influenced by. Be sure to check out thesaintproject.org or @kristynbrownphoto to see what we're talking about if you're not familiar!

Thank you for listening, and let us know how Kristyn's story inspires you to reach #totheheights. Follow along on @ToTheHeightsCTV! Talk you next week!

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Welcome back, To the Heights fam! First of all, thank you so much to everyone at #SLS20 who came to our live recording, and a big thank you to FOCUS for the amazing conference and the amazing opportunity to record there.

This week, following #SLS20 and the launch of Grexly (CatholicTV’s new podcasting division!), we are back in the studio with a wonderful, sincere, and uplifting guest: Jeffrey Lindholm.

Jeff and I crossed paths at BC, as he started off his college journey there as a pre-med biology major. He discerned at the end of his sophomore year to leave and go home to Cleveland and join Borremeo Seminary. He’s graduating this spring with a philosophy degree from the neighboring John Carroll University.

Jeff and I chatted about life at seminary vs. college, his path, finding time for prayer in a busy world, his experience as a Life Teen summer missionary, and lots of other fun things. We also took the time to answer questions that listeners posed in response to “if you could ask a seminarian anything, what would you ask?”

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What did you take away from Jeff’s story of reaching to the heights? Let us know @ToTheHeightsCTV! And, if you know of someone who you’d like to hear on the podcast, shoot us an email at [email protected]–– we’d love to hear from you.

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