In this episode of Vows, Vocations, and Promises, Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis and Grace Marie Urlakis interview Fr. Leo Patalinghug, IVDei on his Vocation and Food Ministry (June 15, 2022)

Catholic author and poet, Annabelle Moseley, joins Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis on Episode 36 of WCAT Radio’s “Vows, Vocations, and Promises: Discerning the Call of Love” to discuss her latest book: Our House of the Sacred Heart: A Litany of Stories with Art, Prayers, Poetry, and Reflections Toward Consecration to the Sacred Heart. Annabelle is an award-winning American poet, the inventor of a novel poetic form, the “mirror sonnet.” She is the Professor of Theology and the author of 11 books including Sacred Braille: The Rosary as Masterpiece, through Art, Poetry, and Reflections which was a finalist in the 2020 Catholic Publishers Awards in the Category of Prayer. Her book, “Sacred Braille” has been transcribed into Braille through the Xavier Society for the Blind and made available to the visually impaired. Annabelle is the host of Catholic Podcasts on Sacramental living, including “Then Sings My Soul,” and “Destination Sainthood” on WCAT Radio. She has also been a recurrent guest on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air and has appeared on the Catholic Faith Network. Annabelle was one of five featured artists profiled in the 2019 documentary film, “Masterpieces” which explored the vocational call of the arts.

In this interview, Annabelle shares her inspirational perspective and discusses the unique path to Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus presented in Our House of the Sacred Heart. This text weaves together several genre including poetry, prose, sacred art, prayer, and memoir to yield a one-of-a kind companion book on the journey toward a personal encounter with Sacred Heart of Jesus. Additionally, through her website: https://tourguideofwonder.com, Annabelle invites listeners to join her in praying along with her podcast during a 33-day novena beginning on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, June 11, 2021 and culminating with a Consecration to the Sacred Heart. Her website [https://tourguideofwonder.com] offers users an opportunity to sign-up for daily emails during the novena and provides links to purchase her books. (May 29, 2021)

Rev. Mr. Lucas LaRoche is Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis’ guest on Episode 35 of WCAT Radio’s “Vows, Vocations, & Promises: Discerning the Call of Love.” Deacon Lucas LaRoche is a seminarian, for the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts and is currently in his first year in the Licentiate in Sacred Theology in Patristic Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University while simultaneously completing his final year at the Pontifical North American College. Deacon Lucas wrote the thesis for his Bachelor’s in Sacred Theology on the Zairian Use of the Mass, which was a fruit of his long interest in liturgy, after working with the parishes in his Diocese, as well as local Melkite and Extraordinary Form communities.

In this interview, in addition to discussing his vocational journey, Deacon Lucas details his fascinating research which was recently published in Ex Latere Christi, the Journal of the Pontifical North American College, in a paper entitled: “Inculturation in the Roman Rite (2021_Winter_Digital.indd (netdna-ssl.com).” The subject of liturgical inculturation within the Church is significant and timely, and Deacon LaRoche’s extensive research spans continents and cultures, as well as reviews the salient magisterial documents. In his paper, Deacon Lucas defines “Inculturation” as: “. . . . when the Gospel takes on some cultural elements which are neither native nor vital to the kerygma to better articulate the truth of its proclamation to a group of people (p. 84-85).” In this interview, Deacon Lucas explains the ways in which various traditions and cultures have authentic liturgical expression in the Roman Rite, while delineating the methods requisite to safeguarding the integrity of the Liturgy.

Author, Belinda Terro Mooney, joins Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis for Episode 34 of WCAT Radio’s “Vows, Vocations, and Promises: Discerning the Call of Love,” to discuss her newest publication: My Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Workbook. Ms. Belinda Terro Mooney, LMSW, LDCD, is a licensed social worker and chemical dependency counselor. Belinda is a member of the National Association of Addiction Counselors. She is experienced in clinical and program management and has worked both in the inpatient and outpatient chemical dependency settings. Belinda is an entrepreneur who has owned her own business dedicated to training other professionals. Belinda is currently an Adjunct Professor of Human Services at Lone Star College in Montgomery, and has written several non-fiction texts, including this most recent workbook.

In this interview, Ms. Belinda Terro Mooney discusses the vital process of developing Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLCs). She shares her personal vocation story and insights from decades of work as a chemical dependency counselor and teacher. Belinda describes meaningful strategies to reduce life-stressors and develop positive, goal-oriented approaches to tackling problem behavior pitfalls. She describes her book as a “comprehensive plan for developing a calm and ordered life.” More information regarding Ms. Belinda Terro Mooney, LMSW, LDCD, and her new book entitled, My Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Workbook, is available at the website: Home - TLC Wellness Institute. https://tlcwellnessinstitute.com/

Fr. Jason Smith, LC, joins Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis for Episode 33 of WCAT Radio’s “Vows, Vocations, & Promises: Discerning the Call of Love,” to discuss his vocation as an ordained priest of the Legionaries of Christ.



In this episode, Fr. Jason shares the story his personal call to the ministerial priesthood. He traces his vocation from its early beginnings through his present ministry. Fr. Jason Smith was ordained at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome on Dec 23, 2006. As a seminarian Fr. Jason studied classical humanities at the Novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ in Cheshire, Connecticut, Philosophy at Our Lady of Thornwood in NY, and Theology at the Regina Apostolorum in Rome. After ordination, Father dedicated six years to working with youth in the NY Tri-State by running the Regnum Christi Mission Corps, which is a program for college missionaries. Father also directed a variety of high school ministries and served as the spiritual director for the summer discernment programs at the Legionaries of Christ.



Father Jason is currently the Associate Pastor at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. He continues to work with the Regnum Christi movement, is active in marriage prep and marriage ministry. Father remains a contributor at the Regnum Christi Spirituality Center. Fr Jason Smith, LC (regnumchristinyctnj.org).

Steve Mamanella joins WCAT Radio show-host Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis for Episode 32 of “Vows, Vocations, & Promises: Discerning the Call of Love,” to discuss his new book, published by En Route Books and Media, entitled: Providential. Steve Mamanella is the Principal at Owl Creek Communications and has worked in the field of communications for over thirty years. His memoir, Providential, details his journey, tracing its roots from the emigration to America of his great-grandparents through Steve’s college years, his illustrious career as the Director of Communications for two dioceses, and all of the providential moments that have served to link Steve and his family to the Church and to Christ Himself. Steve is a graduate of Bradley University, and has maintained strong ties to the college and the Newman Center that figured so prominently in his early development. A recent article in the Catholic Post, from the Diocese of Peoria where Steve served as the Director of Communications for five years quotes him as stating: “I am convinced that God is blessing us in ways that we often are unable to comprehend in the moment.” Providential is a book that explores the subtle ways those blessings have shaped one man’s life. In this interview, Steve discusses with Mary Anne Urlakis some of the highlights of his book, including working as the Director of Communications for the Diocese of Peoria during (St) Mother Teresa’s 1995 visit and serving the Diocese of St. Louis in a similar role during the 1999 papal visit of Pope (St.) John Paul II.

Steve Mamanella’s memoir is a beautiful story; a gentle reminder of the grace of God’s ever-arching plan for each and every human life and the various “God-appointments”, or moments in which our lives intersect with others through inexplicable ways yielding far-reaching good. Providential is available through En Route Books and Media at: https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/providential/

The dynamic Catholic author and speaker, Mary Kloska, is Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis’ guest for Episode 31 of WCAT Radio’s “Vows, Vocations, & Promises: Discerning the Call of Love.” In this episode, Mary shares the fascinating narrative of her personal vocational story- a journey which has spanned several continents as a missionary and as a hermit. Mary possesses a rare zeal and prayerful abandonment for the following Jesus Christ. In this episode, she discusses the role of authentic discernment in living the Divine Will of God, and her faithful work to serve the poor and underserved from the U.S. to Russia, Siberia, Poland, Tanzania, Belize, and Pakistan. Mary Kloska’s missionary ministry continues to reach hundreds of thousands of Catholics all over the globe through her music, books, and on-line rosary. Her most popular book, The Holiness of Womanhood, had been translated into Spanish, Polish, and Pakastani, and is available through Enroute Books and Media at https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/holinessofwomanhood/ . (February 28, 2021)

Dr. Peter Martin, Psy.D., joins WCAT Radio Show Host Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis in Episode 30 of “Vows, Vocations, and Promises: Discerning the Call of Love,” to discuss his contribution in the recently published comprehensive new book: Spiritual Husbands-Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century, edited by Bishop Felipe Estevez and Bishop Andrew Cozzens. In this episode, Dr Martin discusses his recently published chapter, “Striving for Affective Maturity and Authentic Peace of Soul: The Role of Deep Forgiveness and Secure Attachment.”

Dr. Martin is a licensed psychologist, and the Internship Director of Integrated Training and Formation at Catholic Social Services of Southern Nebraska, an APA accredited site, where he is responsible for the psychological and faith-integrated formation of pre-doctoral psychology interns and other mental health professionals. Additionally, in 2008 Dr. Martin initiated and heads a clinical outreach site, through Catholic Social Services, at the Newman Center on the campus of the University of Nebraska where he provides therapy to university students and consultation services to priests, FOCUS missionaries, and other staff. Dr. Martin provided growth counseling services from 2012-2013 to seminarians at the Institute for Priestly Formation summer program in Omaha. Dr. Martin served on the Executive Board of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association from 2013-2016. His areas of interest include supervising therapists in faith-integrated treatments of psychological disorders, in practicing trauma-informed therapy, Forgiveness-Therapy, treating “implicit God-image Problems” and psychological obstacles to authentic spiritual encounters with God and giving and receiving love, in studying the psychology of belief and unbelief, and the social scientific understanding of religious conversion.

Dr. Martin and his employer, The Immaculate Heart of Mary Counseling Center and Catholic Social Services, are in the early stages of aggregating data for psycho-spiritual assessment project to directly serve the Church hierarchy, both women and men’s religious, and to indirectly serve all the laity. Dr. Martin is also currently developing and implementing an adaptation of Witness to Love’s Marriage Preparation Mentorship Program (a virtues-focused, attachment-based model of couples’ mentorship) to support the pillar of human formation of diocesan seminarians and religious life.

In this interview, Dr. Martin discusses the need to seek and foster authentic peace of soul. He outlines various impediments to authentic peace, including flawed patterns of attachment. Dr. Martin elucidates the ways in which persistently compromised internal peace and deficit attachment patterns can negatively affect priestly formation. Peter Martin and Mary Anne Urlakis explore the role of Deep Forgiveness as the therapeutic antidote for debilitating anger and resentment, specifically delineating the definition of forgiveness, its requisite characteristics, and benefits. Dr. Martin specifically addresses the challenges of seminary formation with regard to seeking authentic peace of soul, healing attachment issues, and working through anger to the liberating joy of Deep Forgiveness.

Dr. Peter Martin’s chapter, entitled: “Striving for Affective Maturity and Authentic Peace of Soul: The Role of Deep Forgiveness and Secure Attachment” is published in Spiritual Husbands- Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century, edited by Bishop Felipe Estevez and Bishop Andrew Cozzens, published by Holy Apostles College and Seminary’s En Route Books and Media, which is available at: https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/spiritualhusbands/.

Dr. Angelyn Spignesi Kopylec Arden joins Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis as her guest on Episode 29 of WCAT Radio’s “Vows, Vocations, and Promises: Discerning the Call of Love.” Dr. Arden earned her Ph.D. in Cognitive Scientific Psychology from the University of New Hampshire in 1977 and since 1981 has been licensed as a psychologist in Connecticut, where she practiced Depth Psychology for 25 years. Dr. Arden has long been fascinated by the study of the relationship between the human unconscious, subconscious and conscious, and the dynamics which motivate the human mind. In this episode, Dr. Arden explains the science and practice of depth psychology.

In addition to her clinical work in the field of Depth Psychology, Dr. Arden is also an exemplar educator. She began teaching at the of Dallas in 1978 and has been a Professor of Humanities at Holy Apostles College and Seminary since 2006. Dr. Arden teaches courses in psychology and literature to undergraduate students as well as Human Formation to seminarians. Dr. Arden has served as the Group Facilitator of Seminarian Theological Reflection, and has published scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals, including a piece entitled, “Seminarian Human Formation and Social Justice,” in the Social Justice Review, and also “The Fides et Ratio Seminars,” published in The Bulletin of Catholic Higher Education. Dr. Arden has published ten books, including: Lyrical-Analysis: The Unconscious Through Jane Eyre (1990), The Articulate Silence of God (2002), and Clara & Marcus (2002). The last two books draw on Scripture in dealing with the Christian healing of broken souls. Much of Dr. Arden’s work focuses on the interface between Depth Psychology, Christianity, literature, and philosophy. In this interview, Dr. Arden details her vocational journey as well as highlights the value of understanding the nexus between Christianity and Depth Psychology. Her other book titles include: Orbits of Symphony (2015), Purcell Wrengt (2015), Unfolding (2015), Random as Lace (2015), as well as The Train” and “Jude’s Wife (2015).”

Dr. Suzanne Baars, Ph.D., LPC-S, LMFT, LCDC, joins WCAT Radio Show Host Dr. Mary Anne Urlakis in Episode 28 of “Vows, Vocations, and Promises: Discerning the Call of Love,” to discuss her contribution in the recently published comprehensive new book: Spiritual Husbands- Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century, edited by Bishop Felipe Estevez and Bishop Andrew Cozzens. In this episode, Dr. Baars discusses her fascinating vocation as a marriage and family therapist and her recently published chapter, “The Importance of Human Formation and Affective Maturity in the Man of Communion.”

Dr. Suzanne Baars, Ph.D. is a licensed family therapist living in Irving, Texas. She is the Clinical Director of the In His Image Counseling Center, where she teams with other Catholic therapists and a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Dr. Baars has worked extensively in the field of counseling since 1986, serving a range of patients and clients in both hospital-based and clinical outpatient settings. Dr. Baars’ expertise is based upon methodology which incorporates the Christian Anthropology of St. Thomas Aquinas in the treatment of a variety of emotional and spiritual disorders, including emotional deprivation disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and scrupulosity. Dr. Baars is a frequent presenter at Catholic conferences and has been interviewed on EWTN’s “Women of Grace” and “Coffin Nation.” Dr. Baars often presents the contributions of her late father, the renowned psychiatrist and author, Dr. Conrad Baars, M.D.- who pioneered the field of Catholic Psychology.



Dr. Baars served on the faculty of the Institute for Priestly Formation from 2008-2015, actively engaging in a variety of roles in formation including the teaching of seminarians. Dr. Baars has been a contributor to two IPF publications focusing on the development of affective maturity in priestly formation. Dr. Baars has a deep love and commitment to the role of human formation in seminary education and believes the health of the Church is largely dependent upon mature and affirmed clergy. Dr. Baars is the past President of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association. She also operates the Baars Institute, which is dedicated to offering hope to those affected by emotional deprivation, as well as educating the public regarding the concept of affirmation and the healing of emotional disorders. More information can be found at the link www.Baarsinstitute.com.



In this episode, Dr. Suzanne Baars details the requisite nature of affective maturity for effective seminary and priestly formation. Noting that Bishop Cozzens has previously articulated that “the benchmark for human formation which summarizes all the others is the ability to live a sacrificial life, a life of self-gift,” Dr. Baars demonstrates that restraining one’s own desires when necessary and appropriate as well as possessing the capacity to offer compassionate pastoral care can only truly flow from a character that is appropriately formed. Dr. Baars discusses the role of affirmation in overcoming challenges to affective maturity and offers hope for those who struggle with the impediments found in prior emotional deprivation.

Dr. Suzanne Baar’s chapter, entitled “The Importance of Human Formation and Affective Maturity in the Man of Communion” is published in Spiritual Husbands- Spiritual Fathers: Priestly Formation for the 21st Century, edited by Bishop Felipe Estevez and Bishop Andrew Cozzens, published by Holy Apostles College and Seminary’s Enroute Books and Media, which is available at: https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/spiritualhusbands/. (December 8, 2020)