Episodes
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Angela Perez Baraquio was the first Asian woman to win the Miss America competition. As the eighth of ten children, Angela is the daughter of Filipino immigrants. Her parents immigrated from Pangasinan, Philippines to Hawaii, where she was raised. A faithful Catholic, Baraquio leaned on her faith through pageantry, tragic loss, illness, and family life. Angela Perez Baraquio joins me on The Dignity of Women to share the valuable lessons that she has learned and now implements at the Catholic school where she is principal.
Me, Angela, and Michelle Hillaert
Angela Perez Baraquio
Growing up as the daughter of two teachers, Angela always aspired to follow their lead into the classroom. Her second-grade teacher was another inspiration to her, creating a life-long impression. Finally fulfilling this dream as athletic director and elementary P.E. teacher at Holy Family Catholic Academy in Honolulu, she was challenged by two of her students to enter the Miss Hawaii competition, which she had already entered twice and had no plans to enter again. Accepting their challenge, Baraquio went on to became the first teacher to win the title of Miss Hawaii 2000. This would not be Angela's last time overcoming odds.
Angela went on to represent Hawaii in the Miss America 2001 competition and became the first Asian to win the Miss America title since the pageant’s inception in 1921. Baraquio's original intention in joining beauty pageants was to supplement her higher education. The two pageants together netted $14,000 in college scholarship money, which she used to complete her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. The $81,000 scholarship assistance she received as a prize for winning the Miss American pageant went towards her master’s degree in educational administration.
Baraquio married her High School sweetheart, Tinifuloa Grey, in 2002, who is a Polynesian musician. Together, Grey and Baraquio have five children and live in California where Angela is the principal of St. Anthony of Padua School in Los Angeles county. Baraquio is outspoken about her pro-life views and has put her Catholic values above her fame, refusing calendar shoots and television roles that compromise her beliefs.
Angela and husband Tinifuloa
Platform
Baraquio used her platform to promote her advocacy of “Character in the Classroom: Teaching Values, Valuing Teachers.” She believes that it is not enough to just aim for high grades. What is more important are the values instilled in the students and their character education. Negative behaviors of students can be turned around in an environment of trust, in which adults model good character traits.
Angela crowning my little guy!
Tragedy, Loss, Illness
Five years after winning the Miss America pageant, and a few days before delivering her second child, Angela's younger brother Alfred committed suicide. This period of loss shook the Baraquio family and tested their faith. They went to counseling together and a priest walked them through the anxiety surrounding the state of Alfred's soul. This eventually allowed them to have hope and eventually peace in spite of the incredible pain of his loss.
The Baraquia's would again face suffering when Angela's older sister Bernadette contracted and went through treatment for breast cancer. Two years later, Angela herself discovered that she also had breast cancer. Thankfully, she and her sister are both currently in remission.
“Here I was—a former Miss America who loves my hair!—going through hair loss and chemo. It was brutal. Laughing was the only way I could keep from crying.”
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Better Way Designs is a Michigan based company making a real impact on those freed from the sex trafficking industry. Through 9 world-wide supplier locations, Better Way Designs purchases and resells the products made by those who have been freed. Melanie Schmiedicke joins me on The Dignity of Women to share how she became a freedom fighter and how the emphasis of this mission is on dignity rather than charity.
Melanie Schmiedicke
The daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, Melanie (Fedoryka) Schmiedicke was trained from a young age in classical violin, and performed with her family in concerts across the country. She spent her high-school years in Austria and eventually graduated from Franciscan University and continued to travel and live in various places abroad and here in the US. Now married with four children, she is passing her love for music on to her children, and still enjoys traveling, as well as baking, knitting, and working with others to create freedom for women through her Better Way business.
Shop Here!
Better Way Designs
"Trafficking is a BIG problem. So, we want to be a MASSIVE part of the solution. That is why we have chosen to partner with over 15 other organizations in over 9 different countries to FIGHT it!"
Better Way Designs is a traveling marketplace for many who have been silenced for too long. They recognized that many Americans were willing to purchase, as well as develop freedom businesses of their own, in supporting this mission. Better Way committed to buying and selling products, and then coming back again and again for more. They wanted to keep those freed from sex trafficking employed and believed that it could be done by good business practices. That's why Better Way Designs is certified by the Fair-Trade Federation and are a certified B-corporation.
"One of our favorite attributes is that Better Way allows ANYONE to be involved in the fight."
Whether purchasing, booking a freedom party or becoming a Freedom Fighter, this is a way for Americans to get involved and make tangible differences. Each purchase generates a certain amount of work hours for a woman, indicated in the catalog next to each item. These hours translate directly into income for her and her children, and the greater the demand for her work, the more stability she can enjoy.
"Most who work for our suppliers are given health care, child care, education and an opportunity to experience independence. With safe working environments and an opportunity to create impactful relationships, you can see why this is much more than a job. This is dignity in its most active form."
Shop Here!
Countries:
IndiaCambodiaThailandNepalBoliviaBangladeshUSUndisclosed area in Middle EastUndisclosed area in Asia
Freedom Fighter
If you choose to go a step beyond just purchasing products from Better Way Designs, they offer the opportunity to become a freedom fighter.
This is considered the greatest level of impact on those seeking freedom. It also provides income for the freedom fighter, and therefore can become a business for them. This is not only an opportunity to work for freedom, but alongside others who are doing the same thing. You literally become business partners with women around the world who are freed from sex trafficking and making the products!
Imagine spending your work hours to create sustainable freedom for others around the world. Working for a Fair-Trade organization bent on advancing the concept of dignity to those who were once caught in the sex trade by empowering women to run the... -
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Archduke Imre and Archduchess Kathleen of Austria credit their own love story and the continuing example for their marriage and family life to their saintly ancestors; Blessed Karl and Servant of God Zita of Austria. The Archduke and Archduchess join me on The Dignity of Women to share their own story and what the legacy of Karl and Zita has taught them, and can teach all of us!
Blessed Karl
Karl was born on August 17, 1887 to Archduke Otto and Princess Maria Josephine of Saxony. A deep devotion to the Holy Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began to grow in Charles and he turned to prayer before making any important decisions. Karl married Princess Zita of Bourbon and Parma on October 21, 1911, and the couple had eight children. Their marriage and family life were inspirational and Charles died saying to Zita, "I'll love you forever."
Emperor of Peace
On June 28, 1914 Charles became heir to the throne of the Austro‑Hungarian Empire , following the assassination of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand. He would be the last Emperor of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.
Charles approached his royal duty as a way to follow Christ, showing love and care to the peoples entrusted to him, and in dedicating his life to them.
He placed the most sacred duty of a king - a commitment to peace - at the center of his preoccupations during the course of WWI and was the only political leader to support Benedict XV's peace efforts.
Two attempts to re-establish authority in Hungry failed after the war. Wishing above all to avoid civil war, Charles was exiled to the island of Madeira, but since he considered his duty as a mandate from God, he could not abdicate his office.
Karl and Zita were reduced to poverty, and they lived in exile until he fell fatally ill. Accepting an early death in exile as a sacrifice for the peace and unity of his peoples, Karl forgave all those who conspired against him and died on April 1, 1922 with his eyes turned toward the Holy Sacrament. On his deathbed he repeated the motto of his life: "I strive always in all things to understand as clearly as possible and follow the will of God, and this in the most perfect way”.
Zita of Austria-Hungry
Born May 9, 1892, Zita was the last Empress. She is said to have had an energetic personality, unbending will, and superior intellect. She accompanied and influenced her husband in many important decisions, but above all, they clung to a unity in their shared Catholic faith. When Karl's peace initiative failed, Zita was vilified as a traitor by German Nationalists because of her Bourbon descent. She went with her husband into exile and was his greatest support throughout. After his death, Zita raised their eight children and defended their dynastic rights.
"Thanks to her authority, the former empress became the central figure in the Habsburg-Lorraine family in the difficult times after the loss of the crown.During the Second World War, which she spent in exile in Canada, she became an influential advocate for the restoration of Austria’s independence, but after 1945 she mainly focused her energies on the beatification process for her late husband.
Reconciliation with the Republic of Austria was finally achieved in 1982, when the former empress, who had been denied entry to Austria, was allowed to set foot on Austrian soil for the first time again on the initiative of Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky.Zita died on 14 March 1989 in Zizers at the age of 96. She was interred according to Habsburg dynastic tradition in the crypt of the Church of the Capuchin Friars in Vienna. However, her heart was buried in the new Habsburg family crypt at Muri Abbey in the northern Swiss canton of Aargau, -
Ortrud and Dr. Germain Bianchi have an extraordinary story of being joined together by the famous Italian stigmatist priest, Saint Padre Pio! Ortrud joins me on The Dignity of Women to tell how she came to find her Catholic faith, befriend the saint who would change her life forever, and ultimately how that saint would lead her to her future husband.
Ortrud Bianchi
Ortrud Bianchi was born in 1945 in Ronsperg, Czech Republic as the youngest of six children. Her family settled in a small town in Germany for a few years until her parents divorced when she was only five years old. Her mother’s difficult life as a divorcee convinced her that she would never marry. Although Ortrud grew up without a religious atmosphere at home, she received religious instruction at school and the sacraments of the Catholic Church.
When Ortrud was a teenager, her maternal grandmother died unexpectedly and her mother traveled to Austria for the funeral, deciding to remain there permanently. There Ortrud's mother returned with fervor to her Catholic faith after the loss of her mother, and began to fast and pray for the return of her six children to the faith as well.
Meanwhile, Ortrud moved in with her oldest sister and brother-in-law in Landshut, Germany to finish her schooling and often visited her mother in Austria on school vacations. She strongly resisted her mother's new mission to convert her however, and even threatened to stop visiting if she kept talking about religion. Although her mother remained silent on the matter, she handed Ortrud a pamphlet with Jesus on the cover as their next visit came to a close. Despite accepting the pamphlet in order to avoid an argument with her mother, Ortrud avoided it until Easter vacation was about to begin. She decided to read one small page of the pamphlet in order to appease her mother at their upcoming visit.
She was home alone when she finally opened the pamphlet from the diary of the Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska, randomly. Jesus' words to Sister Faustina hit her like lightning as He explained that His mercy was greater than any human or angelic mind could fathom and invited every soul, no matter how sinful, to draw close to His merciful heart. Ortrud realized in that moment that Jesus loved her more than she could imagine and was convicted that she didn't want to be indifferent to Him anymore. She was overwhelmed by deep emotions of contrition and felt a force that brought her to her knees as she cried out over and over, “Jesus, from now on, I want to be your friend.”
The next morning was Sunday and to her sister and brother-in-law's great shock, Ortrud woke up early and went alone to church for confession and Mass, never missing another Sunday Mass again!
Meeting Padre Pio
By 1964, Ortrud was living with her mother in Austria. Two years later, the family had planned to meet in Rome for her brother's wedding. When the documents for his wedding disappeared, Ortrud's mother decided to seize the opportunity for the family to use their time together to visit a holy monk named Padre Pio, who had the stigmata and lived near Rome, in San Giovanni Rotondo.
At first, Ortrud was excited to see a saint, but their first experience was Padre Pio’s 5:00 a.m. Mass, in which people were pushing and shoving so much that her brother-in-law lost his shoe, another person’s glasses flew off their face, and people were racing down the middle aisle and jumping over the pews in such a frenzy that it seemed more like a sporting event. When Padre Pio entered the sanctuary, he looked old, weak and sickly. Ortrud felt sorry for him and for the misled people who seemed more devoted to him than to Jesus and Mary. As she watched Padre Pio celebrate Mass, she was disappointed that nothing extraordinary happened, even inside of her. -
Sr. Mary Madeline Todd serves on the Board of Directors for the GIVEN Institute. She joins me on The Dignity of Women to talk about the need for Catholic Women Leaders in our culture and how young women are being formed through continuing mentorship at GIVEN.
Sr. Mary Madeline Todd
Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., S.T.D., a Dominican Sister of the Congregation of Saint Cecilia, serves as Chair of the Philosophy Department at Mount de Sales Academy and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Aquinas College in Nashville.
Sister earned her doctorate at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome and a Master of Arts in English from the University of Memphis. Her dissertation was on Christ, The Liberator of Woman, a study of the theology of Mulieris Dignitatem in light of current questions.
Sister Mary Madeline writes on spiritual and moral theology and speaks on both theological and literary topics internationally. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the GIVEN Institute and St. Agnes Catholic School. Her retreat and parish mission ministry has been a graced opportunity to share the light of Christ's merciful love from Australia to Alaska.
What is Given?
When deciding what to call this initiative, our founding Sisters began with the reality that all we have has been given to us by God: our faith, our hope, our love, our gifts, our destiny, our lives—everything–is freely given to us by God. The GIVEN Institute explores the feminine response to God’s love, to illuminate the “the feminine genius” that women contribute to families, society, the Church, and the world. We desire to help women receive the gift that they are, realize the gifts they’ve been given, and respond with the gift that only they can give.
The GIVEN Institute was established in February 2018 and has its origin in the 2016 GIVEN Catholic Young Women’s Leadership Forum, organized by the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious. Sister Mary Gabriel, SV and Sister Bethany Madonna, SV, Co-Chairs of the 2016 GIVEN Forum, conceived of the idea to host a leadership forum for young women throughout the United States with the aim of helping them to “receive the gift they are, realize the gifts they’ve been given, and respond with the gift that only they can give.”
Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, Superior General of the Sisters of Life and an organizer of the event, said “GIVEN was conceived in the hearts of women religious and remains a significant response on the part of the Church to encourage, inspire, and mentor young women at a crucial moment in their lives. We want each of them to know they are loved, noticed, and necessary.”
The 2016 GIVEN Forum brought together nearly 300 young adult women from every state in the country, and connected them with some of the leading women in the Church. The attendees were accompanied by over 70 religious sisters from more than 25 different religious communities. Each participant developed a post-forum action plan that they implemented in a community of their choice. The GIVEN Institute was formed to continue the inaugural forum’s mission of activating the gifts of young adult women for the Catholic Church and the world.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
What is the Theology of Women?
How is GIVEN responding to the need for Catholic Women Leaders?
Why is mentorship important?
What is the difference between feminine and masculine gifts?
How do you live out your spiritual maternity through your religious vocation?
LINKS AND RESOURCES
The Given Institute
GIVEN Academy
Women on Mission
SOCIAL MEDIA
Join our social media discussion group: The Dignity of Women Facebook page
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Marjorie Dannenfelser leads the Susan B. Anthony list and works tirelessly to secure pro-life votes at all levels, to ensure that "Life is Winning" in the United States of America. She joins me on The Dignity of Women to discuss pro-life politics and her unexpected conversion to the Donald Trump ticket, after many initial hesitations, and what led her to strongly pledge her support.
Marjorie Dannenfelser
Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of Susan B. Anthony List. Over the last three election cycles, SBA List and its super PAC, Women Speak Out, have reached more than 4.6 million voters by visiting voters at their homes to win a pro-life White House and secure a pro-life majority in the U.S. Senate. In January 2020, Dannenfelser was named national co-chair of the Pro-Life Voices for Trump coalition, a role she held during the 2016 campaign after securing four groundbreaking pro-life commitments from the nominee.
Dannenfelser is the author of “Life is Winning: Inside the Fight for Unborn Children and Their Mothers.” She has been published widely including in TIME, The Washington Post, and National Review and profiled by New York Magazine, The Telegraph, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. She serves on the board of Alliance Defending Freedom, on Life Perspectives’ Task Force, and was appointed to the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission by Senate Leader McConnell. She was named one of Politico Magazine’s Top 50 Influencers of 2018, Washington Examiner’s top ten “Political Women on the Move,” Newsmax’s top 25 Most Influential Republican Women, and Newsweek’s top ten “Leaders of the Christian Right.”
An alumna of Duke University, she and her husband Marty live in Arlington, Virginia, and have five children.
Life is Winning
Ahead of the pivotal 2020 elections, momentum is building across America to revisit the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that struck down laws protecting unborn children and their mothers nationwide.
Life is Winning tells the story of how the pro-life cause went from an orphaned political “problem” to a winning issue embraced at the highest levels of the Republican Party, thanks to a small-but-ambitious group of pro-life women. These women took on Washington’s consultant class and in the process built a multimillion-dollar campaign and lobbying powerhouse with more than 900,000 grassroots members nationwide.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List and leading architect of the pro-life strategy that helped propel then-candidate Donald Trump to his stunning victory in 2016, gives inside perspective on how her own pro-life conversion – and the President’s – resembles the national sea change happening today, and why the end of abortion and restoration of life in America is closer than ever before.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
The Susan B. Anthony List and the political fight for life
Pro-Life Politics
Marjorie's conversion to the Trump ticket and why?
Planned Parenthood
Election 2020
LINKS AND RESOURCES
The Susan B. Anthony List
Life is Winning
Amy Coney Barrett as a person of character
How to Donate!
SOCIAL MEDIA
Join our social media discussion group: The Dignity of Women Facebook page
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Dr. Scott Hahn is a world-renowned American Catholic theologian and apologist. He joins me on The Dignity of Women to discuss the holy family and their everlasting impact on family life, as well as his own marriage and family life, and the dignity bestowed on women by Jesus Christ!
Dr. Scott Hahn
Dr. Scott Hahn is the Fr. Michael Scanlan Professor of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he has taught since 1990. He is the Founder and President of the St. Paul Center, an apostolate dedicated to teaching Catholics to read Scripture from the heart of the Church.
Dr. Hahn has been married to his wife Kimberly Hahn for forty years, and together they have six children and eighteen grandchildren. Two of their sons are currently in priestly formation with the Diocese of Steubenville.
He is the author or editor of over forty popular and academic books, including best-selling titles Rome Sweet Home, The Lamb’s Supper, and Hail Holy Queen. A former Presbyterian minister, Dr. Hahn entered the Catholic Church in 1986. Over the last three decades, Dr. Hahn has delivered thousands of popular talks and academic lectures, nationally and internationally, on a wide range of topics related to Scripture, Theology, and the Catholic faith.
He lives with his wife, Kimberly, in Steubenville, Ohio.
Jesus and The Holy Family
"Through real-life examples and from the Scriptures, Hahn makes it clear that, no matter what sort of family we come from, we can all find our family in the Church."
It was a real gift to hear from this biblical scholar on the joys and trials of his own family life. To learn of his courtship with his wife Kimberly, and of the raising of their six children together in the Catholic faith, after stepping down as a Presbyterian minister.
Dr. Hahn shares of the importance of those seemingly insignificant hidden years of Jesus' life on earth, and how the model of the holy family still guides modern families today.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
The hidden years of Jesus
The holy family and the human family
The special dignity given to women by Jesus Christ
Circumcision as a covenant
Prayer in the early Church
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Scott Hahn
St. Paul Center
First Comes Love
Rome Sweet Home
The Lamb's Supper
Hail Holy Queen
Hope to Die
SOCIAL MEDIA
Join our social media discussion group: The Dignity of Women Facebook page
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Justin McClain is a black Catholic author, who strives to live the message of Jesus Christ, whether teaching in his classroom, at home with his family, or through encounters of daily life in our American society. Justin McClain joins me on The Dignity of Women to give a Christocentric perspective of the current race issues in America, Black Lives Matter, and the necessary Christian response.
Justin McClain
Justin McClain has taught theology and Spanish at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland, since 2006. He has also served as an adjunct lecturer in Spanish for the pre-college programs at the University of Maryland, College Park, and taught English as a second language at Prince George’s Community College. He received a Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching and commitment to Catholic education from the Archdiocese of Washington in 2017.
McClain is the author of several books, including Called to Teach and the award-winning Called to Pray. He is a regular contributor to the National Catholic Register, Catholic Exchange, and the National Catholic Educational Association. He was a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church’s Subcommittee on African-American Affairs in 2015, as well as to the USCCB’s Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development, and the Secretariat of Catholic Education, in 2018. McClain is a lay Dominican.
He lives with his wife, Bernadette, and their children in Bowie, Maryland.
Reconciliation over Restitution
As our country faces turbulent social unrest over outcries of racism, many ask what they can do. People feel motivated to be part of the change, but many Christians are conflicted with affiliating themselves with the 'Black Lives Matter' organization, because of its non-Christian stances on political issues and its affiliation with radical non-Christian groups.
Justin recommends focusing on reconciliation as opposed to restitution. One way we have decided to do this, is to facilitate a book reading and discussion of the book, Forgiveness Makes You Free by Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga, who is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Here's how to join us:
1.) Go to: Forgiveness Makes You Free by Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga at Ave Maria Press
2.) Use code: DIGNITY at checkout for 20% off AND free shipping!
3.) Join The Dignity of Women FB page, where the discussion will be held
4.) Join us every Monday on The Dignity of Women FB page to discuss a chapter of the book, and to ask Justin questions about the book, his podcast, and the proper Christian response to race issues.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Current race issues in the United States
The rioting and looting response
The social constructs of racism
Examining the 'Black Lives Matter' movement
The proper Christian response to injustice
Reconciliation over restitution
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Called to Teach: Daily Inspiration for Catholic Educators
Called to Pray: Daily Prayers for Catholic Schools
Alleluia to Amen: The Prayer Book for Catholic Parishes
Here's how to join our social media discussion group:
1.) Go to: Forgiveness Makes You Free by Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga at Ave Maria Press
2.) Use code: DIGNITY at checkout for 20% off AND free shipping!
3.) Join The Dignity of Women FB page, where the discussion will be held
4.) Join us every Monday on The Dignity of Women FB page to discuss a chapter of the book, and to ask Justin questions about the book, his podcast, and the proper Christian response to race issues.
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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Mary Lenaburg is a writer, speaker, and woman of God who has given keynotes at conferences across the country. Mary's book, Be Brave In the Scared rocked audiences with its candid look at overcoming pornography and food addiction in marriage as well as life with a disabled child, and the eventual loss of that child. Mary Lenaburg joins me on The Dignity of Women to share how her raw and honest testimony has drawn many to a greater healing of their own suffering. Mary and her husband, Jerry, live in Fairfax, Virginia, with their son, Jonathan. Their daughter, Courtney, passed away in 2014.
Mary Lenaburg
Mary Lenaburg gave birth to her son Jonathan in 1989 and her daughter Courtney in August 1992. One month later, while being baptized, Courtney had her first of many grand-mal seizures. Going from the church to the emergency room that day, Mary’s life was changed forever.
For the next 22-years, Mary and her family took a spiritual journey that led them to numerous hospitals and specialists, to Lourdes, France and finally to a home-based hospice for their daughter. Courtney Lenaburg died in her mother's arms in December 2014, on the feast of St. John the Beloved. She is now her family's most powerful intercessor.
Courtney’s unique ability to love without ever speaking a word taught Mary and her family that everyone has a purpose and a mission. They came to accept Courtney's condition and her prognosis, trusting God and allowing His plan for their family to unfold.
Mary began a ministry in 2016 and travels the country speaking about God’s Redeeming love and encouraging others to embrace the story God is writing with their lives. Her witness encourages others to trust God with their own outcome and have hope in times of desolation. Mary Lenaburg's story of trust and healing has taught countless men and women to be brave in the scared, even if they cannot see where the path leads.
Be Brave in the Scared
When the bomb dropped that their daughter Courtney would continue to require more and more care throughout her disability, Mary and her husband Jerry both coped through addiction. She turned to overeating and Jerry turned to pornography. Mary stepped out in immense faith when she began sharing the most intimate struggles of their lives on the pages of her book.
In the podcast Mary shares the example that her father taught to her, which she says requires only being brave one breath at a time. This inspired the title of Mary's book, Be Brave in the Scared, which is the uplifting account of human frailty (and stubbornness) surrendered to faith." It's the heart-rending journey of how caring for her severely disabled daughter affected Mary's self-image, marriage, family life, and her faith.
Mary's extraordinary story affirms that God’s redeeming love never fails and that he is there to help us through all of the challenges we encounter.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Pornography in marriage
Food addiction
Adjusting to life with a severely disabled child
Walking in faith
Dealing with crisis one breath at a time
The loss of a child
Finding peace for the family after loss
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Mary Lenaburg
Be Brave in the Scared
How a Young Woman with a Mystery Diagnosis Left a Legacy of Love
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Sonja Corbitt, The Bible Study Evangelista and creator of the LOVE the Word Bible study method and journal is a Catholic Scripture teacher with a story teller’s gift – a Southern belle with a warrior’s heart and a poet’s pen. A best-selling author, her weekly CatholicTV and radio show and other Bible study resources are bites of spinach that taste like cake - to help you “love and lift all you’ve been given.” Sonja's work resonates deeply with the female heart and she joins me on The Dignity of Women to unpack everything from letting God heal the "father wound" to resolving anxiety and fear in the Word of God.
Sonja Corbitt
Sonja Corbitt is a vital Catholic voice - a best-selling author, speaker, and broadcaster - who produces high-impact, uplifting multimedia Bible studies.
A Carolina native who was raised as a Southern Baptist, Corbitt converted to Catholicism and served as director of religious education at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Gallatin, Tennessee, and as executive director of Risen Radio.
She is the riveting weekly host of the Bible Study Evangelista Show on CatholicTV and radio. Corbitt is in formation as a Third Order Carmelite, a columnist at The Great Adventure Bible Study blog, a regular contributor to Magnificat, and a best-selling author who also wrote for the Gallatin News Examiner and Oremus, the Westminster Cathedral magazine. She lives in Tennessee with her husband, Bob, with whom she home schools two sons.
LOVE The Word
Pope Francis called Mary the “mother of listening,” because she didn’t just hear the word – in our case read, also – she understood how to interpret it in light of her own relationships, circumstances, and habits. Pope Benedict XVI called her the “model of prayer,” and said her unique holiness was the fruit of her way of pondering relationships and circumstances in her heart with God.
LOVE the Word is lectio divina without the Latin. Modeled on the Annunciation, the LOVE the Word® method invites Our Lady to guide each of us in her own personal prayer practice: L – listen, O – observe, V – verbalize, E – entrust. We learn how to LOVE the Word like Mary, from Mary. She teaches us to interpret the word we hear and read through the landscape of our lives.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Facing Fear and Anxiety (Spiritual/Metal/Emotional attack)
Conversion from Southern Baptist
Healing the Father Wound
Struggle with Mary
Understanding Scripture
Prayer Plan
Becoming Fearless
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Sonja Corbitt
Fearless: Conquer Your Demons and Love with Abandon
Unleashed: How to Receive Everything the Holy Spirit Wants to Give You
Exalted: How the Power of the Magnificat Can Transform Us
Ignite
Suffering & Miracles
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Carrie Gress, philosopher, mom, and author of The Marian Option, The Anti-Mary Exposed, and Theology of Home, joins me on The Dignity of Women to boldly discuss toxic femininity in our culture - the effects it's had and how to rescue ourselves, our family, and our society.
Carrie Gress
Carrie Gress has a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of America and has taught as a professor at Pontifex University. She is the editor at the online magazine Theology of Home. Carrie is a regular contributor to Catholic and secular media. She is the author of seven books including The Marian Option, The Anti-Mary Exposed and Theology of Home.
But beyond all of her many wonderful accomplishments in advancing Christendom, Carrie is a homeschooling mother, awaiting the birth of her fifth child! As she lives out her vocation of marriage and motherhood, Carrie has often contemplated the role feminism has played in our society.
She has naturally been drawn deeper into reflecting on the role of Our Lady and her unique "gentle" power, which of course remains at odds with many elements of the feminist movement's ideal quest for power. Carrie shares her inspiration to write The Marian Option, also inviting children to enter into a deeper relationship with Mary through her book, Marian Consecration for Children.
Theology of Home
One of the things that most resonated with Carrie was the need Americans have to return to the home as a sanctuary for the family. We are addicted to HGTV, DIY projects that give our homes a unique and personal touch, and absolutely anything produced by Joanna Gaines.
But the element of home (a stay at home mom, domestic activities and projects, cooking and decorating) have been abandoned, forgotten, and protested against over the last few generations, and now we find ourselves hungry to rediscover them. We find that we were never taught domestic skills such as sewing and cooking, and perhaps our childhood home didn't seem "homey" at all.
But now, as parents, we want a cozy sanctuary from the world to return to. We want to nurture our family relationships, create warm memories, and most importantly, draw everyone who enters under our roof closer to Christ.
Personally, I find great comfort in the liturgical decorations of the Church seasons, such as the glorious Advent wreath, the Jesse tree, and the hauntingly beautiful chants of the season. It's hard to put these elements of our home back into boxes for another year. These are the sentiments that inspired Carrie's latest book, Theology of Home, which guides readers to find the eternal in the everyday!
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Feminism
Motherhood
Who is the Anti-Mary?
What is The Marian Option?
Communism, Marxism, and Feminism
What is the antidote to rescue the culture?
What is the Theology of Home?
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Carrie Gress
Theology of Home (website)
The Marian Option
The Anti-Mary Exposed
Marian Consecration for Children
Theology of Home (book)
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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Doug Johnson, husband of pro-life activist Abby Johnson and stay-at-home dad to their 8 children joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to share his side of the Unplanned story.
Doug Johnson
When Doug Johnson was a boy, he didn't have a favorite job he wanted to do when he grew up. He was willing to do any job and never shied away from hard work. But the one thing he knew that he wanted to be was a husband and a father.
After marrying Abby Johnson, who had undergone two abortions in her previous marriage and was now moving her way up the ranks of Planned Parenthood, a large family seemed impossible. In fact, Abby was happy with the small family they had (one child), as she wanted to focus more attention on her growing career.
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Doug began to stay at home with their daughter Grace, as Abby's job as director at Planned Parenthood became their primary source of income. The issue of abortion, which Doug grew up strongly opposed to, was a constant source of background contention between he and Abby. It affected their relationship with the Church and caused them both to consider their relationship with God.
Unplanned Conversion
As Abby Johnson continued to question the principles of Planned Parenthood, she was unexpectedly called into a clinic room to assist for the first time with an abortion. She watched the ultrasound screen in horror as she held the wand over the woman's uterus. The fully formed baby squirmed and fought for its life against the abortionist's instruments - a battle it quickly lost. Abby was forever transformed and so began her exit out of Planned Parenthood and into the pro-life movement.
Doug was Abby's biggest cheer leader, although he had reservations about the pro-life movement considering death threats they had received and certain un-Christian tactics he had witnessed. Still, there was no question that Abby could never go back to Planned Parenthood, and also she need to expose them for what they were really doing.
Abby began to speak out against Planned Parenthood and work to help others escape the abortion industry as well. Doug says that it was through the teaching of St. John Paul II's Theology of the Body that he and Abby eventually converted to Catholicism.
That first confession was truly remarkable, or as Doug puts it - "diarrhea of the soul." There was no shortage of tears as Abby and then Doug went into the confessional to unload their heavy burden of guilt before Easter.
Add one adoption, one set of twins and four boys to the mix, and you have the family of eight kids that Doug and Abby have now!
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Stay-at-home fatherhood
Married to a Planned Parenthood Director
When Planned Parenthood pays your bills
Embracing the pro-life movement
Becoming Catholic
Grace sees the movie Unplanned
Message to young women
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Doug on Tap
@dougontap
Exclusive interview with Doug Johnson
Abby Johnson Podcast
UnPlanned Film
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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Dawn Eden Goldstein is a Jewish convert and Rock and Roll historian. As a victim of childhood sexual abuse, Goldstein is an outspoken advocate for healing through proper counsel and God's mercy. She joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to share the unconventional road that brought her to the Catholic faith.
Dawn Eden Goldstein
Dawn Eden Goldstein is the author of Sunday Will Never Be the Same: A Rock and Roll Journalist Opens Her Ears to God, The Thrill of the Chaste and My Peace I Give You. Goldstein began her writing career as a rock and roll historian, using the pen name Dawn Eden. In the 1990s, she contributed to Billboard, the Village Voice, Mojo, and Salon and co-wrote The Encyclopedia of Singles. She went on to work in editorial positions at the New York Post and the Daily News.
At the age of thirty-one, Goldstein, who was raised Jewish, experienced an encounter with the divine, which began a personal transformation that would eventually lead her to enter the Catholic Church. In 2016, she became the first woman to earn a doctorate in sacred theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake. She has taught theology at universities in the United States, England, and India.
The Heart of Rock and Roll
The heartfelt saga of Goldstein's captivating memoir, Sunday Will Never Be the Same, carries you through God's redeeming love for this young Jewish girl who experiences her parents divorce and sexual abuse at an early age. The raw clarity of the human heart is so eloquently portrayed by Dawn in recounting her childhood perspective of life and God.
It was impossible not to see a reflection of myself in the angsty teenager desperately searching for joy and wanting the freedom of an exciting life away from home. Even as she studied in New York, began a career as a rock and roll journalist, and hung out in the company of famous musicians, there was an emptiness that inspired a continuing search for the divine.
Many women won't so candidly admit to the loneliness of the single years and how self-worth and value was often gauged by successful relationships or attention from guys. How casual plans were often made with hopes of finding true love, and how being overlooked was the greatest defeat.
Sunday Will Never Be the Same opens wide the heart of Dawn Eden Goldstein, who now speaks with great wisdom on her journey of lifelong healing from sexual abuse, her path from Judaism to Catholicism, and how rock and roll has always seen her through.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Judaism and Catholicism
Childhood Sexual Abuse and Lifelong Healing
Influence of Music and the Music Culture
Struggle with Depression and Seeking Purpose
From boy-crazy to Consecrated single
Risking career on the basis of truth
St. Maximilian Kolbe's Intercession
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Dawn Eden Goldstein
Twitter Handle - @dawnofmercy
Sunday Will Never Be the Same: A Rock and Roll Journalist Opens Her Ears to God
The Thrill of the Chaste (Catholic Edition): Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On
My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints
Integrating Faith and Music
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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Fr. Donald Calloway is a Catholic priest, often known as the "surfer priest", with a radical conversation through Our Lady joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to explain how a high school dropout and juvenile delinquent becomes the prolific defender of Mary and her spouse Joseph.
Fr. Donald Calloway
Fr. Donald Calloway is a convert to Catholicism and a member of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception (MIC). Before his conversion to Catholicism, he was a high school dropout who had been kicked out of a foreign country, institutionalized twice, and thrown in jail multiple times.
After his radical conversion, he earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, M.Div. and S.T.B. degrees from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and an S.T.L. in Mariology from the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio.
Fr. Don is the author of 13 books and his upcoming book “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of our Spiritual Father” will be published on January 1, 2020. It will be a 33-Day program of preparation and consecration to St. Joseph.
Consecration to St. Joseph
"Today we have a real crisis in manhood. Men don't know what it means to be men and they've kind of been emasculated by the culture. They don't know how to be heads of a family, how to be leaders, how to be strong and yet tender. I think that St. Joseph is going to be a perfect model for that - for men. I really think that this upcoming book: Consecration to St. Joseph is going to really help individuals, families, and society at large, because when we bring St. Joseph onto the battle field we're going to get the restoration of order. That is what a father does - in a household, when there's chaos, when there's confusion, the father is the one who brings order to things, so we need St. Joseph right now."
Mother Angelica said of St. Joseph - "Old men don't walk to Egypt," and I think she's right! There is nothing in scripture to shows us that Joseph was anything other than strong, faithful, loving, and obedient. He was a carpenter and would have been physically strong from that trade. Joseph was chosen by God to fulfill a supremely important role and he was obedient each time the angel visited him. Joseph walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem, Bethlehem to Egypt, and back to Nazareth again. He sought to provide a place for Mary to have shelter and rest when she was to give birth to Jesus after their long journey. Joseph and his wife presented their son to the priest Simeon in the temple, and Joseph also received the painful prophesy concerning Mary - at her side. The two searched for Jesus together when he was lost as a 12-year-old boy after the feast of the Passover. The hidden 30 years of Jesus' life on earth were spent almost entirely in family life with Mary and Joseph.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Fear of confession
Comfort brought to penitents in relating to a priest's past and conversion
Why was Mary instrumental in Fr. Don's conversion?
St Joseph - the greatest man who never spoke
Was Joseph old and feeble with children from another marriage?
What is consecration to St. Joseph?
Are there approved apparitions of St. Joseph?
Manhood, Fatherhood, Priesthood
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC
No Turning Back (Audio)
Consecration to St. Joseph with Fr. Calloway
Champions of the Rosary
The Virgin Mary and Theology of the Body
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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Patrick Sullivan, Catholic evangelist, was raised by a single mother in rough neighborhoods of Canada. He grew up with poor examples of father figures throughout his childhood and teens. It wasn't until a miraculous experience that Patrick turned to God and the Catholic Church. There he found the example of fatherhood he had longed for in the Catholic priesthood.
He joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to share how he learned to fully live his fatherhood through the scriptures, and how he works with others to create a household rooted in peace.
Patrick Sullivan
Patrick Sullivan is a Catholic evangelist, author, educator, public speaker, and founder of Evango, a Catholic media organization based out of Canada.
He lives in Barry's Bay, Ontario with his lovely wife and their 8 children and travels across North America leading parish missions.
Me & My House
Patrick certainly isn't the guy you would have expected to get Godly parenting advice from if you would have known him growing up. He grew up fighting, was hurt by the men in his life, and became angry as a teen. Especially when a relationship he really cared about ended due to her increase in her Catholic faith.
An encounter with the Lord really shook him to his core and left Patrick wondering for years to come, what God was asking of him. One thing he knew was that he "wanted to try harder." God granted him that opportunity. Patrick began to study theology and find in the priests he encountered a true example of manhood and fatherhood.
As Patrick and his wife began to grow their own family, they were determined to create a household of peace rather than allowing the chaos to wear them down and steal their joy. They worked tirelessly with other parents whom they admired, took the best of all they gathered, and tested them out in the home and the classroom.
Years of searching and applying, with constant reliance on scripture, led them to develop a program they can share with others called Me & My House.
Me & My House is a practical game plan for Catholic parents who are struggling with all the things that parents struggle with. It challenges you to do little things. To make little changes that will make a huge impact on your family.
In this Catholic Parenting Program, you will discover the foundations that can strengthen your motherhood and fatherhood. You will learn the habits that can make parenting easier, and the habits that you absolutely want to avoid. In fact, it gets so practical that it discusses discipline and how to set boundaries, so that by the end of the program you will have a very clear sense of how you want to build your unique family culture with the children God has given you.
Supermom
The example Patrick did have growing up was his mom. He saw her as holding her children in one arm and holding out the darkness of the world with the other. Her example certainly helped to form his image of motherhood and the beauty and greatness of The Blessed Mother. Patrick shares the message he hopes his daughters learn from him with every woman listening, and speaks to the heart of women who may not have heard this message from father figures in their own lives.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
A troubled past
Father examples and Supermom
The heartbreak and miracle that changed course
Wanting to do better
Searching for God
Family and peace in the domestic church
Evango and becoming an evangelist
8 kids later and wisdom for other parents
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Evango
Me & My House
Joyfully Big - Shalom World TV Video of the Sullivan Family
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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How does a young man from a devout Catholic family, with a Catholic school education, and a strong desire to help others, become a medical doctor who preforms abortions, sterilizations, and creates embryos for In Vitro Fertilization? Dr. John Bruchalski of Tepeac Family Center joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to explain how he was carried down this "slippery slope," and how an encounter with the Blessed Mother brought him back to the truth - where he has been fighting the pro-life cause ever since.
Dr. John Bruchalski
Dr. John Bruchalski received his M.D. from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine in 1987. He then completed his residency at the Eastern Virginia Medical Center and the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, Virginia, receiving board certification in 1993.
Motivated by a desire to become the best trained physician possible, Dr. Bruchalski learned methods for preforming abortions, sterilizations, and artificial reproductions during his residency. His follow-up experiences with the women he served made him question whether the services he offered were truly improving their situations in any way. After a spiritual awakening, he returned to the Catholic faith of his youth and answered God’s call to start a medical practice that truly helped women.
Dr. Bruchalski founded Tepeyac OB/GYN in Fairfax, VA, in 1994, which has become one of the largest pro-life private OB/GYN's, offering excellent care, which is in line with Biblical medical ethics and pro-life values. The center provides comprehensive care to women regardless of their religious beliefs, background, or financial situation.
In 2000, Dr. Bruchalski founded Divine Mercy Care as an umbrella organization to support Tepeyac and other pro-life healthcare initiatives. Today, DMC has 8 programs, which all advance the pro-life healthcare movement, broadening community awareness of holistic, life-affirming medicine.
Dr. John Bruchalski's tireless leadership in the pro-life movement has led to countless other conversions, positive birth experiences, and the advancement of fertility awareness, family planning, and religious freedom in the medical world.
Abortionist to Pro-Life Doc
What I wanted to understand is the mindset behind a doctor who believes he's truly helping women through abortion. I asked Dr. Bruchalski if he had every grappled with the personhood of the aborted fetus or questioned the morality of creating human embryos. His answer was "no," stating that his four-year Jesuit education was mostly about situational ethics, relativism, and proportionalism. The way it was presented to him was that the Church simply had not caught up yet with medicine and that Pope John Paul II was still stuck in the past. Good theologians across the world were arguing and dissenting from Church teaching, and it was still widely believed that you could dissent and still be a good Catholic.
"By the time I got to medical school, it was a done deal. Meaning, you just were surrounded by really good people who were trying to improve the quality of health of women, and contraception and abortion were just part of it."
Dr. Bruchalski remembers the sadness of his parents when Roe v Wade was passed, saying that they were good people who always prayed for him, but he just "slipped away." When I asked him what I thought of his medical practices, he said that he never told his parents at that time what he was doing because of the shame. This caused him to begin building walls.
Dr. John Bruchalski also recounts how his prayer life began to fall off. He lost his sense of the Mother of God and the Eucharist, and began to see the Church as crazy - they were talking about old stuff that didn't matter anymore. I wanted to be excellent, so I went to the best school I could - a contraceptive and research development center.
"And, oh by the way, we (Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine) were the home of the first IVF baby in our country. -
Feminism is largely associated with women's rights. It has remained a fluid term throughout its several waves, currently promoting reproductive rights and the abolition of gender. It seems almost impossible to imagine how feminism and Catholicism could possibly share any ideologies at all, much less considering Jesus, Mary, and many saints to be feminists. Claire Swinarski of The Catholic Feminist joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to explain how Catholicism and Feminism are compatible and intertwined.
Claire Swinarski
Claire Swinarski, a 2013 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and political science, with a certificate in criminal justice. She served as a FOCUS missionary from 2013 to 2015. Claire is a writer and the founder and host of The Catholic Feminist podcast. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two children.
Swinarski recently published her book, Girl, Arise!: A Catholic Feminist’s Invitation to Live Boldly, Love Your Faith, and Change the World through Ave Maria Press.
“The Church is absolutely filled to the brim with examples of believing in the importance of womanhood. The world needs so much more than your impeccable cookie-baking skills or your ability to quote scripture from memory. It needs more than your hashtags. It needs the resilience, strength, and true beauty given to you by God.”
~Excerpt From Girl, Arise!
Catholic Feminism?
Is it possible to be both a Catholic and a feminist? Claire Swinarski, writer and creator of The Catholic Feminist podcast, believes it is.
“I’m a feminist for the same reason I’m bold and honest and sometimes ragey: because Jesus was all of those things.”
In Girl, Arise!: A Catholic Feminist’s Invitation to Live Boldly, Love Your Faith, andChange the World, Swinarski argues for the reconciliation of the two identities by demonstrating the strengths and abilities women have to share with the Body of Christ, the importance of women throughout the history of the faith, and how the love you experience through Christ and the Church can change the world around you.
Swinarski points out that while both “feminism” and “Catholicism” can mean different things to different people, both feminists and Catholics desire to make the world a better, fairer place. And that by treating women with dignity equal to that of men—by calling them his friends and teaching them—Jesus acted as a feminist as well.
In her book, Swinarski addresses her frustration with the traditional concerns churches ascribe to women, as shown by the many talks directed at women focused on marriage and modesty rather than social justice. She pinpoints the areas where modern feminism goes too far, arguing against abortion and exploring what it means to serve others rather than focus on personal needs first.
Swinarski champions Biblical women—including Vashti in the book of Esther, as well as Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux and Joan of Arc, Mary Magdalene, and the Blessed Virgin Mary—to show how their faith influenced their actions, even when those actions went against traditional norms and roles of women.
"If the Church truly believed the only qualified women were quiet, subtle Thérèses, we wouldn't hold up boisterous, badass Joans as shining examples of womanhood as well."
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
What fueled the Catholic Feminist podcast?
Women's talks vs Men's talks in the Church
The unique call of each woman
Sts. Thérèse of Lisieux and Joan of Arc
Women's rights and the manifestation of feminism
Feminism's disdain for motherhood
"No woman should be authorized to stay at home to raise her children... Women should not have that choice, precisely because if there is such a choice, too many women will make that one." ~Simone de Beavoir to Betty Friedan
Secular feminists and Catholic feminists
Abortion and pro-life issues
Mary as the "ultimate feminist"? -
It always seems to surprise people in modern society that the Church is still receiving vocations, and that God is still calling young men and women to give their lives to Him as priest or religious sister. Beyond that surprise however, lies a much greater awe - the embrace of some men and women to the life of a cloistered monk or nun. Sr. Mary Veronica joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to share what life in like from inside the cloister, and how a well educated and intelligent young woman with everything going for her chose such a life for Christ.
Sr. Mary Veronica
Sr. Mary Veronica entered the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Summit, NJ as a cloistered Dominican nun in 2010. She had previously graduated with a Political Science and German degree from American University in Washington, DC.
From there, Sr. Mary Veronica worked for one year as a market research analyst before pursuing religious life and entering the convent. Her main activities in the cloister community now revolve around a common life of prayer, work, and study - shared by the Dominican nuns.
And did I mention that I was Sister's campus minister during her college years at American University? Sr. Mary Veronica was one of my most dedicated students, and I could always count on her to help with every retreat or event in our Catholic community. She went with me on pilgrimage to Rome and on mission to Belize.
I guess you could say that there was just something very special about Veronica - as we knew her then. She was extremely witty and had a quick dry humor that could catch you off your guard if your brain wasn't constantly working and filled with endless jeopardy knowledge.
Veronica could easily fit in on the DC subway, the busy streets of Rome, and behind the walls of the monastery cloister. The beauty of her nature was her simple love of Jesus and her ease in all things due to her confidence in that. She would have been a great biological mother, and is sure to be a powerful spiritual mother.
Why This?
Sr. Mary Veronica will tell you that there was nothing else but this (religious life) for her, and she continued to hear that calling in little ways since her childhood.
“If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire!”
― St. Catherine of Siena
It might not seem likely to many of us that by giving all of ourselves to God - in hiding ourselves away in a monastery dedicated to prayer, we would be setting the world on fire. But that's exactly what St. Catherine of Siena taught and how she lived her life; a life largely consumed by prayer.
And despite an active youth and intense study at a progressive college, Sr. Mary Veronica continued to be drawn to the silence of prayer and study lived by the Dominicans, and particularly to those Dominicans detached from the world in a life of cloister.
Visiting Sr. Mary Veronica for her final vows! We are in the guest room (notice a wall separating us that is about waist high).
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Dominican monastic life - a day in the life of a cloistered nun
Praying intentionally and willingly practicing penance
Vocation story and transition to cloistered life (from secular culture)
Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience
Fulfillment apart from God?
American University - college culture
What women have inspired you in the contemplative life?
Practical advice to grow closer to God for those in the world
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Dominican Nuns of Summit, NJ
The Cloister Shoppe
A Bride of Christ on her 29th Birthday
The Life of St. Catherine of Siena
MORE WAYS TO LISTEN
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The first time I heard the CD Contraception: Why Not?, which made Janet E. Smith a household name, I was completely blown away. I knew that the Catholic Church frowned upon contraception, sex-before-marriage, and cohabitation...but I didn't really know why (or at least couldn't defend the position in an argument). With that same straight-forward and easy to digest wisdom, Janet E. Smith joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to discuss gender issues, fertility, sex-before-marriage, and the lasting relevance of Humanae Vitae.
Janet E. Smith
Janet E. Smith is the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary. She taught at the University of Notre Dame for 9 years and the University of Dallas for 12. She is the author of Humanae Vitae: A Generation Later, The Right to Privacy, and Self-Gift: Humanae Vitae and the Thought of John Paul II . She edited Life Issues, Medical Choices (with Christopher Kaczor) Living the Truth in Love: Pastoral Approaches to Same-Sex Attractions (with R. Paul Check) and Why Humanae Vitae is Still Right.
Professor Smith served three terms as a consulter to the Pontifical Council on the Family and also served as a member of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, III for 8 years.
She has received two honorary doctorates and several other awards for scholarship and service.She has appeared on the Geraldo show, Fox Morning News, CNN International, CNN Newsroom, Al Jazeera and has done many shows for various series on EWTN.
More than two million copies of her talk, “Contraception: Why Not” have been distributed.
Gender
Janet E. Smith's work has had a heavy focus on sexuality from a Catholic perspective, including issues of natural family planning, contraception, homosexuality, and life issues. Smith's work has often leaned on Humanae Vitae (Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI in 1968), which she maintains is equally relevant today. Janet speaks on gender-confusion, same-sex attraction, and homosexuality, which have become pervasive and widely accepted in our culture. Many Catholics find it hard to combat these issues among family, friends, and society - even with the truth. Janet speaks on why homosexuality has become an encouraged avenue for youth to experiment with, and what is at the root of the current gender confusion.
Feminism, Motherhood, and the Church
Janet E. Smith's chapter, Feminism, Motherhood, and the Church, from the Wethersfield Institute Proceedings in 1990 is one of my favorites! In it, Janet tackles head-on the disdain and incompatibility that motherhood has taken from many of the leading feminists. Janet addresses this rejection of the natural state of conceiving and bearing children, and the push to remove this burdensome process from the female altogether, which has highlighted many reflections of prominent feminist philosophers. The question in this segment is whether this element of feminism is in fact a hatred of a woman's own nature?
God is not masculine or feminine and the relationship between men and women in Genesis is not hierarchical or patriarchical, but equal. This understanding has been lost and a power struggle has ensued. "Feminists generally are more concerned to see the workplace restructured so that it allows women with small children to remain at the job than to restructure the economic system so that it allows mothers with small children to stay at home."
"Virginity and motherhood" are the "two particular dimensions of the fulfillment of the female personality." ~Mulieris Dignitatem
FERTILITY DECISIONS
With the widely accepted use and practice of Natural Family Planning within the Church, how do families navigate the moral conversation of welcoming children who can be properly loved and educated, in preparation to merit eternal life? Janet explains the "providentialist" mentality, which is not found within Church teaching, and can strain a marriage and family, -
The "feminine genius" is a term that was advanced by St. John Paul II during his papacy, and has challenged and encouraged both women and men in the Church since then. But what exactly "is" the feminine genius and how do women fully live this out, in order to find that happiness that brings her communion with God through her unique created nature. Irene Alexander joins me on this episode of The Dignity of Women to unpack the teachings and richness of the theology of the feminine genius.
Irene Alexander
Irene Alexander is an Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Dallas. She received her MA and PhD summa cum laude from Ave Maria University. She specializes in moral theology, Christian marriage, and bioethics. She has published in Nova et Vetera, the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, The Josephinum, and the Linacre Quarterly. She is a wife and mother of five children.
Feminine Genius
As a professor with 5 young children, Irene shares her own discovery of what St. John Paul II titled "the feminine genius," and how she lives that out in her daily life.
A woman, in her nature has certain gifts and qualities that are feminine. Through her receptivity in both physical nature and soul, she is able to make room for others. This feminine genius also includes an intuitive quality that allows others to entrust a richness of thoughts and concerns on the heart with women, who are naturally empathetic in a mysterious way. God entrusts the human person to women in a very unique way, and this is a gift. Women also possess a generosity that has the quality of being very self-less. John Paul II draws a lot on the ideas of St. Edith Stein, who said that women are interested in the personal. Often she is interested in abstract principles in light of the personal, and the deeper concern and awareness of others.
One of the great feminine gifts is magnetism, and even in her soul she send signals that can attract and draw others into her joy and feel comfort in her presence. This cultivation of intimacy is beautifully lived and fulfilled in marriage, single life, and religious life. Women, in a unique way want to be cherished, adored, and to know the deeper meaning of love.
Alice von Hildebrand rightly states that "women are unashamed of their tears," because they are moved profoundly and are able to enter in a deep and empathetic way into another person's heart. This is often looked upon by society as a weakness, but given that loneliness is the new poverty, this sensitivity and empathy toward the other person is a great and needed strength.
EQUALITY
Woman's uniqueness satisfies her through sharing her gifts in the family, as well as outside the family and with society. John Paul II talked about the equality and the difference that is complementary between women and men. When Adam first beheld Eve, he says "At last!" about one made like him. St. John Chrysostom gives the imagery of Eve as not being made from his head so as to Lord over him, or from his foot so as to be Lorded over by him, but rather from his side (right near his own heart.)
The man is called to lay down his life for his wife. Masculinity has a proper aggressiveness that is not necessarily violence. The masculine heart will spend himself entirely for the sake of his beloved.
DOUBT
The serpent implants a doubt in Eve, challenging the nature of God. Eve initially corrects the serpent on God's goodness, but plants the seed of doubt that God is holding out on her. There is something slightly true about his lie, which makes it so powerful. Though they are in a paradise, they are not yet beholding the beatific vision. Satan says that if she wants that fullness, she needs to take it. Adam is complicit in the sin, for he is with her. This desire to be like God is part of the original plan, to be with Him. This is at the root of all human sin, but in a specific way the woman feels called to do things her own way in order to find happiness - re-create the w... - Show more
