Women of Grace with Johnnette Williams - Feb 28, 2022 - A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

catholic perspective visit ewtnnews.com women of grace with john at williams starts now this is women of grace live discussing issues important to your life and faith spiritual insight practical wisdom join us as we transform the world one woman at a time women of grace for such a time as this now here's your host johnette williams well good morning everyone and welcome to women of grace live i am john at williams and i am delighted to be with you today on this day which the lord has made we begin our weekdays together here we are on the air for you monday through friday at this same time on this same station as we discuss issues of importance to your life and faith we're always eager to hear from you we love to know what's going on in your world how the lord is impacting your life what blessing you have received or what prayer that you might need we are here for you for this period of time not just about an hour and so we invite you to use the toll-free number to reach us here if you happen to be in north america so that toll-free number for north americans is this it is 833 288 ewtn that's 833 288-3986 it's the way that you can call us here our call screener matt gabinski is ready for you and i invite you to tell him if you're a first time caller so we can ring our welcome bell for you for your first time on the air with us we hope it won't be your last though so if you've called in before call again you know god is always about to work in your life i'm just telling you he always is he's always about something because our god is as saint thomas aquinas tells us pure act he's never thinking about doing something he is in the process of doing something he thinks and it's done we don't even exactly understand how that is but we will someday if we get to heaven it's one of the ways that we're made in god's image and likeness a pretty natural gift that we lost through the fall but will be ours once again if we stay true to the one who is the way the truth and the life we can lose it but if we stay true oh my goodness we have no idea saint paul says no i have seen or ear heard what god has in mind for those who love him so we want to be counted among that number you know i feel like we should go into a little song here you know when the saints come marching in oh how i want to be in that number when the saints come marching in well we're going to start that process right now today as we join together in the name of our lord jesus christ 833 288 ewtn that is the toll-free number for you in north america now if you're outside of north america please don't despair we have a number for you too and it begins with the country code it is one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five that's one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five and we're available for you out there in social media land we have jeff burson our producer and social media manager who just dash right out there and he'll retrieve your question or comment inside inspiration or word of encouragement he'll get it up on the board for us here he certainly will if you're a first time submitter do let us know because we'll do this we'll ring our welcome bell for you and if you're not a first time submitter hey listen we're happy you're coming back so never feel that you call you know you know too often we're eager to hear from you here on women of grace live there's so much that's going on in the world isn't there i mean i don't know how you are but i am really consumed with uh concern and prayer for all of our brothers and sisters there in ukraine uh praying for them praying that they get the relief and the help that they need praying that their faith encourages them to stand strong in the midst of the battle to allow themselves to hide in the immaculate heart of our lady to remember that god knows while the plans that he has in mind for them plans for their welfare not their well plans for a future full of hope and i think that we need to also pray for uh you know all of those young men who have been called forth into battle on the other side of things a lot of these young men really are caught i think clueless as to what this is and what is going on and we know that just like ukrainians they have family too so you know war is a horrible thing it's it's one of those universal evils uh we have little control over it uh it happens um but we can through the grace of god begin to take control of the situation and his ways are not our ways so we have to be open one of the things that's impressed me so much about this is the ingenuity of the people uh one of the things that has impressed me so much is the way in which the ukrainian people have bonded together in this common fight to protect their land maybe the last um uh you know uh war that they were involved in with regard to russia lingers in their memory uh and and the memories of some but maybe in the collective memory of the people in the sense that it's it's part of their history and it's been shared with them uh and you see this resolve and it's a tremendous resolve and they are people of faith uh and so i know that they are are strong in those things in which we need to be strong in those virtues so you know that virtue of hope especially primarily the virtue of perseverance uh the virtue of fortitude and and we have to pray for all of that to remain intact i can only wonder and pray that if the situation were our situation that we would find the same kind of resolve among the american people one of the ways in which the evil one operates and this this is true you know we talk about that principle of subsidiarity with regard to our faith that the people that are closest to the problem um are it would be the first um uh uh uh outreach of support to those that are suffering but we can look at that too and say that when there is a when there is a a an evil that is pressing uh that it oftentimes hits on every level and what the evil one wants to do is he wants to cause division and he attacks the family he attacks marriages he attacks parishes he attacks a community he attacks um you know a a geographic area within a state he attacks the state he attacks the country that the states are formulated in and so this this divisive action of the evil one is always the first thing that he strives to do now we see the opposite of that taking place there in ukraine we see the coming together of the people and we i think as a nation have much to learn and here i'm not necessarily talking about the governmental agencies i'm not necessarily talking about this current administration although yes indeed you know the governmental agencies and this current administration uh and everybody in political life has lots to learn from this but i'm talking about we as the american people we who are the populists we who make this country with this country is we her the grassroots we must put up the same kind of resistance as we see uh in the ukrainian people against the wily tactics of the evil one and we must come together in the name of the lord we must let our petty differences go by the wayside and even those big differences that could separate us we must let go by the wayside and we must come together in the commonality of our humanity informed by the grace of god and made in the image and likeness of god right so we have got to let that take precedence over our own grudges our own resentments our own bitternesses over you know our our own flawed vision yesterday our pastor gave just an absolutely remarkable homily on spiritual blindness um and i've heard a remarkable homily that was also given here at ewtn uh you know portions of it that remind us of the fact that we are all spiritually blind you know we're very quick to point out the the the the deficits of another but oftentimes those deficits that we see in them are deficits that we own right uh and so we we have got to look at ourselves first and say how am i allowing the divisiveness of the evil one to seek to separate me from my fellow man for my husband for my children from my my greater community from uh you know from friendships and we've got to get over it we've got to get over ourselves and come together in the name of our lord jesus christ and then we put up the one resistance that is absolutely essential to eternal life we resist the devil and it says in sacred scripture resist the devil and what will happen he will flee so we can stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in that way we're going to be right back stay with us [Music] ever wonder how we should pray i'd like to offer just one don't make prayer your work make work your prayer in other words one's faithfulness to their daily duties of state and life and vocation while at home and at their place of employment can be offered as a pleasing sacrifice to god when done lovingly faithfully and well it all boils down to the virtue of diligence doesn't it do what you're supposed to do when you're supposed to do it in the way it's supposed to be done and now the ewtn family prayer with father joseph family a prayer that we pray together is a powerful prayer so please pray together with me our ewtn family prayer [Music] today we pray for children in unhappy homes almighty god we thank you that each one of us is fearfully wonderfully made you are our father and we are your children we pray for children who have not experienced your love in their homes console them lord we pray for those whose parents have separated comfort them lord we pray for those who have no one to turn to be their refuge lord grant all children the security of a happy home and assist those who now suffer amen you can be a part of women of grace text ewtn to 5500 wait for a response then text us your first name and questions it's that easy message and data rates may apply this is raymond arroyo host of the world over this is jeanette demelo from register radio get trusted catholic news every day on ewtn radio and television the women of grace phone lines are open 1-833-288-ewtn 1-833-288-3986 [Music] well welcome back everybody you just heard those numbers but let me repeat them for you again you can join us live here on women of grace live by calling us on this toll-free number if you're in north america it's 833 288 ewtn that's 833. 288-3986 we certainly do invite you to give us a call let us know if you're a first time caller we'll ring our welcome bell for you we're also available for you out there at ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page the chat feature is there for your use and we want you to put your question or comment insight inspiration or word of encouragement in there we'll get a hold of it through jeff berson who is our social media manager and our producer and we'll be able to address it for you also want to let you know that if you're outside of north america you can call us too the number is country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight 2985 country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five all kinds of good things coming your way today happy to say that the phone lines are lighting up we've got a few available inviting you to occupy one how about that that's a really good idea i also want to send you out to our website womenofgrace.com all kinds of good things coming up and i want to draw your attention to the fact that we're going to be gathering this evening at 8 o'clock p.m eastern time to pray a rosary for ukraine and it is a part of our rosary crusade outreach we generally meet on wednesday afternoons at 4 p.m come together for a rosary you're always welcome to join us for that we can fit 500 people onto our platform and we would love to fill that up especially this evening for our rosary crusade for ukraine you know there are so many testimonies and i mentioned this last week there are so many testimonies so many instances throughout our uh catholic history that show how the prayer of the rosary through asking for the intercession of our blessed lady through the prayer of the rosary has changed the outcome of many many wars won many many wars for the side who was being attacked so you know and in many cases uh they were outnumbered in every way they were out armed in every way and i cannot help but think that here we are we are facing a real life situation now and you and me and all of us uh together can make a huge difference we really can we say well what can i do if i was over there this is what i would do to help well here's the deal we can all pray and so i really want to encourage you to join us this evening come together right come together there is a certain efficacy in coming together to pray the rosary in a group we know that from the writings of the saints i don't remember exactly which one it was it might have been i don't i for some reason i want to say faustina i'm not really sure if it was faustina but but we do have have have knowledge that if in fact we gather that the greater the number praying the rosary uh the greater the impact so let's let's fill it up tonight let's let's come you know what are you doing between 8 p.m eastern and 9 00 p.m eastern what better thing could you do than praying so we want you to come and join us there the information is on our website it's number one in our slideshow certainly want to encourage you to join us for this beautiful uh prayer tonight we know ewtn we have ewtn family in ukraine uh ewtn ukraine has put out uh just some marvelous you know programming uh here that we have access to but you know has been a source of light and hope for the people of ukraine uh we have women of grace um groups there our our regional facilitator in ukraine uh you know just there are a lot of bonds with ukraine and even if you don't know a soul in ukraine guess what in the mystical body of christ we are all brothers and sisters so i'm inviting you to join us tonight get on out there please to our website it's number one in the slideshow you can get all of the information right there and i'm certainly hoping that you're going to do that while you are out there at our website i want to draw your attention to several events that are coming up they're all listed for you there but i really want to talk with you at this moment about our upcoming women of grace event that's going to be happening at holy name of jesus catholic church in harrisburg pennsylvania on april the 2nd it's going to be a wonderful time the the theme uh for the adults is um faith uh let me see let me find a faith fortitude ah shoot johnnette okay you should have that on the top of your you know right at the right at the ready but i don't but i'm going to tell you what it is so just hang on there it's a it is a an event that uh the theme of which we have already presented on in south florida which is why hello you know where are you with this why are you not uh having it right at the ready here uh at holy name of jesus catholic church the information is available for you on our website here you go you just click on it and when you click on that date it comes up for you and it's faith fortitude how could i forget fortitude i was just talking about fortitude faith fortitude and femininity a formula for such a time as this faith fortitude and femininity a formula for such a time as this you're going to be able to see all of the talks that are going to be given along with the talk titles that day uh father is very eager for us to come we are well looking forward to it father edward quinlan is the pastor there at holy name of jesus catholic church and it's going to be a beautiful day and the lord i am inviting you to sign up and join us listen i'm just telling you ladies we have a big part to play in in our world today we certainly do we all need faith we all need fortitude and we all need to understand our femininity and how it is that god wants to use it at this particular moment in time so please join us for that event all right we've got these phone lines we don't want to our people to become discouraged i'm going to ask you to hold for one moment because we had a comment call that was left for us uh that i think is time sensitive so i want to go to that and jeff is going to bring that up for us here hi my name is nicholas from anchorage alaska i know that lent's coming up soon one of the topics and things i wanted to talk about was uh giving up an addiction that's had a hold on me for many years and i can't think of a better time to to really have this addiction released at lead time but it's going to be very difficult it's almost it feels like it's impossible to let this addiction go it's definitely has a hole in my life and well you can certainly hear uh in nicholas's voice his near despair i don't think he's despairing because he wants to give up this addiction and that shows that the life of god is is actively engaged in his pursuit to do exactly that and this is what i want to say to you nicholas first of all i want to encourage you what is impossible for man is not impossible for god and on your own it may very well be that you cannot overcome this addiction but the good news is you are not alone you are not alone as i just mentioned it's clear to me that the desire of your heart is evident and that this is also evidence of the fact that god is with you and you're reaching out and you want to know what it is that you can do well the first thing let me assure you of this you're going to be in my rosary all through lent okay i am putting you into i'm going to put you into the first decade of every rosary i will remember you specifically in that decade all through let necklace and that's my way of being a sister in christ to you throughout this very um i think uh god-inspired desire of your heart now the longer that we are in an addiction we do know that we have a higher mountain decline to overcome it but is it impossible no nothing is impossible with god and this is what you have to repeat to yourself every time the evil one strives to convince you that this is an impossibility nothing is impossible with god stronger is he who is in me than he who is in the world with god all things are possible in him i can do all things these are passages from sacred scripture that need to become part of your everyday vernacular you need to speak these truths every day because there is power in the word of god there is grace released when the word of god is proclaimed and so god has the grace at the ready you also need i think to make a very good confession as soon as possible here we are we're just a couple of days away from ash wednesday i am certain that many parishes are are having confessions i want to suggest to you that if your parish is not that you call your parish and see if you can set up an appointment with a priest that you can sit down and really talk with him about this yes gain from that sacrament the the healing graces that you need to be shored up in this area of your life and any sins that might be involved with this addiction to to confess those and to receive forgiveness and absolution for those but also you know to to relieve your heart to unburden yourself to a man who is in persona christi when he is there with you in that sacrament of reconciliation so i want to suggest that you make use of the sacramental graces of confession and that you make use of the sacramental grace received when we go to holy communion the body blood soul and divinity of our lord jesus christ is available to you so if you can get to can if you can get to mass every day and receive communion let me urge you to do so this is a powerful powerful way of making good on our desire to draw nearer to the lord and as you draw nearer to the lord you'll draw further away from the addiction the other thing that i want to tell you is that you might need practical help and don't refuse the practical help that is there for you get into a 12-step program if you're not in a 12-step program and i mean a good one they're not all created equal some of them are infiltrated tremendously by the new age you want to avoid that if there is a a 12-step group that is being held somewhere in your in your area in your parish for example or somewhere within the diocese although i know that you know you're in anchorage there so anchorage is a pretty well populated city i would imagine that there's lots of churches there you know i i would i would seek out you know any any any one of the churches there where you can join a 12-step group i want to suggest another thing to you when you're visiting with this priest that you'll see when you go to confession ask him if there is a priest there in the diocese who is is one familiar with deliverance prayer there are spirits powers and principalities that that that own the territory of addiction they own the territory of addiction and when a person falls into addiction uh you know and and remains in that position those powers and those principalities those spirits that will attend that attend to that addiction remain with that person uh oftentimes causing obsession which is part of addiction this obsessing about the drug or the the alcohol or or whatever is the pornography whatever it is that you're addicted to um you know that that stir that up right uh so they're very good uh at doing this and so we need oftentimes a deliverance prayer to help us to break that tie right we need we need to be freed from from that stronghold that that spirit of addiction has on us in that way they can also oppress us right obsessions come from inside oppression comes from outside uh they're they oftentimes can oppress us the other thing that i want to suggest to you is whoever it is that that is providing you with this this uh the matter that is the the form of your addiction whether it's alcohol or drugs or pornography or nicotine i don't know what it is don't need to know whoever the supplier is you break with it that means that you know if you need to throw a computer away you throw a computer away or you give the computer to somebody to hold for you but if that's going to be an ongoing temptation to you you get rid of it you just get off of the internet completely and totally you don't even subscribe to an internet service okay if if it happens to be drugs you got to get away from the people that you're hanging with the people you the dealer that's that's providing you the drugs you got to get away from the people that that you party with in use of the drug um you know if if there's a particular uh place in your home um or in your environment where you you you do the drug or you drink the alcohol or whatever it is you gotta break with that you gotta break with that um because that becomes a source of temptation for you so in all of these ways you cooperate in practical and the practical right the 12-step program breaking from from the temptation itself the occasion of sin breaking from those who would uh would seek to keep you where you are individuals people organizations whatever it might be you've got to break with it it is not impossible that's what i want you to remember it is not impossible and again you know stronger is he who is in you than he who is in the world with god all things are possible i can do all things through christ jesus who strengthens me says saint paul i can do what all things no exception to all and you need to repeat that you don't do it by your power you do it by the strength of jesus christ who is in you which is why you stay very close to the sacraments of the church increase your prayer life pray the rosary especially the rosary to our lady under if not so you're putting the spiritual and the practical together to yield the result that is going to set you free when the lord frees you it says in sacred scripture you are what freed in deed the lord will free you you've got to cooperate with the grace he's offering you and i can tell that that desire is there and so father in this moment we lift your son nicholas up to you you hear the plane of cry of his heart and let me just say this lord i know that even through his voice today you are stirring up within those who are listening a desire to break with any kind of addiction you're stirring it up lord and that desire is coming from you so my brother and my sister if you're feeling you know that this this inspiration of heart if you're feeling a sense of the holy spirit uh coming over you right now accept that accept that and know that god is with you and that he wants to free you and the very advice that i gave to nicholas applies to you as well do not let the evil one convince you that this is an impossibility it is not all things are possible with god and father god we stand before your throne in this moment in that knowledge in that truth asking you to release the grace of that truth asking you to release the grace that is necessary to be able to break with addiction right now nicholas in a special way we're praying for him but for every single person we pray also in a special way that they would be released lord god show each one of your sons and daughters how best to cooperate with your grace help them lord for this lent to be a true metanoia a true conversion of heart but a conversion of life as well lord which comes by way of the conversion of the heart i asked matt talbot mount matt talbot groups are also excellent groups i asked for the intercession of matt talbot at this moment i asked for the intercession of saint monica at this moment i asked for the intercession of all of the saints who were addicted to one that saint augustine i ask for your intercession at this moment i ask for all of those saints in heaven whoever battled an addiction who were caught up in this particular snare of the evil one to intercede for nicholas and all of those others who remain unnamed that are with us today set your people free lord set them free by your grace but please lord give them a capacity and the fortitude and the strength necessary to cooperate with that grace we offer this prayer to you in the name of your son our lord jesus christ by the merits of his cross through the power of the holy spirit and with the maternal beatitude and intercession of our lady amen 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 we're coming back from the break we're going to be with tony we're going to be with doug we want to be with you pick up the phone call us it's a toll-free number here in north america 833 288 ewtn we also want to remind you that we're available for you at social media ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page is there for you leave your comment in the chat feature we're coming right back inviting you to stay with us [Music] do you roku roku is a small black box that allows you to instantly stream ewt into your tv all you need is a high-speed internet connection a tv and the roku player for more visit ewtn.com roku it's really awe inspiring to know that take two with jerry and debbie has the impact that it does we know from what our listeners share on the air but also from corresponding with them outside of the show via email and social media there's no better feeling than knowing you've helped someone maybe many people at a time work through various situations and more clearly see god's purpose and plan for their lives take two with jerry and debbie today noon eastern on ewtn radio [Music] this is a messy family minute with mike and alicia hernan a 2014 study entitled understanding former young catholics found that emotional closeness with parents especially fathers is a powerful indicator of whether or not a child will remain in the faith bonding with your child goes a long way in sharing the truth with them we want our children to be holy and we need them to know that the path to holiness is found within the law of the church but rules without relationship breed rebellion children do need to know the truth but if a parent communicates the law without love it may actually do more harm than good by loving our children we are nurturing their longing for a relationship with god the love we have for them is only a shadow of the love that god their heavenly father has it is that relationship that will help them follow the moral law and choose the good growing that relationship should be the goal of every catholic parent for more in your relationship with your child visit us at messyfamilyminute.org tomorrow and more to life the life you were meant to live we'll look at how the theology of the body can help you live a more abundant life that's tomorrow and more life 10 a.m eastern 9 central on ewgn now back to women of grace [Music] transforming the world one woman at a time let's return to women of grace with johnette williams well welcome back everybody i am so happy you were with us we have breaking news that is good news i want to let you know that we have reached 500 people on our platform so guess what we did we've bumped it up to a thousand we've bumped it up to a thousand so i am so delighted that we've got 500 joining us this evening let's make it a thousand you join us as well right an hour that's all it is maybe not even a full hour an hour at the most for this beautiful rosary for the people in ukraine really inviting you to join us this evening at 8 pm eastern time get on out there to our website womenofgrace.com click on it where it is mentioned and you can sign up right online may god be praised thank you jesus oh mother we're so excited we're so excited and and we thank you mother that you are prevailing upon the hearts of your children to come together i know god's going to work great things for our time together tonight i want to get to tony uh tony is in rockport texas today and we're inviting you to call us too again it's 833 288 ewtn toll free for you in north america 833 288 3986 also social media available for you ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page have chat features and you can put your question or comment in there good morning tony good morning how are you i'm well thank you how are you i am doing wonderful i'm very blessed good and so what do you want to share with us i wanted to share romans chapter 12 verse 1 through 2. yes it made a difference in my life and it says therefore i urge you brethren by the mercies of god no presence your body a living and holy to present your body that living in holy sacrifice acceptable to god which is your spiritual service of worship and do not be conformed to this world that be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove that the will of god is that which is good and acceptable and perfect that is a very powerful passage it's one of my very favorite scripture passages and i think that all of us need to heed the advice and counsel it's easy to be conformed to this world the messages are all around us it's like you know something in the air that we breathe in every day but we do have to stand firm and i think that we just have to continue to seek what god's will is for us individually to be that light shining in the darkness of our day and time tony yes ma'am absolutely and i know whenever i stay in touch with the holy spirit and i say i'm fervent prayer that the things of this world cannot attack me yeah you know and this is it you know and i think that this is something that we have to remember uh you know sacred scripture is very powerful it is the word of god it tells us in sacred scripture that it's you know sharper than any two-edged sword that it cuts through bone and marrow exposing uh the secrets of the heart so you know it it's it's it is a tool in our arsenal when jesus went into the desert and he was severely tempted uh you know in this uh to the point of of nicholas's call um you know when he was severely tempted what did he use to combat the evil one he used scripture he used uh you know the the the the the weaponry that was his uh you know he is the word of god but he used the word that was his uh through his uh jewish religion he used that word to combat the evil one and so you know we have to do the same he gives us the example if we follow him we do what he did so he gives us that way and this is why i'm so happy for you that that you have these these these very special scripture passages that speak to you and have provided grace for you in your life and that you have them at the ready you know that you remember memorization of sacred scripture is very very important because we have to have them at the ready we don't always have a bible that we can flip open and say oh where is that now is it in john or was that in matthew no we have to have them at the ready that's why amen talking and listening to nicholas um there is a book it is a 12-step program workbook that is spiritually guided um i knew a friend that had one i i don't know where they got it but it is a workbook but it has passages of scripture very good um yes there's there are a lot of good resources that are out there uh to help individuals typically when when it's coming to an addiction you know the the help of somebody with us physically with us in this struggle somebody that we can touch and feel and see uh is is tremendously important but we know that god does all things i know of two cases tony right within my own family an extended family it's extended family god released two individuals from serious addictions instantaneously instantaneously i mean and these these were both individuals were alcoholics both individuals complemented that with the use of drugs and these individuals were healed and so you know when we say nothing is impossible with god nothing is sometimes he he will he'll do that instantaneously he'll heal us but most of the time he does not because most of the time he is he there there are things that need to be resolved within us that cannot be resolved unless we go through the struggle of of uh the uh you know um detoxification process so uh but but god is capable of all things and um thank you very much for recommending that resource for for nicholas and friends we want you to get out there there's lots of good resources out there uh and i know that god is is faithful tells us that in sacred scripture and we can rely on that tony thank you for reminding us of romans 12 1 through i think that's one through two yes ma'am thank you for having me on your show you're welcome tony and god bless you now bye-bye let's go to doug he is in blooming prairie minnesota today we're happy to have doug with us hey doug how are you hi jonathan hi yeah hi uh when when i you know i i'm only uh allowed one one call a month to ewtn so so i i gotta kind of make sure that i'm uh in line with with the holy spirit and kind of following some leads so this morning i'm praying and and uh the the commercial just before your program about a child's program on ewtn about somebody and his horse blaze came came on and i thought that's it that's the holy spirit prompting me i had a i had a pony named blaze did you really and it yes he was the fastest pony in the county anyway it uh relates to what i what i kind of was on my mind when i was uh taking chaplaincy training i uh we went through it was just a small class six seven students plus the teachers and we were asked to explain what animal each classmate reminded us of and one of the students said i was like a little uh colt a a young horse running around the room who sometimes got so excited i'd end up out in the hall by myself and uh it still is many years ago but it's still um that's actually my my lenten resolve that as i celebrate my uh you know the mercy of god touching my life i can somehow sometimes get so wrapped up in my own story my own experience that i i can forget to include those who i'm interacting with and and i just want to fine-tune that and when you say uh faith uh fortitude femininity i i think you ladies have have a little advantage uh i think women are just just a little more prone to to being empathetic and you know compassionate you know it's all wrapped up in their their femininity and their you know the the man simply you know deposit the seed but the woman is is with the child for for her whole uh nine months and and there's such such a connectedness that so i think women have that a little little better advantage when it comes to including others and being other orientated but that that's kind of what what what was uh on my in my thinking today how i i yeah we we know that that our own experience i was jesus did i am that that is probably the greatest evangelization tool yet at the same time it it has to somehow include those with whom you're sharing you've got to be related to and uh anyway that's that's what's going through my thinking here well i'll tell you doug you know i really like what you're saying here um and and i think that it's very important for us to have a you know some resolution for lent right we talk about it being a penitential season and oftentimes you know we um equate that with giving things up and and here in this country where we have such an abundance of of food and options you know we look to food well i'm going to give this up i'm going to give that up um but but you know the matters the the the the pruning of the heart is what is most important the matters of the heart are what's most important uh and here you're talking about and praise be to god for the gift of self-knowledge that you can see this and i always say it's a hallelujah day when the lord reveals to us some area in our life that really needs to be more under his uh under under his kingship you know i think that's a hallelujah day because he's he's he's drawing us near to him and he loves us enough to point this out to us and then we also know that his grace is there for us to be able to to to relinquish that which we hold on to so that he can come and fill that space and we can hold on to him who is the only one who ultimately matters in the end so it's a hallelujah day and and you have you have been given this illumination of heart this uh self-knowledge um and the desire to work on that you know is is is really heartfelt i do think that you're right in one respect i think that women because of the way god's created us to contain within our bodies another human person whether biologically or not we ever fulfill that um that speaks to the reality of the feminine person the entirety of her psyche is meant to receive right um and and so it might naturally come more easily to us but in this day and time so many of our feminine tendencies have been masculinized because of the day and time we've rewired our brain basically in some ways as a result of the mantra of the day radical feminism the way in which we conduct our lives and we as women also need to be more sensitive to this and there's an l word that keeps coming up in my mind as i process what you said and that l word is is listen even our witness our testimony which i love the fact that you use what we teach the women at women of grace to use to formulate their witness i was jesus did i am even that to be able to really meet the need of a person has got to be calibrated to what we're listening to you know the the the room for someone to share their story to share their travail to listen to that with the heart not the mind not so much to solve a problem as it is to be present to their problem so that we can offer the one solution uh that is uh is is of most importance and that is relationship with our lord jesus christ and that process of conversion that how happens that brings with it healing and freedom and hope uh so you know i i like that and and you know and let me just put this out here too to all of those that are with us today doug i mean maybe in what doug was sharing you hear yourself are you truly a good listener have you tried to cultivate that it is a skill you know it is a skill it it can be learned and some people have it just naturally but it can be learned and when it's learned you're practicing charity the attempt to learn how to listen is an act of charity in and of itself because listening is always oriented to the other we in our day and time very oriented toward ourselves right we live in a narcissistic age so it uh it's beautiful and and and it will flower and it will grow and it will bud in all kinds of ways in our lives it's always good to hear from you doug yeah you just the last thing is my barometer of knowing if i'm i'm getting better at that listening and other orientation is am i hungry for souls is jesus sharing his yearning for souls to know the father's love and and of course of course it's the holy spirit working through us but if i'm not really feeling that hunger i i pray for it god yes i want to share in your yearning for soul beautiful absolutely beautiful well thanks doug and i look forward to next month when we hear from you again okay okay thank you god bless you too uh just another resource for you nicholas and for others out there you know we were talking about some resources that are available for recovery and i want to recommend scott weiman w-e-e-m-a-n that's about exactly uh the way that it sounds we men like we man meaning little man scott weeman he is not a little man i want to say he is a great man he started an outreach for catholics we have programming by him there on our website you can simply get out there and watch it uh you can put his name in scott weeman and his programs will come up um he is he he offers a 12-step program uh that uh indeed uh is oriented towards a sacramental approach to recovery so i i wanted to mention that i want you to get out there look him up on on uh you know on the internet there and you will find him and you'll find his organization we're going to get back to our phone lines he go to evelyn she is in madeira california hello evelyn how are you hi joan it's so nice to talk to you thank you thank you for having me on you're welcome so yeah i i valued your feedback in the past and i'm a long time listener but i'm seeking your advice as far as i just um laughed well at the early uh in the year i left my job to prepare for an exam a big exam and i just took my examination and now i'm seeking god's will and truly open to his will and you know i'm pursuing here a degree um but i'm also single and i'm also not i don't feel like i'm i'm rooted um but i'm i don't know what god wants from me but i i i'm just if you could please provide tools as far as you know i do pray the rosary i and i do prayer in the morning and i journal and i read the daily readings and then i go to math in the mornings beautiful so so what else can i do to seek his voice and his guidance and you know to be led by him or he wants me yes well evelyn this is a beautiful question because our ultimate desire should be to be in the will of god and you know that's where his presence is his presence is in his will when we are following his will when we are following his will we are in his presence and he anoints that which we do remember years ago a dear friend of mine now got onto her eternal reward told me you know child she said there's a difference between a good work and an anointed work she said god god can use a good work but he inhabits an anointed work so when god's calling us to a work we know that the anointing is there and we know that the graces will flow specific to your question uh i think that you have put into place uh all of the foundation and structure that is necessary to be able to discern what god's will is and so that comes by way of prayer it comes by way of the sacraments of the church the holy rosary a marvelous way we we can we can begin to gauge if something is of the lord um by by some little markers that that i've given there in my book full of grace women in the abundant life uh one first of all god desires that we be true to our state in life so right now you're a single woman it doesn't mean it doesn't want to change that state in life it can it can happen but you know um you are free to make a decision based on wherever it is that he leads you right you don't have a family you know you're not in in you're not married so you don't need to um really check that out with with you know a nuclear family that is your own however if you do have family that relies upon you for certain things that would also impact your decision so we want to make certain that whatever way we're leaning that it's in accordance with our state in life we want to make sure obviously that it is within uh the the laws of god uh and and the beatitudes so we want to check that out in that way um if if we are sensing he's leading us in a certain direction we want to put that to the test has this lasted a while um if it's coming from our own emotions you know um then it's it's probably if it's more enthusiasm uh then zeal is gonna dissipate uh but if it stayed for a while then we know that god might well be leading us in that direction we want to seek advice and counsel before we make a very serious decision um obviously with people that are close to us but also from somebody that can have an objective point of view somebody that knows us but maybe doesn't know us all that well uh who who can who can help us to evaluate from an objective point of view and we want to go through some of the uh exercises of same ignitions of loyola and and what we want to do is to see uh you know do a pro and con list if that doesn't work then um we want to picture ourselves in a given situation see when emotions rise up in us if we still don't have um you know come to a decision after that then we imagine ourselves standing before the throne of god trying to um uh explain why we chose one thing over another and that's if we're really trying to discern if a certain position is for us in your situation you're not sure where god's leading you and so we followed the advice of saint ignatius leola here as well and what is that advice that advice is we don't do anything we remain as we are until we're certain this is a time of waiting for you evelyn and waiting is hard it's very very hard we don't like to wait um especially in this day and time and especially in our culture we have been raised you know in this culture on on an ethic of productivity you know and so when we're waiting it seems like it's a waste of time i got to get busy about something but no it's in it's in that waiting that god is is is doing several things one he's making us ready for that which he's going to entrust to us two he's helping us to grow in the virtue of patience and perseverance uh you know and humility as we wait that time out but three he's also probably setting the thing up that he wants you to do and it's just not quite ready yet so i had a friend years ago who was a spiritual director to me and she said this is very good she said her prayer was you know lord don't let me race ahead of you but sure don't let me lag behind so you know it's hard when you don't really know uh you're ready but is god ready for you to get back at it so that that's if he's not presenting something to you and he presents it you know through inspirations of our heart he presents it through um a variety of of uh you know words somebody might speak to us in all of these ways he makes his message known so uh you know let's just let's just wait a little while longer and just ask the lord hey when you're ready i'm ready you know and i'm praying it's not a long time lord but whatever is your will then you're fulfilling his will even as you wait evelyn thanks so very much um got a question about what what mysteries of the rosary are we praying we're praying the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary tonight we can go up to a thousand get out to our website sign up join us in the rosary 8 p.m eastern time tonight there's much we can do together in the name of the lord god bless you now bye-bye [Music] cresta in the afternoon presents the truth of the catholic faith 4 eastern on ewtn radio [Music]

Channel: EWTN

Views: 1,063

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: PpZlFWzX5vU

Length: 54min 15sec (3255 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 28 2022