Arise, Beloved Podcast

Welcome to the fifth and final part of the Screwtape Letters Series! In this episode, we cover Letter #23. This letter is where C.S. Lewis explains the concept of a “historical Jesus”. Join us as we break down what C.S. Lewis is talking about and then apply it to our current world. We explain what exactly we mean by “woke Catholicism”, how it is the “historical Jesus” of our times, why it is completely incompatible with Orthodox Christianity and why it is so dangerously deceptive.   The basis for C.S. Lewis' concept of this “historical Jesus” is his belief that if the Devil can't stop someone from being Christian, then he is going to do his best to corrupt that person's Christianity so that they believe they are still following Christ but in reality, they have strayed away and are following a false god. In fact, C.S. Lewis believes this is the demons' favorite way to corrupt humanity and one of their strongest and most subtle forms of attack.   We are doing this podcast out of love and out of a desire to challenge all of us to be awake to the dangers of our current historical Jesus in the guise of “Woke catholicism”.   1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be awake. Your adversary, the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.”     Our challenge this week is to turn off social media for one whole day and spend time with Jesus in silence and humbly ask him to show you who He really is and to strip away any and all false images/ideas you may have about Him.   // Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media! #arisebelovedpodcast

Today in Part Four of the Screwtape Letters we dive into Letters #22, 25, 27, and 29. The devil ultimately wants us to believe that we can’t trust God completely and that we must take things into our own hands and have something else to fall back on. This is the lie from the beginning of time. As we take a closer look at these four letters, we’ll uncover some of the practical ways the Devil tries to convince us of this lie and distract us from the true presence of God in our life. A few of these examples include constant noise, boredom, fear, and our need for control.     Our challenge this week is to reflect on these concrete examples and zero in on one that is hard for you and really examine “how can I grow from this?” as opposed to “how can I stay in this?”.   The Screwtape Letters Series will wrap up next week with Part 5 covering letter 23.   // Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media! #arisebelovedpodcast

Today in Part Three of the Screwtape Letters we cover Letter #15. This letter is all about time and how we can touch eternity while staying in the confines of time. We gave this letter its own episode because it is foundational to understanding how the devil attempts to pull us away from God by distracting us from the present (where time touches eternity).   God is asking for our trust in his divine providence so we rely on Him alone in the present moment and as we will discuss in this episode, the evil one is going to try and make us rely on ourselves only by keeping us constantly fixated on the past or future.   Our challenge this week is to sit down and make a list of 5 things you are looking forward to in the future and 5 things you are scared about in the future. And then go through the list again and invite God into each hope and fear and surrender each one to him.   Next week we will continue with Letters #22, 25, 27, and 29 in Part Four.   // Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media! #arisebelovedpodcast

Today in Part Two the Screwtape Letters we dive into Letters #9, 12, and 13. These letters all discuss pleasure and how all pleasure has been created by God and is good in and of itself. All the devil can do is take what is already good and pervert it and he does this with pleasure to separate us from ourselves and from God.   We end with some practical ways to watch out for the devil’s tricks and a challenge to do something you enjoy for the simple sake of that activity. The only caveat is no screens are allowed for this activity. Do something that uses your mind and body which you find genuine pleasure in: read a book, go on a walk, paint, write, play an instrument, etc.    Next week we will continue with Letter #15 in Part Three.   // Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media! #arisebelovedpodcast

Today we are SO excited to kick off our Screwtape Letters book series. In Part One, we dive into Letters #1, 4, and 6. These three letters all focus on how the demons desire to hide from us the part that is most like God: our will and intellect, in other words, our ability to discern and CHOSE between what is true and false, good and evil. We talk about how the devil tries to do this, how we can learn to recognize his tricks, and how we can best guard against his attacks.  // Next week we will continue with Letters #9, 12, and 13 in Part Two. //  

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” - Matthew 7:13-14 Arise, Beloved invites you to join us in season three as we journey closer to Jesus on The Narrow Way. As Kateri and I prayed about which direction the Lord wanted to take Arise, Beloved in 2021, we knew that we were to continue to provide a place where women can find the restorative and healing love of Jesus. However, we also have realized this past year just how real and powerful the spiritual war raging around us is. Through more prayer and conversation we felt called to center Arise, Beloved on the Narrow Way. Our world desperately needs holy women who are leading each other deeper to Christ on the Narrow Way. For this third season of our podcast, Kateri and I will be breaking down just what it means to choose the Narrow Way. In this first episode, we explain why we have chosen this as our focus and invite you to chose the Narrow Way with us. Near the end we share the foundational resources we have been using for our formation on the Narrow Way and we want to share them with you: Kateri’s List: Scripture The Spiritual Combat and a Treatise on Peace of Soul by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli Diary of St Faustina   Mary Kate’s List: Scripture The Fulfillment of All Desire by Dr. Ralph Martin Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits by Dan Burke Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis  

On today’s episode we talk with Taylor Schrock, a high school special education teacher with a passion for her students, art, and the pro-life movement. Taylor shares with us the beautiful story of her unexpected teenage pregnancy and that path that led her to chose to place her son in an open adoption. Taylor talks to us all about the immense beauty in open adoptions as well as the difficulties that this sacrifice entailed. We end our conversation discussing how we can be a better pro-life community and how we can help young women and girls who find themselves in similar situations to Taylor. If you would like to reach out directly to Taylor, feel free to send her a DM on her personal instagram @taylorjennica or send us a DM at @arisebelovedwm. // Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media! #arisebelovedpodcast

On today’s episode we talk with Marissa Ramsey and hear how she has learned to chose joy in the midst of the heavy cross of depression & anxiety. Marissa Ramsey is a special education teacher in New Orleans with a zeal for life and deep love for her job and her Catholic faith. She talks with us today about how she finds hope in the resurrection and how she has learned to trust that the Lord is still healing her even when it doesn’t look the way she wants it to. Ultimately it comes down to believing and understanding that there is always more to the story and that everything in this life must be understood in the light of the larger story of the resurrection.   At the end, Marissa shares practical tips she has learned to battle depression and anxiety and we also chat with her about how we can be better sisters to those struggling with this particular cross.   Marissa’s challenge for us is to carve out some time this week with a  notebook and write out some of the lies that you believe frequently or write out some of things that are lying heavy on your heart right now. After you have written these out, take some time to take your notebook before the Lord and just hand it to Him.

What do Saints Anne and Joachim, Our Lady of La Leche and Creighton fertility all have to do with each other? They all play a beautiful role in Melissa and her husband’s journey with infertility and pregnancy.Today we welcome back Melissa Tablada, a marriage & family therapist, an NFP instructor, a soul core leader, and a first-time expectant mama. Melissa was first on our podcast in Season One, Episode Nine talking all about mental health, and today we have brought her on to share her own story of infertility and NFP. After listening to her story, we dig deeper into what exactly NFP is, how it works, and why it is something that every woman - regardless of her marital status or religious beliefs, should learn more about. Melissa’s challenge for today’s podcast is to go on to these two websites and read more about NFP:https://www.managingyourfertility.comhttps://www.factsaboutfertility.org If you would like to reach out directly to Melissa, feel free to send her a DM on her personal instagram @melissagracetabladaor send us a DM at @arisebelovedwm.// Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media! #arisebelovedpodcast

Today we are joined by Faith Mosher, an incredibly strong woman who has spent years battling an eating disorder and has learned to find God through it all along the way. Faith shares how her healing journey has been a roller coaster of ups and downs and how hard it has been to find God while in the midst of treatment. Faith also breaks down the dangerous misconception that all women who struggle with eating disorders look the same way and that someone must fall under a certain weight to have an eating disorder. We are honored to share Faith’s story with you all and hope that her testimony and wisdom can be fruitful to anybody who has experienced similar wounds. If you would like to reach out directly to Mary Kate, feel free to send her a DM on her personal instagram @faithmariemosher or send us a DM at @arisebelovedwm. Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media! #arisebelovedpodcast

This week we welcome Laura Tremblay, a Catholic Life Coach for young women and the founder of the Beloved Collective, to share her story with us on Arise, Beloved. Laura has had a deep love for a theology of the body and specifically, the role of women in the Church since she was young. After graduating from Franciscan University in 2018, Laura decided to pursue her love for Theology of the Body further by attending the International Theological Institute in Austria. While living in Austria, she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, forcing her to return home and start intensive treatment.Laura shares her story with us because God has used the last year to bring about immense healing in her life - not through removing the disease, but by filling Laura with peace and giving her the grace and courage to accept her Cross and surrender her plans for her life to the Lord. If you want to learn more about the Beloved Collective or talk to Laura you can reach her on her Instagram account: @laurajeantremblay or email thebelovedcollective@gmail.com.  

In today’s episode, we welcome our first guest of season two! Annie is an amazing young woman who unexpectedly found herself pregnant earlier this year. Despite her fear and anger, Annie chose life and came onto our podcast today to share how God has used her baby boy to save her life and give her hope and purpose again. As well as listening to Annie’s beautiful story, we also talk with her about the practical side of being pro-life and we discuss how we can be better serve and love women who find themselves pregnant and alone. If you would like to reach out to Annie individually, you can send her a DM on her Instagram account @little_wild_flower or you can send us a DM @arisebelovedwm. Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media!

In today’s episode, we continue with our “Stories in the Middle” series with listening to our founder, Mary Kate Anthony’s, journey of finding freedom and healing from sexual addiction. Mary Kate shares how she believes that when it comes to sexual sins and wounds, women need self-compassion and community more than anything else and that is only through starting to bring these issues to light that widespread healing can begin to take place. Resources Mary Kate mentions:“I Believe in Love” by Fr. Jean C. J. D’Elbée“Uncompromising Purity” by Kelsey Skoch.Jessica Harris - Beggar’s Daughter (https://beggarsdaughter.com/ @beggarsdaughter )Bella Bryant - Restore Love (restorelove.org @restorelove_ @bellaaabryant)Lizzie - @justahandmaidenAddiction IGTV Series on @beaheartdesign If you would like to reach out directly to Mary Kate, feel free to send her a DM on her personal Instagram @immarykatherine or send us a DM at @arisebelovedwm. *Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends on social media!*#arisebelovedpodcast

In today’s episode, we kick off our season two theme of “stories in the middle” with listening to our very own Kateri Leonard’s beautiful story of redemption, the power of Confession, and the continual process of healing. If you relate to Kateri’s story and want to reach out to her directly you can always send her a DM at her personal instagram @katericlaire or send us a DM @arisebelovedwm. Please leave us a rating and review on iTunes and be sure to share this with your friends and on social media!

Hello dear friends and welcome back to SEASON TWO!!! Kateri and I are so excited to get this season going and to see what the Lord is going to do over the next few months! While this introductory episode does not explicitly introduce the theme that the rest of the season will be following (we'll share more of that in Episode Two), we felt we couldn't start the podcast back up without addressing this issue that has been weighing heavily on our hearts for the past six months: the disheartening way so many Christians are speaking on social media. Yes, we went there.You see, we believe that each of us, at every moment of every day have two choices in front of us: to be the voice and instrument of God or to be the voice and instrument of the Evil One. It's not enough to speak the truth (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-7). It's not enough to call out our neighbors in the "name of love". In fact, most of us are not going to be called to be front line champions of truth, morality, and social justice. Some people are definitely called to do this - but the majority of us are called to live quiet hidden lives of prayer and love. So in this first episode of Season Two we break down how to decipher the voice of God vs the voice of the Enemy (hint - the biggest thing to look at is the FRUIT), we share some key questions that can help us check ourselves and our motivations behind what we are saying and sharing, and we remind ourselves and you, that we must first examine our own faults and failings before we can call them out in others (see Matthew 7:3-5). Above all, we must seek to be an instrument of LOVE and we must be willing to put ourselves in a quiet place before God and allow him to purify and sanctify our own hearts first and foremost. A new thing we are doing this season is that we are ending every episode with a Weekly Challenge. This week's challenge is to spend 10 minutes of silence (no phone, music, reading, etc) with God every day. We'd love to hear how this goes for you so shoot us a DM or send us an email and tell us how it's going!  As always, please leave us a rating and review on Itunes and share this episode on Instagram and with your friends!  *Also, one last side note, we apologize for the audio quality of this episode. We recorded this one together in person which was so much fun but a mistake because we didn't have the proper tech to do that. So that's why there is an echo throughout a lot of this episode. We promise to be much better next time and we thank you in advance for your patience!*

In today’s episode we wrap up season one by going back to the root of our mission: to be a vulnerable, safe place where we can share the stories and hearts of our fellow sisters so all women know they are not alone or too far gone. Shame and isolation are two of the devil’s most dangerous weapons against women, and our desire is to knock that power out of the devil’s hand. We break down why it is necessary to experience healing with and through other people, and we each share some practical ways we can allow others into our brokenness. Let us arise together into the light of Christ! Head to our website, iTunes, or the Podbean app to give this episode a listen! And if you like what you hear please consider leaving us a review and sharing!

In today’s episode, we interview Melissa Tablada, a marriage & family therapist, an NFP instructor, and a soul core leader. She helps us debunk some of the common myths surrounding therapy as well as address the stigma surrounding therapy. Melissa reminds us that mental health struggles are NOT a reflection of our spiritual health and that you can still be a saint and struggle with your mental health. In the second half of the podcast we talk about how to recognize the lies of the enemy and how to combat them. Melissa shares some practical steps we can implement today to start combatting the lies in our life and reminds us that God has told us exactly who we are, who we were created to be, and who we were created for, so we have a foundation of truth to use against the lies of the enemy. We don’t have to guess who we are. Where you can find Melissa:https://www.melissagracetablada.com/melissagracetablada@gmail.com@melissagracetablada on Instagram Podcast we mention:The Place We Find Ourselves by Adam Young

In honor of Pentecost, today’s podcast episode is all about the Holy Spirit. We interview Mary Dufresne who recently graduated from Ave Maria University with her masters in theology and we chat with her about her own personal experiences with the Holy Spirit as well as what it means that we entering a “New Pentecost”. We talk about how to learn to see the Holy Spirit all around us, how to live in the joyful expectancy that He does and will show up, and how to allow the Holy Spirit to challenge us to be different rather than just better. Books we Discuss:The SanctifierSearching for and Maintaining PeaceBread & Wine “The wind blows where it wills and you hear the sound of it but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes” John 3:8

In this episode, we talk about what it looks like to stay rooted in the Lord, particularly in times of transition. We interview, Rebecca Zamora, who has been a missionary with Saint Paul’s Outreach (SPO) for the past five years. Rebecca shares how she became open to missionary life and how she fell deeper in love with the Lord along the way. She also shares how she has found her roots in the Lord through the constant change of the past several years of her life. Books We Mention: You Are the Girl for the JobWild & Free“The world is thy ship and not thy home." - St. Therese of Lisieux“It was only through the power of Jesus displayed in the storms that his followers could see what He was capable of.”"Courage dear heart." - C.S. Lewis

This week we decided to talk about all things Covid-19. We felt it was important to address the reality we are all currently living through and honestly share about the individual struggles we have experienced because of the coronavirus. But we also thought it was equally important (if not more) to share the unexpected blessings and graces that have come out of the past couple months because we do truly believe that God brings good out of everything. We ended our conversation by sharing practical ways that we have been able to put ourselves in positions to receive God’s goodness in the midst of all of this as well as practical ways we can reach out and love our sisters from afar. We are praying for all of you that we may all have the grace to surrender our lives fully to God and to daily to trust in Jesus.

// Please help us welcome our third co-host: Kateri Leonard! Kateri was our sweet guest in the last episode and she will now be joining us for all future episodes! We are super stoked to have her with us and blown away by how God continues to build our team and bring us together. //In today's episode, we interview Michaela Rodgers, a Focus missionary with a heart on fire for our Lord and passion to serve Him. We hear all about how God gently called Michaela into a deeper relationship with Him which lead her to become a focus missionary, first in the States, and then internationally, ultimately ending up in Germany. Michaela also shares her beautiful and redemptive love story with her fiancé Dan - how God initially called them to end their first engagement so He could work on each of their hearts individually before giving them back to each other in the most unexpected and perfect way.We recorded this the day before Divine Mercy Sunday and so we knew that we wanted to spend the bulk of this episode on the topic of mercy. Guided by C.S. Lewis, St. Faustina, St. Therese, and Fulton Sheen, we discuss what mercy really is, the roadblocks we have encountered in receiving mercy (spoiler alert: we often are our own biggest roadblock to receiving mercy), and how God uses the hardest parts of life to bring about the greatest mercy. Books We Mention: A Severe MercyDiary of St Faustina I Believe in LoveThe Seven Last Words "After Holy Communion, I heard these words — You see what you are of yourself, but do not be frightened at this. If I were to reveal to you the whole misery that you are, you would die of terror. However, be aware of what you are. Because you are such great misery, I have revealed to you the whole ocean of My mercy. I seek and desire souls like yours, but they are few. Your great trust in Me forces Me to continuously grant you graces. You have great and incomprehensible rights over My Heart, for you are a daughter of complete trust. You would not have been able to bear the magnitude of the love which I have for you if I had revealed it to you fully here on earth." (Diary of St Faustina, 718). "My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls-no one have I excluded!" (Diary of St. Faustina, 1182

In today's interview, I talk to one of my dear friends from my time at Franciscan University, Kateri Leonard. Kateri is a southern lady, a social worker and an incredible woman of God. We talk about how she has come to view her job as her vocation and how working with the older generation has taught her to love more fully. We also talk all about self-care, what is it, how to implement it in a balanced and healthy way, and ultimately we talk about how we are called to embrace our humanity as Christ embraced his. We break down what it means to embrace our humanity, with all of the sufferings and joys it entails. This conversation is a little longer than previous episodes but it was such a fruitful one and I hope you enjoy it! Here are the books we mention in this episode: Reed of God by Caryll HouselanderCaptivating by John & Stasi EldredgePoverty of Spirit by Johannes Baptist Metz

In today’s episode, we talk with stay-at-home mom and beach body coach, Elizabeth Aldrich, all about how we can honor our body through fitness, healthy and community. She shares how she has learned to have a balanced approach when it comes to fitness and taking care of her body. Elizabeth also shares about how her fitness journey has actually taught her to have a more child-like dependency on God and how her community of sisters hold her accountable to her fitness goals while also giving her the freedom to be unashamedly herself. If you want to learn more about Elizabeth's coaching and fitness lifestyle, or you just want to follow along with her life as a mom of two adorable little girls, you can find her on Instagram @elizabeth__aldrich.Elizabeth is an amazing woman it was such a joy to get to talk to her about life and I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did!

In today’s episode, we interview our very first guest: Clare McCallan. Clare is a spoken word poet and artist who is passionate about speaking truth into young people’s lives especially regarding the reality of sin and living in this broken world. She is not afraid to talk about hard topics and often uses her poetry to address chastity, alcohol, materialism, and all forms of brokenness. She is currently on her second poetry tour sharing her show titled “A Saturday Night Alone” at universities, churches, and community centers across North America. You can find Clare at her website: www.claremccallan.com or on social media and youtube @clare_mccallan. In today’s episode, Clare opens up to us about the two years of deep loneliness that she experienced while living in NYC. We talk all about the real pain of loneliness, the danger of isolation, and how to cultivate authentic community and vulnerable relationships in our lives. 

Hello and welcome to the Arise, Beloved podcast! There are a lot of beautiful women’s ministries out there, and we love and participate in many of them. Our goal is not to compete or replace any of them. But what we think the Church needs right now is for a whole generation of women to become aware of their places of deepest brokenness and seek healing and transformation and restoration. We think that we women in the Church need a place and a people that are addressing the hard things women struggle with this side of heaven — things like mental health and body image distortion and abuse and insecurity and woundedness and so we said yes to a ministry that is ministering the heart of Eve inside of us, the wounded areas of darkness where we experience shame and fear and isolation.  We are so glad you are here and we can't wait to see what the Lord does with this ministry!