The Empowered Catholic Podcast

Paul used the word evangelium, translated as gospel, to talk about the good news of Jesus' resurrection. It's a word that the Romans were very familiar with. Paul, in fact, was using the word gospel to directly challenge their ideas about godhood, goodness, and joy. The letter to the Phillipians picks up this theme as Paul weaves a revelation and exhortation to hope, joy, and celebration. It's an...

More reflections and encouragement as we continue with Isaiah chapters 40-55. These are where the suffering servant passages are found. These are part of a larger story in Isaiah. Read these chapters and let them wash over you. It's a great time before Advent to read the poetry of Isaiah and reflect on who God is, how he acts, and what He's doing in the world today. We highlight key themes that yo...

We continue with Isaiah chapters 40-55. Read these chapters and let them wash over you. It's a great time before Advent to read the poetry of Isaiah and reflect on who God is, how he acts, and what He's doing in the world today. We highlight key themes that you can listen for as you let this scripture unfold and speak to you. Join us!    Contact Info  Email us: EmpCatholic@gmail.com Facebook: http...

Isaiah chapters 40-55 are powerful testaments to God's plans for His people. It's a great time before Advent to read the poetry of Isaiah and reflect on who God is, how he acts, and what He's doing in the world today. This poem opens, at chapter 40, with "Comfort, comfort my people…Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed… Here is a beautiful poem f...

The Three Good Things exercise improves your optimism and outlook after only one week. An optimistic outlook helps you in all areas of life. The Three Good Things exercise takes a few minutes around the end of your day. Martin Seligmann developed this exercise and tested it with many people. We tell you what to do, how to do it, and common mistakes or misunderstandings that might get in your way....

Pope Leo's Dilexi Te calls for a renewed orientation to serve and assist the poor and address poverty in all its many faces and circumstances. The early Christians addressed the needs of the poor in dramatic ways as they transformed the Roman empire and the culture of the world. That could inspire us to think in new ways about shifting our own culture.  Contact Info Text us: The Empowered Catholic...

Yes, more thought traps, please.  Yes, we have lots more. Hooray. Listen and spot your favorite one to work on this week. These traps derail us or leave us spinning our wheels.  We discuss and share examples of some of them, like Personalizing, Blaming, Unfair Comparisons, Regret Orientation, What IFs, Emotional Reasoning, Inability to Disconfirm, and Judgment Focus. Email us about YOUR "favorite"...

Humans (like you for instance) have some habits of thinking that are traps. We all fall into them, repeatedly. You have to laugh! These traps can shut down our thinking before we realize it, leaving us stuck or making poor choices because the traps often work at an unconscious level. Asking great questions is the key to uncovering thought traps. We discuss and share examples of some of them, like...

What comes out of your mouth comes OUT OF your heart. It's a window into your heart. And what you focus on & the way you interpret it powerfully conditions what goes INTO your heart. We talk about SHIFTING your focus to transform your heart for the better!  Contact Info Text us: The Empowered Catholic Podcast: 612-208-9150  Email us: EmpCatholic@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empower...

Let's chat a little bit about awareness. Try listening to yourself. We are necessarily using a lot of assumptions about what's happening around us. The world is complex and we need to simplify it so we can act. That's fine. Yet leaving our assumptions unchallenged creates blind spots. Like a map that's not accurate, we can get lost in some areas of life. Karen and I chat about tips to create aware...

How do you show up in your own life? Are you consistently showing up at your best? With positivity, creativity, optimism, and ready to make decisions as needed? You might be showing up as "meh" more than you realize. How would showing up more powerfully impact your life, your impact on others, and your own experiences? This season of the podcast is about models that we like. Today we share an effe...

We continue to share how the energy you bring to your life makes a huge impact!  This season of the podcast is about models that we like. Here, we are sharing about the iPEC Energy Level model. Today we are talking about what this positive energy might look like. We start to give you tips about how to shift to your positive energy so you can be more.    Resources Your seven levels of energy, see i...

The energy you bring to your life makes a huge impact! Your positive energy will drive your success in all areas of life. Negative energy is sometimes useful, yet it's your positive energy that creates the impacts you want. Sometimes it's good to hide "in the cave" with your negative energy, yet it's getting out of the cave to interact with your situation that creates all the difference. We want y...

You have some signature strengths. These are virtues that you do particularly well. It might be perseverance, or kindness, hospitality, love of beauty, humor, or any of many other possibilities. Putting them to work for you with intentionality is an excellent way to excel, achieve, and to pursue happiness. (Happiness is a word we use to mean flourishing, or thriving). "Signature Strength" is a Mar...

Happiness is a primary goal of every human. It is inseparable from the human person. God made us to be happy and pursuing it is an important part of His plan for us. It's part of our human nature. Positive psychology is the study of what makes people authentically happy. What do happy people have in common, and what is it that they DO that helps them get happy and stay that way? In fact, one study...

The working genius model created by Patrick Lencioni is so useful. A project starts with Wonder (seeing an opportunity) and ends with Tenacity (get it finished!). Patrick reports that there are four more steps between Wonder and Tenacity. You, your spouse, your kids, and your co-workers all have a couple of these steps that you are best at, and that you like to use. You also have a couple of these...

Learn about the FIVE CONFLICT STYLES and learn which one is your go-to style. Learn how different conflict styles—competition, accommodation, avoidance, compromise, and collaboration—play out in various scenarios.  How can you navigate conflicts more thoughtfully and flexibly? Contact Info Text us: The Empowered Catholic Podcast: 612-208-9150  Email us: EmpCatholic@gmail.com Facebook: https://www....

There's so much wisdom in Scriptures warning to "judge not." So much! Why should we embrace this wisdom? And how? What's the OPPOSITE of judgment? How about ACCEPTANCE. What could acceptance do for you that judgment cannot. Learn what judgment is COSTING you and what NON-judgment could do for you. And learn what we mean by "judgment."  Contact Info Text us: The Empowered Catholic Podcast: 612-208-...

Judge not lest ye be judged! It's in the Sermon on the Mount. What would happen if we lived up to this standard? What would happen to us? To those close to us? To the world? Judgment closes doors and hearts. "Judge not" opens them. Here's Jesus telling us not to judge others. How seriously will you take this? What's YOUR "take" on JUDGE NOT?  Contact Info Text us: The Empowered Catholic Podcast: 6...

The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus literally tells us not to worry about what to eat, drink, or wear. He says that worrying is ineffective (Can any of you add a cubit to your height?) Is this idea of not worrying important to you? Should it be? Why does the book of Matthew spend valuable scriptural space on this idea? Is this just a tip? An important rule? Is it possible? And HOW do you "not worry" an...

Adults manage their emotions. It's what we do, right? Sometimes we forget how important it is to create some positive emotions to help us do what we need to do! There are traps to avoid when regulating emotion, including dismissing it as being of small importance or letting it capture us, for instance by rumination. Our brains' powerful negative bias will suck us down into negativity if we don't r...

Justice. It's not what you think! Our habits of thinking about justice are not the habits of thinking about justice that are found in Scripture. Our modern minds view justice in narrow and legalistic ways, with a big focus on retribution or paying back. It's not like that for the Jewish peoples in the times of Jesus that were familiar with Scripture. It's more about bringing order and goodness, ba...

The Beatitudes are fascinating. We pick up the first one, "Happy are those who are poor in spirit." What's going on here? If I am spiritually impoverished, is that a good thing? Yes. Surprising, right? Spiritual humility is important for RECEIVING from God. And what does trust have to do with it? It surprisingly came up as a related topic in our discussion. It's a curious thing and a profound trut...

It turns out that "perfection" is a terrible translation of Matthew 5:48. It's found in the Sermon on the Mount: Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. It's a typical example of Western English speakers seizing on a word and running with it, while being ignorant of what the speaker is talking about, i.e., mostly you hear ignorant and unhelpful things about this passage. Fortunately, you ar...

It turns out that "blessed" is a terrible translation for the beatitudes (Matthew 5) That's quickly evident when you review the original Greek and Hebrew meanings behind the word often translated as 'blessed.' The Beatitudes are often viewed as moral directives or do-this-to-get-that kinds of promises but that's missing the point. The Beatitudes are actually an invitation to understand and partici...