The Empowered Catholic Podcast

All human sufferings are capable of being infused with the same power of God manifested in Christ's Cross, writes JP2 in Salvifici Doloris. We have solidarity with Christ in suffering. This solidarity and participation in the cross that unites us with the Holy Spirit is a reality to be experienced and confounds explanations and theories. Moreover, the church is not passive in the face of the world...

John Paul II speaks of the Gospel of Suffering. He says "The Redeemer himself wrote this Gospel, above all by his own suffering accepted in love" in Salvifici Doloris. We, meaning everyone, are burdened with suffering. It's natural for us to wish that, and basically expect that God will take it away from us. Suffering cuts directly to what it means to be human. It demands respect and a response. W...

What kind of energy are you bringing to situations where you suffer? Is it the kind of energy that leads to faith and hope, and finding purpose? The energy around your suffering tells you a lot about what you might be able to do differently. There's no "right" way to suffer, nor can anyone tell you what you should do. Indeed, suffering is not going to go away in this present age; it is inextricabl...

When life in the Spirit encounters the world, it doesn't fit. There's suffering at the points of collision. Life in the spirit, living in the new creation, being an agent of King Jesus, living the gospel - however you want to talk about living the new reality created by the resurrection - creates pain points because it doesn't conform to this world. We are not conformed to this world. Instead, wit...

Sometimes we get bogged down in WHY am I suffering? Scripture does not really give us a direct explanation of why evil and its consequent suffering exist. Instead of a tidy explanation, we see the story of what He has done in history, in the Jewish people, and in Christ. We create theories and explanations but these fall short. "I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution", said St. Augus...

Pentecost, the Ascension, and Daniel 7 - these are all tightly linked. It engenders hope to think about these connections. We love hope! We need it. The Spirit goes forth to renew all the Earth. Let's invite it to start with each of us. Daniel 7 promised that great things that would happen when the Messiah returned. All power and kingship would be given to one like the son of man. That was fulfill...

Lisa Mladinich helps people grow exponentially in their God-given talents. She's a Catholic coach, mom, bestselling author, and an inspiration to listen to. Finding and (loving to be) using your strengths is primarily, and this is really important to keep in mind, for getting closer to God. It also helps you understand your weaknesses. It's so rewarding to be more of who God meant us to be: life i...

Making your contribution is… awesome! There's something about you that's so unique that only YOU can make that contribution to building up the kingdom of God. As you transform God's creation, you are transformed. Because you are cooperating with the Holy Spirit that's working on you even as you work with it to do your special thing. It's a little intimidating to think there's a role that is just f...

Self-acceptance is one of the keys to life and is indispensable to Christian life. If you want to really change, you need self-acceptance in order to do so: it always precedes real change. Self-criticism is a common but weak alternative practice that many people embrace. Repeat: self-criticism is a bad habit that's puny and wears you down. Self-acceptance, on the other hand, lets you see the same...

With acceptance, even though it doesn't change objective reality, the attitude of your heart is very different. You can enter into that reality with faith, hope, and love and find God operating there. You can find your peace which is always vital. You own your freedom and agency. Getting to a place of acceptance is often a key in coaching. It's also a spiritual discipline. Paradoxically, more acce...

I am reliably informed that with great beer comes great responsibility. OK. Certainly with Freedom comes Responsibility. You have AGENCY as a person. Freedom is for agency. I am sometimes quick to throw in the towel and say: I have no power here, no options, no choices, no mas. But I am always an AGENT; I am an actor as in "active"; I am a cause. Not THE cause, but A cause. John Paul II compares t...

Freedom is FOR what? We hear a lot about what we've been freed FROM, like sin and death (yay for that!), and not so much about what we are free FOR. Freedom is the foundational bedrock for the human spirit and central to your Christian walk. There are a lot of misconceptions and failures of imagination when it comes to thinking about freedom. We use this podcast season to clear some of those up so...

Apologies are just a step in a relationship, perhaps a way to get a conversation moving again. Sometimes they don't seem to "fit" the situation. Or we sense that the other person will use them to make us feel more guilty or to manipulate us. We talk about complex situations and how an apology might fit in. There are also reasons that we and "they" resist making apologies. Knowing how to decide if,...

Happy Easter, everyone! What a great season to be in. Let the party begin! This is your bonus Easter episode. We spend a lot of time and energy thinking about what's gonna happen when we die. We don't, really, as Christians, spend nearly enough time thinking about what's going to happen when we're resurrected. The gospel message directs us to this new kind of life that Jesus has opened up for us i...

A good apology can clear the air. A bad apology will make everything worse. Learning how to make a good apology is a relationship-saver. But nobody tells us how to do these things. I guess that's why most of us are not very good at apologies! What a shame! We dig into to-do's and to-dont's on this episode. If you're like us, you will discover that you have some apology habits that need an upgrade....

There's a big gap between reconciliation and modern ideas of forgiveness. This gap appears at all levels - between individuals, in local groups, and in nations. Modern forgiveness focuses on releasing anger and hurt so we can move on and be at peace. That's so important! Reconciliation goes even further and seeks a renewal of the relationship after facing the difficulties of acknowledging the harm...

Forgiveness doesn't have a simple definition or formula. It's an act of will that also engages with the heart, which can be enlarged, illuminated, and encouraged but not commanded. Forgiveness has huge personal benefits, like releasing toxic emotions. It also extends into the world with social and political impacts. Forgiveness does not overlook wrongs - instead, it puts a spotlight on them so tha...

Forgiveness is one of those things you know you should do but nobody tells you how. It's not easy. And it's indispensable to the Christian life. In this episode we start off a podcast season on forgiveness with a theological perspective: Forgiveness is a way of life. Think more in terms of identity to step into than another obligation for you to deal with. Forgiveness is like a door that allows fo...

There's an enormous evangelization opportunity for us. It's a wonderful opportunity to meet people with their deepest needs. What is it? It's marriage. People of all ages, even today in 2023, long for great marriages. We, Catholic parishes everywhere, can help. J.P. De Gance helps parishes help others build marriages and, by the way, grow their own parishes. In fact, his organization Communio has...

We commit listening violations frequently. It's natural to jump in with our me-centric perspective. Listening, however, is other-centric when it's performed at more than a surface level. We talk about some of the common listening violations and suggest alternatives. We want you to come away from this episode with ideas about how to spot what's missing when your spouse is listening to you and what...

When we are not satisfied with something in our marriage, it's up to us to do something about it. Because that's when things change, when someone is ready to make the effort to figure out what and how to change the patterns in the relationship. Often we have an idea that it's just one "thing" that we are after. "Things" however almost always exist on a continuum. For instance, there's no vision if...

Join the conversation with Phil and Michelle at Connected Marriage, which has been transferring skills to married couples for more than a decade. Midlife is a time when our past investments and patterns start to yield fruit. You have mixed results. What's going to change? Where is turning toward your spouse (not) happening? Also, why do women tend to give up on an area of relationship at about the...

Grow grow grow. Worried about how great your marriage is going to be when it's back to "just the two of us"?  You should be! Maybe not worried, exactly, but proactive. What to do? Date nights? Common interests? Karen and Curtis invite you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. What's really going to serve this marriage? Think in terms of growth . Think SHARP! S is for Shared Vision. W...

Everything pertains to love! That's the title of a new Papal letter out on St. Francis de Sales, Totum Amoris Est , published on the 400-yr anniversary of the death of de Sales. It inspired us. St. Francis' description of the love of God uses emotional language instead of dry philosophical arguments. It's striking how de Sales worked hard to make loving God be attractive to his contemporaries. It...

Life goals are so important! Without goals, momentum starts to take over your life. You live in reaction mode. Your past controls your future. Your day-to-day life blocks your bigger questions about what your life goals are.    What are you going to put on the table? Because God is waiting to help you bring your gifts and talents into play. We often want God to simply tell us what to do. At The Ca...