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How do we interpret and understand what God is calling us to, both in our vocation and in other life choices? Join Stacey Sumereau on coffee dates with Catholic friends for insight and inspiring guidance. From touring with Broadway hit shows to discerning religious life on Lifetime’s reality TV show ”The Sisterhood: Becoming Nuns,” Stacey hasn’t stopped searching for God’s will! Original music by JF Church.
Episodes
Jan 20, 2023
Jan 20, 2023
19 min
Are you in a phase of life where you lost your motivation to pray? For me, pregnancy is a season where I totally fall off the wagon in my prayer life. Then when I lose the habit of prayer I lose the motivation. And it's really hard to get back into the habit.
Today I'm sharing 5 fail-safe strategies to revive my mostly-defunct prayer life:
- Make your busy life a prayer
- Make a plan
- Tithe your time
- Prioritize your best way to connect with God
- Recall God's past providence
Oct 10, 2022
Oct 10, 2022
1hr 18 min
“Self-knowledge is so important that, even if you were raised right up to the heavens, I should like you never to relax your cultivation of it.” -St. Teresa of Avila
In this episode I'm joined by famed author of many books, including The Temperament God Gave You, Laraine Bennett. If you're like me, you get a little annoyed when someone references the temperaments because it feels just a tad... simplistic. Or you never read a book about them before. Never fear! We break down each temperament into manageable explanations and after hearing them, I think you'll agree with me that they're an enormously helpful tool for increasing self-knowledge.
My favorite part of our interview was discussing something I've never heard talked about before: Pitfalls to avoid discernment for each temperament, as well as how to use your particular temperament to discern God's will well. As always on this show, we discuss discernment for every single decision in your life- not just your vocation.
Topics Discussed
- What is temperament? How it differs from personality
- Where the concept of temperaments comes from, and an overview of each
- Thinking correctly about temperament: Avoiding both navel-gazing and unjust judgement
- Discernment advice for each temperament type
- Are certain temperament types more compatible with others in marriage?
Resources
Aug 2, 2022
Aug 2, 2022
18 min
My heart went out to a listener named Victoria, who wrote to me of her eating disorder. Her discomfort with her looks pushed her toward perfectionism and an extreme fear of failure. As I read her words, I knew exactly how she felt, because for years I was there as well.
You can't discern your true purpose when you're living in fear of failure and self-dislike. Even after your body heals and you begin eating normally again, long-term healing of your heart and your outlook is absolutely essential. If you're stuck in that in-between, this one's for you. In this episode, I'm sharing my experience and then reducing my entire healing journey down to just ONE simple question. Answering that one question broke me out of years of spiraling self-hatred and anxiety. How you answer this question will hopefully do exactly the same for you.
Resources
- Watch on YouTube HERE!
- Stacey's episode with Dr. Scott Hahn includes the topic of fasting for people recovering from body image issues.
Aug 2, 2022
Aug 2, 2022
18 min
My heart went out to a listener named Victoria, who wrote to me of her eating disorder. Her discomfort with her looks pushed her toward perfectionism and an extreme fear of failure. As I read her words, I knew exactly how she felt, because for years I was there as well.
You can't discern your true purpose when you're living in fear of failure and self-dislike. Even after your body heals and you begin eating normally again, long-term healing of your heart and your outlook is absolutely essential. If you're stuck in that in-between, this one's for you. In this episode, I'm sharing my experience and then reducing my entire healing journey down to just ONE simple question. Answering that one question broke me out of years of spiraling self-hatred and anxiety. How you answer this question will hopefully do exactly the same for you.
Resources
- Watch on YouTube HERE!
- Stacey's episode with Dr. Scott Hahn includes the topic of fasting for people recovering from body image issues.
May 23, 2022
May 23, 2022
1hr 2 min
“So, what then is life about? To what — to whom — will we entrust our heart? There are plenty of suitors, but only one worthy spouse. For, as we’ll find, a human life is a weighty thing, and some goals simply can’t bear the burden of our whole heart’s love.”
If there's one thing I crave in all my decision-making, it's confidence. If I knew for sure what the right thing was, I would be so happy and choose it immediately! Sadly, there's usually no burning bush or angel appearing in a dream to tell me.
Developing the virtue of prudence is the best guide. The brilliant Fr. Gregory Pine is on the pod to discuss the 8 parts of prudence, formulating a vision for who I want to be on the other side of each decision, why we call prudence the "charioteer of the virtues," and so much more.
May 2, 2022
May 2, 2022
1hr 11 min
There are a million parenting advice books, homeschooling books, how-to's on organizing, and spiritual books. Much, much more rare is a book helping us parents know when to work and when to put your feet up, how to make your marriage last with boisterous youngsters claiming your every ounce of energy, how to form a philosophy for educating your children, and how to keep one million tasks in balance... or discern when to cut down the list!
Leila Lawler, founder of the popular blog Like Mother Like Daughter and now author of the aptly (and cheekily) named Summa Domestica, has been on my 'hit list' for quite some time. She channels the collective memory every family needs to navigate those decisions, both large and small, no one else talks about. I recommend this episode for any parents but also those who feel called to marriage and want to benefit from early preparation for family life.
Resources
Apr 5, 2022
Apr 5, 2022
42 min
Anyone else totally lose steam at this point in Lent? It's not Holy Week yet and the "smells and bells" of special liturgies haven't arrived. And TBH I'm busy and the excitement of growth at the outset of Ash Wednesday wore off weeks ago. If you're like me, you will absolutely LOVE my interview with the inimitable Dr. Scott Hahn.
There's so much more to fasting than giving up: It will increase our JOY. It unites us in brotherhood to the millions of people in our Universal Church who have fasted throughout the centuries. Give this a listen to gear you up for Holy Week; it won't disappoint!
Topics Discussed
- How to find joy in fasting
- Discerning when you've taken your resolutions too far (or not far enough)
- Fasting for those suffering from body image anxiety
- Collectively building the Kingdom of God through fasting
- Does fasting "prove" our faith to God?
Mar 15, 2022
Mar 15, 2022
50 min
"God does not reject the places even we reject within ourselves."
I've never thought of Lent as a time for healing, but my conversation with Sr. Miriam James Heidland changed that. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving: the purpose of these is not to do them for their own sake, but in order to enter into the desert with the Lord. To let him heal the places that most hurt us.
If that scares the living daylights out of you... it should. It will. But only in exposing our wound to the healer can he truly heal us. If you've followed Sr. Miriam's heart-centered ministry as I have and have loved her Abiding Together Podcast, this one is absolutely for you. Be sure to listen right to the end as I share a healing image from my own testimony of post-NICU recovery.
Topics Discussed
- Seeing our sins as wounds
- How to achieve deep, intimate prayer
- What to expect when we are truly vulnerable with God
- Ongoing healing: When the road feels never-ending
- Fasting so that you can feast on something else
Resources
Mar 1, 2022
Mar 1, 2022
32 min
“If you do not know how to feast, you do not know how to feast.” -GK Chesterton
Not gonna lie… as a teen I usually weighed my Lenten resolution options against how good I’d look in a swimsuit by Easter. To be honest, I never “got” fasting. I still don’t know if I do, but this year I’ve received a few great new books that completely transformed my outlook on Lent and fasting and, dare I say, made me look forward to this penitential season!?
Today I’m going way beyond the McDonald’s fish sandwich and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I’m interviewing one of the editors of Sophia Institute Press’s The Lenten Cookbook. Kristen Van Uden is a wealth of knowledge regarding how Lent and different fasting traditions came together over the centuries. You’ll also learn about the TRUE purpose of fasting and how to do it well, and the continuity of fasting traditions throughout the centuries.
Topics Discussed
- Fasting as preparation and reparation
- Importance of integrating our physical bodies and spiritual souls
- Overview of the history of Lent
- Early fasting traditions: The Black Fast, Xerophagia, Collations, Ember Days, Rogation Days
- The Church’s current fasting requirements
Resources
Feb 17, 2022
Feb 17, 2022
1hr 21 min
My dad had aggressive cancer in 2019 that almost killed him. Watching him go through chemo was an extremely intense experience for my whole family. When I heard about Sr. Diana Marie's mission of dedicating her life to caring for terminally ill cancer patients, my first reaction was "How do you DO that?"
Not only does she spend her days loving people in their last days, but she's also young, full of joy, and hilarious (sarcasm is her love language.) We cover a whole range of topics from her conversion from Mormonism to Catholicism in grad school, her discernment process, and her falling in love with the life of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne. If you need a relatable story of someone who didn't feel "holy enough" and struggled with all the big questions, this one's for you.
Topics Covered
- Navigating religious life discernment as a convert
- Why Sr. Diana Marie chose a nursing order even though she didn't see herself as a nurse
- Handling anxiety about life choices
- When to know you should seriously discern religious life
- Telling your family you're entering religious life when you know they'll be disappointed
- Charism and life of the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne
Resources