Thriving In The Trenches A Catholic Podcast

Last week we got to sink our teeth into a new episode on the last of our four pillars, freedom. Helen Alvare did a fantastic job at giving us so much to start chewing on and this is our opportunity to build on and start finding some ways to apply these principles to our everyday lives in our domestic churches. Megan and Becky take listener questions and comments to lead the conversation this week.  The hosts talk about practical ways to introduce the concept of true freedom to children of various ages and also about how we can approach our fertility in light of potential health risks. Show Notes: Hooked: New Science on How Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children By Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr., Freda McKissic Bush Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student By Miriam Grossman The Porn Myth: Exposing the Reality Behind the Fantasy of Pornography By Matt Fradd Fight the New Drug: www.fightthenewdrug.org http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/birth-cont

If you have never heard from our guest, you are in for a treat.  Get your mind ready to absorb what all Helen Alvaré has to share with us on Freedom.   Professor Alvaré helps us start to see how we should be seeking freedom-for not freedom-from the misguidings in our world.  We as a culture today are more free than we have ever been yet there does not seem to be contentment.  Is it possible that women are seeking to fill themselves with some ideology that will never truly satisfy themselves?  True freedom comes in the form of total self giving not in this over individualized culture we live in.  Please consider supporting our Podcast Our Guest: Helen Alvaré is a Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and Property Law. She publishes on matters concerning marriage, parenting, non-marital households, and the First Amendment religion clauses. She is faculty advisor to the law school’s Civil Rights Law Journal, and the Latino/a Law Student Associa

20 year old college sophomore and 25 year old new mom in the business world/blogger kick off the lead the conversation on Freedom part 1.  The hosts and guests recount some of the very powerful statements made by Gloria Purvis in our previous episode on Freedom. All ladies agreeing on how we get to stand firm on the Truths of the feminine genius laid out by Mother Church and that true freedom ultimately lies in freely choosing God’s divine will for our lives by choosing to be who our loving Father created us to be.   Our Guests: Elizabeth Schrieber is a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame majoring in Science & Business. She is a daughter, sister, friend, D1 rower, comedian, bible study leader, tailgater and a serious foodie. She attended SEEK 2017 and will be serving on a FOCUS missionary trip this summer. She loves family,  friends, and quick witted banter.             Samantha Povlock is a 25 year-old Indiana native finding her way in the big city of Chicago. She’s married to her college sweeth

**Please note there are mature topics talked about in this episode** “We must learn to see the difference between the false freedoms sold to us by the culture and the True Freedom bought for us by Jesus Christ.” -Fr. Mitch Pacwa  We are fighting the culture wars and true femininity is hard to detect anymore.  Some pretty bold faced lies are being sold out there and it is time to put on the armor of God and spread the Gospel Truth of who we are created to be.  Our beautiful guest, Gloria Purvis, joins with us this week to do just that.  You don’t want to miss this. Please consider supporting our Podcast Our Guest: Gloria Purvis views her role as wife and mother to her six year old daughter as her most important. Also, Gloria graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies. She worked for nearly two decades in the mortgage industry before becoming a policy director at a major financial services company.  She served on the National Black Catholic Congress’ Leadership Commis

“By this power of the Spirit, God’s children can bear much fruit.” (CCC 736) Megan Mastroianni shares and helps us start the journey of pursuing joy, one of our four pillars and this week’s new topic.  We are so thankful to have this young and vibrant voice to point us toward rejoicing! Please consider supporting our Podcast Our Guest: Megan Mastroianni first began speaking in 2007. Since then she has been featured as a speaker for Youth Defence at World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, on EWTN’s Life On the Rock, at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, and for retreats, assemblies, and rallies all over the country.  Megan has also been a speaker for the Steubenville Youth Conferences for 6 years and will continue. After graduating from Franciscan University in 2009, she has been in full-time ministry; she spent three fulfilling and wonderful years at Mount de Sales Academy serving as their Campus Minister.  Her hopes were to create a culture of authentic beauty, femininity, identity in Christ, and f

HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! This week is our segment called, Lead the Conversation.  This is where we invite you, our listener, to join us to keep unpacking the previous week’s topic – Friendship and Laughter.  We invited listeners Christy White and Adrea Stuecker to lead the conversation for us. Christy and Adrea share with us about the burden of loneliness and friendly confrontations. But don’t worry, we get to the laughter too. Our Guests: Christy White and her husband,Tim, have 5 children (3 boys/2 girls) and have been married for 20 years.  Their eldest son is in his first year of college and she home schools the 4 younger ones in Bella Vista, Arkansas.  Christy is a convert (22 years this Easter!) and absolutely loves being Catholic! Bring her a great cup of coffee and a good book and you will be her best friend!   You can connect with Christy on FB and IG. Adrea Stuecker is a convert to the catholic faith, the wife of Jason, and mama to three sweet babes Hampton (8),  Hadley (5), and one so

We are working through the four pillars of our podcast: joy, laughter, freedom and friendship. Today’s guests are the friends of Megan and Becky and they all share how God has used their friendships and laughter to thrive in the trenches of daily life.  From singleness to sheer loneliness in the middle of family chaos, these 4 ladies talk about the Ultimate Friendship and fulfillment that is in Christ alone. Please consider supporting our Podcast Our Guests: Sam Kelley is the Founder and current President of FIERCE Athlete Inc. Sam was a Division 1 soccer player and came back to her Catholic faith in college. She has since committed her life to spreading the faith, especially to female athletes. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Catholic Psychology as well as Certification in teaching Theology of the Body.  She loves continuing to be active and through Megan’s inspiration is currently involved in rowing. Sam and Megan met over professional circumstances but have since become dear friends as well as work

We are so excited to introduce our “Lead the Conversation” portion of the podcast! This is were we invite you, our listener, to join us as we breakdown the topic from the previous week’s episode. This week we follow up on Episode 2 – Domestic Church. On this week’s episode, Megan and Becky invite listeners Christine Rizzo and Mary Kate Wallin to lead the conversation.  The different perspectives from these women offer encouragement, inspiration, and comfort.  From a divorced, single mom of grown children who is now hosting exchange students in her home to a mom who is just starting out; we hit many different aspects of the fullness, uniqueness, and universality of the Body of Christ in our Domestic Churches. Our Guests: Christine is a mom, educator, speaker and minister to those separated/divorced.  Experiencing the trauma of divorce personally, Christine’s life was broken open and blessed in new and unexpected ways.  Falling back into the arms the Catholic Church, she discovered much hope and healing in the

This week we get to delve into a huge topic that is at the foundation of our podcast and our trenches.  The Domestic Church.  What is the Domestic Church?  You’ve heard the term but are wondering how that applies to you?  Single? Married?  Kid or no kids, we all live in the Domestic Church because we are all part of the family of God.  Our guest, Bill Donaghy, completed the Theology of the Body Institute Speakers Training program in 2005, Head & Heart Immersion Course in 2006. He is a Theology of the Body Institute Certification Program instructor, international speaker, and curriculum specialist. Bill worked in mission, evangelization, and education, and has a background in visual arts, philosophy, and systematic theology. He can also juggle almost any three objects. Please consider supporting our Podcast Links and Quotes: “The well-being of the individual person in the human and Christian society is intimately linked with the healthy conditions produced by marriage and family.” Gaudium et Spes   “The

How does a girl from Pennsylvania get connected with a girl in Arkansas and decide to launch a podcast?  Megan Schrieber and Becky Carter share how the Lord used Instagram and a video of a dog plowing down a woman to connect two strangers.  Megan and Becky give little glimpses into their personal lives and share their vision for spending time with their listeners and finding encouragement for all in the trenches of life.  Single, married, mother, or not, all are welcome to join us on this journey.   Call to Action – Ask the Lord to show you how He is calling you to uniquely embrace joy in your feminine vocation “Love begins at home” – St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta