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Simply Holy 038: Thanksgiving 2020: How to Foster a Grateful Heart (Despite COVID Restrictions)

You may not be able to gather with loved ones this Thanksgiving as you’d hoped, but there’s still much you can do to foster a grateful heart and observe a true Thanks-Giving. Marge outlines seven concrete steps to a grateful heart and a blessed Thanksgiving despite COVID restrictions.

Simply Holy 037: Straight Talk About Fallen Away Family Members Part II: When Politics Further Divide You

You and your loved one already are divided over Church issues. Now with the upheaval of the 2020 Presidential Election, you’re further divided over political issues. What do you do? How do you approach your loved one amidst these volatile topics? In this episode, Marge gives nine practical steps for re=establishing and affirming your relationship despite your differences.

Simply Holy 036: Straight Talk About Fallen Away Family Members

Are you worried about a loved one who has left the Catholic Church? These days it’s difficult to find someone whose family hasn’t been touched by this sadness in some way. This episode is straight talk about what NOT to do when someone you care about leaves the Church (The Three Don’ts) and how to frame your approach for meaningful dialog (The Three Do’s). Plus, a valuable resource for protection against evil. Parents and grandparents, you’ll want to lock into this powerful way to protect your children and grandchildren against evil influences. A message of hope, joy, and encouragement.

Simply Holy 035: Man vs Woman: The Battle of the Heart Mind and Will

Have you found yourself getting aggravated when dealing with someone of the opposite gender? Perhaps it’s a co-worker, friend, or even your spouse. Most of us experience that from time to time and for good reason. Man and woman aren’t just different physically, but also different in heart, mind and will. Listen as Marge explains the differences between the way males and females think, react, lead, and relate. The differences are God-willed, beautiful, and necessary even though they can be a source of aggravation.

Simply Holy 034: Exterior vs Interior Freedom: What’s the Difference?

It seems like all we do is talk about freedom these days. Freedom from…freedom for… But did you know that it’s possible to be free on the outside yet bound on the inside? That’s right. Unless you’re interiorly free, exterior freedom doesn’t matter much at all. St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” We all do that from time to time. Why? In this episode Marge looks at Mother Teresa and Amy Coney Barrett as examples of interiorly free individuals who move freely and decisively in the world. Tune in and learn how to become interiorly free and stop doing the things that you hate.

Simply Holy 033: Don’t Get Mad…Get Holy!

What do you do when someone hits you with a nasty comment or unwarranted accusation? When they make you so mad that you want to hit back? It seems we’re confronted with such situations left and right these days from people and angles we might never have expected. What is the Christian response when someone verbally attacks you either in person or online? You hit back – hard – with the most powerful weapon you have. Learn what that weapon is and five steps for dealing with insults, mud-slinging, fight-picking, and false accusations in a calm, Christian manner that will foster holiness.

Simply Holy 032: What Will You Give Your Mother on Her Birthday?

What Will You Give Your Mother on Her Birthday? After a brief sabbatical to recover from the loss of her mother-in-law, Marge is back to bring you more joy, inspiration, and simply everyday spirituality. In this episode Marge asks the question, “What will you give your mother for her birthday?” The mother she’s referring to, however, isn’t your human mother. It’s your heavenly Mother – Mary – and her birthday is September 8. The Nativity of the Blessed Mother is cause for universal rejoicing, as St. John Damascene said. What might that rejoicing look like? How can you celebrate the birthday of a divine rather than human mother? Marge explains how that can be done and gives three great ways to really celebrate your Mother’s birthday. And yes, cake and ice cream is included!

Simply Holy 031: What is a Camaldolese Benedictine? A Chat with Author and Speaker Paula Huston

Born and raised in a staunch Norwegian Lutheran family. Paula’s journey led her away from the Lutheran faith and into a long period of spiritual disengagement. A change meeting introduced her to a community of Camaldolese Benedictine monks and the beauty of the Catholic Church was opened up to her. The gentleness and devotion of these holy monks paved the way for her to become a Camaldolese Benedictine Oblate – a decision she not only hasn’t regretted, but whole-heartedly embraces.

Simply Holy 030: They Can Destroy Our Churches, But Not Our Faith: Four Steps to Counter Persecution and Bad News

In the past several weeks, there have been 50 recorded incidents of churches, parishes, and religious statues being destroyed in the United States and Canada. That list continues to grow. This is a cause for great concern, but not for hopelessness. Buildings, parishes and statues are structures that can be defaced and destroyed, but our faith cannot – as long as we cling to Christ and his Mother. Using the wisdom of St. Paul and the inspiring story of  Ireland’s Ballintubber Abbey, “The Abbey That Refused to Die,” Marge offers words of encouragement and four steps to counter persecution and the bad news we’re inundated with day after day.

Simply Holy 029: What is a Lay Carmelite? A Chat with Sonja Corbitt, the Bible Study Evangelista

Sonja Corbitt tells her story of conversion from the Southern Baptist Church and her eventual journey into the Lay Carmelites. She describes what attracted her to the Carmelite spirituality, what it means to be a Lay Carmelite, and how it has helped her in her striving for holiness.

Simply Holy 028: Are You Stuck in a Prayer Rut? Getting Out of the Rut and Into Fruitful Communication with God

Have your prayers become rote and lifeless? Do you feel as though you are stuck in a rut where prayer is only so many words? In this episode, Marge shares five great and simple ways to get out of the rut and into fruitful communication with God.

Simply Holy 027: What is a Lay Dominican? A Chat with author and Lay Dominican, Justin Vanlee McClain

This is the third episode in the Simply Holy series, “Springtime in the Church,” which explores the unique  and often little-known ways in which lay persons serve the Church through Third Orders, Oblates, Secular Institutes, Prelatures, Associations of the Christian Faithful, Ecclesial Movements, New Communities, Apostolates, and the like. St. John Paul II referred to these men and women as the “Springtime in the Church.” Marge chats with author and blogger Justin Vanlee McClain about his joy in living the life of a Lay Dominican. A husband, father of four (with one on the way), High School Theology and Spanish teacher, Justin tells how his Catholic faith is complemented and his life enriched by his Dominican spirituality.

Simply Holy 026: What is a Secular Franciscan? A Chat with Michael Groark, OFS

How can someone be a member of the Order of St. Francis and a lay person at the same time? What is being a Secular Franciscan all about? Michael Groark is a once-lapsed Catholic who wandered into Lutheranism and was called by God back to Catholicism and into the Secular Franciscan Order along with his wife, Anna Marie. Michael shares his own story and the story of his entire family’s conversion to Catholicism, including the path of his son from drug addiction to the Capuchin Franciscan priesthood.  He explains the spirituality of St. Francis and the lifestyle he and his wife lead as contemplatives in the world. “A Secular Franciscan,” he said, “is a lay person who has studied the life and spirituality of St. Francis and makes promises to follow the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order.” Learn about what those promises include and the joy it brings to those who follow them.

Simply Holy 025: What is a Benedictine Oblate? A Chat with Margaret Rose Realy Obl. OSB

This is the first of a series titled “Springtime of the Church,” which showcases the many and often little-known ways in which lay persons serve the Church through Third Orders, Oblates, Secular Institutes, Prelatures, Associations of the Christian Faithful, Ecclesial Movements, New Communities, Apostolates, and the like. St. John Paul II referred to these men and women as the “Springtime of the Church.” … Their presence is encouraging because it shows that this springtime is advancing and revealing the freshness of the Christian experience based on personal encounter with Christ,” he said in his message to participants of the 1st World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities in 1998. This week, Marge chats with author and artist Margaret Rose Realy, Obl. OSB about her calling as a Benedictine Oblate.

Simply Holy 024: Morning Coffee Edition

Have you ever had your prayer completely derailed by God? Don’t let it perturb you! Instead, relax and welcome it as a gift from God. Listen to Marge’s lively recount of derailed prayer and learn about guarding against unprincipled forces in this world and the source of our stability as Christians.

Simply Holy 023: Maintaining a Peaceful Presence in Turbulent Times

The George Floyd arrest controversy has thrown our country into turbulence with burning, looting, and the spread of hate speech. Regardless of the facts of the case, we as Christians are called to be a peaceful presence in these turbulent times. We can learn much from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans in which he encourages them to cast aside their differences, ask God to fill them with joy and peace, and abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Whether it’s the current situation or another, we need to be a peaceful presence for ourselves and others. Here’s how.

Simply Holy 022: Ascension to Pentecost: Preparing to Be a Witness to Christ in the Newer Normal

The Apostles and women – including Mary – gathered and prayed in the Upper Room for nine days from Ascension to Pentecost. They were awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit and preparing themselves to go out into the world to be a witness to Christ. That’s not unlike the time we’re in right now, as we prepare to move from the “new normal” of lockdowns, shutdowns, and fear into the “newer normal” of going out into the world, picking up the pieces of a life that’s dramatically changed, and returning to the Sacraments. We must prepare to be witnesses to Christ and for that we need the Holy Spirit!

Simply Holy 021: Joy is a Decision: How to Decide to be Joyful

Being joyful doesn’t just happen. It’s a decision we make regardless of how tough things might be right now. Here’s how to change your attitude, refocus, and become a joyful person with God’s grace.

Simply Holy 020: COVID-19: Three Things to Remember During Holy Week

This is a strange Holy Week. It’s strange not in the sense of the peculiar, but strange in the sense of the unfamiliar. For the first time in memory, there will be no Holy Week services in our churches. It will be strange and it will feel strange. But the strangeness need not ruin the meaningfulness of the holy time that is upon us. It's how you deal with the strangeness that counts. Here are three things to remember during this Holy Week: the fact of the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection; the power of God; and our reason for JOY.

Simply Holy 019: COVID-19 and Evangelization

This is an amazing time for the entire world. Even amid the hardship of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the illness, isolation, and fear, we have much for which we can be grateful. In this present time, we have access to technology that didn’t exist in previous eras, and we have the ability to use that technology to reach out to others. If we take these small opportunities and truly be Christian in all of our interactions, we can do a great deal of good and lift the hearts of many, many people without even going out of our way. Our world is suffering, and we can help to abate that suffering with godly words and gestures. This is an amazing time for the entire world and COVID-19 could be our best chance ever to evangelize.