In this week's episode, we begin a three part series on Pope Francis’ recent encyclical Dilexit Nos (on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ). We discuss how God, as the Divine initiator, loved us first and continuously calls us deeper into His most Sacred Heart. We also reflect on the meaning of our hearts, being captivated by Je…

In this week's episode, we continue our discussion on communion and focus on the practical aspects of living out in community. We reflect on the four main pillars of building a community: intentionality, vulnerability, proximity, and organically. We also talk about community as a journey and that we learn to love others by experiencing the love of …

In this week's episode, we talk about the theology of communion. Our desire for communion with others is very good and comes from God Himself. In fact, our ache for community is an ache for eternity. God desires to bring us into an eternal communion with Him and the community here on earth points towards this in a small way. We discuss what happens…

In this week's episode, we model what it looks like to pray Lectio Divina, which is a divine reading of Sacred Scripture. We begin by sharing the different ways we spend time in Sacred Scripture, how it has impacted our lives, and model how to pray Lectio Divina. We invite you to follow along and join us as we spend time reading and reflecting on J…

In this week's episode, we reflect on suffering and love. We all have deep and tender places in our hearts where we suffer. Sometimes we feel alone in these sorrows and because of this, turn inwards into our pain. But the reality is, we are never alone in our suffering; God is always with us. We also reflect on fear in suffering, suffering in isola…

In this week's episode, we look back and remember both the glorious and luminous moments in our lives. We share how allowing the Holy Spirit to overshadow us has brought forth an overflowing of grace and restoration in our lives. We also reflect on how God desires to restore our voices in places where we are afraid and have become silent. Today, jo…

In this week's episode, we look back over the past year and remember both the joyful and sorrowful moments in our lives. We discuss the importance of regularly bringing our attention to what God is doing in our lives and reflecting on the opportunities we have to deepen our surrender to God’s provision. Today, join us in reflecting on your recent f…

In this bonus episode, Heather is joined by Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR live at the National Eucharistic Congress (NEC) for a special Abiding Together and They that Hope podcast mashup. They reflect on their experiences at the NEC and share how they hope God will transform the lives of not only those in attendance, but also those at home. Heather and Fr.…

In this week's episode, we conclude our book study on the Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. We chat about the resurrection, what it means to be restored and reconciled, and making space for childlike wonder. We hope you’ve enjoyed this book study with us and will see you again this Fall! Everyone’s One Thing - The “Abiding” Women’s Conference in L…

In this week's episode, we continue with our book study on the Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (chapters 9-12). We discuss themes like the false narrative of the enemy, the dynamic of stoney hearts that God wants to restore and turn to flesh, true living of the paschal mystery, and the power of God’s resurrection power in our lives. We hope you e…

In this week's episode, we continue our book study on the Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe Chapters 5-8. We reflect deeper on the story and how it relates to our spiritual lives. Themes such as the battle of light and darkness, jealousy and making others feel small, the power of the name of Jesus, surrender vs control and how the story of Narnia i…

In this week's episode, we begin our book study on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chapters 1-4). We dive into the themes of this chapter such as innocence, faith, temptation, sin, and shared adventure. We hope you will continue to join us on the journey into this wonderful story, which we hope will help us reflect more deeply on our relatio…

By Sister Miriam James Heidland, Michelle Benzinger, and Heather Khym

In this week's episode, we welcome Sarah Kroger, a GMA Dove Award®-nominated artist, songwriter, and worship leader to the podcast to speak into the beauty of worship. Sarah shares her story of becoming a worship leader, how she creates music based on the joys and sorrows from her personal life, and her passion for collaborating with others and the…

In this week's episode, we welcome Brya Hanan, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, to share how we can learn to engage as an adult with the young parts of ourselves. Brya shares her story, the trauma she experienced as a child, and how it affected not only her self-perception but also how she related to others. She reflects on her healing jou…

In this week's episode, we welcome Dr. Mary Healy, author, and professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, to talk about living life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Healy shares how her life was radically transformed through an encounter with the Holy Spirit and reflects on the beauty of allowing the Holy Spirit to work in her life.…

In this week's episode, we continue our conversation about leading with our God-given authority, particularly in our spiritual or biological motherhood. We talk about how God has blessed us with the Sacraments, Scripture, and prayer to fight spiritual battles. We reflect on the importance of rooting our identity in Christ, how Our Lady modeled femi…

In this week's episode, we reflect on leading with our God-given authority rather than worldly influence. We discuss the importance of remembering our identity in Christ and how true authority is a display of intimacy that has been rooted in a real tangible love. We share the ways we may have been wounded by authority figures in our past, why these…

In this week's episode, we reflect on the themes of resurrection, grief, and hope in Pope Francis’ Easter Vigil homily. We chat about the sadness of unfulfilled dreams and the tender places in our hearts where we are afraid to hope and want to stay in the tomb. We also talk about the anxieties and worries that can come with trying to figure things …

In this week's episode, we conclude our Lenten study on the book “A Time of Renewal” and discuss the theme of “focus”. We chat about our natural temptation to focus on our woundedness, why we should take action and invite Jesus into these places, and how our wounds can be transformed into signs of the resurrection power of Christ. We also talk abou…

In this week's episode, we continue our Lenten study on the book “A Time of Renewal” and focus on how life is a continual process of refinement and how true learning comes through the healing found in suffering and communion. We also talk about the feelings of shame that accompany situations where we fall short, the importance of recognizing our li…

In this week's episode, we continue our Lenten study on the book “A Time of Renewal” and focus on the theme of “filling up the sufferings of Christ”. We reflect on the connection between repentance and love, recognizing how they complement each other, and the beauty of repentance as an intimate act of drawing nearer to God. We share our own struggl…

In this week's episode, we continue our Lenten study on the book “A Time of Renewal” and focus on the theme of the right kind of zeal. We chat about how we may be feeling tired and tempted to relax our Lenten penances and discuss the importance of taking time to reflect on why we felt called to take on a specific sacrifice and then recommitting our…

In this week's episode, we continue our Lenten study on the book “A Time of Renewal” and focus on the theme of being in conversation with Jesus. We reflect on the importance of reserving space for dialogue with God, surrendering to Him our own plans and desires, and allowing Him to love us in our poverty. The process of dying to self is always acco…

In this week's episode, we continue our Lenten study on the book “A Time of Renewal” and focus on the theme of true self-denial. We reflect on the importance of recognizing our need for God’s love and allowing ourselves to be transformed by His grace. We also share personal experiences and insights on repentance, amendment, and trusting in God’s pl…

In this week's episode, we begin our seven week Lenten study of the book “A Time of Renewal” by Mother Mary Francis P.C.C. In this episode we cover the introduction and the sections on the first four days of Lent. We discuss how Lent is an opportunity for us to grow in intimacy with God and how viewing fasting as a time of renewal, not suffering, c…

In this week's episode, we welcome Fr. Dave Pivonka, TOR as our guest to dive deep into what it means to be in relationship with God as Father. Together we chat about how our earthly fathers both positively and negatively impact our relationship with God the Father and how to begin to receive the love of God the Father. We also share how our relati…

In this week's episode, we discuss the relationship between solitude and community and how no matter if we are introverted or extroverted, we need both in order to live rightly ordered lives. We reflect on how solitude and community has changed throughout the different seasons of our lives and the importance of being open to these changes so we can…

In this week's episode, we reflect on the role both joy and sorrow simultaneously play in our lives. We chat about how pressing into grief allows us to more fully experience joy, and how when we try to numb ourselves to the sorrow we also numb ourselves to the experience of joy. We also talk about the importance of naming disappointments, intention…

This episode continues our annual tradition of sharing our Word of the Year! Each year, we ask God to give us a theme to focus on for the new year and invite you to do the same. After personal prayer and reflection, we share what our words for 2024 mean to us and chat about how our words from last year have impacted our lives. At the beginning of t…

Merry Christmas, friends! In this episode, we conclude our four part Advent series on the book The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander. Today, we focus on part four and discuss the sections on Our Lady Seeking, Our Seeking, The Way, and The Assumption. We reflect on the beautiful reality that when Mary looks at us, she sees her Son and how we are als…

In this episode, we continue with part three of our four part Advent series on the book “The Reed of God” by Caryll Houselander. Today, we focus on part three and discuss the sections on the Lost Child, Idols, and the Last Confession. We chat about how when we lose sight of Jesus, we are called to imitate Mary and seek until He is found. By perseve…

In this episode, we continue with part two of our four part Advent series on the book The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander. Today, we focus on part two and discuss the sections on Et Homo Factus Est, the Fugue, Wooden Bambino, and Et Verbum Caro Factum Est. We chat about our desire as women to protect our children, but how this desire can easily m…

In this episode, we begin our four part Advent series on the book The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander. Today, we focus on part one and discuss the sections on Emptiness, Fiat, Advent, and Pastoral. We reflect on the gift of virginity, how our own life experiences can alter how we view this gift, and how Our Lady perfectly models the truth about t…

In this episode, for the first time ever, we answer questions submitted by our listeners! We answer questions like: How have we healed in our identity as mother, daughter, sister, and bride? How to handle the pressure of people relying on you for spiritual improvement? How to cultivate a life that reflects beauty? How to heal from childhood sexual …

In this episode, we discuss the second half of the Varanasi Letter written by St. Teresa of Calcutta to her MC Community. We reflect on how Jesus is calling us to encounter Him daily and what we can do to open our hearts to deeper communion. We also chat about how our Blessed Mother is a perfect example of how to comfort the Sacred Heart of Jesus i…

In this episode, we discuss the first half of the Varanasi Letter written by St. Teresa of Calcutta to her MC Community. We talk about how Jesus thirsts for our souls and what we can do to care for His Heart. We reflect on what it means to let Jesus gaze upon our souls and receive Him in the areas we have been wounded and experience pain. It can be…

In this episode, we discuss the importance of cultivating silence and solitude in a world full of distractions. Our Lord speaks to us in the still small voice of our hearts and we talk about how the goal of silence is ultimately communion with God. We also chat about the difference between solitude versus isolation, reasons why we may be afraid of …

In this episode, we conclude our two part series on Pope Francis’ recent Apostolic Exhortation about St. Thérèse of Lisieux entitled “C’est la Confiance: On Confidence in the Merciful Love of God”. We discuss how we are all called to a bridal relationship with Jesus and how our desire to love and be loved is a call to Heaven. We also chat about our…

In this episode, we begin a two part series on Pope Francis’ recent Apostolic Exhortation about St. Therese of Lisieux entitled “C’est la Confiance: On Confidence in the Merciful Love of God”. We reflect on what it looks like to abandon ourselves with total confidence in God's love and how to overcome places in our lives where we feel orphaned or f…

In this episode, we chat about the importance of living in the present moment and recognizing the beauty of ordinary life. In today’s modern world, we are constantly surrounded by distractions and can be tempted to focus on the past or the future and can lose sight of the gifts and graces right in this present moment. We share practical ways we liv…

In this episode we welcome back Fr Boniface Hicks, OSB, a Benedictine monk and spiritual director at Saint Vincent Archabbey, to talk about the discernment of spirits. We chat about the reality of spiritual warfare, why we need not be afraid, and how to practically discern God’s voice versus our own thoughts. Fr. Boniface also defines the differenc…

In this episode we welcome Fr Boniface Hicks, OSB, a Benedictine monk and spiritual director at Saint Vincent Archabbey, to talk about prayer and hearing the voice of God. We discuss the beauty of learning to recognize God’s voice and various practical steps we can take to listen to and understand what God is saying in our lives. Fr. Boniface also …

In this episode, we discuss what happens in our lives during the summer, through the lens of the four mysteries of the rosary: joyful, sorrowful, luminous, and glorious. We chat about how each of our lives are a pilgrimage and how even when we cannot feel or see it, God is continuously working. Today, we invite you to reflect upon your recent faith…

In this episode, we conclude our five part study of Christifideles Laici. We discuss how life is a continual maturation process and in order to bear new fruit, we need to put in the effort to grow. Community is an integral part of this formation and we chat about how allowing others into our lives is necessary for this maturation and healing. We ha…

In this week’s episode, we continue with part four of our study on Christifideles Laici. We dive deep into the role of women and discuss how embracing the fullness of our femininity can uniquely help heal the culture. We also reflect on how the Church is like a loving mother and each one of us belongs and is deeply cherished. Whether we are young o…

In this episode, we continue with part three of our study on Christifideles Laici. We discuss how we are all called to evangelization, how our unique gifts allow us to bring Christ’s light to the world in different ways, and how our lives can be a living witness of what we believe. We also reflect on why community with family, friends, and our pari…

In this episode, we continue with part two of our study on Christifideles Laici. We chat about unity within the Catholic Church, the role of your local parish, and the importance of community. We reflect on how easy it is to focus on the differences we encounter instead of the beauty of its complementarity and rich diversity. We discuss the need to…

In this episode, we begin our five part summer study of St. Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation, Christifideles Laici: on the vocation and the mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world. We share why we are excited for the study, ways we have been personally convicted to grow in faith, and what the universal call to holiness l…

In our final episode of Season 12, we dive deep into how the Lord has been working in our lives since we began the season in January. We acknowledge how easy it is to get caught up in the struggles of life and forget to take time to stop, pause, and remember the blessings we have received. We open up about the seeds the Lord has planted in our hear…