[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to Faith Break. Finding God moments in your everyday. Each week on Faith Break, hosts Karen Luke and Ann Gallagher bring spiritual refreshment to your daily life. On Today's episode for January 26, 2025, Karen and Ann share their top 10 picks for music, spiritual reading, prayer practices and more to help you grow in faith this year.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Faith Break where Anne and I take moments in our everyday lives to find out where God is calling us. And I already introduced you. This is.
[00:00:47] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Anne.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: And I'm Karen Luke. And we are friends, ministers, lay women, wives, moms, many hats, many hats.
But today is a fun episode. We are really excited. We are going to be sharing. It's like a show and tell our top 10 favorite faith things.
[00:01:14] Speaker C: Yeah. So a lot of people do this at the end of the year. They'll do like a best of top 10. We're squeaking by right at the very end of January with some of our favorite things recommendations for. For you in 2025 of things that help us to pray and to be close to God. And maybe you will like them too.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:01:33] Speaker C: So how are we gonna do this?
[00:01:34] Speaker B: I think we should just do one each. And so you share first, Anne, what is one top five for you?
[00:01:43] Speaker C: So one of my top fives is I'm gonna share some of my prayer soundtrack for 2025. Cause, you know, I'm someone who I have music on a lot. All the time at home. I love to pray with music. Whether I'm, you know, taking a walk or making dinner or driving the car, I always got some music playing. So having music that bolsters my faith is really important to me and kind of it just increases the quality of my everyday.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: And I know one of those bands.
[00:02:16] Speaker C: I'm shout out two of my favorite artists. But for King and Country, amazing, amazing they have. We've had the awesome opportunity to see them live in concert at ncyc.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Not long enough though.
[00:02:28] Speaker C: No, it wasn't a full concert.
[00:02:30] Speaker B: It was literally like 15 minutes.
[00:02:32] Speaker C: But it was so awesome even that. I mean, they have like big like bangers and anthems that will really get your energy up and put you in a good mood. And they also have some really beautiful more ballads. And I think one of the things I love about both for King and Country and Matt Marr, who is my second music rec, is that I feel like these two artists really have a broader range of spiritual things that they're talking about in their music. So, like, praise music is great, but if you listen to These artists, Matt Har and for King and Country, you're gonna get more of a breadth and more of a depth there of your whole kind of spiritual experience. I would really recommend those too. So.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: So I'm gonna ask. I'm gonna put you on the spot, your favorite Matt Mahar song, if you can, like.
Cause I know mine.
[00:03:25] Speaker C: I have a couple favorites. I will say. Run to the Father is one of my favorite historical ones, and partly because of the history of it. Cause remember when we had the pandemic?
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, okay.
[00:03:38] Speaker C: We had this pandemic, and we had to try to figure out how to be there for our young people through it. And so we did meet in the church, but we had to be, like, spread out and masked and in small groups, and we were doing all these things. And I would get there to set up early before everybody came, and I would just blast that song in the church. I'd be all alone, and I would just be. And it was like, so. I love that song, but I think the one I'm listening to most right now is in the Room.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Oh, that one. I lost my voice to singing in the car one time coming to work. Yes, that's right.
[00:04:13] Speaker C: You were telling me about that.
[00:04:13] Speaker B: I love that song.
[00:04:14] Speaker C: That one is about, I want to be in the room when God moves, When the Holy Spirit moves. And it references the story of the people who lowered their paralyzed friend through the roof to get to Jesus because the crowds were too thick and they couldn't bring him through the door. So they tore the roof off of it and they lowered him down into the space where Jesus was.
And in my head canon, it was teenagers who did that, because they totally would just be like, oh, we can't get through the crowd. Let's just rip the roof off the place for sure.
But just that desire to be where God is working. Yeah, I've got that. So, yeah, those are two. Great soundtrack for 2025. Check out for Kane Country. Check out Matt Mar.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: You too. Bet.
[00:04:59] Speaker C: Actually, you will not be disappointed.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: No. Our new secretary at St. Catharines, Shauna, I was rocking out to for King Country YouTube channel. And she's like, what is this? I was like, oh, my gosh. You have to listen. So she sat in my office for, like, 10 minutes just listening to the music. And then I gave her a list of a bunch of other ones, but, yeah. Oh, I love that. Thank you.
[00:05:23] Speaker C: So many good ones.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: I know. So my first share is a Bible that I actually gifted to myself. I love it. When I started the 19th annotation.
I bought this. And in the front, it says, a gift to myself on the journey of the 19th annotation. And this was October of 2021.
[00:05:47] Speaker C: Yay.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: And I can't believe it was already that long ago. But I love this Bible because it's a coloring book.
[00:05:55] Speaker C: So good.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: So when I, like, after I read a passage, I can just, like, doodle in it. And I am not the type of person that I can just sit in silence with my thoughts. So doodling doodle prayer is amazing. If you haven't doodle prayer, we could probably bring that up at some point. But just it just gives me a little extra something to do while I'm meditating on it.
[00:06:21] Speaker C: I love the idea of having a Bible that you're actually, like, underlining things in or highlighting things or coloring. Like, you're really owning it and interacting with the Scripture.
[00:06:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: Because people think. I mean, it's holy. Cause you're using it too, Right.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: And so there's a whole bunch of different. Like, different pages have different things.
And it also has, like, notes on the side so you can jot.
[00:06:45] Speaker C: Oh, I see. It has space, like, on every page.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: On every page. And so it's just like. Yeah, I call it my doodle Bible.
But it was really interesting because we have a teen, well, young adult now because he's in college, but his mom came to me. He's like, do you have any good Bibles? Because he's looking for one. I was like, you have to get a doodle Bible. She's like, what's a doodle Bible? I was like, oh, my gosh. And he actually found one. Like, he went on Amazon and bought it himself. And he. And I saw him, he was back from college a week ago. And I'm like, hey, how's it going? He's like, oh, my Bible is just written in. I was like, that's awesome. Like, a young adult is so great. Utilizing the holiness of.
Now, usually, like, when I'm researching or doing other stuff, I use the Catholic.
[00:07:34] Speaker C: Youth Bible, which is excellent Bible, which.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: Is also an amazing Bible because it has.
[00:07:38] Speaker C: And it has some space for doodling and a few coloring pages in it, but not as much.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: The reason why I like that one is because it has, like, maps and reading timelines and reading plans and so many good resources. Faith act or act on it.
[00:07:56] Speaker C: It has little articles explaining.
[00:07:59] Speaker B: And so it just is like, I don't know about you guys, but I have not read the Bible all the way through.
And it can be Intimidating. Right. But with this one and the Catholic Youth Bible, it gives you more of a sense of like, okay, I'm not this holier than thou person that I can just sit here and read it. But it allows you to learn the information to help you understand Scripture.
[00:08:25] Speaker C: Right.
[00:08:26] Speaker B: So those are my.
It's one of my top five is either a Doodle Bible or the Catholic Youth Bible. Cause it's. It just helps that extra understanding.
[00:08:37] Speaker C: I'm gonna build on that for my second pick. Okay, so my second pick is a book of the Bible for the year.
And so I'm going to recommend the Gospel of Luke.
Right. Is it your favorite gospel?
[00:08:50] Speaker B: Well, my last name, so.
[00:08:52] Speaker C: Oh, I didn't even think about it.
Is that why it's your favorite gospel? Do you have any other reasons?
[00:09:00] Speaker B: No.
[00:09:01] Speaker C: Okay. I have some reasons why it's my favorite gospel that have nothing to do with the fact that it's a religion.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: I feel like it's a little more historical. It gives you a little more understanding of Jesus. But I just go with.
[00:09:14] Speaker C: So we are. For all the church nerds out there, we are in. At the beginning of Advent, we started a new liturgical year. So we are in year C right up until November until next Advent. And we are reading the Gospel of Luke all year long at Sunday Masses. So this is a great time to look at that one gospel. Cause if you come to Mass, you're gonna be hearing most of it, most of it throughout the course of the year. And it is my prayer, personal favorite gospel. And that is because Luke was writing specifically to, like, the people on the margins.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:54] Speaker C: So not to get too deep into the exegesis of everything, but, like, Mark is kind of the. The first one that was written. It's the shortest one. And then we have Luke and Matthew that build on Mark, but we're writing to different audiences. So, like, in Matthew, you hear a lot more about Jesus's Jewishness and, like, how he's connected to the prophecies in the Old Testament and how he's the fulfillment of them.
But Luke was writing not just to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. So he was taking Jesus's message and making it for everybody. So there are so many stories that you find in the Gospel of Luke that you don't find other people, places that highlight, you know, people who were. Who were not in the center of society. So we have stories about women and stories about people from, like, other parts of the world and lepers and just people, tax collectors, people on the margins of society. And Jesus was present to all of them. So I really love that about the Gospel of Luke. And also it happens to be where a lot of my favorite passages are from. Like, all the stories around Jesus's birth and about Mary are all from the Gospel of Luke. So I'm taking once again as my quote for the year because I feel like I didn't really.
I didn't really honor it totally in 2024. So I'm hanging onto it for 2025. But Luke 1:45, which is during the story of the visitation, which we talked about during Advent, when Elizabeth says to Mary, blessed are you who believed that what God promised you would be fulfilled, that what God's promised you was true. So that's my quote of the year from the Gospel of Luke. And you can read it in the doodle Bible of your choice or the Catholic Youth Bible or any Bible that you have. So that's my recommendation for scripture this year.
[00:11:51] Speaker B: Okay, so my second recommendation has nothing to do with the Gospel of Luke or a gospel.
But I have been using a daily gratitude. Ooh, yay, notebook.
Now, I try to do it every day. Doesn't always work.
But this one is really cool because it has a word of the day.
[00:12:12] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: And it's what you're thankful for and what you wanna remember.
And I just opened up.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: What's the word of the day, Gary?
[00:12:24] Speaker B: Okay, so my first entry was September of 2019. And then my second entry was October of 2019. So obviously I wasn't doing it daily, but monthly. But my word, one of my word of the days was redo.
That's great.
But I always, in my mind at night, I do go through a list of things that I've been grateful for. But as you can see, it is fun to look back and be like, what was I thinking? Or, oh, that was interesting.
So writing it down is also fun because you can kind of keep track and see where you're growing or what you still need to work on. So that is my.
I guess this will be my mission is sit right in it. I love it daily instead of monthly.
[00:13:14] Speaker C: I love the idea that when you're focusing on your gratitude too, you're counteracting some of that negativity bias where we focus on what's wrong and you're intentionally practicing focusing on the gratitude actually changes your brain.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: Well, there's that. What is that?
There's something that you need to hear. 10 positives to negate one negative. So. And in our world, we are in a very negative society. Right.
[00:13:43] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:13:44] Speaker B: Everything. Body image, racism, sexism, everything.
So when you. When you actually sit down and you're like, oh, I do have 10 things that I'm grateful for. And even though X, Y and Z was negative, I still have this, I.
[00:14:01] Speaker C: Think probably a gratitude practice. Establishing a gratitude practice like that is probably one of the best things you can do for not just your spiritual health, but I'm thinking even your physical health.
[00:14:09] Speaker B: Yeah. And mental.
[00:14:10] Speaker C: Yep. Mental health for sure.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: We tend to do it as a family. Sometimes when we actually do sit down together for dinner, will say, like, you know, name one thing that was awesome today. Like, what is one thing that you're grateful for? And that's really fun to hear the kids, what they have to say. And then it just. It's nice for them to hear that there are positives as adults too. So even if you're not writing it down, the practice of gratitude. And it shows that we all are grateful for something.
So that's my.
[00:14:45] Speaker C: Awesome.
[00:14:46] Speaker B: That's my second. Cool. What's your third?
[00:14:49] Speaker C: Third. All right, so these are. I thought I would share in the spirit of honesty, a couple of books I have purchased for myself with the intention to do spiritual reading. That makes me feel so much better about this.
[00:15:01] Speaker B: Makes me feel so much better then.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: Invitation to join me on this journey.
I love books and I love reading and I love buying books. And I recently did a purge of all the books in my house where I went because it had gotten a little bit out of hand. I had things like double stacked and all.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: That's not out of hand.
[00:15:23] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: When it's quadruple stacked, then you gotta worry about it.
[00:15:26] Speaker C: Yeah. So I did a whole big purge and I realized I actually have more shelf space now. So I anyway, bought more books. Bought more books.
I'm not sorry about it.
That's just what I'm gonna say. These are some things that I am very interested in that I have. They've been kind of floating around and people have. Different people have recommended them to me. And so these are my spiritual reading for at least the first part of 2025.
They are connected to each other because they are both books about holy rest, taking rest and during.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: You've talked about holy napping.
[00:16:01] Speaker C: Yes. So these are books along the lines of holy napping. So the first. I don't know if this is going to come through, but these are two books by Tricia Hersey, who. She's the founder of the Nap Ministry. Have you heard about her?
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Only from you.
[00:16:15] Speaker C: I haven't actually. Read these books yet, but I'm looking forward to it. She is a liberation theologian who writes about how in a society that only values our productivity and what we contribute to the bottom line, it is an act of resistance and protest to rest as a holy practice.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: The art of escape.
[00:16:41] Speaker C: Yes. So it's about not just giving yourself permission to take a step back and rest, but to see it as an act of social justice, which I think sounds amazing.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: This just looks fun. I might have to go buy it myself.
[00:16:54] Speaker C: Well, you can just borrow that one.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: I think, because I need it on my bookshelf.
[00:16:57] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. See, you understand me. I think this first one is more like her thesis, and this one is more like inspirational devotional things. So. Tricia Hersey, Rest is Resistance and we will Rest. And then kind of going along with that, this was recommended to me, Catherine May. It's called the Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times.
And so this is also about, like, the seasons of our lives and how certain seasons in our lives were called to be more restful and waiting, knowing that God is growing and changing things underneath the surface, like in winter. So that's what I'm looking forward to exploring in 2025. And maybe if anybody wants to join me, we can, like, have a little book club or discussion about it or something. I'd be totally down for that.
So those are my kind of aspirational goals for the year. I love that, spending time with those books.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: And I do appreciate the books. I have lots of books, and I still haven't read half of them, but it's just fun to have books.
My third pick is my rosary.
[00:18:06] Speaker C: Oh, is there a story where you got it from?
[00:18:08] Speaker B: There is. There is. So I don't know if your family is similar to my family, but because I'm the church lady, if anyone in our family passes away, I get all the religious stuff.
[00:18:22] Speaker C: Yes, that has happened. And I'll see you.
[00:18:25] Speaker B: Steph is laughing behind the camera.
[00:18:27] Speaker C: You have to say grace at all the family dinners, too, right? Yeah.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: So. But this one I am very blessed to have gotten. This was my grandma's rosary.
[00:18:39] Speaker C: Which grandma?
[00:18:40] Speaker B: My dad's mom. Grandma Helen.
[00:18:43] Speaker C: My grandma's name was Helen, too. My dad's mom is Helen.
[00:18:46] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. So both of my grandparents were Catholic, and my grandma, actually, my grandpa, went through RCIA or became Catholic, but my grandma and grandpa Barg would go to St. Mary's Hospital for Mass.
[00:19:08] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: And whenever I slept over, that's where we went. And it was like this little Chapel in the hospital. And of course, we sat in the back row. Cause that's where all the Catholics go.
[00:19:19] Speaker C: Where all the good Catholics go during Mass.
[00:19:22] Speaker B: But. So not only is it because it's my grandmother's, but I love the rosary.
And when I was at Nazareth, I did an internship at St. Anne Nursing Home.
And I was in the chaplain department.
[00:19:40] Speaker C: I didn't know that about you. No. So cool.
[00:19:42] Speaker B: And so I would go on visitations to the different rooms and everything. And they were talking about how there was a need for the dementia unit. And I left my, like, intern interview. And I was like, please don't assign me to the dementia. Please don't. Like, I just. I did not want to be assigned. Not because I was scared, but it was just, like, I didn't know how.
I didn't know how to mince.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:07] Speaker B: And of course, what happened. God had a plan, and I was put on the dementia unit.
[00:20:12] Speaker C: Of course you were.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: But what was very interesting is they couldn't remember, like, yesterday, but they could remember every single prayer of the Rosary. And that's what we do. Once a week, we would gather together and we would say the rosary. And there was one older lady, and she would always take the lead. And it was the funniest thing. She's like, I know this is supposed to be you. You're supposed to be leading, right? And I'm like, yeah. And she goes, can I go ahead?
[00:20:41] Speaker C: Of course.
[00:20:42] Speaker B: And they would know every single prayer. And just hearing their stories and knowing that, like, their life, but that the one thing that they had still in their mental capacity, in their bones, almost right in their bones, was how to say the rosary.
[00:20:59] Speaker C: Wow, that's beautiful.
[00:21:00] Speaker B: So I actually pull out my rosary and I pray it when I can't fall asleep. Cause it just brings me, like, this peace. And it's funny, there are some nights that I will wake up holding the rosary. I'm only like, to hear it. I was like, wow, I didn't realize I was that tired or I have to find it, you know?
And I. You know, some people are probably like, oh, my gosh, that's so sacrilegious.
[00:21:26] Speaker C: You know, I think a lot of people probably fall asleep with a rose sleeping on it.
[00:21:31] Speaker B: But that's what they're for. Yeah, Right. And they're. They're supposed to bring that comfort. And so. Yeah. And I will say, because we work at the church, we also get a lot of rosaries from people.
So if you do not have one, you can come stop by and we'll.
[00:21:53] Speaker C: Find you and get one for you.
[00:21:55] Speaker B: And we can make up a story on how you got it.
[00:21:58] Speaker C: We should do something. We actually had a parishioner donate a giant rosary. Remember that?
[00:22:02] Speaker B: I have, like, three giant rosary. Yeah, I know it.
[00:22:05] Speaker C: We should do something like that this year.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: We also have, like, rosary making kits that you guys could do.
And we also have, like, the cards.
[00:22:16] Speaker C: So teach you how to do it.
[00:22:17] Speaker B: That teach you how to do it. And I still don't have it all memorized. Cause there's different days of the week.
[00:22:21] Speaker C: The different mysteries, and when you say the different mysteries of the rosary.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: Yeah, there's different days that you say certain ones.
But it's really a grace because I have shared very openly that I have anxiety. So this is one of my, like, graces of grounding me.
[00:22:39] Speaker C: Rosary is a great prayer and anxiety. I think just the act of holding it is comforting.
[00:22:43] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And, yeah, so that's my. That's my third.
[00:22:49] Speaker C: Cool.
So my fourth. This is totally different. But I was just kind of looking at my bookshelf on. So I got. I shared the books that I'm hoping to read this year. And then I was like, well, if I could recommend, like, one book that changed how I thought about something, what would it be?
And there's lots. There's lots. But one that I. And this is a small book, so it's not a really long read, but it was really profound. I'm gonna recommend Ronald the Passion and the Cross because this book really helped me to understand what Jesus did on the cross in a deeper way.
Because when we're partly, oh, yeah, perfect. Partly, it's because I have to explain to teenagers who have lots of challenging questions why Jesus died on the cross and why bad things happen to good people. And it's easy to kind of fall back, back on platitudes like, Jesus died for my sins, Jesus. Which is like, this is all true. But, like, this book really helped me understand the love behind what Jesus did on the cross, the utter love behind what Jesus did on the cross and the fact that he took in all the pain and he absorbed it and he let out love.
So it's just profound. I'm not going to say it as good as the author does, but if you are looking for a reading that will help you understand suffering and understand the Paschal Mystery, this one was a great one. And then I got looking at the other books by Ronald Oldhiser. So I had to also bring the Holy Longing, which is one I read decades ago. And it's all about just our, you know, the God shaped hole in our hearts that like, we're never going to be fold unless we fill ourselves with the love of God. So he's a great spiritual writer. He's a priest and he's got lots of books. But these are my two favorite, so.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: And I've, you know, in youth group, there have been so many questions just this year of why do good things or why do bad things happen to good people? And it's the central question. It's the central question. Yeah. And as we are inching toward Lent, which is the whole story, this would.
[00:25:19] Speaker C: Be a great lunch read.
[00:25:20] Speaker B: I was gonna say, like, that would be a good.
I haven't read any of him, so I'm looking forward to that too.
[00:25:26] Speaker C: Yeah, he's good.
[00:25:27] Speaker B: Cool.
[00:25:27] Speaker C: All right. That's my number four recommendation.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: My number four is I always talk about it. Oh, watch the chosen.
[00:25:37] Speaker C: Watch the chosen. I need to do this. I'm still a season behind.
[00:25:41] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. I know.
[00:25:42] Speaker C: And I'm Christmas. I'm gonna do well. We're recording this early, but I'm gonna have a lot of time off.
[00:25:47] Speaker B: I might just binge all of it. All four again.
But you've heard me talk about it before. It just is.
Oh, the visuals putting. And I know it's all like actors and everything, but they play it so well.
And just seeing the joy on Jesus face when he's with his apostles and the joy of their faces.
And you know, there's one scene that they're like playing in the sea and they were just like splashing water on each other and laughing. And my husband had come down and he's like, what are you watching? I was like, oh, I'm watching the Chosen. He's like, that's really cool to see Jesus actually, like, as a friend, you know, enjoying these moments.
And once he said that, I was like, oh, yeah. It brings the humanity of Jesus and just the miracles that happen and the stories of, I don't know.
[00:27:03] Speaker C: You have to watch it. You will not regret watching it. No.
[00:27:06] Speaker B: And you won't be disappointed.
[00:27:07] Speaker C: So well done.
[00:27:07] Speaker B: And I know of another parishioner who's watching it. Her and her husband.
[00:27:11] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: And I was talking to her about it and I said, did you get to this? And she's like, don't ruin it for me.
[00:27:16] Speaker C: She didn't say anything.
[00:27:18] Speaker B: She's like, we have made a pact that we can't watch it unless we watch it together.
[00:27:22] Speaker C: Oh, wow.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: So they have to make sure that they watch it together. And I was like, you're killing me. Like, I need. Yeah, I need to talk about it.
But.
[00:27:32] Speaker C: All right, I will do that for you, friend.
[00:27:33] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:27:34] Speaker C: And so we can finally talk about it.
[00:27:36] Speaker B: Because I. I mean, in any show or long running movie or anything, there's behind the.
There's a storyline that's really not in the Bible that we hear or have read.
So there, I mean, they take creative control, you know, but the idea of it is just, it's so well done.
[00:28:01] Speaker C: And yeah, it really will change your relationship with who Jesus is by thinking about his friendships.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: And it goes back to your song in the room.
[00:28:13] Speaker C: Right?
[00:28:14] Speaker B: There's a whole scene from that.
[00:28:19] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: Oh. And then you hear the song and you're like, oh, my gosh.
It's just, it's like.
So it's not just for like Catholics. So they have like the director, they have people from all denominations looking at it and screening it.
[00:28:38] Speaker C: Biblical experts.
[00:28:41] Speaker B: But there is also a show based on the chosen where they invite young adults.
[00:28:49] Speaker C: Oh, really?
[00:28:50] Speaker B: And they're agnostic. Like they're from all denominations. And they are put in a room together to watch the first season.
[00:28:59] Speaker C: Cool.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: And then they talk about. After each episode they talk about how they feel. And I started to watch that, but then it got annoying because I was like, I just wanna know what's happened.
[00:29:10] Speaker C: You want back to the story.
[00:29:11] Speaker B: I just want it back to the story.
But it's. Yeah. I have heard from or read stuff from other people who have watched it that it's.
It is really interesting for them to watch it. Not just because they're Catholic and are Christian and follow Jesus. But.
Yeah. So check that out.
[00:29:33] Speaker C: I knew you were gonna recommend that. I'm not surprised.
[00:29:36] Speaker B: It's so good.
[00:29:38] Speaker C: All right. My last one, number five. Yeah. This one's kind of less specific, but it is what I use the most often to help me to pray. So I figured I would mention it. But it's just movement. Okay. So don't be afraid to take a walk or whatever your normal exercise or movement practice is to use that as your prayer time. Cause I for one, really find it easier to pray when I'm moving. So I definitely take walks on my days off.
If yoga is a thing you like, definitely do that. And we are going to be having in 2025. I'm so excited about this.
I hope a few offerings of Ignatian Yoga. Mornings of Ignatian Yoga.
Yeah. So the details are still forthcoming. I don't have anything specific to Share yet, but we will be hosting some mornings of prayer around certain scripture passages that also incorporate movement and breath work. That's awesome. Yeah, we've made the connection with somebody is a certified Ignatian yoga instructor, which I didn't know was a thing, but is gonna be so great.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:30:53] Speaker C: So stay tuned for that.
[00:30:54] Speaker B: That's great. My fifth one is the Serenity Prayer.
[00:30:59] Speaker C: A classic.
[00:31:00] Speaker B: A classic, but the story behind it. There's always a story with me, but the story behind it is my Godfather is celebrating 45 years of sobriety.
[00:31:16] Speaker C: Amazing.
[00:31:17] Speaker B: And I know that because the year that I was born was when he went into aa.
So it's like a huge, huge thing within our family, acknowledgment and everything.
But whenever we say grace, he always says a serenity prayer after. And it's just like a family. A family thing, but just the. So I say that a lot, especially with my kids. Like, I'll say under my breath if I'm starting to get frustrated. I'm like, God, grant me the serenity.
So for those that don't know it, God, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, and easy to say.
[00:32:11] Speaker C: Hard to do.
[00:32:12] Speaker B: Totally hard to do. Right. We think we can just change the world on everything. And we have, like, this hero complex.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: Right.
[00:32:20] Speaker B: And there's just some things that we just have to.
We just have to offer it up, as our grandmas used to say.
[00:32:31] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:32:31] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:32:32] Speaker C: But I. I love that.
[00:32:34] Speaker B: I love the small, spontaneous prayers during the day.
That's where.
[00:32:43] Speaker C: That's when you can plug into any moment when you need it.
[00:32:45] Speaker B: Any moment. Any moment. Sitting in the car in back of somebody who's not driving fast enough. Yeah, I'm a total. Like, that bothers me so much.
[00:32:58] Speaker C: Everybody on the road is driving either too fast or too slow except for me. I don't know what the problem is.
[00:33:02] Speaker B: So it's like anytime I start to feel like.
Or if, you know, somebody has 25 things in the express item line of only 15, God grant me the serenity.
But I love those moments because it's bringing, you know, we're talking about ordinary time and bringing it back in, and it just helps, like, refocus that it's not all about Karen and then having that meaning within our family at work.
[00:33:34] Speaker C: In the parishes all over. Right.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: It's very. A special, special prayer.
[00:33:40] Speaker C: That is a great prayer for 20, 25.
[00:33:42] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:43] Speaker C: We have a lot of good recommendations. Okay. We're gonna be. This is gonna be a busy year, but a good year, I hope.
[00:33:48] Speaker B: And please, if you guys are ladies, guys, whoever's listening, if you have stuff that helps you.
[00:33:56] Speaker C: Oh, we'd love your feedback. We'd love your feedback and your comments.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: We've been talking about maybe having a page on our website or something of resources, and so maybe that'll be one of our things that we can work on. But we'd love the feedback. We'd love to be able to share your ideas because these are just 10 things out of a gazillion that could possibly be done.
[00:34:22] Speaker C: Yeah. So let us know where you're finding God in 2025 and what your favorite faith things are.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: There's a lot. So I think.
[00:34:30] Speaker C: Yeah, I think we're done.
[00:34:32] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:34:32] Speaker C: I'm ready to. That's all we got to say this time. We've made our recommendations.
[00:34:36] Speaker B: Yeah, those are our recommendations. Thank you, everybody.
[00:34:39] Speaker C: We'll see you next week. Bye.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: Thanks for taking a faith break with us today.
Karen Luke and Anne Gallagher are lay ministers with the parishes of St. Catherine of Siena in Menden, New York, and Church of the Transfiguration in Pittsford, New York. More about our parishes, including weekly live streamed Sunday Mass, can be
[email protected] or transfigurationpittsford.org Engineering Today is by Jeff Beckett. Join us for new episodes of Faith Break each week in Studio on YouTube or on your favorite audio podcast or music applied.
