I am amazed at the things Catholic sisters say during a podcast!
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately because we’re starting to transcribe the podcasts. So far, 18 podcasts have been transcribed and are posted on the website. Only about 550 more to go. Yep, that’s a lot of transcripts, my friends. And in those transcripts, there’s a lot of insight, joy, and wisdom from the sisters!
I’ve been a host on all of the podcasts, and from the start, podcasting has been a great adventure! I’ve talked with Catholic sisters from lots of different congregations. Many of the podcasts were livestreamed and included a chat room, so we were also in conversation with people from around the world who joined us via the internet.
The 18 podcasts that are now in written form include a number of themes. Some of my favorites:
- Discernment is more than an activity, more than something a person does. It’s a way of life, a way of being in the world.
- Prayer is a way to deepen our relationship with ourselves, with each other, and with God.
- Being grateful for things in our life can make us happier and can inspire us to help others.
- Saying “yes” to our vocation—whether it’s single life, married life, or religious life—isn’t a one-time decision. We say “yes” every day because we live our vocation each day.
- What God wants is to be in relationship with us; God is always present to us, even at times when we’re not able to be present to God
As I go through the transcripts, they also bring to mind some of the unusual things that happened in the course of the podcasts. There are so many that I could write an entire book about them! But for now, I’ll share two. You can find more stories in our “Travel Journals” in the Motherhouse Road Trip series.
We visited the Adrian Dominican Sisters during a Motherhouse Road Trip in 2013. One of the sisters who joined us on the livestreaming broadcast was Sister Maribeth Howell, a theologian. It just so happened that a young man from the Netherlands was listening to the podcast, and he was wrestling with the idea of becoming a Dominican and studying theology. Not only did he meet Dominicans in the person of Sister Maribeth and Sister Dusty, who also was a podcast guest. He also discovered that Sister Maribeth, who studied theology in Belgium, spoke Dutch, his first language. It was awesome to see that connection, and we were grateful that we could help make it happen!
We later visited the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Connecticut. To our great surprise and delight, there was a cake with our name on it! It was delicious!
Below are links to a few of the podcasts that have been transcribed thus far if you’d like to read them. You’ll notice that we began with Random Nun Clips, which are short segments from the Ask Sister, In Good Faith, and Motherhouse Road Trip podcasts. The full-length podcast episodes will be transcribed after that, so we’ll keep you posted!
Also, the transcription project is made possible in part from donations by listeners and website visitors. If you would like to make a donation, please click here. We are grateful for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support!
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