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Being Human Podcast - Episode 109: Converting the Culture with Love, w/ Sr. Agnus Dei, SV

podcast Jan 01, 2020

Welcome to Episode 109 of the Being Human Podcast:  Converting the Culture with Love, w/ Sr. Agnus Dei, SV

Roe v. Wade may have been overturned, but it doesn’t seem as if much has changed in our culture, causing us to question if Love truly is winning. Rather than give in to despair, how can we help to change hearts and live in a truly pro-life way, beyond the argument against abortion? 

Joining Dr. Greg on the podcast this week to break open these important topics is Sr. Agnus Dei of the Sisters of Life!  In this encouraging and hopeful episode, Sister vulnerably shares her personal journey to religious life and offers listeners a glimpse into what it means to live out a call to love and reverence the dignity of all human life. 

Discussed in this episode:

  • Get to know a real life nun: Sr. Agnus Dei’s personal journey to joining the Sisters of Life, their mission, and the four vows taken by each Sister; 
  • The importance of going beyond political arguments to the heart of what it means to be pro-life;
  • How reverencing life is more than just an anti-abortion argument;
  • Sister’s experience as postulant director and the younger generation’s discomfort with the commitment and devotion required of true love;
  • Recommitting to love as a way to counteract the despair and suffering present in our culture; 
  • Abortion as a wound in the lives of women; 
  • Forces of our modern culture as disintegrating versus God’s love and Christian life as oriented towards integration; 
  • The importance of tapping into our natural orientation towards God and towards love in our core;
  • Stories of hope from Sister’s experience: illustrations of how she has seen Jesus win and heal hearts;
  • The complementarity of the lay and consecrated vocations; 
  • The importance of seeing the dignity of the person at all stages of life, and Sister’s personal experience with end of life issues.

 

Resources mentioned or relevant:

Contact us! Have a topic or a question you would like Dr. Greg to address on the podcast? Want to give some feedback about this episode? Email us at [email protected] - we would love to hear from you!

 

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About Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei, S.V.

Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei graduated from the Catholic University of American with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. After working in intensive care, she entered the Sisters of Life in 2007. She professed her final vows in 2015. Sister currently serves as the local superior of St. Frances de Chantal Convent in the Bronx in the work of formation as the director of postulants for the Community.

 

About Dr. Greg and the CatholicPsych Institute

Dr. Bottaro is a clinical psychologist and founder of the CatholicPsych Institute. He received his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, a graduate school that integrates Catholic philosophy and theology with sound, empirically validated psychology.

Before his degree, Dr. Bottaro discerned a religious vocation with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFRs). He lived four years in the Bronx, serving the poor in the tradition of St. Francis of Assisi. Under the mentorship of Fr. Benedict Groeschel, this experience helped him form a spirituality based on Abandonment to Divine Providence which he now applies to psychological principles in his practice. He learned from Fr. Benedict how to discern God's voice and live a life in service to others.

Six years after leaving NYC as a friar, he returned as a psychologist. The CatholicPsych Institute began there in 2012 and has since grown to 5 offices with 12 therapists serving clients around the globe.

Dr. Bottaro now lives in Connecticut with his wife Barbra and their seven children. He actively avoids watching the news and spends his free time thinking up crazy new ideas on how to make the world a better place. 

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