In this episode we discuss the mystery and gift of the Church in the midst of scandals, disappointments, heartaches and failures. We discuss the “both and” nature of the Church that delivers the grace of the sacraments and is made up of only sinners. We chat about the family of the Church and our role as women to help reconcile and restore the broken places through transparency and repentance. We pray you would notice the Holy Spirit working a new thing within your heart this week.

Michelle’s one thing - Be Transformed - Dr. Bob Schuchts

Heather’s one thing - Restore the Glory Podcast with Dr. Bob Schutchts and Jake Khym

Sister Miriam’s one thing - Broken gods: Hope, Healing, and the Seven Longings of the Human Heart - Dr. Gregory Popcak

Other Episodes on This Topic:

Season 4, Episode 1: On Summer and Scandal

Season 4, Episode 10: Joint Restoration: An Interview with Fr. Josh Johnson

Discussion questions:

What struck you from this week’s episode?
Have you ever felt like you didn’t want to continue being a part of the Church? What experiences brought you back into communion? Where do you still need to experience reconciliation and restoration with the Church?
How do we, especially as women, create safe places for people to repent and for victims to be reconciled to the Church?
What areas does God want to redeem, restore and make new in your own life to bring restoration to the Church?

Journal Questions:

What trauma have you experienced at the hands of the Church and have you been able to forgive? What wounds have you caused to others within the Church and have you been able to repent?
What wounds is God inviting you to bring to the foot of the cross this week? Take a moment to ask Jesus to meet you there and do for you what you cannot do for yourself.

Quote to Ponder: “How baffling you are, oh Church, and yet how I love you! How you have made me suffer, and yet how much I owe you! I would like to see you destroyed, and yet I need your presence. You have given me so much scandal and yet you have made me understand what sanctity is. I have seen nothing in the world more devoted to obscurity, more compromised, more false, and yet I have touched nothing more pure, more generous, more beautiful. How often I have wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face, and how often I have prayed to die in the safety of your arms.” - Carlo Carretto, Letters from the Desert

Scripture for Lectio Divina: “When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, ‘Young man, I tell you, arise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.’ Luke 7:13-15

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