A Resounding Yes!

Paloma & Fig
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Christianity

A Resounding Yes! is a podcast produced by Catholic creative agency Paloma & Fig centered around Mary's Fiat and how we can say YES to the Lord. Visit www.palomaandfig.com to learn more.

  1. 3d ago

    Dr. John Cuddeback on Technology, Family and the Traditional Household

    Belle Meade welcomes Dr. John Cuddeback, who has taught philosophy at Christendom College for 30 years, to discuss his newest book, The Intentional Household. The ordinary activities that once filled the home have left it, Dr. John argues, and families have to bring them back on purpose. He also makes the case for drawing grandparents back into family life. What We Talk About: Why Dr. John points to his marriage, 30 years in, as the yes that shaped his lifeWhy the 1950s family was already a post-industrial family, and what the traditional household looked like insteadHow a meal followed by real conversation counts as leisure, not amusementWhy every no to technology needs a stronger yes behind itHow grandparents and older members of the community can hand on faith and wisdom to a family, even when they live somewhere elseResources Mentioned: Paloma&FigThe Intentional Household: Living As If People MatterLifeCraftHannah Coulter by Wendell BerryLeisure, the Basis of Culture by Josef PieperChapters: 00:00: Introduction and Opening Prayer02:30: Dr. John’s Yes: Marriage05:06: Why He Wrote The Intentional Household09:13: How the Household Lost Its Place at the Center14:05: Living As If People Don’t Matter17:53: Why Relationships Need a Conducive Context22:15: The Home as the School of Responsibility26:13: True Leisure vs. Mere Amusement30:52: Channeling Technology to the Good of the Household40:09: Bringing the Elderly Back Into the Home49:09: Writers and Thinkers for the Intentional Household51:46: Making a House a HomeProduced by Saint Kolbe Studios Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow Paloma & Fig on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Learn more at www.palomaandfig.com.  Join in the conversation by joining our  Facebook group, A Resounding Yes!

    Dr. John Cuddeback on Technology, Family and the Traditional Household

  2. Oct 16

    Michele Sagarino of Cross Catholic Outreach on the Mission Trip that Revealed Her Calling

    Belle Meade welcomes Michele Sagarino, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, a Catholic relief and development ministry that works through the local Church to serve the world’s poorest communities. Michele tells the story of the mission trip that set her on this path, and of the 2013 dinner conversation that became Box of Joy. That program is now closing in on its millionth Christmas gift. What We Talk About: On a mission trip, Michele saw the same food and bedding neglected at government-run facilities and given with love by a community of sisters.Cross Catholic Outreach sends no American teams overseas. It funds the local Church already serving each community and meets spiritual needs alongside material ones.Why her staff gives the first hour of every day to God.How Box of Joy works: parishes and schools fill shoebox-size Christmas gifts, and Cross Catholic adds a rosary and a story of Jesus in each child’s language before shipping them overseas.Two ways to take part: lead a group by October 30, or have a box packed and shipped for $36 through Box of Joy Online.Resources Mentioned: Paloma&FigCross Catholic OutreachBox of JoyGod’s Smuggler by Brother AndrewIgnatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New TestamentsChapters: 00:00: Welcome and Opening Prayer02:37: The Mission Trip Behind Michele’s Yes08:05: How Cross Catholic Outreach Works11:04: Integral Human Development15:21: Michele’s Path to Nonprofit Work19:15: How the Work Deepened Her Faith26:34: How Box of Joy Began33:33: What Goes Into a Box of Joy36:48: Stories from Children and Families43:21: One Million Boxes and How to Help49:12: A Gift That Deepened Michele’s Faith51:50: Closing Challenge and PrayerProduced by Saint Kolbe Studios Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow Paloma & Fig on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Learn more at www.palomaandfig.com.  Join in the conversation by joining our  Facebook group, A Resounding Yes!

    Michele Sagarino of Cross Catholic Outreach on the Mission Trip that Revealed Her Calling

  3. Oct 9

    The Life and Martyrdom of Shahbaz Bhatti w/ Knox Thames

    Belle Meade sits down with Knox Thames, a human rights lawyer who spent twenty years advocating for religious freedom in the U.S. government and now leads the Everett Center for Global Religious Freedom at Dallas Baptist University. Their conversation centers on Blood and Water, the graphic novel Knox produced about his late friend Shahbaz Bhatti, the Catholic cabinet minister in Pakistan who was murdered by the Pakistani Taliban. Knox also explains why Christians are called to defend the faith of others. What We Talk About: Why Shahbaz Bhatti turned down asylum in Canada and went back to Pakistan, knowing the threats against him were real.Bhatti as a university student, posting a petition written in his own blood when extremists tried to shut down his Christian group.Why Christians should defend religious freedom for people of every faith, not only their own.How a graphic novel reached Knox’s teenage sons, who never read his policy articles.An artistic choice in Blood and Water: Christ’s face is never shown, so each reader can picture the Christ they know.Resources Mentioned: Paloma&FigBlood and Water: The Life and Martyrdom of Shahbaz BhattiKnox ThamesEverett Center for Global Religious FreedomChapters: 00:00: Intro00:30: Welcome and Opening Prayer04:10: Knox Thames’s Faith Journey09:57: Who Was Shahbaz Bhatti?15:41: What Bhatti Was Like as a Friend17:55: Why Bhatti Refused Asylum22:39: The Church’s Role in Defending Religious Freedom28:37: The Three Acts of Bhatti’s Life33:35: Why Tell the Story as a Graphic Novel37:53: Bhatti’s Gethsemane Moment41:59: Seeing the Hurting World Around You45:01: Favorite Memories of Shahbaz BhattiProduced by Saint Kolbe Studios Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow Paloma & Fig on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Learn more at www.palomaandfig.com.  Join in the conversation by joining our  Facebook group, A Resounding Yes!

    The Life and Martyrdom of Shahbaz Bhatti w/ Knox Thames

  4. Oct 2

    Why a Novel Can Reach Where Theology Can't, with Thomas Curry

    Belle Meade welcomes Thomas Curry, a mostly retired physician from Port St. Joe, Florida, to talk about his faith journey and his novel Miss Sally's Son. Raised Methodist, Thomas shares how his wife led him into the Catholic Church and how questions about Thomas Merton's life became the seed of a story about a lawyer searching for his father and his lost faith. It took him thirty years, he admits, to appreciate what he had joined. What We Talk About: Why Thomas enlisted in the Army during the Vietnam War, and how everyone he trained with shipped out to Vietnam while he never didHow an unanswered question in Thomas Merton's life—a child he fathered before his conversion and never mentioned in his autobiography—inspired Miss Sally's SonA priest's challenge to Jack: no one can be a hypocrite before God, and the real reason he won't pray is prideWhy Thomas and his wife pray the rosary every night, even over FaceTime when they're apartResources Mentioned: Paloma&FigMiss Sally's Son by Thomas CurryThe Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas MertonThe Catechism in a Year with Fr. Mike SchmitzChapters: 00:00: Intro00:30: Welcoming Thomas Curry and opening prayer03:36: Thomas's conversion and his wife's influence07:54: Joining the Army during the Vietnam War12:25: How Thomas Merton inspired Miss Sally's Son21:13: What a novel can do that apologetics can't29:15: The distractions pulling Jack away from faith35:19: Jack's struggle with prayer and pride39:23: Choosing the rosary for Jack's return to faith46:31: Why Augustine's journey mirrors Jack's50:32: Advice for Catholics who see themselves in Jack53:19: Where to find the book and what comes nextProduced by Saint Kolbe Studios Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow Paloma & Fig on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Learn more at www.palomaandfig.com.  Join in the conversation by joining our  Facebook group, A Resounding Yes!

    Why a Novel Can Reach Where Theology Can't, with Thomas Curry

  5. Sep 25

    Mary's Fiat and the Rosary: Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress on the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage

    Belle Meade welcomes Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress, O.P. back to A Resounding Yes to talk about the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage on Saturday, September 26, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. Fr. Joseph-Anthony is the Promoter of the Holy Rosary for the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.  In this episode, he explains why the rosary is the Dominican patrimony and why Mary's fiat at the Annunciation was only her first. He also recalls the question a friar asked him in the novitiate: why are you staying? What We Talk About: Why the rosary belongs to the Dominicans: tradition holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave it to St. Dominic, and every Dominican province must name a friar as promoter of the rosaryThe set number of prayers is a framework for meditating on the life of Christ, not a checklistMary's fiat at the Annunciation was her first yes, followed by thousands more—and unlike angels, we have to keep making ours again and againWhy being connected through a livestream is not the same as being presentThe Rosary Confraternity: a commitment to pray 15 decades of the rosary each week, with no dues or meetings, so members share in one another's gracesResources Mentioned: Paloma&FigDominican Rosary PilgrimageConfraternity of the Most Holy RosaryThe Hillbilly ThomistsRedemptor Hominis by John Paul IIChapters: 00:00: Introduction00:30: Welcome and Opening Prayer07:15: The Dominicans and the Rosary15:22: More Than Checking Off Prayers19:02: Mary's Repeated Fiats27:18: Nine Months of Preparation32:20: Connected Versus Present37:34: Pilgrimage Has to Be Uncomfortable43:38: Praying the Rosary Together48:46: The Rosary Confraternity51:21: The Hillbilly Thomists and the Place of Humor01:05:31: Fr. Joseph-Anthony's YesProduced by Saint Kolbe Studios Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow Paloma & Fig on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Learn more at www.palomaandfig.com.  Join in the conversation by joining our  Facebook group, A Resounding Yes!

    Mary's Fiat and the Rosary: Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress on the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage

  6. Sep 18

    Heroes Who Are Still Human: Corinna Turner on Writing Catholic Fiction

    Belle Meade talks with Corinna Turner, a Catholic novelist and lay Dominican who has been writing since she was fourteen and now has more than thirty books behind her, including the Carnegie Medal–nominated I Am Margaret series. The conversation covers why she trusts a story to carry truth further than an argument will, and how she writes danger and violence without ever making them graphic. She also tells the story of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, at length. What We Talk About: Why integrity in a character is not the same thing as perfection — readers have grown tired of flawless heroes, and the saints are the evidence that real people can manage genuine heroism.Fiction reaches people where argument cannot. Christ taught in parables, and most adverts are miniature stories for exactly the same reason.Handling violence and danger without graphic description: imply it through what the characters feel, so each reader supplies only as much as they already carry.The story of St Edmund, the ninth-century English king killed by Vikings, whose shrine later kings were afraid to cross for six hundred years.Where to find Catholic fiction for teens, and why she reads the one-star reviews first.Resources Mentioned: Paloma&FigCatholic Teen BooksCatholic Writers GuildLegendFictionIgnatius PressChapters: 00:00: Introduction00:30: Welcome and Opening Prayer03:17: Starting to Write at Fourteen05:33: What Integrity Looks Like in a Character08:39: Dominican Spirituality and Not Preaching14:04: Inside the I Am Margaret Series17:31: Writing Gritty Without Writing Graphic20:05: The World of unSPARKed26:10: Pier Giorgio and Writing the Saints29:24: The Story of St Edmund, King and Martyr39:15: Writing for Teen and Young Adult Readers46:25: The Campervan and the Giant African Land SnailProduced by Saint Kolbe Studios Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow Paloma & Fig on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Learn more at www.palomaandfig.com.  Join in the conversation by joining our  Facebook group, A Resounding Yes!

    Heroes Who Are Still Human: Corinna Turner on Writing Catholic Fiction

  7. Sep 11

    Bringing Catherine of Siena to Life with Novelist Jenny duBay

    Belle Meade sits down with Jenny duBay, an author and trauma-informed Catholic coach, to talk about her debut novel World Between Worlds, a fictional retelling of the early life of St. Catherine of Siena. Jenny traces how a passing reference to Catherine in a secular history book pulled her back into the Catholic faith after years away from the Church, and shares stories from years of research and travel to Siena. The conversation moves through what made Catherine radical for her time, the discipline behind writing historical fiction, and what readers can carry away from her story today. What We Talk About: How a passing reference to St. Catherine of Siena in Barbara Tuchman's history book "A Distant Mirror" led Jenny duBay back to the Catholic faith after years away from the ChurchThe story behind leaving a copy of the novel in St. Catherine's home church in Siena, and how it ended up being sold in the basilica's gift shopA surprising discovery from Jenny's research — St. Catherine's real mission to Avignon was to broker peace for Florence, not simply to bring the pope back to RomeWhy World Between Worlds opens with Catherine's childhood rather than her public ministry, and what that choice reveals about the ordinary struggles behind every saintSt. Catherine's teaching on the "cell of self-knowledge" — balancing honest awareness of one's own sinfulness with trust in God's mercy — and how it shapes a healthy spiritual lifeResources Mentioned: World Between WorldsA Distant Mirror by Barbara TuchmanThe Prodigal Parishioner (Jenny's Substack)Paloma&FigChapters: 00:00: Intro00:43: Welcoming Jenny duBay and opening in prayer03:11: What inspired the novel about St. Catherine of Siena05:53: The path back to Catholicism07:39: Research trip to Italy and the gift shop encounter12:18: Surprising discoveries about St. Catherine's life15:00: Why the novel opens with Catherine's childhood21:09: Understanding St. Catherine's "Truth, capital T"23:37: The novel's writing process29:21: What readers can gain, and a look at the sequel33:18: Returning to Italy and writing rituals35:24: What brings the most joy — daily adorationProduced by Saint Kolbe Studios Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow Paloma & Fig on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Learn more at www.palomaandfig.com.  Join in the conversation by joining our  Facebook group, A Resounding Yes!

    Bringing Catherine of Siena to Life with Novelist Jenny duBay

  8. Sep 4

    The Widow Who Became America's First Native-Born Saint

    Belle Meade sits down with Sister Betty Ann McNeil, D.C., a Daughter of Charity and former provincial archivist who edited the second edition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: A Spiritual Portrait. Sister Betty Ann has been telling Elizabeth Seton's story for fifty years, since winning a place as one of the youngest Daughters of Charity sent to Rome for the canonization in 1975. What We Talk About: How a biography read at twelve set Sister Betty Ann on the path to the Daughters of Charity, and how she came to be in Rome for the canonizationWhat happened to St. Elizabeth Seton in Italy: the month quarantined in a stone building with no window panes, her husband's death two months later, and the widow left in a country where she didn't speak the languageThe moment in a Florence church when an Englishman leaned over during Mass and told her what Catholics call the real presenceWhy Sister Betty Ann went back through the first edition and verified every quotation against St. Elizabeth Seton's own writings, and what she added for readers who want to check the sources themselvesThe painting of Jesus taken down from the cross and laid in Mary's arms that a grieving young widow could not get out of her mindResources Mentioned: Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: A Spiritual PortraitNational Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann SetonLetters and Writings of Elizabeth Ann Seton, DePaul UniversityPaloma&FigChapters: 00:00: Introduction03:20: Losing her father, and meeting the Daughters of Charity05:40: Winning the lottery to attend the canonization in Rome08:02: A socialite on Wall Street, and the business that collapsed10:15: Sailing to Italy, and quarantined at the Lazaretto14:21: "That's what they call their real presence"16:59: Home to New York with a Catholic heart21:14: Emmitsburg, and the founding of the American Sisters of Charity22:56: Fifty years since the canonization26:58: Why the book needed a second edition36:10: The painting in Florence that gripped her42:19: How Elizabeth Seton shaped her own choicesProduced by Saint Kolbe Studios Send us Fan Mail Support the show Follow Paloma & Fig on Facebook, Instagram & LinkedIn.  Learn more at www.palomaandfig.com.  Join in the conversation by joining our  Facebook group, A Resounding Yes!

    The Widow Who Became America's First Native-Born Saint
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About

A Resounding Yes! is a podcast produced by Catholic creative agency Paloma & Fig centered around Mary's Fiat and how we can say YES to the Lord. Visit www.palomaandfig.com to learn more.

Information

  • Creator
    Paloma & Fig
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 A Resounding Yes!
  • Show Website
    A Resounding Yes!

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