Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast Greg and Jennifer Willits

Our buddy Matt Swaim invited us to be on EWTN's The Journey Home (airing 4/15/24), so we returned the favor and invited him on our show to talk about life in Catholic media.
GUEST LINKS
Matt Swaim on social media - @mattswaim
Coming Home Network
Son Rise Morning Show
EPISODE 519 SHOW NOTES & LINKS
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👀 Greg's serialized novel
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Joining us this episode is Erica Tighe Campbell, founder of BeAHeart.com and author of "Living the Seasons: Simple Ways to Celebrate the Beauty of Your Faith Throughout the Year."
GUEST LINKS
Erica Campbell's Be A Heart Website & Store
Living the Seasons Book 
EPISODE  SHOW NOTES & LINKS
🎥 Watch the full video here
🎓 Join School of Mary for Free!
🙏🏻 Free Rosary, audio Rosaries, and more
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📺 Full Episodes
🍎 Listen on Apple (and leave a review!)
🔊 Listen on Spotify 
👀 Greg's serialized novel
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Erica Tighe Campbell, owner and designer of Be A Heart, created this stunning, full-color guide to creatively celebrating the faith throughout the year. Living the Seasons is brimming with clever, doable, and beautiful crafts and activities; vivid photographs; brief introductions to the seasons and the lives of the saints; heartfelt notes of encouragement from Campbell; and original Be A Heart illustrations. This gorgeous companion will become your favorite resource for living your faith at home for years to come.
In Living the Seasons, Campbell offers imaginative ideas, effortless directions, and gorgeous photos of crafts, activities, meals, and snacks for a diverse variety of Catholic feast days, holy days, and seasons in the Church. She uses supplies that can easily be found at your local craft stores, party shops, or online retailers.
You’ll find ways to celebrate all of the Church seasons—Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Triduum, Easter, Ordinary Time—and Holy Days of Obligation in the United States, and feast days for saints from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. And you’ll discover fun ideas and new traditions such as:
throwing a baby shower for Mary; blessing your home in the New Year; celebrating Fat Tuesday with King Cake and a piñata; living like St. Joseph by spending time in silence and making a wooden baby rattle; constructing your own gratitude journal and rosary; making art for God, including a salt-dough Trinity wall hanging, an Assumption cloud pillow, and an orange garland for St. Nicholas Day; creating edible flower lollipops to remind us of the “Garden of Mary’s womb”; and baking “Cookies of Joy” in honor of St. Hildegard of Bingen. Campbell will help you discover that the liturgical calendar, which follows the seasons of a year in the life of the Church, is a tool that can draw you—individually, as a family, or as a community—closer to God in the midst of a fast-paced and ever-changing world. Along the way, the saints we celebrate teach us that the path to holiness is worthy of pursuing in our own unique way. Their lives can inspire you to listen to how God calls you to follow him as well.
This book is designed to inspire you to celebrate the feast days that speak to you personally. You don’t have to start living liturgically on the first Sunday of Advent—you can begin your journey anytime during the year. You also don’t have to celebrate every feast on a grand scale.
There are projects for all ages and levels of skill—from simple ways to honor a saint’s feast day with your kids to more elaborate celebrations with family and friends.

Breaking free from passive aggressive and co-dependent behaviors improves relationships.  We talk about how to say what you mean and mean what you say -- with love.
EPISODE 517 SHOW NOTES & LINKS
🎥 Watch the full video here
🎓 Join School of Mary for Free!
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📺 Full Episodes
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👀 Greg's serialized novel
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LINKS DISCUSSED
Mayo Clinic Article
Co-Dependency Recovery
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Passive-aggressiveness and co-dependency, while distinct, both impact relationship dynamics profoundly. Passive-aggressiveness involves expressing discontent indirectly, through means like sarcasm or silent treatment, often due to confrontation fears. This approach can lead to unresolved issues and simmering resentment. Conversely, co-dependency involves an excessive emotional or psychological reliance on another, typically in relationships where one partner supports another with an illness or addiction. This results in neglecting one's own needs to prioritize the other's, creating an imbalanced relationship. Both patterns highlight the critical need for open communication and healthy boundaries to foster supportive, balanced relationships.

Inspired by John Senior's "The Death of Christian Culture" and his list of 1000 Good (not Great) books, Greg and Jennifer explore how shifting their reading habits makes it easier to consume even greater books that are more mentally, emotionally, and spiritually edifying. 
EPISODE 516 SHOW NOTES & LINKS
🎥 Watch the full video here
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🙏🏻 Free Rosary, audio Rosaries, and more
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📺 Full Episodes
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👀 Greg's serialized novel
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The appendix from John Senior's "The Death of Christian Culture" presents a compelling argument for the revival of Christian values in the modern world with a view of increasing our ability to dive into Great Books (like those from Augustine, Socrates, and others), by first developing the fertile soil of our mind via fables, tales, poetry, and other literary works.  Thus, the "1000 Good Books" list. 
While this collection is aimed at young readers before they tackle the "Great Books" of Western civilization, we suggest that given the watered down nature of content distribution in the 21st century, that we could all benefit from reading more of these books, which includes a diverse range of literature spanning myths, fairy tales, novels, and poetry. Senior emphasizes that these stories, rich in virtues like courage, love, and justice, are crucial for developing a moral imagination and wisdom from a young age.
The essence of the "1000 Good Books" is to lay a foundational understanding of truth, beauty, and goodness, countering the utilitarian and relativistic tendencies of contemporary education. Senior advocates for a classical approach to learning, where character formation and the pursuit of virtue are prioritized. Each selected work not only holds literary merit but also possesses the power to profoundly engage the reader's heart and mind, fostering discussions on life's significant questions within family and community contexts.
Ultimately, Senior's vision through the "1000 Good Books" list is not merely educational but deeply cultural and spiritual. It serves as a roadmap for a lifelong engagement with literature that enriches the soul and intellect, urging readers to explore the depths of Christian and Western thought. This initiative is a call to rediscover the role of literature in cultivating wisdom, virtue, and a richer Christian life, aiming for a broader cultural renewal.

Jennifer might be enjoying her time as a Latin class teacher’s assistant a bit too much. 
EPISODE 515 SHOW NOTES & LINKS
Other things we talk about: Demolishing the studio, Filming a new course for School of Mary about home enthronement of the image of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and lessons from another round of Total Consecration preparation.
EPISODE  SHOW NOTES & LINKS
🎥 Watch the full video here
🎓 Join School of Mary for Free!
🙏🏻 Free Rosary, audio Rosaries, and more
😄 Support Rosary Army
📺 Full Episodes
🍎 Listen on Apple (and leave a review!)
🔊 Listen on Spotify 
👀 Greg's serialized novel
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 #catholicism #sacredheart #rosary
#catholicpodcast 
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#imperfectliving

Join us on this week's episode of "Adventures in Imperfect Living Catholic Podcast" as we dive deep into the heart of resistance with Kristen Van Uden, author of "When the Sickle Swings." We discuss the awe-inspiring stories of Catholics who stood firm in their faith against the oppressive forces of communism throughout the 20th century. 
GUEST LINKS
Kristen's Book - When the Sickle Swings
Kristen's Substack
EPISODE 514 SHOW NOTES & LINKS
🎥 Watch the full video here
🎓 Join School of Mary for Free!
🙏🏻 Free Rosary, audio Rosaries, and more
😄 Support Rosary Army
📺 Full Episodes
🍎 Listen on Apple (and leave a review!)
🔊 Listen on Spotify 
👀 Greg's serialized novel
☎ Upload audio and video feedback via WeTransfer
📧 Email feedback
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From secret Masses to clandestine clergy and peaceful protests that shook the foundations of totalitarian regimes, this episode explores the incredible resilience and bravery of individuals who risked everything for their belief in spiritual freedom and the triumph of their immortal souls. Kristen shares her journey of uncovering these stories, her methodology, and the profound impact these accounts have on understanding Christianity's pivotal role in history's ideological battles. Tune in to uncover how faith acted not just as a beacon of hope, but as a formidable weapon against the darkness of communism. Don't miss this powerful discussion on the episode titled "Communism and Catholicism" - where history, faith, and the fight for the soul of humanity converge.