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Join Mari as she shares a profound and life-changing experience attending the funeral of Little Micah Kim, the son of renowned Catholic speaker Paul J. Kim. Mari delves into the impact of witnessing the Kim family's faith and strength amidst their grief, reflecting on the eternal perspective of life and the real presence of the communion of saints. This heartfelt episode also explores how to live a more Christ-centered life by overcoming earthly attachments and preparing for eternity.

00:00 Welcome to The Ever Be Podcast

01:08 A Life-Changing Experience: Attending Micah Kim's Funeral

03:59 The Miracles of Little Micah

10:46 Reflections on Faith and Eternity

22:48 Ever Be Answers: Listener Questions

23:28 Getting Involved in Parish Ministries

26:30 Closing Remarks and Call to Action

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Hey, I am your host, Mari Wagner,

and you're listening to The Ever Be

2

Podcast where Faith Meets Lifestyle.

3

I'm so excited you're here.

4

Whether you're a new listener

or a longtime follower, I know

5

there's something here for you.

6

Pull up a chair and listen in for

insightful, real life conversations and

7

actionable steps on how to claim the.

8

Full life God created you for.

9

If you're a woman desiring to live

a Christ-centered life in today's

10

modern world, then this is for you.

11

Welcome to ever be.

12

mari-wagner_2_01-28-2026_103117:

Hello, welcome back to Ever

13

Be and Happy Wednesday.

14

Today it's just me on the

podcast, your host Mari Wagner.

15

And I have my sweet latte made

by my sweet husband this morning.

16

It's actually not sweet.

17

It has no sugar.

18

I've been challenging myself to

lower my sugar intake, and so I am

19

no longer putting sugar in my coffee.

20

And it's a little thing, but it's harder

than you think, but you get used to it.

21

Um, today I want to share about

truly just, I think a life changing

22

experience that I'm gonna carry

with me for the rest of my life.

23

And I just want to share what has

been stirring in my heart since then.

24

Um, my husband and I, Trey, we got

the blessing and opportunity to

25

attend little Micah Kim's funeral.

26

Weeks ago.

27

If you don't know who little Micah

Kim is , or if you haven't heard his

28

story, um, maybe you've heard of Paul J.

29

Kim.

30

He is a really well-known

Catholic speaker.

31

He has spoken all over the world and I

think in all 50 states at some point.

32

Um.

33

He's incredible and he just talks about

living the Catholic faith in your life.

34

He loves Mary very much.

35

Talks about Mary, um, one of his

most famous talks is called Catholic

36

Adulting, um, which is always very funny.

37

He is also just hilarious and

a comedian when he is sharing.

38

Um, he also does beatboxing.

39

I mean, he's like, he's

an incredible speaker.

40

He's been at pretty much every

Sikh conference that I have ever

41

attended, so I have gotten the

blessing of receiving his ministry.

42

Throughout my life and have, um, gotten to

know him a little bit over the past couple

43

years just in the Catholic speaking world.

44

Um, and he shared over the Christmas

season that his son was, um, rushed to

45

the hospital in a medical emergency.

46

I actually believe it was just like a

couple days before Christmas that he

47

shared this, and in the end, what he

shared that happened was that his son had.

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Contracted a very rare case of the flu.

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His son was only five years old.

50

Um, the doctor said it was the most rare

case they had ever seen in their medical

51

careers, and it sadly led to his son

becoming septic, um, getting a seizure.

52

And , basically after 11 days in a

coma, um, he was declared brain dead.

53

Um, and there was no.

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No way to bring him back.

55

Um, he was, he had, he had already passed.

56

Um, I'm sharing all the

information that Paul has shared

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on his social media publicly.

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None of this is personal information.

59

It's.

60

All information that

Paul has shared himself.

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So I feel okay sharing

that with, with everybody.

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But, um, I followed along very closely.

63

Uh, every time Paul shared an update,

he shared almost every day sharing how

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his son was doing, begging everybody,

begging the world for prayers.

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Um, I commented on all the videos telling

Paul we were praying for him and we prayed

66

for Micah so much during those days.

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And.

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Even after, and he shared on December 31st

that little Micah had had passed away and

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had gone to heaven to be with the father.

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And what is so incredible about

this story in the midst of

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this family's grief is that,

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there have been reported miracles

of like almost every day that

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little Micah has been doing.

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So.

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It is true that Micah is

in heaven as Catholics.

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We believe that anybody is

in heaven is a saint, and one

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of the ways that our church.

78

Confirm right that someone is in heaven

is when you start seeing miracles happen

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now to be canonized as a saint in the

Catholic church, that is a longer process.

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Um, so little Micah isn't a canonized

saint right now, but if you ask me, I

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have no doubt that he will be a canonized

saint of our church, um, during our

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lifetime, considering the number of

miracles that are already happening.

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I don't know how the Vatican could.

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Not pay attention to this, right.

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And start an investigation soon.

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And I think that would literally

make Micah the youngest canonized

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saint, which is absolutely

incredible and just so beautiful.

88

So when we got the invitation to

attend Micah's funeral, we were so

89

touched, so honored that the Kim

family would want us to be there.

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Um, to be completely transparent, I mean,

we've met Paul a couple times and have

91

had a few conversations with him and years

and, um, he was on my podcast last year.

92

So if you wanna look up and search on

Spotify or Apple Podcasts, uh, I think

93

the podcast was everything you need

to know about Mary and he talked about

94

Mary and it was an incredible podcast.

95

It's one of my top listen two episodes.

96

Um, but other than that,

I mean, truthfully, we're

97

not close family friends.

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And so when we got the invitation,

we were a little surprised and just

99

so honored that he thought of us.

100

I think he might've just seen, um, all

of the support we were sharing on social

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media, sharing on my story, gathering

people to pray for him, and commenting on

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his reels about Micah and tuning into his

lives, praying with him at the hospital.

103

I think he might've just seen

that prayerful support and

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appreciated that so much.

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Um, he did tell us when we were there

that he felt like God wanted us to be

106

there and that we were meant to be there.

107

So, I don't know, I don't fully know why

right now, um, in the fullness of God's

108

plan, why God called us to be there,

but I know that , there's deeper reasons

109

that maybe I'll uncover one day, but

what I can say just from my experience

110

is that it has been a completely.

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Completely, very impactful experience.

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I mean, I could say life changing.

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It has made such an impact on my

heart, and I think in the way that

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I'm going to continue to approach life

and live my life going on from here.

115

So.

116

That gives you a little background

and information as to like where I'm

117

coming from and why I'm even talking

about this little boy's funeral.

118

Um, so that I'm just going to have

this be my ever be moment you guys,

119

because if y'all don't know or ever be

moments, this is your first episode,

120

or if you've missed a couple in your

coming back now, um, ever Be Moments

121

is a segment we have at the beginning

of the podcast now where we share.

122

We as in the guest and I, or I share

how God's been working in our life

123

recently and just what are different

God moments, um, how can we have the

124

Lord's praise ever be on our lips?

125

And this entire episode is just

literally a whole ever be moment.

126

So that's just what we're gonna dive into.

127

So we were able to attend Micah's,

um, vigil on Thursday night, the night

128

before the funeral, as well as the

reception the night before, and then

129

the funeral the next morning, and.

130

I, I'm just, I'm gonna try and

share as best as I can, but

131

sometimes I feel like I'm at a loss

of words for what this was like.

132

First and foremost, the witness of

the Kim family was so impactful,

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was such a witness to everybody

sitting in the pews at the vigil or

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at the funeral, or at the reception.

135

Anybody that got to witness the faith and

the strength and the vulnerability and

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just the faith, the strong faith of the

Kim family in those days was absolutely

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a gift to me and to my faith because.

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Truly, truly filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Even in the time of such suffering

and grief, it is natural to see

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a father bent over over his son's

open casket, weeping and broken.

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That is natural and human, and so

normal and so expected, and then

142

the next moment to see him standing.

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In front of his friends and family

and exhorting a crowd on the reality

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of heaven and rejoicing the fact that

his son is with the Lord and urging

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everyone to get right with Christ

and live a life that is worthy of

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heaven, that is not human or normal.

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That is supernatural grace.

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That is supernatural grace, that the

Lord is imparting on Paul and his

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family to be able to have an eternal

perspective of heaven and sainthood

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in the midst of the biggest grief

a parent could ever experience.

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I mean, if we're talking about worst

case scenarios, this is a worst case

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scenario and he and his family are

walking through this darkness with.

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Just with Christ in the light, they

are walking in the light of Christ

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through the deepest darkness and

deepest suffering that I'm sure they

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have ever experienced in their lives.

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Um, and it was the same after the funeral.

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I mean, I mean, during the funeral there

was, there was still a sense of joy.

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In the midst of the suffering, knowing

that Micah is in heaven, knowing that

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we know heaven is real, as they were

processing out Paul and his family,

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Paul raised his hands in praise towards

the altar, singing songs of worship

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and praising the Lord as he's rolling

his son, um, out in his casket and.

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Just the strength and faith that

I witnessed there truly was,

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So incredibly edifying

for me, for my faith.

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So I'll just share some of the takeaways

that have made such an impact in my heart.

165

One of the things that Trey and I

were reflecting on as we were sitting

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there being confronted with death.

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Makes you really confront what you

believe and we have to make a decision.

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When faced with death, do

we believe what we believe?

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Do we actually believe what

the church says is true?

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Right.

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Do we believe in heaven and hell?

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Do we believe in what Jesus said

gets us to heaven and to hell?

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Do we believe in Jesus's mercy?

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Do we believe in the saints?

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Do we believe in intercession,

in the communion of saints?

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Do we believe that how we live our

life on this earth actually matters and

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actually affects how we live our life?

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In eternity.

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Those are really big truths and

questions that we felt confronted

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with in those moments And yes, like

we do believe that this is true.

181

We do believe what the church teaches

is true, which means that, yes, how we

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live our life matters every single day.

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And this was just like, this drove

home for me in confession, Paul.

184

Had a bunch of priests attend the

vigil and the funeral, and he asked

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them all to offer confession Thursday

night, the night before the funeral.

186

Um, which I think was such a gift to his

community and such a testament to Paul's

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conviction for living life for Christ.

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And he kept saying,

getting right with Christ.

189

Right?

190

Like, get right with Christ.

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So I went to confession that

night and I had that opportunity.

192

The priest that did my confession

was from a town right next to Mego.

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Um, if you don't know what Mego is, it's

a little town in Bosnia where our lady

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has been appearing, um, for a long time.

195

She still appears there, I

believe every month, and leaves

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a message with the visionaries.

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He asked me if I knew

about Mego and I said, yes.

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Actually Mego is what brought my

family back to the church and I

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was able to visit Mego when I was

a college student studying abroad.

200

Um, and so he was very

surprised that I had ever been.

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And he wanted to share that in one

of the messages that Mary shares

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to the visionaries in Meria is that

as human beings, it's hard for us

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to grasp what this earthly life

is like in comparison to eternity.

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And so the best way she can put it

is that our life on earth, this time

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of our life on earth, in comparison

to all of our eternal life, right?

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'cause we are all going to live forever.

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It just depends where our life

on earth compared to all eternity

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is like the blink of an eye.

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So right now, just blink.

210

That's how fast your life is on earth.

211

And that put so much into perspective

for me in that moment when the

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priest shared that in confess.

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So he looked at me and he's like, all

of our earthly attachments, our sins,

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our shortcomings, our vices, all of

these things that we grasp onto on

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Earth, is that worth losing heaven for?

216

Is that blink of an eye

worth losing heaven for?

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And the answer is no.

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Right?

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But it's so hard for us as

humans in what we live in the

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day to day to grasp how short.

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Almost insignificant, right?

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Our life on earth is in comparison to

eternity, while still holding true, right?

223

The, the significance and weight

that how we live here determines

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all of our eternal life.

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Whew, man.

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That was just like, that was a lot.

227

That was like super hard hitting

for me and super Tim, for me, that

228

kicked me in the butt in the best way.

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And since then, it has been

in the back of my mind.

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It's not worth it for the blink of an eye.

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It's not worth it for the blink of an eye.

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Little things, it's helping

me live in the littlest ways,

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a more Christ-centered life.

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A more Christ, Christ-like

life in the simplest ways like.

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Okay.

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My husband is slurping his coffee again

for the hundredth time after I asked

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him to please not slurp his coffee.

238

Is it worth picking an argument over that?

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Is it worth it for the blink of an eye?

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No.

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No it's not.

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Or, oh, this person did something

that bugged me and I'm gonna, I

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have a temptation to go gossip

about it to somebody else.

244

Is it worth losing eternity

for the blink of an eye?

245

No.

246

Or judging somebody right In my

mind, even without saying anything

247

out loud to anybody judging somebody

in my mind, is that worth it?

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Is it worth losing heaven

for the blink of an eye?

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No.

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And I just remind myself that this person

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it's made in God's image and likeness,

and the Lord loves this person so

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much and delights in who they are.

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Who am I to judge them?

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Who am I to judge God's creation?

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Who am I to gossip?

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Who am I to critique my husband

for little things, right?

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Like all of these things.

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Our little ways that we

can strive for sainthood.

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Little ways that we can put into

perspective what is worth it and

260

what is not to lose heaven for.

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Right?

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And in the end, nothing is

worth losing heaven for.

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Um.

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Obviously we can apply this to the

big things too, to big mortal sins

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that are keeping us in chains.

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Um, but even to the little things.

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And I think that's where I have seen the

most fruit and the most change in, in

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how I'm approaching my day-to-day life.

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And then the other reflection that I

had was, you know, on Thursday night

270

at the vigil, it was an open casket.

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And seeing this little boy, it was

such a weird feeling knowing that

272

his earthly body was here but dead.

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But that little Micah is more alive

than he has ever been in his entire

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life, like kneeling in front of him.

275

And paying my respects

to him and his family.

276

I knew he was gone, and yet I knew he

was more alive than any of us were.

277

I knew he was more alive than we could

ever be on Earth, and I knew I was

278

in the presence of a saint's body,

and that is such an incredible gift

279

to be there in front of a saint's body.

280

Trey and I touched our wedding rings

to it so they could become relics.

281

Um, and it just made the communion

of saints more real to me than it

282

ever has in our entire lives because

a saint all of a sudden wasn't this

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distant like character or legendary

figure, but it was someone that.

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Someone's son that I knew, someone

I knew lived on Earth, someone

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I know their family and I get

to know that they are in heaven.

286

What a gift, what an incredible blessing

that has been to me and, and my life.

287

Um, and then lastly, just walking

away with the extortion and

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the beautiful, convicted and

passionate words Paul shared.

289

A few times over with, um,

that was supporting him.

290

It was just like we don't need to cry.

291

Right?

292

My son is in heaven.

293

My son is where I want to be.

294

My son is where we all want to be.

295

My son knows the face of Christ.

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And I remember thinking that, thinking

that as I saw Little Micah's body

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on Thursday night at the vigil, I

remember thinking, he knows what

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the face of Christ looks like.

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He's with him.

300

Oh my goodness.

301

Like that just made me so emotional

and just like hit me to the core.

302

And just looking at this little boy

and being like, Micah, pray for me.

303

Please pray for me that I

may know the face of Christ

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one day, that I may be able.

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To spend my days in heaven alongside

Christ like you are right now.

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You are where I want to be.

307

Please pray for, please show me what

it is like to live a Christ-centered

308

life, what it is like to live a

life worthy of heaven, that I may

309

be a saint one day alongside you.

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And so Paul encouraging all of us to

rejoice in the truth of heaven, to

311

rejoice in the truth of the communion

of saints, and to live our lives.

312

Worthy of heaven to get right with

Christ, to be honest with ourselves.

313

What is attaching us to this worth?

314

What is keeping us away from Christ?

315

What is making us turn to sin?

316

Get rid of those like it's not worth it.

317

Take an honest look at your life

right now and think what or who

318

is pulling me away from God.

319

Maybe it's vice, maybe

it's a habit that we have.

320

Maybe it's a person in our life.

321

Maybe it's a relationship that we have.

322

It is not worth losing heaven over it.

323

So this argument to you, go to confession.

324

Have an honest look at your life and pray.

325

Meet the Lord in prayer every day and

ask him, how do I become a saint Lord?

326

What do you want for me in my life?

327

How can you use me for your

glory, for your kingdom?

328

How can you refine my soul so that

I may walk in your ways and be a

329

light of Christ to those around me?

330

And so that I may know you and

know your face one day in heaven.

331

Friends, heaven is real.

332

Heaven is real.

333

The communion of saints are real.

334

They are alive and they are hearing

us and they are praying for us.

335

The miracles reported, um, from

Micah's intercession are incredible,

336

uh, cancer tumors that were detected

before being completely gone.

337

Doctors literally being

like, what happened?

338

To the tumor in your body.

339

It is gone.

340

I can't find it anymore.

341

There is no cancer.

342

So many people around the world

that don't even know Paul or have a

343

relationship with Paul, reaching out

to Paul to say, your son appeared to me

344

in my, in my dream and prayed over me.

345

He was wearing a white robe.

346

He prayed over me and I woke

up healed the next morning.

347

Um, so many prayers like that

you guys, women who have not

348

been able to conceive now.

349

Pregnant because of Micah's intercession.

350

So many beautiful miracles.

351

So if there is a miracle in your life

that you, um, if you need greater

352

faith, if you need healing, pray to

Jesus through the intercession of Micah

353

and ask little Micah to pray for you.

354

Paul has posted, um, a novena prayer that

he has created and has gotten approval

355

by different bishops and cardinals

that it is okay to pray this for.

356

Our personal devotion.

357

So I will try and link

it in the show notes.

358

I'm sure I can find a

post of his or a photo.

359

I will link it in the show notes so

that you can pray it, go follow him.

360

I believe his handle, let me look

it up really quick on Instagram.

361

Is at hey pjk, that's Paul J.

362

Kim.

363

Um, go just see his posts,

read about the Miracles, and

364

I hope that they inspire you.

365

I hope that this episode

inspired you and convicted you.

366

Um, I'm so honored that I got to be there.

367

And I'm so excited just to see the fruit

that this will carry throughout my life.

368

Um, little Micah.

369

Little Micah, pray for us.

370

mari-wagner_3_01-28-2026_121259:

All right, let's get into our

371

Ever Be Answers segment for today

where I answer your questions.

372

Today we are going to

answer, um, three questions.

373

One here in the ever be segment,

and then the other two on our after

374

party for our Kingdom Club community.

375

As always, so questions.

376

That are being asked today are,

are you involved with any groups

377

or ministries at your local parish?

378

What is the best relationship advice you

can give to avoid temptation and sin?

379

And how to wait well after a good first

date when no second date is scheduled yet?

380

Love all these relationship questions.

381

So we'll get into the two relationship

ones at the after party, um, and so on.

382

Here, I'll just talk about how

I'm involved with any groups or

383

ministries at my local parish.

384

So truthfully, I'm not very involved

at my local parish, um, besides

385

leading a Bible study and walking

with women in my Bible study.

386

So you could say I am involved

in the parish in the sense that

387

I am investing in women that.

388

Go to my parish and walking with

them in their faith journey, um,

389

and evangelizing in that way.

390

Um, but in terms of like a specific group

at our parish, I haven't yet got involved,

391

but I want to, there's been different

things that I have definitely considered

392

that I think that I could really.

393

Offer, um, to the parish.

394

I would be interested in doing

like the kids' religious education.

395

Um, I love kids and have

always worked with kids.

396

Ever since I started working

as a teenager, all of my jobs

397

have always been in childcare.

398

My mom, um, teaches.

399

She's like the family ministry

director, whatever, of our home parish.

400

And so she handles all of like the

sacramental prep for the kiddos.

401

And she used to teach the religious ed

classes and I would always go to those

402

with her as like a middle schooler and

even as a high schooler, um, sometimes

403

to kind of help and be an assistant.

404

, I wouldn't always go, but I was

there often as her assistant.

405

And so.

406

I loved just seeing how you can teach

little kids aspects of the faith and

407

help them to know and love the Lord.

408

Um, so that's something that

I'd be interested in doing.

409

Another thing too, which I think, , it's

not directly at our parish, but I

410

know someone at our parish has, um.

411

An organ or is involved in an organization

that walks with women in crisis

412

pregnancies on college campuses, I

would love to get involved with that.

413

As it's very close to my story.

414

My mom got pregnant with me in

college and decided to keep me.

415

Um, obviously.

416

Thank God she made a great decision.

417

And so, yeah, I think I would love

to walk with women, um, who are

418

experiencing a similar journey to

what my mom did and just be able to

419

offer encouragement and support and

inspiration in any way that I can.

420

Another thing I've thought about is

like the flowers, someone, there's

421

gotta be like a flower ministry, right?

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Like someone does the flower

arrangements at the church and

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I love floral arrangements.

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So maybe one day that's

something I can do.

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Um, and then my friend and I are in

the midst of figuring out a really

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amazing marriage ministry that we

wanna start, um, at our parish.

427

So that might be coming.

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So this answer is basically

all the ways that I'd like

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to get involved in my parish.

430

One of the things that I'm already

doing, which is the Bible study,

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um, which I know is enough, right?

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Like I know that like

leading a Bible study is.

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Is already a really good thing

that you can do for your community.

434

Um, but I do wanna get more involved.

435

Um, but that's my honest answer.

436

So.

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Hopefully that is fun for you guys

to hear, or helpful to, to you to

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kind of figure out ways that you

can get involved in your parish.

439

Um, and we'll catch you on our after

party with Trey and I and we'll get

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into these fun relationship questions.

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Thanks for being here, you guys.

442

Thanks for listening

all the way to the end.

443

If you're still here, make sure that

you, uh, submit a five star review if

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you love what you hear on Apple Podcasts

or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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See you next week.