Join Mari Wagner as she guest hosts on the Focus Seek podcast, sharing her impactful faith journey and how it led her to live a Christ-centered life. Mari talks about her experience with FOCUS internships, the transformative power of community, and her first SEEK conference. She emphasizes living counterculturally and courageously, inspired by the life of St. Joan of Arc. Mari encourages listeners to say 'yes' to Jesus, embrace new beginnings, and find strength in their faith journey. Whether you’re attending SEEK 2025 or not, Mari's insights will inspire you to follow Christ deeply and intentionally.

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Hey, I'm 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, whether you're

a new listener or a longtime follower,

4

I know there's something here for you.

5

Pull up a chair and listen in for

insightful real life conversations

6

and actionable steps on how to claim

the full life God created you for.

7

If you're a woman desiring to live

a Christ centered life in today's

8

modern world, then this is for you.

9

Welcome to Ever Be.

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mari-wagner_5_11-25-2024_171733:

Hey, everybody.

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Hi, friends.

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It's Mari Wagner here.

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I am thrilled to be your guest host

today on this Focus Seek podcast.

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This is a fun little

collab with Everbe podcast.

15

Um, if you're not sure who I

am, well, Nice to meet you.

16

I'll give you a little

bit of an introduction.

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I am a young wife.

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I am the host of the ever be podcast,

, which is a faith and lifestyle podcast.

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I am a Catholic content

creator on Instagram.

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You can find me at, at mari.

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c.

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wagner.

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I've been doing that for

like the past six years.

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Um, what else?

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I'm also the founder of the

popular Catholic lifestyle

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brand, West Coast Catholic.

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Um, co founder actually, I

started it with my husband, Trey.

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So shout out to the hubs there.

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Um, could not be doing it without you.

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anything without him.

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Um, so I wear a lot of

hats, but it's super fun.

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And basically, in everything that I do,

the whole reason why I do everything is

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to help people live Christ centered lives.

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That's it.

35

That's my mission in life.

36

That's my goal, , to help people live

Christ centered lives, and I do this

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because I grew up feeling pretty alone

in my faith, and even though I grew up

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Catholic, I didn't really know what it

meant to live out your Catholic faith,

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uh, or to really, like, follow Jesus.

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Follow Jesus, um, besides going

to mass on Sundays, that's

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all I really knew growing up.

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Um, and it wasn't really until I did

a college summer internship actually

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with focus back in 2018, where.

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This all really changed for me and I

began to be introduced to this like

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whole new perspective of what it

meant to follow Jesus so much more

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than just going to mass once a week.

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Um, and that summer was completely

transformational for me because for the

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first time ever I met other women my age

and men, of course, there's both men and

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women that were on this internship, I grew

in friendship with other women my age who

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were actively seeking Christ and actively

trying to live a Christ centered life.

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And honestly, you guys, if I'm being

completely honest, when I started the

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summer out at the, as an intern, this,

uh, in this internship, I remember

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like, Hearing, you know, these other,

like, college students talk about,

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like, how they prayed every day or how

they lived virtue or how they didn't,

55

you know, sleep with their boyfriend

or go get drunk on the weekend or

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whatever, like, all these things you

commonly find on a college campus.

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I remember them talking about, like, just

the ways they were just trying to, like,

58

actively pursue Christ in their life.

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And I remember thinking, like, yeah.

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They gotta, like, kind of be,

like, stretching this, like, just

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to, like, get the internship.

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Like, maybe they said this all in the

interview because they're trying to

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get a job at the Catholic organization,

but I'm going to figure it out,

64

you know, like, let's be real here.

65

There's no way college students out

here are, like, actually practicing

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sobriety and chastity and excellence,

and Prayer and faith and like all

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these different things and I kind of

remember like chatting with Some of the

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women interns at the beginning and just

being like no seriously You can tell

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me like I'm not gonna tell anybody like

seriously Like is this actually like

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the way you live on a day to day basis?

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Like actually do you not

do these other things?

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Like actually are you are you actually

like making time to pray every day?

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and are you actually going to daily mass,

you know during the week and Do you go

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to adoration and all these other things?

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Are you in a Bible study?

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And, and the answer was yes.

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Like these, these women, you

know, bless their hearts.

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They were so patient with me and

I was very fresh in my reversion.

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Um, and they were just so gentle

with me and they're like, yeah,

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Mari, like I'm actively like trying

to live a Christ centered life as

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a young 20 something in college.

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And.

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It's the best and life has never been,

you know, so fulfilling or whatever,

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like so joyful, like, like they didn't

regret it, like they had no complaints

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about the way they were living and

really encountering these women was

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what began to, transform me from the

inside out and seeing their courage and

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how they lived a Christ centered life.

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Began to give me the courage

to change my life as well.

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Um, and these women are so sweet.

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I love them dearly to this day.

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And, um, they basically

discipled me all summer.

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They taught me how to pray.

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They encouraged me to

live a life of virtue.

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They taught me just different truths

about the Catholic faith that I.

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Didn't know.

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I mean, there's so much richness,

so much beauty, so much to

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learn in our Catholic faith.

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Um, and I just didn't

know a lot, you guys.

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Um, like I said, I, I grew up

on the West coast in Washington.

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It's not a very like religious state.

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Um, and so I felt lonely in

my faith a lot of the time.

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And so being in community

with other young Catholics.

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Was what I needed to kind of light a fire

within me and then give me the courage

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to live it out And I think that's part

of the reason why seek was one of those

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super pivotal moments in my life Where

I felt a deeper call to follow Christ

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because So this whole reversion started

happening my sophomore year of college

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summer after sophomore year was when I

did this internship and I met these, you

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know, this community of young Catholics

that were also interning with me at

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focus that completely, like, encouraged

me to transform my life and then.

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Went back to college, um, actually

studied abroad the semester after

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that internship, which was amazing.

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Not because I was in Europe,

but because actually I think

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the Lord is so intentional.

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I went abroad without any of my friends.

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I didn't really have a lot of like

People that I knew in my study abroad

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program, and it gave me the opportunity

to kind of start a new, to kind of just

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like start this new life that I was

living over the summer of prayer and

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virtue and, um, seeking the Lord in a

much more intentional way in my life.

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I think that I would have

gone to college like back onto

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campus right after that summer.

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It might have been really hard to do

so because I would have just gone back

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to my normal ways and I think the Lord

intentionally gave me, uh, like four

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months, uh, right after this internship

away from my normal day to day on campus

124

to just give me a whole new fresh start

and an opportunity to live into this day.

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Not even new Mari, but

this like more Mari, right?

126

Like more of myself, more of the

daughter God created me to be, um,

127

on this, uh, Yeah, the semester that

I was abroad because I didn't have

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people around me that already really

knew me and expected me to be a

129

certain way or to act a certain way.

130

It was just a whole new, fresh start.

131

Um, and then, uh, after that

semester, right, you've got Christmas

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break and then it's January,

which means it's Sikh season.

133

And this was my very first

Sikh, um, that I went to.

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So just let me just take you back.

135

Okay.

136

Let me take you back to my

very first Sikh experience.

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Back in 2019, was a junior in college

at the time and I was still very

138

new to this amazing Catholic world.

139

Like I'm, you know, I'm sharing.

140

Um, and I really had just started diving

into my faith, um, as my own really began

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practicing all these, you know, good

habits as a Catholic and putting my,

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Christ at the center of my life and really

just learning what it meant to live for

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Christ as an adult, what it meant to be

Catholic and to have my life reflect that.

144

And so I was going into this conference

like pretty jazzed to have another

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experience where I could be encouraged in

my faith kind of like that summer before.

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But I also was kind of unsure of

what to expect because I'd never been

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to like a big conference like this.

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And I'll never forget.

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That first day, like walking into the

convention center, seeing all the people

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and then like checking in just kind

of nervously, like what is going on?

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There's so many people.

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I don't know what to expect.

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And then walking into the arena and just

seeing like literally tens of thousands

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of people, mostly all college students

like me at the time for the same reason.

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They were all there for the same reason,

to be set on fire for their faith

156

and to follow Christ more closely.

157

It was amazing.

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I mean, it was truly one of the

most pivotal moments in my life.

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And it gave me a renewed sense of

courage to follow Christ in a deeper way.

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Because going to seek made me realize

that I wasn't alone in my walk of faith,

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specifically in the Catholic faith

too, um, because I had other Christian

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friends, um, even though they weren't

super practicing, like I feel like

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it was more normal to hear about it.

164

You know, people being non denominational

in some way, but I didn't have a lot of

165

like boldly Catholic people in my life.

166

And to know that Sikh was Catholic and

that there were tens of thousands of

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people there who were there to be set on

fire, who were there to be encouraged in

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a radical counter cultural way of living.

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And to just, you know, Like, be

with Jesus, to worship Jesus,

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to follow Jesus was amazing.

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I mean, it was truly, I look

back on it and it was one of the

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most inspiring times of my life.

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And I mean, since then I've been to seek

every year, actually, I think there was

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one year I missed it, but I was in the

Holy land, so it was a pretty good excuse.

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But other than that, I've

been to seek every year.

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I think I've been like five or six times.

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Um, but.

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Nothing compares to that very first Seek.

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I mean, every Seek, you guys, I kid you

not, is so hype, and I'm recording this

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right now in November, and I'm so giddy

for Seek to come around this January.

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Um, I think after you go your

first couple times and you know

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what to expect, it's just awesome.

183

Um, because.

184

It's kind of like a

little reunion of heaven.

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It's like you start to see people in

the Catholic world that you've known

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from different groups or maybe different

retreats or organizations or whatever.

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Um, and it's just like this

big communion of heaven.

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And even if you don't know a lot of

people, it kind of feels that way.

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It kind of feels like you're just like

stepping into heaven and just like, you're

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just surrounded by the body of Christ.

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You're just surrounded by

people trying to be saints.

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Like what other environment can

Gives you that, uh, like culture

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that feel, you know, um, but

nothing compares to that verse seek.

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Like you're just like a sponge, just

like soaking it all up and so giddy.

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And I mean, I remember in every talk

I had my journal and pen and I would

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furiously take notes at every single

talk to try and soak up all the

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goodness and hang on to every single

word that Father Mike Schmitt said.

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And all the other speakers, of

course, they were all amazing.

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Um, and I remember I felt like I left

that first seat feeling like I wasn't

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following Jesus alone and that was

everything to me at the time, like

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to feel that I wasn't alone in this

fight, in this battle, in this walk to.

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Give my life to Christ Was so encouraging

and maybe it felt like I was alone

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sometimes even after seek, you know,

maybe you encounter hardship or Obstacles

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in the journey, but I knew deep inside

like I now knew of this entire generation

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of young catholics that were also

Fighting to make jesus the center of

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their lives and fighting to live the

truth counterculturally and live out

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Christian values of sobriety, chastity,

excellence, you know, virtue, prayer,

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piety, like being Catholic is brave.

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You guys living counterculturally in this

way is brave in today's modern world.

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Being Catholic is brave.

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It takes courage, like being boldly

Catholic and outwardly standing up

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for your faith and actually living

out Jesus's teachings is brave, which

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is why I freaking love that this

year the patron saint of Sikh is St.

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Joan of Arc.

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I couldn't think of a more fitting

example of somebody who courageously

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answered Christ's call to follow

Him regardless of what came her way.

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If you don't know a lot about this

incredible saint, I will gladly fill

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you in because it's pretty amazing

what the Lord did in her life.

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Um, and just her story, honestly,

just, yeah, just who she is.

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So basically St.

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Joan of Arc, um, at the age

of 13, she began experiencing

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mystical visions, pretty crazy.

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And hearing the voices of

none other than Archangel, St.

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Catherine of Alexandria and St.

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Margaret.

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Pretty casual.

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Um, they told her that God

had chosen her to save France.

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So she's like this French teenage

girl and God's literally like,

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You're going to save your country.

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And basically like the mission was, um,

to support Charles the seventh as the

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rightful King during that time period.

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Um, and I just like, I mean, I read her

story and it literally sounds fake to me.

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I think that like, I often think of St.

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Joan of Arc as this like amazing

Saint, but I don't think of her

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being like a real human being in

the way that I think of like St.

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Therese, you know, St.

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Therese, just like.

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She's so sweet.

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She talks about all her, um,

littleness and ways that she

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needs Christ and everything.

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And I think both Saints are incredibly

amazing examples for us in different ways.

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But I hear of St.

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Joan of Arc's story,

and I'm like, for reals?

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Like, was this girl real?

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Right?

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Like, at the age of 17, St.

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Joan of Arc led her troops to

several victories for France.

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And eventually led to the crowning

of This King, Charles VII, which

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fulfilled her divine, inspired

mission that God gave her.

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And it's just insane to think of a

teenage girl doing this, like at 17.

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I was not doing stuff like this, okay?

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I bet you weren't either.

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In battle, actually, she carried a banner

that had the names of Jesus and Mary.

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On it.

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Okay.

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I mean, home girl was full sending

it with such faith that it gave

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others courage to do the same

thing and they freaking won, right?

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They like won the victory.

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And what is, what's, you know,

the most, um, impactful part of

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her story is not just that, right?

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Even though she got the victories

in war, sadly, her story

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didn't end in glory on earth.

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Um, she was captured and

put on trial for heresy.

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And then, um, unfortunately

was, uh, burned at the stake.

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So she was a martyr at just 19

years old, which is a pretty

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harsh, um, yet holy end there.

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Um, but as she faced her death and

was burned at the stake, um, her final

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request was to see a cross raised high.

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So she literally wanted to see Jesus

on the crucifix through the flames.

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While she was being burned alive in her

famous quote is raise high the cross.

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So I may see it through the flames.

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Like, are you kidding me?

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Raise high the cross.

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So I may see it through the flames.

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Like, I'm sorry, but

like even Jesus, right.

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Uh, in the agony of the garden was like,

God, why did, why is this the plan?

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Like even on the cross,

God, why has you forsaken?

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Why have you forsaken me?

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And.

280

St.

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Joan of Arc was given the grace and

the courage to be in her cross, right?

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And say, Let me see Jesus through

the flame so that I can die

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with courage and with faith.

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Saint Joan of Arc's

story is extraordinary.

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It's extraordinary.

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But, um, I just love that her courage

can inspire us in big ways, but we

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can also take this courage to inspire

us just in our everyday lives.

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I'm all about, right, Christ in our living

is all about bringing the faith into every

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part of our life and just these different.

290

Things that we can learn about the saints,

these different ways that we can model

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our lives after them can be implemented

in small ways in our everyday life.

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Because the reality is most of us won't be

called to lead an army or die as martyrs,

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um, but we will face moments where we're

called to stand up for our faith, right?

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We will face moments where God is

calling us to follow him more deeply

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and maybe to stand out in front of.

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You know, the crowd.

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So maybe it's speaking truth in a

difficult conversation with your friends.

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Maybe it's choosing to live

counterculturally on your campus.

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Maybe it's simply sharing your faith

with somebody who needs it, who has

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never heard the gospel, inviting someone

to mass, maybe being brave and telling

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your friends where you're actually

going on a Tuesday night to Bible study.

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Uh, maybe it's choosing to, uh,

Stop getting drunk or stop sleeping

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with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

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Uh, maybe standing up and being pro life

is what the Lord's calling you to do.

305

There are just so many opportunities we

have to courageously live our faith in

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today's world, because being Catholic

in today's world is not the status quo.

307

But we can learn a lot from St.

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Joan of Arc.

309

Um, she teaches us that courage

isn't about being fearless, right?

310

Because, Living this way, like

living boldly Catholic in today's

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world, especially on a college

campus or maybe in the workplace,

312

uh, can be really intimidating.

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And so it's not necessarily

about like having no fear.

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St.

315

Joan of Arc teaches us that courage is

about trusting God enough to follow Him.

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Even when we're afraid, right?

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Trusting that after all, we're

not just following a religion for

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the sake of following a religion.

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We're following a person.

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We are following Jesus Christ and his,

in his wisdom, you guys in his like

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fatherhood and in just this gift, right?

322

And wanting to gift us with goodness.

323

He gave us the church to

be able to do so well.

324

He gave us the church to

be able to follow him.

325

Well, And we are proud of that.

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We are proud to be Catholic.

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We are proud of our religion.

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And that's why I feel like this

year's theme of SEEK, Follow

329

Me, resonates so deeply with St.

330

Joan of Arc's story.

331

Because she said yes to God to follow

him in whatever he called her to

332

do, not knowing where it would lead.

333

But ultimately just trusting that he had

a plan, ultimately just trusting in who

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he is and saying yes, because he is God.

335

So just take that as your encouragement

to say yes to God in whatever he's calling

336

you to in your life right now, right?

337

Even if that starts with a little

yes to follow Christ, those little

338

yeses add up and turn into big yeses

because the more we give the Lord

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our hearts, our lives, our choices.

340

are everything, the more he's going

to invite us, uh, to follow him more

341

deeply, which usually means like taking

a little bit of a bigger step next to it.

342

It'll require a little bit of

a bigger yes in some ways, but

343

it'll start small first, right?

344

Like, don't be afraid to start small.

345

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

346

Like God might just be asking you to take

maybe a next step in your faith life.

347

Maybe it's going to adoration.

348

Like for the first time, or maybe it's

like going to adoration once a month

349

or once a week, if you can, maybe it's

committing to a few minutes of daily

350

prayer to spend time with him in prayer

every single day, maybe just five

351

or 10 minutes a day first, and then

you build up, or maybe it's inviting

352

Jesus into a part of your life that

you've kept closed off that you've

353

sort of just kept hidden from him.

354

Maybe there's fear of what

will happen if you let him in.

355

Maybe it's going to confession

for the first time in a while.

356

Whatever it is, you know what it is

that the Lord is putting on your heart.

357

Like right now in this moment,

if you were to think about it,

358

is there anything that's like

slightly like burning on your heart?

359

Maybe That's what God's calling

you to say yes to you right now.

360

Or maybe that's what God's calling you

to let go of so that you can say yes to

361

more amazing things that lead you to him.

362

St.

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Joan of Arc reminds us that saying

yes to Jesus transforms our lives.

364

It's no small thing.

365

It's transformational, and it not

only transforms our lives, but it also

366

gives others the courage to follow him

as well and to transform their lives.

367

It's a ripple effect, you guys.

368

It's a ripple effect.

369

I mean, the fact that Catholicism

started with Jesus and 12 guys, and we

370

are here now, I mean like a bajillion

people are Catholic, sorry, I don't know

371

the real numbers, but like, you know.

372

Millions of people.

373

Okay, fine.

374

I'll look it up on Google.

375

How many people are Catholic in the world?

376

As of, okay, it says as of 2022, 1.

377

3 billion baptized Catholics in the world.

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That's a lot of freaking people.

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And it started with Jesus and 12 million.

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Guys, that followed him.

381

So that just shows us the power of how

our yeses can transform our lives, set

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us aflame, and that flame is contagious

and brings other people into our lives.

383

Into the fold, like brings other people

into this like amazing journey of

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following Jesus and gives them the courage

to shed their old life and accept Jesus

385

as the center of their life as well.

386

And we want to reach the whole world.

387

There are so many of our brothers

and sisters that don't know

388

Christ yet, or maybe that are

lost or distant from their faith.

389

And you don't know the impact you could

have and other people's lives just by you.

390

Changing yours just by you making

Jesus the center of your life.

391

And if you're listening to this and

you're like, yup, Mari, I am with you.

392

I want to do this.

393

Like I'm all in.

394

Maybe you've said that before and you

just like continually find yourself

395

like not actually going all in.

396

Let this be the time when you go all in.

397

Okay.

398

Let this be the push that

you need to go all in.

399

I'm all about new

beginnings, you guys, okay?

400

I'm a Monday girl, I must start

a new habit in a new month kind

401

of girl, you know what I mean?

402

Um, and so something I love about

Sikh is that it's in January.

403

It's the start of a new year and

it feels like a fresh start,.

404

Like a new beginning, clean slate.

405

So if you, for some reason, just

like need an excuse to start

406

over, if you're like, I can't just

start over on a Wednesday, fine.

407

Although I'll tell you, you can.

408

Okay.

409

And I'm talking to myself as well.

410

But if for some reason you're like, no,

I just, I just need a fresh new start.

411

January.

412

Seek 2025.

413

Let that be your new start.

414

As we approach the new year,

prepare yourself, okay?

415

Start asking the Lord right

now, how do you want to change

416

my life in this coming year?

417

What do you want me to let go of?

418

How can I follow you more closely?

419

How can I make you the center of my life?

420

Start praying about it now.

421

If you're not ready to do it now, start

praying about it now so the Lord can speak

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into your life this next month and a half.

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I'm recording this in, you know, end

of, you know, Mid to end of November.

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So that as we approach the new year and

as you get into seek you can kick off

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the year following christ more fiercely

Whether you're going to seek or not this

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message is for you Okay, even if you're

not going to seek let this be a time

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to start a new chapter where jesus is

truly Lord of your life like What does it

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mean for Jesus to be Lord of your life?

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Means that He comes first over everything.

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There is not a single thing in

your life that takes priority

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over Christ and His teachings.

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Let this be the time where you

allow Him to be Lord of your life.

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And just take a second ask

yourself, What is one way I

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can say yes to Jesus right now?

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Not in January, right?

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But right now, today, or this week,

maybe it's spending more time in prayer.

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Maybe it's finally joining that

Catholic Bible study or small group.

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Maybe it's stripping your life

of a sin that just is keeping you

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enslaved and away from Christ.

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Or maybe it's just being more

intentional about living out your

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faith in small, everyday ways.

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Or just noticing how God is at work.

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Actively blessing you in your day to

day life and actually acknowledging

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his presence in your life more

wherever you are in your journey.

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I want to encourage you following

Jesus is the most courageous,

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fulfilling and beautiful decision.

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You will ever make,

and that's just a fact.

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And that's what I've

experienced in my life.

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That's what I experienced back when I

did that internship and I completely,

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you know, leaned into this Catholic

life that these girls and these,

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uh, Catholic men and women that were

interns with me were showing me.

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That's what I experienced when I went

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That's what I experienced in 2020

when I became a focused missionary

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and began to like dedicate my

life to leading others to Christ.

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And that's what I

experienced today, right?

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In 2024, as someone who in every part of

her life is striving to bring people to

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him and to root my own life in Christ and

to live a God centered marriage, like.

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I experience the most courageous,

fulfilling, beautiful, joyful, and

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freeing life that I could ever have.

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And it's all thanks to Jesus.

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It's all thanks to the grace he has

given me to follow him and the bold

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decision to put him first in my life.

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Friends, we could talk all day.

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Because this is like my favorite

conversation, but to wrap it up, um, I

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hope to see you at seek and just thank

you so much for, for tuning in today.

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If this episode inspired you,

I'd love to hear from you.

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You can connect with me on Instagram.

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Like I said, at Mari dot C dot Wagner,

or if you want to hear more of my

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voice, you can listen in on the ever

be podcast, Spotify, Apple, you know,

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wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Um, we also have an Instagram

for that at ever be podcast.

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So give that a follow.

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Um, and before I go, um, I'd like to

just close in prayer and just let the

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Lord completely cover you in prayer

as we, close out this conversation.

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In the name of the Father, and the

Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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Come Holy Spirit, um, I thank you for

your son and daughter, uh, I thank you

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for your sons and daughters that are

listening in today, um, I thank you for

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the work that you're doing in their heart

to inspire them to live a more Christ

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centered life, to follow you more deeply.

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Lord, I just pray that you give

us the courage to follow you,

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just as Saint Joan of Arc did.

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May we be bold in our faith,

unwavering in our trust, and just

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relentless in our pursuit of you.

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And we pray that you give us the grace

to do so, even in the face of hardship,

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um, even in the face of feeling like

we are the only one doing so, you

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know, in loneliness, in our faith, um,

even in the face of our society and

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our culture that is so different from

the way that you called us to live.

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God, just give us courage to follow you.

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Um, and to be brave like St.

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Joan of Arc did.

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Amen.

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In the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

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Amen.

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Until next time, friends, and I