Welcome to the fifth and final part of the Screwtape Letters Series! In this episode, we cover Letter #23. This letter is where C.S. Lewis explains the concept of a “historical Jesus”. Join us as we break down what C.S. Lewis is talking about and then apply it to our current world. We explain what exactly we mean by “woke Catholicism”, how it is the “historical Jesus” of our times, why it is completely incompatible with Orthodox Christianity and why it is so dangerously deceptive.

The basis for C.S. Lewis’ concept of this “historical Jesus” is his belief that if the Devil can’t stop someone from being Christian, then he is going to do his best to corrupt that person’s Christianity so that they believe they are still following Christ but in reality, they have strayed away and are following a false god. In fact, C.S. Lewis believes this is the demons’ favorite way to corrupt humanity and one of their strongest and most subtle forms of attack.

We are doing this podcast out of love and out of a desire to challenge all of us to be awake to the dangers of our current historical Jesus in the guise of “Woke catholicism”.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be awake. Your adversary, the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you.”

Our challenge this week is to turn off social media for one whole day and spend time with Jesus in silence and humbly ask him to show you who He really is and to strip away any and all false images/ideas you may have about Him.

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Today in Part Four of the Screwtape Letters we dive into Letters #22, 25, 27, and 29.

The devil ultimately wants us to believe that we can’t trust God completely and that we must take things into our own hands and have something else to fall back on. This is the lie from the beginning of time. As we take a closer look at these four letters, we’ll uncover some of the practical ways the Devil tries to convince us of this lie and distract us from the true presence of God in our life. A few of these examples include constant noise, boredom, fear, and our need for control.

Our challenge this week is to reflect on these concrete examples and zero in on one that is hard for you and really examine “how can I grow from this?” as opposed to “how can I stay in this?”.

The Screwtape Letters Series will wrap up next week with Part 5 covering letter 23.

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Today in Part Three of the Screwtape Letters we cover Letter #15. This letter is all about time and how we can touch eternity while staying in the confines of time. We gave this letter its own episode because it is foundational to understanding how the devil attempts to pull us away from God by distracting us from the present (where time touches eternity).

God is asking for our trust in his divine providence so we rely on Him alone in the present moment and as we will discuss in this episode, the evil one is going to try and make us rely on ourselves only by keeping us constantly fixated on the past or future.

Our challenge this week is to sit down and make a list of 5 things you are looking forward to in the future and 5 things you are scared about in the future. And then go through the list again and invite God into each hope and fear and surrender each one to him.

Next week we will continue with Letters #22, 25, 27, and 29 in Part Four.

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Today in Part Two the Screwtape Letters we dive into Letters #9, 12, and 13. These letters all discuss pleasure and how all pleasure has been created by God and is good in and of itself. All the devil can do is take what is already good and pervert it and he does this with pleasure to separate us from ourselves and from God.

We end with some practical ways to watch out for the devil’s tricks and a challenge to do something you enjoy for the simple sake of that activity. The only caveat is no screens are allowed for this activity. Do something that uses your mind and body which you find genuine pleasure in: read a book, go on a walk, paint, write, play an instrument, etc. 

Next week we will continue with Letter #15 in Part Three.

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Today we are SO excited to kick off our Screwtape Letters book series.

In Part One, we dive into Letters #1, 4, and 6. These three letters all focus on how the demons desire to hide from us the part that is most like God: our will and intellect, in other words, our ability to discern and CHOSE between what is true and false, good and evil. We talk about how the devil tries to do this, how we can learn to recognize his tricks, and how we can best guard against his attacks. 

// Next week we will continue with Letters #9, 12, and 13 in Part Two. //

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” - Matthew 7:13-14

Arise, Beloved invites you to join us in season three as we journey closer to Jesus on The Narrow Way.

As Kateri and I prayed about which direction the Lord wanted to take Arise, Beloved in 2021, we knew that we were to continue to provide a place where women can find the restorative and healing love of Jesus. However, we also have realized this past year just how real and powerful the spiritual war raging around us is. Through more prayer and conversation we felt called to center Arise, Beloved on the Narrow Way. Our world desperately needs holy women who are leading each other deeper to Christ on the Narrow Way.

For this third season of our podcast, Kateri and I will be breaking down just what it means to choose the Narrow Way. In this first episode, we explain why we have chosen this as our focus and invite you to chose the Narrow Way with us.

Near the end we share the foundational resources we have been using for our formation on the Narrow Way and we want to share them with you:

Kateri’s List:

Scripture

The Spiritual Combat and a Treatise on Peace of Soul by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Diary of St Faustina

Mary Kate’s List:

Scripture

The Fulfillment of All Desire by Dr. Ralph Martin

Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits by Dan Burke

Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

On today’s episode we talk with Taylor Schrock, a high school special education teacher with a passion for her students, art, and the pro-life movement. Taylor shares with us the beautiful story of her unexpected teenage pregnancy and that path that led her to chose to place her son in an open adoption. Taylor talks to us all about the immense beauty in open adoptions as well as the difficulties that this sacrifice entailed.

We end our conversation discussing how we can be a better pro-life community and how we can help young women and girls who find themselves in similar situations to Taylor.

If you would like to reach out directly to Taylor, feel free to send her a DM on her personal instagram @taylorjennica or send us a DM at @arisebelovedwm.

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On today’s episode we talk with Marissa Ramsey and hear how she has learned to chose joy in the midst of the heavy cross of depression & anxiety. Marissa Ramsey is a special education teacher in New Orleans with a zeal for life and deep love for her job and her Catholic faith. She talks with us today about how she finds hope in the resurrection and how she has learned to trust that the Lord is still healing her even when it doesn’t look the way she wants it to. Ultimately it comes down to believing and understanding that there is always more to the story and that everything in this life must be understood in the light of the larger story of the resurrection.

At the end, Marissa shares practical tips she has learned to battle depression and anxiety and we also chat with her about how we can be better sisters to those struggling with this particular cross.

Marissa’s challenge for us is to carve out some time this week with a  notebook and write out some of the lies that you believe frequently or write out some of things that are lying heavy on your heart right now. After you have written these out, take some time to take your notebook before the Lord and just hand it to Him.