Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Life in Eden update: Director of Dominicans' Angelic Warfare Confraternity endorses My Peace, new recorded talk available online, & more

As I prepare to leave for Birmingham, Alabama, to appear on EWTN's "Women of Grace" tomorrow at 10 a.m. Eastern time (click here for details of my upcoming talks and interviews about My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints, I have a few pieces of happy news to share:


  • My Peace I Give You has been endorsed by the director of the Angelic Warfare Confraternity (an apostolate of the Dominican Friars), who urges all members to read it regardless of whether they have suffered sexual abuse. Read the endorsement and learn more about the AWC on my Patheos blog Feast of Eden.
  • EWTN TV host Johnnette Benkovic has invited me to discuss My Peace I Give You on her show "Women of Grace" in a live broadcast tomorrow, May 3, from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Eastern. Not only that, but while I'm on-site, Johnnette plans to tape another two hours' worth of interviews so that she may feature me on her show for a full week, discussing not only My Peace but also my first book, The Thrill of the Chaste. Please pray for Johnette, for me, and for the viewers, that hearts may be touched.
  • Thanks to some kind people who have donated in support of my apostolate, I have a budget to make a mission trip this summer to speak about My Peace to prison inmates or to others in particular need—e.g. Native Americans on a reservation, or people in Catholic parishes in a rural area that would not normally be able to afford to have a traveling speaker. Now all I need is to find someone who would like to book me to speak to such an audience. (I am already planning to give a talk to convicted prostitutes, which will be sponsored by a nonprofit in Philadelphia, but that will not require raiding my mission budget—only my frequent-traveler Amtrak miles.) My number one wish is to speak at the New Hampshire state prison for men, as inmate Pornchai Moontri, a convicted murderer, has written a beautiful account of how My Peace helped him find healing in Christ.
  • Come July, I am looking forward to addressing the annual conference of the Courage/EnCourage Apostolate, which has invited me to speak about My Peace I Give You.

As I've mentioned, blogging is light as I am wrapping up the spring semester (I am a graduate student of theology). Please pray for me as I prepare for my comprehensive exams for the S.T.B. degree, which is a prerequisite to study for a pontifical licentiate and doctorate. Thank you and God bless you!