Legatus Cincinnati

Sister Mary Gabriel on Upholding Human Sanctity Against All Odds

• Adam Koehler & Sister Mary Gabriel Devlin • Season 1 • Episode 4

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When Sister Mary Gabriel of the Sisters of Life joined us on the Legatus Cincinnati podcast, her stories of hope and the unwavering support for women navigating life's toughest choices struck a chord. She passionately shared the sacred mission of her order—upholding the sanctity of human life and providing a haven for women facing challenging pregnancies. Her profound insights dismantle common misconceptions, illuminating the individual struggles and the often-unseen impact of abortion on women within our communities.

The journey of healing is a delicate path, and Sister Mary Gabriel's recounting of a New York park encounter captures the essence of grace and recovery. Her narrative paints a vivid picture of how the Sisters engage with women, focusing on aspirations and future dreams as a gateway to understanding past pains. The transformative conversations encourage women to rediscover their own dignity, framed by the Sisters' compassion and the powerful role of grace in the healing process.

But the support doesn't end with conversation. Our episode lays bare the reality that there are practical alternatives and resources available to women in crisis. We showcase the crucial role of community, courage, and compassion in providing women with these options, as well as the Into Life video series from the McGrath Institute at Notre Dame—a tool for teaching empathy in responding to and supporting women facing these life-changing decisions. Our chat with Sister Mary Gabriel leaves listeners with an empowered sense of how to connect and contribute to the Sisters of Life's global mission, advocating for the intrinsic beauty and dignity of every human life.

Thank you for tuning in to Legatus Cincinnati! We hope you found this episode inspiring. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast to catch future conversations with Catholic business leaders.

Also, we invite you to experience our chapter firsthand and explore other Legatus chapters across the country. Connect with like-minded professionals, deepen your faith, and make a difference in your community. Visit our website at https://legatus.org to learn more about our chapter and discover the power of Legatus. Join us on this incredible journey of faith and business leadership!

Speaker 1

Welcome to the Legatus Cincinnati podcast, where faith meets business. I'm Adam Kaler, your host. Uncover the guiding principles of Catholic leadership, gain insights and practical advice for integrating faith into your professional life. Let's get started on this transformative journey. This is Legatus Cincinnati empowering faith-driven professionals. All right, guys, welcome back to the Legatus Cincinnati podcast. We got Chris Burley Thanks, adam, yeah delivering Sister Mary Gabriel to us. Hey, adam, oh, it's awesome to have you here. You were just at our Legatus Cincinnati chapter last night explaining everything you guys do, which is awesome, and your order, and you are in Manhattan and you're in.

Speaker 2

Manhattan. My sisters are in Manhattan. I live at our mother house, which is just northwest of Manhattan, oh wow.

Speaker 1

Wow, well, talk a little bit about for the people that weren't in our chapter or maybe other chapters, who were thinking about hey, who do we bring in? Tell us about your order, tell us what you guys do for the women of New York.

Speaker 2

Yeah, well, so I'm a sister of life and we're relatively new religious community, 33 years old, and we're founded specifically with a special charism. That's a gift of the Holy Spirit for really for any time, but highlighted a huge, highlighted need of our time, which is to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life. So we exist to pray and to witness to the reality that every human life is unrepeatable, precious, sacred, destined to live forever, an image of God, with really a communication of God's love that no one else can ever replace. And the way we practically respond to that call is to help pregnant women in need. Right now, that's really the bulk of our apostolate is to help pregnant women in need who are pregnant in non-ideal circumstances. That's what I would say.

Speaker 2

So many are not married. Many the fathers of the baby are, to put it mildly, not supportive of the pregnancy. Sometimes the families are also in crisis. If, if their families are involved in their lives, it's a crisis for everyone, and so in crisis, we tend not to make the best decisions, and what we need to do is surround these women with people who love them, who will listen to them. That's who we are. We're sisters to them, so they come to us and they're not. They're from a with pregnancy.

Speaker 2

Women get pregnant, so it doesn't matter socioeconomic background. Women can find themselves in these situations from any background and so they find us, and not just in New York, amazingly. So we have 13 convents. Our farthest West convent is Phoenix, but we're in Phoenix, denver, philadelphia, washington DC, toronto, canada and New York, but women come to us from all over. In fact, we have women that we're serving even in China, africa, because, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, they can reach out to us online and we can actually be in contact with them.

Speaker 2

And we have a network of lay supporters and supporters in the church. The church is amazing. It's one of the most incredible networks of charity throughout the world, probably the largest network of charity, and so you know, there's this immediate sisterhood and brotherhood. I can call a priest in South Africa and say listen, I'm a sister of life, look us up, we're legit. And do you have a means for us to support this woman who happens to be? Or this has happened in Kenya. I call the religious community in Kenya. There's a woman in your area who needs help, and in some ways, it's a lot easier in Kenya than it is in New York.

Speaker 1

Oh, wow.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, so we can really. We have lay supporters all throughout the country, for sure. But if it's sometimes a lot better if the woman's willing to, is to actually let her leave her circumstance, which is aggravating the crisis, and let her find a safe refuge in some other place where she's taken care of and supported and provided for and she can have all her medical needs taken care of and she can have space. We all have times in our life where we just need space to kind of hear our own voice again and to kind of recognize the good fruit in our life. And where's the good fruit, where's the bad fruit and our own capacity to make good choices and be supported in that.

Speaker 1

So well, what are some of the things you hear? And I you know as somebody who's in politics. I hear it all the time. Right, I need ammunition against these people and you deal with it all the time, I'm sure and very hostile people. You're in New York, I'm sure it's a problem. You want to stay positive, right, You've got the Holy Spirit on your side, yeah, what is? What are some of the things you hear? Just falsehoods that you hear from people that talk to these women that are on the other side of the debate women that are on the other side of the debate.

Speaker 2

Well, I think it's. I have to say it's the way we look at it is kind of it's not a talking point. So I would say probably you've heard the same arguments I have. I tend not to hear them to my face. I know what they are because they're out there. They're talking points. Right, Our whole point is to look at every human person as this beloved child and son of God, each of whom is trying their best, trying to do their best to survive, really to live, to survive, to thrive.

Speaker 2

Everyone's had different formative experiences and different life experiences, and every human heart needs healing. So you know, we also not only do we care for pregnant women, do we preach the truth about the sacredness of human life, but we also have a mission of healing for women who've suffered after abortion. And what's really important to know is that one in four women in our pews has suffered abortion. So a lot of people don't realize that, that this is a very common reality, that when people are in crisis and people feel vulnerable I mean you can apply this to anything in our life any sin, right Fear drives it, and we've all been in situations where we've been caught in a corner and done something we regret, and when your support systems are all pulled away from you or you're just terrified that you don't know what this will look like and, frankly, our lack of faith in God that God is actually going to provide for us in real time, in this real situation. All of us, all of us, struggle with that. So what we do is we really try to approach each person we see and meet, recognizing that they too need a home of love to be received, and that's the heart right, so we welcome them into our ambit, so to speak. No-transcript want to be able to do is ask the Holy Spirit to communicate to him his own value and that the Holy Spirit is like, is actually real and alive and able to catch and clean up after him, and that he doesn't have to continue to identify himself in that way out of some kind of fear or self, some kind of self-proclaimed, you know, false goodness or false mercy, like what is at the root of this.

Speaker 2

Why? Why do people feel so strongly? Usually it comes down to some kind of healing or a lack of faith. So they haven't met God, they haven't met Jesus in a way where they can be completely confident that they're loved and seen and known and that they don't have to go.

Speaker 2

There's another way to be. There's another, there's another way to act. There's another way, right, and it is going to cost you because you're going to have to love in a way that costs, but it's a much more beautiful way to live and you're going to have to help people who are caught in this situation. You're going to have to help women, you're going to have to be merciful, you're going to have to give some money to help house them right, like if you're going to be pro-life. You've got to that's hard, right, but I think to give people an opportunity that they too can be on the side of beauty and goodness and truth and that inside their heart is a font of goodness and truth and beauty, no matter what they've been through, that Jesus makes all things new. People haven't heard that.

Speaker 1

They haven't and they've fallen away from the church, a lot of people that are on the other side of it. I think they know what's right, but they've fallen into this cult, almost I would say, and they become because of this subject. I think people who believed in God become less of a believer because of this subject, which is really sad, and they become almost possessed. I feel like and I don't think it's them talking some of the times, it's just, it's so. Evil culture. Yeah, there you go and it's it's. It's just, it's unbelievably cruel what I hear from some of these people and some of the signs I read at the protests and things like that. Yeah, it has gotten.

Speaker 2

It's gotten darker. There's no doubt about it, and there are spiritual realities involved with it. Yeah, it is, it's it's gotten darker.

Speaker 1

I just want to bring you, whenever I have a debate, just pop in somehow, Just come in and and and just be next to me, because I feel like people are less likely to say anything when they're in front of a nun, Like I feel like maybe whatever's inside of them that's that's making them like. This is interesting.

Speaker 2

I mean it's getting. It's getting less. That way I would say it's getting. People are are saying things that I would never have imagined. They'd say and.

Healing After Abortion Ministry Outreach

Speaker 2

I'm not talking about the, the, the people sitting in front of who are in need always tell us everything we're like, they're like total open books and and they're they're so, so able to share even the, the, the the most painful elements of their life. But people on the street are. But I would say this too, like here's the other side of it. I had one of my sisters was telling me she and a few of her sisters were walking through a public park in New York and she noticed that now these particular sisters are in the mission of hope and healing after abortion. So that's what they, that's they're dedicated to that. They talk with women all the time. Every day they have retreats. This is what they do. So she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a woman who could not keep her eyes off the sisters. So she had a young child with her, but she just couldn't. She was tracking them. Everywhere they went, she was tracking them. So she's like, okay, something's up here. So she went over to her and she just said hi, I just want to say hi. I noticed you looking at us and this woman was like, yes, what are you and who are you? And she felt the Holy Spirit say lead. Usually we lead with. We help pregnant women in need, like we lead with.

Speaker 2

Actually like your value, right Like the sacredness of human life. So why are people so in such distress today, filled with self-hatred and people don't name it for what it is, but it's self-hatred, right Like people do not know their own dignity, their own sacredness, their worth that God is looking at them right now and loving them and pouring his grace into them and his gifts into them for the sake of others? Right Like we don't. We people have lost this sense that they are needed. They're beautiful, loved, known, chosen. People have don't know this.

Speaker 1

They feel like they're on an island. They feel like they're by themselves.

Speaker 2

They're lost, yeah they are and and that's. And that's the other thing of why people have to tell, overshare everything right, because it's like desperate to be known, to find a landing place, a place to land and to be known and to be, seen, right?

Speaker 2

So if I tell you everything, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe I'll find a home, maybe. So there's so much out there but there's such self-hatred that's underneath stuff. So we lead with like, do you even know who you are in your own self? Do you know how loved you are? And we want to love them. If I have a minute and a half with you, I'm going to love you completely, love you. I'm just going to be present to you, right? Okay? So we lead with that.

Speaker 2

And then we tend to say and we serve pregnant women in need, and if you ever know someone who is in need of help, we're there for you. We have a policy of non-abandonment. You're going to be walked with, you're going to be taken care of, whatever. We're going to hear your dreams. What are you afraid of in this? What do you want for your life? We're not going to talk about the baby at first. We're going to talk to this woman. Well, what's your? Tell us about your life, tell us about what you want to do, tell us about your dreams before the baby, because they think the baby is going to ruin those dreams, right? So you say tell us about your dreams, okay, how can we meet those and allow you to keep the baby? How can we let both of you thrive Right? How can we make this happen so that, actually, you end up thriving, that this baby ends up being the best thing that ever happened to you, because that's what God intends, right? So, but with this woman in the park, with this sister, she had the Holy Spirit said lead with the healing after abortion. So she said actually, what my sisters and I do is we help women heal after an abortion experience or experiences.

Speaker 2

And this woman right there, public park, her daughter not far from her, burst into tears. Burst into tears and she said we just we bring you in, we walk with you, we talk to you, we just want you to heal, we want you to know the mercy of Jesus. Burst into tears and then began just unpacking this kind of imagine. Like, yeah, imagine just having this whole area of your life that if you bring it up to someone, you hear in the world, well, nothing should be wrong with you, right, like it's the most, oh, it's actually a right that you have. And that you still can't sleep after this. That you still are bothered every year on Mother's Day. That you're still bothered every year on your due date and on the date that you had the abortion that you still suffer. You know ups and downs of depression, of anxiety, of like unexplained like you can't deal with your family at this time, whatever it is. Everybody has their different things, but that it's now back on you too. So that's your fault. Right, that you like.

Speaker 2

And there's no place where, even if you go to most mainstream therapists, they're like okay, well, let's unpack why you feel guilty about this, but it's really about the guilt. What about the fact that actually there is sin, there is repentance, there is mercy and there are people there that are actually going to walk through being able to separate the sin from yourself, right, like the sin is evil, you are not right, the sin is bad, you are not, you're beloved and loved. And then to have them walk into really grace is so real, grace is so real. Jesus is alive, he's real, the Holy Spirit's real. This is not like check the box, you know, go and pray on it Like the word of God is living and alive. It's more effective. It pierces behind between. You know, it's like the two-edged sword. It goes between spirit and matter. It touches the depths of the heart and people are healed. People actually experience divine love for them personally. Give me more of that.

Options and Support for Crisis Pregnancies

Speaker 1

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's, that's 100% true. I think one of the big lies I'm always told is there's no options for them. This is the only option. Right, this is what? This is it. And well, what are you doing? And I'm always told is there's no options for them, this is the only option. Right, this is what, this is it. And well, what are you doing? And I'm like well, the church is doing all kinds of stuff. What are you talking about? Have you ever looked into it? It's like the easiest thing to debunk.

Speaker 2

It's so hard though. I mean, let me just tell you it's really hard. You're a typical woman not connected with the church, and we know more young women are leaving the church than you. I just heard that, yeah, it's a. It came out last week or two weeks ago. I mean, look, this is brought it up yesterday. This is real stuff. Like you talk, your average 22 year old woman living in an urban situation, young people aren't even dating. I mean, they don't. Who is the father of the baby? Who knows we're? The whole culture has to be changed. But so when you say, yes, there are there, there is there, there is, there is help. Here's the fact. It's hard.

Speaker 2

So like, if this is we were talking about this, chris, earlier which is like it's so easy in any of our, our circumstances to say, well, it's, it's sometimes takes such courage and maybe what we need to pray for most, for people and for ourselves and culture, is courage to first of all see need, discern how to respond to it and then have the courage to actually sacrifice really to greatness to meet that need. It's actually, pragmatically, it's really easy to take a pill. It's really easy to take a pill and think that you're pressing rewind on your life. The lie is that you're not pressing rewind on your life. You're not undoing anything. Life is, is actually has happened and is forever. So that child is forever. You're a mother forever taking a pill in the in your home, going through that horrible trauma or going into a clinic. It's one day of your life. You think these women are led to think like you do this and then it's all over, you go back to how it was before. That's not true. Your life is forever changed.

Speaker 2

But people do think that and in some ways, that thinking we, we, we equate that as easier, right? So, like, what we're trying to do, what so many people across the nation are trying to do across the world, is to reach out in relationship. You're going to have to enter a relationship with a person who's going to accompany you, who's going to, but it's, it's not easy. You're not in control, right? It's. It's not the same self-reliance, which is the biggest sin, self-reliance. So so, yeah, there are plenty of options. Most people don't know about them and most of them are going to be more challenging.

Speaker 1

The tough thing about the church is we're not always the best at marketing.

Speaker 2

We're the worst.

Speaker 1

And the other side is very good at marketing and they have the national media working with them as well and they can push whatever narrative they want and people are going to believe it.

Speaker 2

That's right.

Speaker 1

They've got tons of resources, A lot of money, yeah, and I mean, I grew up in not a good neighborhood and I know a lot of girls who went through that and it was amazing Even back then, it was amazing to me that how easy it seemed to them. But what it sounds like is it's not easy. On the surface maybe the attitude seems like, oh yeah, I just had to go get an abortion, but inside something else is happening.

Speaker 2

I think part of a woman actually also dies when she suffers an abortion. She is capitulating to something that she would never want to do and she thinks she has to right. So that's the most ordinary thing is to think this is something. I don't have a choice right, like you said. And women, are compassionate.

Speaker 2

They're the compassion to the two genders sexes, I mean look, the circumstances are not easy, so that's where the mercy is is so abundant and, just knowing our own pattern of making decisions, we don't always make the best decisions, even if even if it's not Human beings make bad decisions every day, so that's just Go on the street and drive.

Speaker 2

It's more like I think of like the calls that come into us, of like a college roommate who will say I just found out my roommate has scheduled an abortion. Can you coach me through how to speak to her? Can you? And like so my sisters I was telling Chris this earlier did this series with the McGrath Institute out of Notre Dame called Into Life, and it's a video series. It's like a 10 part series, almost like it's not a Bible study, but if, or a book study, but like if a parish was going to have like a book study or or or a Bible study, you kind of say like, okay, for these 10 weeks we're going to all gather, this is what we're going to do. This is a format that allows it. There's like a training series, there's like study questions that go along with it, and the idea is to actually allow people to be trained more to first of all receive the truth, the teachings of the church, but not necessarily just in a way that is, this is right, this is wrong.

Speaker 2

We all kind of have an intuition of knowing, like, what's right, what's wrong. This is life, it's the circumstances. How do I respond to that? And how do I respond when I suddenly find myself in front of a woman who is pregnant and in crisis. Right, how do I respond to that? And so this Into Life series is a great resource for people, because we tend to think like, don't do it, this is wrong, save the baby. But the woman is thinking like she has already. She shut, she has shut off all those voices, like she has made a decision. She makes it so quickly, she makes it in a panic state and and the culture has made it easy for her to make that decision without pausing, without actually really thinking through. Is this something I want to live with for the rest of my life? And I think many young women now have numbed themselves to say like, yes, this is just right.

Speaker 1

And the support that they're getting are from other people who have numbed themselves.

Speaker 2

Potentially, I mean or or falsely directed mercy, right, Like we can't see another way out. The other side of it is what God is calling us to do, which is like not necessarily. I mean it would be great if we could do like big scale things. That might not be what we're able to do, but we can say like, what can I do right now, right here, Like I know, the bishops have started walking with moms in need. That's a parish based program. It needs everybody's gifts in the parish to say like, does a woman in this area, if she is pregnant in a non-ideal circumstances, are their resources ready to go?

Speaker 2

Yeah, if she does contact the church like, because the truth is we've plenty of people of goodwill, but do she's calling in 24 hours? Do we have resources ready to go? Is there a place for her to move into? Does she have a place to stay? Is she safe? Does she have enough food? Does she have other children? Are those children provided for? Does she have a good medical care? You, you like, do we have? We have the capacity for it.

Speaker 2

But is it actually activated where we say, oh my gosh, why would they do this? We'll tell you why they do it. Because they call Planned Parenthood and they say come in tomorrow and they say all the nice, that's right. And they say all the right things, everything will be taken care of and all will be well and you move on. If she calls a local parish or she calls a local pregnancy center, they say come and get an ultrasound.

Speaker 2

Are we ready to go on the ground with all she needs in that circumstance, including a listening ear, right, just love, flat out, love. Like. Is there a place for her to go? Is there a place for her to be received? Are people willing to walk with her beyond the pregnancy? Does she have? Will she have friends? Will she have a little community? Are we? Do we have open hearts ready to say like, okay, people outside my comfort zone, I'm gonna welcome you in because that's the call of the kingdom, right, and if I'm going to be like we are, we're totally pro-life. But we have to think beyond just the immediate need and say, like are we ready?

Speaker 1

Well, that's what the argument is. Is what happens after this? Like the kid's going to be poor when it grows up, and all this other stuff. I'm like, why are you putting that on them? Like, why do you just assume I, why do you just assume I mean I grow poor, I'm not poor anymore, Right, like I'm doing great. Like, why would you just tell people like, who are you to? Like eugenics, is that? From this? It almost seems like a, a genocide in a way, and you know in what in the name of? Oh, they're going to be poor when they grow up, like it stopped making them poor.

Speaker 2

Like Jesus is poor I mean, jesus grew up poor. I think we sometimes think like is it possible? What's the greatest good of life? And it's it's love. We're made to love and we're made to be loved, and it doesn't matter what your financial circumstances. You can love Doesn't mean that you're not going to have suffering rich or poor, you're going to suffer. It's going to look a little different. It's good. It is harder when you're poor, but you can be very joyful. This is one of the great benefits of doing a mission trip to third world countries with high school kids and college kids, because here, kids who have kind of everything, so to speak, suddenly come into a context where it's like, oh my gosh, these people live around a dump and that's their work every day.

Speaker 1

Every day.

Speaker 2

And yet they're so happy. What's the number one comment is there's so much joy. The very thing missing in my life is present in these lives of those who are poor. I've seen more acts of courage, more acts of love, more acts of tenderness from now. I've seen great suffering in the poor too, but great acts of love, great acts of tenderness, great acts of generosity and heroism. And you think like is it really? Is it better to be dead than to be poor?

Speaker 1

You think like is it really, though? Is it better to be dead than to be poor? Yeah, that's actually a really good point. I should. What do people say? What do people get wrong in politics? Or the average person on the street who runs into somebody who's, you know, very violent towards anyone who is pro-life, like what, what do? What do people say? What do people get wrong right now? What are the average person on the street having this conversation, who is pro-life? What do they get wrong? And maybe their approach to these people, uh, in what they, what they're saying.

Speaker 2

Do you ever hear somebody say something you're like oh don't, don't go there oh yeah, I think, look, I I think probably I'm not going to give the perfect answer, Um, but I'll give an answer, which I think is we tend to reduce the human person in front of us to what they're saying. Right, and it becomes. It becomes semantics versus relationship, where you say, like, um, I'm in a debate with someone on the street. How about, hey, do you have time to actually sit down and have coffee? Can we talk about this at greater Like? Can we actually talk about this? It's one human being to another Tell me why you feel so strong.

Speaker 2

I remember being at Georgetown years ago and it was a pro-life conference and we were speaking at it and outside there were protesters, Georgetown students.

Speaker 2

I mean, you're almost like, oh my gosh. But one of my sisters went up to one of the young women and said well, tell me a little bit about why you feel so strongly about this. And she said oh well, my dad was an OB and used to do abortions, of course, right, so there's. So this sister said well, have you ever seen a live birth? Have you ever seen a live birth? Because the truth is when you see that, if you've ever seen a live birth, have you ever seen a live birth. Because the truth is, when you see that, if you've ever seen a live birth, as opposed to you, put that up, juxtapose that to an abortion, I mean it's there's no comparison, right Like. So, once you catch the trajectory of well, what are you thinking, what are you afraid of and what's I think the personal, the personal element is so missing, like the division, where even these algorithms now right online, where, like, actually, if I'm following certain things online, I'm only going to be fed stuff that feeds my wants, my pleasures, my likes, my inclinations.

Speaker 1

I never.

Speaker 2

What are the chances of ever entering into a dialogue with another person who disagrees with you? Can we sit at the table with someone who disagrees with us and actually have a conversation? And that's very like sound bites don't win. It becomes an argument and we're talking about converting hearts. I think it's one heart at a time.

Speaker 2

And, taking me, I had this great young woman. Oh, I loved her, elizabeth, long story. When I met her, she was, she would say she was pro-life, was very pro, right on the edge. I wouldn't say most pro-lifers would say she was pro-life, but she loved us for some reason, her and her husband, and she was completely opposed to every like so much. We became great friends and literally over the years she began to her, her, her, just her framework would change. She would say, well, that I never heard, that, I never. But it wasn't an argument to be one. It was a person to be loved, a relationship to enter and as she was received, her own guard went down and she actually could begin to listen also to what we were saying and to also hear that. See the fruits of the spirit, see the fruits like. Do I want joy in my life? Do I want patience, peace. Do I want um, do I want to live like that?

Speaker 2

and yeah all right, it's a totally. It's a different frame of mind, it's a different it's not a fight. What an odd thing for a physician to take life oh, it's just the opposite.

Speaker 1

You think that would be against their. Do no harm, yeah, their their code of ethics they're having a situation, it's safe people not do not harm yeah, yeah, that's a really good point, chris.

Speaker 1

Well, what do you think, sister? What do you think led you? Why did the Spirit choose you? I know this probably goes to your head and in your prayers. Why did the Spirit choose you to fight this battle for God? This is one of the toughest things that's happening in this country right now. This is one of the most contentious debates. This is a hard mission for you to take on and a cross to bear for you. Why do you think the spirit chose you for this?

Speaker 2

I mean, I think the first thing that comes to my mind is Jesus's words to St Paul. You know where he says about weakness. You know it's in my weakness, in your weakness, I can show my strength. Uh, my grace is enough for you. So I think, first of all, I'm, I don't, I'm not, I don't, I don't, I don't have.

Speaker 2

I trust Jesus and I trust his word and I trust the beauty of human life and I. His gift of life, um, is so compelling, like just the intricacies of each human person, the beauty of each human life as it unfolds. There are no mistakes. We're not mistakes. We're made for heaven. I trust him and I'm compelled by the beauty of human life. I'm compelled by the challenge of human love.

Speaker 2

The beauty of human love, of human commitment, of that God makes us beauty of human love, of human commitment, of that God makes us cooperators with creation, that he entrusts couples with children new life meant to live forever. The entrustment of that, the responsibility of it, the gift and the responsibility of it I am, I'm compelled by it. I find it unbelievably gorgeous and I trust him. The battle of it is very real. I don't know if I don't feel always up for it, but I trust Jesus and I trust that he's with me in it, and that, I think, is the beauty of consecration, is that he can do the heavy lifting If I'm faithful to him, and it's true of all of us in the church is that we can sometimes get overwhelmed by the real. It's very real. I mean, Chris, you know in your life, you know in your life, I'm sure, like we have situations. It's just you look at the world and you think you look at my own, our own lives, and you think this situation is so big and um, and I. One of the beauties of being consecrated is I know that I haven't just given myself to him, he's given himself to me in such a way that I know, uh, with I don't know how else to say it His bank account is mine, like his strength is mine, I can lean on him and and so if he puts something in front of me but this is true of every single one of us If God puts something in front of us, we know that we can say father, in the name of Jesus, I need you to do this for me. I need you to help me make the right decision. I need you to give me strength in this situation, to give me provision in this. Open the doors that need to be open. Show me your glory. Show me your glory, lord.

Speaker 2

So do I think that I'm capable of this? Not at all, actually, I know I'm not. I don't know what lies ahead. My sisters are amazing. I love them all and I know not one of them is capable of it. And they're remarkably gifted and they're beautiful women. But this is something that this is. The battle is the Lord's. So I would say I don't know. He thinks I'm foolish enough to fall in love with him and to trust You're married now. I'm in it. I'm in it to win it.

Speaker 1

Well, there's. It's not just the effort you put in. I think a lot of people have this idea that, oh, it's a Catholic church you mentioned, you know it's global and all this oh church will be fine, like they think. Oh, everything's going on, but it takes resources to do this kind of work and a lot of people aren't really built for, you know, having these conversations. Even even Catholics they, they, just they're. It's hard for them to have these conversations and it's even harder to do any work in this world. Right, you are doing that work. You do need resources. This is a global effort. How do people reach out and find you and find your order in the work that you do, and how do they help?

Speaker 2

Okay, let me give you two things. So, first, our website is wwwsistersoflifeorg. Tons of resources on there. I would say for people in general lay people, priests, it doesn't matter, educate yourselves. Do not be afraid, like if you feel paralyzed oh my gosh, if this, if someone asked me this question on the street or in a, at a family gathering, whatever. Get educated, know your own heart to know where am I uncomfortable, where do I get paralyzed. And then get equipped. And there are places to get equipped so that you yourself are more comfortable and confident. This is the good news. We're not actually imposing anything. We're bringing people into like the best gift of their life, and so this is good news. So that is I would say that I'd say. Secondly, so on our website, if people want to become our coworkers, they're welcome to become coworkers. Get more training, get involved, helping the women who come to us.

Speaker 2

Certainly, we rely completely on donations to Sisters of Life so people can contact us that way and help us in any way. But I would say, go further than that. Ask the Holy Spirit, who's alive and living in your heart. Where is he asking me, even locally? What are my gifts? Where am I being asked to even say to my parish hey, I don't have all the gifts, but I'm sure everybody in this, between everybody in this parish, we have something. Can we at least be set up so that if a woman in need comes to us, this parish is equipped to help her right? Like that's so simple? And once you start doing this, you realize it's not so scary it's not we tend to think it's so scary. Love, love is possible and every human heart is capable of love.

Speaker 2

So I would say that I'd also say start looking at young women and young men and let's not leave them to the moment of crisis. This is like a big thing for me right now. I'm like backtrack everybody like cat. Start asking the Holy spirit how can I catch people ahead of the, ahead of the curve? Not just so that they are not in crisis in this way or not in the same way, or they know where to turn if they're ever in crisis that too but also like to raise up leaders, to raise up people who actually are confident and firm in their identity in Christ and in the church, and also listening to the Holy spirit with where are you, where are you calling me to? In the church, so that's, and to help the most needy. So that's what I would say yeah, and to help the most needy.

Speaker 1

So that's what I would say. Yeah, chris Burley.

Speaker 2

Beauty, dostoevsky, beautiful. Save the world. That's right. That's right.

Speaker 1

Absence of beauty in our world. Am I missing anything here? Is there something you want to add, chris? Is there a question that you have for women everywhere? I think it's been pretty well covered. I think it has. This has been an unbelievable, unbelievable conversation. Sister Mary Gabriel, we really appreciate it, and if anyone out there, if you're in a financial position to be able to help this order, please do. If not, pray Prayers always work. Gosh thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2

Thank you for letting me come here. Thank you to the Cincinnati chapter of Legatus for welcoming me and Chris, especially you and David, so gracious so beautiful so thank you, we're so grateful. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Thank you for joining us for the Legatus Cincinnati podcast. Remember faith and business go hand in hand. Stay inspired and empowered to make a difference. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe to the Legatus Cincinnati podcast for more inspiring conversations. Stay connected and never miss an episode. Until next time.