The Everyday Apostle
The Everyday Apostle
The Everyday Apostle - EP011 - Monica Colucci
In this episode, Monica opens up about the challenges and triumphs in her career, highlighting the parallels between teaching and her spiritual path. Discover her unique perspective on embracing suffering as a path to growth, and learn how faith and prayer have been her anchors. Monica's insights into using faith to influence positive change in education and community service are nothing short of inspiring. Whether you're a fellow educator, someone navigating personal challenges, or simply curious about integrating spirituality into everyday life, Monica's heartfelt narrative offers valuable lessons and encouragement.
Welcome to the Everyday Apostle, where ordinary lives meet extraordinary faith. Join our host, kendall Peterson, as we explore how everyday men and women bring the gospel to life wherever they live, work and play. Let's dive into it right now. Let's dive into it right now.
Kendall:Hello and welcome to episode 11 of the Everyday Apostle. I am your host, kendall Peterson, and it is a great pleasure to bring all of these stories and guests that get to share their faith and get to share God in their lives. It is a tremendous pleasure and joy to be able to do that. Thank you all for your prayers and your support that you've given to the show. It's hard to believe that we are on episode 11 already, but here we are.
Kendall:Today's episode of the Everyday Apostle is brought to you by Fugoid International. Did you know that every successful organization does seven things? Well, well, fugoid calls these the essential elements and, from strategy and growth to leadership and culture, helps both nonprofit and for-profit organizations achieve lasting success by mastering these seven core principles. If you're ready to align your business with purpose and lead with impact, visit Fugoidcom to learn more. That is Fugoid F-U-G-O-I-D dot com. Now let's dive into today's show. Today I have the privilege of introducing a very special guest whom this is the first time I've had a chance to meet, but I have been watching and have heard a lot about and I'm very excited, even though we've never met Monica Colucci. Welcome to the show.
Monica:Thank you so much for having me, kendall. I'm so excited to be here today, awesome.
Kendall:Thank you. So a little bit of an introduction to Monica is a career educator. She has over 26 years of teaching experience in the Miami-Dade County public school system, working with students from first to sixth grade very, very critical time in their journey. She's also a community leader, awarded Teacher of the Year at Everglades K-8 Center, has served as a mentor, workshop leader and curriculum developer. She also has some experience in higher education. She holds a Master of Science in Educational Leadership and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Florida International University and also worked as a consultant for University of Miami's Science for All program. In terms of leadership, she exhibits a lot of leadership in her life. She has worked as special assistant to Lieutenant Governor and South Florida Regional Representative in the Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis. That was from 2019 to 2020?. Yes, sir, awesome. And currently you serve on the Miami-Dade County School Board and serve as the vice chair.
Kendall:That is correct, excellent and the real reason you're here. Despite all of those amazing accomplishments, your faith and your family, you are definitely. You shine bright in that world. You are a woman of deep faith. You are a parishioner at St Brendan Catholic Church. You are a wife to Eddie Lopez for 25 years, is that correct?
Monica:Actually now it's been 27. It's a little outdated, but yes, 27.
Kendall:So two more years, that's amazing 27 years married to Eddie and proud mother of Gabriela 23, about to be 24, 23 years old, Wow that is amazing. Well, we're going to dig a little bit into Eddie and Gabriella and some of that other stuff. Monica, welcome to the show.
Monica:It is an honor to be here. I'm so excited to talk about one of my favorite topics, my faith, and that is really something that I'm very passionate about and I love to talk about. I'm so glad you invited me to be here with you.
Kendall:You are in the right place, okay. So, monica, let's kind of start, maybe not at the beginning, but let's start in the past. Where did you grow up?
Monica:I grew up in New York until I was 10 years old and then I moved to Miami with my family in 1984. I was 10 years old and then I moved to Miami with my family in 1984. And I've been a resident here and a local here in Miami-Dade County since that time, since 1984. So long time, 40 years.
Kendall:That's amazing. Yes, what part of New York were you from?
Monica:I was from Bayside, Queens, so that's where I grew up, you know, and I went to public school there, grew up in a suburban area and, you know, with both of my parents, younger brother. So nice childhood, Can't complain about it.
Kendall:Very nice. So 10 when you moved. That would have put you about fourth or fifth grade.
Monica:Right when I was in fifth grade and we came in April. So I was at the end of fifth grade and we I started here in April of at fifth grade.
Kendall:So how was that for you? The school systems are very different, obviously.
Monica:Very, very different it was. You know it was hard but I adapted well. I adapted well. I my. We moved here because my grandmother was living here, my mom's mom and my grandfather and my cousins all of them were here. So I had a very good support system when I moved. So I felt happy to be here. You know, after the adjustment period Okay so, not resentful and bitter, not at all, not at all we would spend our summers coming down to Florida. So I liked Florida, I loved coming to, you know, south Florida, spending time in Miami in the summer, going to the beach, going in the pool. So for me it was an easy transition. My parents prepared me well for it.
Kendall:Nice. So that leads you into kind of middle school, high school. Where did you go to middle school?
Monica:I went to St Brendan Elementary School until eighth grade and then I went to St Brendan High School yes, so again local South Florida school and as a matter of fact I went to back then dating myself a little bit. Mid-elementary school went up to sixth grade, so I happened to go to Everglades K-8 Center. It wasn't a K-8 Center at the time, it was Everglades Elementary. So I went there till sixth grade and then I moved over to St Brendan, to the elementary and then to the high school.
Kendall:So you were in a public school and then moved into a private Catholic school, so let's talk a little bit about that. What was that like?
Monica:Well, I have to say that I had very good experience in public school. I taught my 26 years in public school, but I have to say that the seed that was planted in me by my Catholic education for my faith was invaluable. It was priceless. It was dormant for a while, and we'll get to that, I'm sure, later on, but it was always there and it was instilled in me every day. In class, in religion class, we talked about our faith, we talked about God and I thought that was, you know, something so important. Not at the time perhaps. Maybe I was like, oh you know, but now I think it's one of the most important gifts that my parents gave me and it was a big sacrifice for them to send me to Catholic school. There weren't vouchers like there are now. They paid for it and you know they never drove a new car. They sacrificed and they sent me to—my brother and I—to Catholic school.
Kendall:Okay, so your brother older or younger?
Monica:My brother. Unfortunately, he passed away last year and that's another thing that we can talk about later on, but he was younger—four and a half years younger than me and he passed away last year at 46 years old very young, yes, with two young children, and we can talk about that a little bit. I have no problem if you want to talk about that later on, or now or whenever.
Kendall:So in your growing up, obviously it was very important for your parents to get you guys into Catholic school, that they were willing to make those sacrifices. What was the home faith life like?
Monica:Well, I will tell you that my father never set foot in church. My mother was the one that when she had us, she had her children because she had strayed from the Catholic faith. She went to Catholic school herself. When she came from Cuba she was a Cuban immigrant. She then started taking us to church and when we were in public school we went to CCD, which are catechism classes, once a week and she would take us to Mass every week and she made sure that we would go Mass every week and she made sure that we would go. And I have to say that my dad, at 77 years old, had a tremendous conversion. So with that, I'll say, a man that would never set foot in church goes to daily Mass. He prays the Rosary daily, prays the Divine Mercy Chaplet. So God is always there, waiting for us, always, and I can really really attest to that through my dad's conversion.
Announcer:That is amazing.
Monica:So that's what our life was like, and as I grew up and got older, my mother became more devout and her conversion became deeper, and I would see her praying the rosary every day. She never forced us, she never, but she was always there quietly doing her prayers. She was a Eucharistic minister, she was a lector at the church. She would take communion to the sick. So those are, those are ways that we can instill the faith in our children through example. And she never forced us, never, but she was always there subtly doing her thing, and it spoke loudly throughout my life.
Kendall:Wow, that's amazing. It's amazing to me how many times that I see the mother being that catalyst more than the father, Even though we have that priestly role in the home. It's very often the roots that a woman has and the ability to influence. No doubt she influenced your father when it was time.
Monica:Absolutely, and I'll come back to. I don't want to. That's a whole other story but his conversion. But it's a beautiful story.
Kendall:Maybe I need to have him on the show.
Monica:Oh, absolutely, absolutely.
Kendall:Okay, so your mother, the matriarch, just kind of leading by example both of your parents sacrificing to make sure that you and your brother are able to get the kind of education that they thought was best for you guys. That was a mix of good academics and good faith, right, absolutely so. Would you say that your faith was strong through those years, or was it kind of almost silently laying a foundation for later?
Monica:It was definitely silently laying a foundation for later, and I would even say up until I had my daughter. That is when I really really my deep conversion began. I really really my deep conversion began and I would say it's been about almost a quarter of a century, 25 years, that I've been growing deeper and deeper in my faith. That's amazing.
Kendall:Yeah, so all right. So you come out of high school, you go into college. No church, typical, no mess.
Monica:Yeah, I have bigger things to do, you know. Go out with my friends, have fun, study. You know, that was that, was it wasn't on my thing, my things to do on Sunday. And you know, I would every once in a while get that little comment from my mom it's only an hour out of your week and there's so many masses, how could you miss? And I was like, oh okay, mom, you know, but she never like I said, never forced, never harped on it, never gentle reminders. But I would have to say she was the one that was the guiding force in my faith, definitely, definitely silently. So when she passed because she passed away during COVID, she passed at the very beginning, one of the first people to pass in Miami-Dade County and the pastor of the church said she was a tiny woman with a big heart. She did very few words. This is what he said about her woman a few words but many, many strong actions.
Kendall:so undoubtedly laying down prayers like crazy for her children, for her family. That's what she did. Yeah, amazing. Um. So when did eddie come into the picture?
Monica:eddie came into the picture when I was I was actually it was my first year teaching, I had just finished school, it was my first year teaching and we met and we dated for about a year and a half and then he proposed and then we got married and the rest is history. We've been married for 27 years. We have a beautiful daughter together and we are, I can honestly say, very happily married. You know I'm not saying that we don't have, you know, tough times. We don't have, you know, our little disagreement but for the most part, you know, we really get along very well. He's a friend. He's you know it's that love that you know we really get along very well. He's a friend. He's you know it's that love that you see, that romantic love, it's part of marriage, but it's not what marriage is based on. In my opinion, it's so much deeper than that. So I can honestly say he's a partner for life and a friend and he's somebody that I can rely on for everything. So it's very important. Sounds like you made a good choice.
Monica:I did. I hope he thinks the same way about me, Kendall.
Kendall:There we go. I'll have to get him on the show.
Monica:Yeah, we'll find out.
Kendall:So you were in school and then you became a teacher. Did you always know that you wanted to be a teacher, or how did that come up?
Monica:Since I was little Really Since I was a little girl I used to get my dolls. Back then we had chalkboards. You know, I had a little chalkboard in my room. I had my chalk and I would teach my dolls and I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher and in a way, it's a vocation, it's a calling. You know, we each have our, our calling in life and and I really think you know it's Jesus was a teacher. So I can't think of a more noble profession than teachers and teachers out there that work so hard every day to teach our children what they need. To be successful is so, so it's one of the most noble professions that's out there and it's the bedrock of our society and our democracy.
Kendall:Very much and, yeah, when I think back in my life at those pivotal moments and the times that I needed somebody you know to hear, to guide, to nurture all of that, you know you get what you get in your home. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less but you spend so much time with teachers in your life you do, until you become adults and then sometimes well into adulthood that they do have such a critical role in our formation and what type of person we're going to be.
Monica:Absolutely, absolutely. One good teacher can change the life of a child.
Kendall:Yep.
Monica:Has and has, yeah, no, has Many, many times, countless times. So that's the God's honest truth.
Kendall:So you lined all of your dolls up and you taught your dolls. That was how you guys started.
Monica:I taught my dolls. I loved it. I loved standing in front of a classroom, you know, and teaching and just imparting knowledge to others. You know, I thought that was so important.
Kendall:So the transition you go through school and your certifications and everything, and then you're standing in your first real classroom with real students. How did that compare to the idealistic view of teaching your dolls?
Monica:Well, much different. It's because these students can speak back to you. They can ask you questions. Because these students can speak back to you, they can ask you questions and sometimes, on occasion, they can misbehave. But I will say my first teaching experience was very, very challenging, much different than my Dahl situation. They had gone through four teachers in one marking period. They were a very rough group. There were sixth graders and I went in there and I said to myself Lord, you have to help me. And he did, and by the end of that school year, with firmness, with discipline and I will say this not to sound cliche a lot of love, because I had students that had a lot of behavior problems, but they knew that if you respected them, they would do anything for you, and I really. It was remarkable to see that change in them. It wasn't easy. There were some days I would go home crying, going oh my goodness, you know this is so challenging. But it was a very rewarding experience and something that really helped me grow as an educator, definitely.
Kendall:So where were you with faith at that point in time? Still dormant.
Monica:Still dormant. This is in my early 20s, so still dormant, I would say in my late 20s is when it began. Okay.
Kendall:Was it a big bang moment? It?
Monica:was a big bang moment when I had my daughter and I got a very bad case of postpartum depression, and what got me through that was my faith. Was my faith and you know, of course, doctors and treatment but my faith and I would pray. And then, through that experience, I learned that when we are really having a difficult time, we call out to God. And when we call out to Him, he answers us. So that's when it first started, and then the trajectory just kept getting. He, god, has presented me with many difficult tribulations in my life, but he has held me through and carried me through each and every single one of them, and that is something you know, padre Pio. I don't know how familiar you are with him. He says that through intense suffering, god binds His chosen souls to Himself. So I always remember that in times of suffering.
Kendall:Yeah, it's a great reminder, right, because otherwise it's for nothing, like suffering is for nothing if not for that. And the more you can mature yourself in your faith to understand that and to truly conceptualize that right. Because it's one thing to say oh yeah, you suffer and it draws you closer to God. That's just abstract. It is, but the more you can really experience it and understand it, then it makes all the difference in what we do.
Monica:Absolutely. And I always think to myself. You know, when I was younger, I was always like why is God doing this to me? I have such bad luck. This is, you know, nothing's going right, when something wasn't going my way. But when I started learning and reading more spiritual material, more about the lives of the saints, which I like to read a lot about, they suffered intensely and they grew so much spiritually. So I think, you know, if God sent his son and he didn't excuse him from suffering, what makes us think that we don't have to suffer? So that's, you know, it's a very, very profound shift in what our society thinks today to what Christianity is. We want to escape suffering Christianity, we accept it and we learn to offer it up to God.
Kendall:And that's a great point right In the worldview. Avoid suffering at all costs and do everything you can on your own to make these situations go away.
Kendall:Own to make these situations go away or rely on outside influences like drugs and alcohol and everything that masks those things, yes, but we're built to work through the suffering and the humility and the love that we get through. That is really what draws us closer to God, and the more the closer we are to God, the more grace we have. And, yeah, that whole cycle makes a lot of sense if you can understand why that is.
Monica:It's very hard to understand and it's very. You know it is, it is and it's hard to accept. Say God, that's perfect. Why do we have to suffer? Why do these things have to happen? Well, you know, we brought it on ourselves. If you look spiritually, if you look in the Bible, you know when we decided to not obey God. So that's where you get. You know original sin and you have, and that's what makes us fall from grace and, like you said, we lose graces when we sin.
Kendall:And we continue to do it.
Monica:And we continue to do it yes, yeah.
Kendall:So do you think that it was the outpouring of love that you felt for your daughter that made the difference? Absolutely Okay. Absolutely Tell me your insights on that.
Monica:When, for me, my top, top priority, my top job in the world, the most important thing I can do, is be a mother. You know, and when I saw my daughter and she was born, and it was such. And when I saw my daughter and she was born, and it was such, you know, I'm sure you have kids and you know, it is such a feeling of love that you really can't describe until you become a parent yourself. You know, and then, as I've grown through the years, and I look at my daughter and I think of the Blessed Mother Mary and I say to myself you know, that woman said yes, in a time, what courage, what courage. And she just said your will be done, you know. So I think that you know, for me, being a mother has been the most important job in my life, the most important thing I could do, and raising a person and giving her the gift of faith, planting that seed in her.
Kendall:Not to call her out or anything, but how did she basically take the same path you did, Well?
Monica:right now she's at a little bit of the you know. But she, you know, she went to Catholic school. She was a peer minister. She would, you know, give talks at her groups and she does. She has a lot of faith. But again, you know, we go through that phase in our life where we're kind of, you know, we have other things to do on Sunday.
Kendall:Yeah, Mom.
Monica:You know how it is.
Kendall:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we have six children and it's pretty much the same story. Right, deeply immersed in faith and the understanding that God is important, that there's a god and we're not him and all of those lessons, um, but then when you hit that early adulthood, then then it's your time to flex and right, be an adult and you tend to take a lot of life on yourself, not understanding that it's kind of a partnership with God.
Monica:It's so true. Yeah, I think you summed it up very, very well. Very true, amazing.
Kendall:So you move forward. I guess my next question really would be what led you to the school board? Because classroom teaching, all of that's hard enough, and then you add school board to that.
Monica:Well, that's an interesting journey and I'll make it, you know, as brief as I can. I was, you know, I had this actually this now, this November, and this, actually this, now this November. You know, I have 30 years in the school system and when I decided to run for office in 2022, two years ago I had two years left. I could have retired, been done. And I said, you know what? There's so many things that are going on. You know ideologies that they're trying to put in schools, and it shouldn't be. Kids should not be involved in that. It should be about academics and let parents decide what they want their child to be exposed to socially. When it comes to social issues, it's not the school's place or the government's place.
Monica:And I said to myself you know what? And I said to myself you know what? If we don't do things that we believe in, if we don't go into roles that we can actually change and make a difference, then we're just as guilty. It's, you know, in my opinion, it's a sin of omission. You know we say that at Mass.
Monica:You know what I have done and what I have failed to do, and I was in a position that I was able to run. So I said you know God, for whatever reason, if this is something you need me to do, it's in your hands. If you need me to serve in this role, I will put my best foot forward. I'll put all the work in. And if this is your will, then I will be on that school board. And if it's not and that's what I always pray it's funny because when I was younger I would pray oh, please, let me get that job. Or, you know, please, you know, let me get into this college. Now I always say put me where you need me, put me where I can do your work, put me where I can bring glory to your kingdom on earth. Use me as your instrument. So that's been a shift and I think that just comes with age. That comes with you know, life experience and really learning that it's not our will, it's God's will, and when you surrender to God's will, everything changes for you.
Kendall:It's amazing what can be done when you give that over to Him, right? If? We try and bulldoze our way through things. Rarely does it ever work out the way that we think it should right, which I think if I'd paid more attention to that, I might have come to the conclusion sooner to just follow God's will, because my will has gotten me nothing that I wanted, that I thought I wanted anyway, and even if I got what I thought I wanted, it didn't feel the way that I thought it should.
Monica:Yes, and that's so true. But again, it's our society and we have to shift over to. You know, and I'll just say this very quickly you know, god has been the same. He's perfection, so he's never going to change. He's been the same yesterday, today and forever. We want God to adapt to us in society. It's not the way it works. We need to adhere to His will, and when we start doing that, the world will get better and better.
Kendall:So yeah, amen. So, Monica, how in the world do you, literally how in the world do you live that faith and bring that faith into your day-to-day?
Monica:So I have to say that probably the most important thing is prayer, daily prayer, setting aside time for prayer every day. And I'm not going to say I'm perfect, I'm not going to say it, but I can honestly say that just about every single day I pray the rosary Not all you know, because the whole rosary is the 50 decades. I do my five and people say, oh, I don't have time. I say you know what, when I'm sitting in traffic I put it on my YouTube, on my Apple CarPlay, and while I'm sitting I do my rosary. Or I sit for 20 minutes, half an hour, and I do my rosary.
Monica:And since I've been doing this for years and since I've done that, it really does draw you closer and closer to God, because you're really meditating upon the life of Jesus when you go through those mysteries. It's a really beautiful contemplative prayer. So that's one thing, because that grounds you and makes you realize your priority. The other thing is I try to live by the greatest commandments, which are love God with all your heart, your mind, your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself, and if we all did that, we would have paradise on earth.
Monica:We would absolutely have a perfect world and that's what I try to bring to the table. I don't, I try to not preach through words, but I try to carry out with my actions. What, what I, what I want to, how to impact people that's amazing, um, and thank you for sharing that.
Kendall:that's, I think that's, a great reminder the power of prayer. Sometimes it seems like prayer doesn't do a whole lot, but I remember early in my conversion years and I was questioning prayer and that kind of thing and my mentor at the time said just remember that prayer doesn't change God's mind, it changes your mind. And ever since then it kind of made sense Like I'm changing my disposition, I'm acquiescing to God's will and God's way and His disposition and the disposition of the heart, which is usually where I'm struggling.
Monica:Yes.
Kendall:And so what a great reminder, monica, Thank you. Thank you for that, and I wish we had maybe two more hours to get everything else, but we'll have to kind of close it here. There's so many things that I want to ask.
Announcer:I'm going to invite you back. So be prepared for that, because I would love to talk about some of the other things.
Kendall:Thank you so much for sharing your journey, your life journey, and being so open. I know that you know, given your role on the school board and all of that, sometimes you don't always have the freedom, but here in Studio B you have full freedom for that Thank you, Thank you, and I definitely my takeaways as a parent. Don't lose hope.
Monica:No.
Kendall:Because it's going to happen when God wants it to happen for our children. That, I think, is a very important reminder. Keep prayer front and center, keep the relationship important and keep those two commandments and we'll change the world.
Monica:Absolutely. And for those parents out there, st Monica, patron saint of mothers, who she prayed for almost 30 years for her son and he became one of the greatest saints of the church, st Augustine. So pray, pray, pray, so it works, it works, it works. And boy, he was a tough one. Yes, he was so thank you for having me on the show.
Kendall:Oh, my pleasure. Thank you so much Again. I would like to thank Fugoid International, the consulting firm that's Fugoid F-U-G-O-I-D dot com. Check them out if you need help. Also, if you feel a tug on your heart to support our mission at the Everyday Apostle, you can check us out at EverydayApostlecom. You can see all of our episodes and you can see how you can support the continuation of our mission. And if you or someone you know would like to be a guest on this podcast, you can find that on everydayapostlecom as well. Listeners, continue your journey, continue pursuing God with all of your heart and remember that, no matter what he is walking with you.
Kendall:So, whatever you're going through, just know that prayer, petition and relationship with God is how you get through it, and with that we are out and we will see you in the next episode.
Announcer:Thanks for tuning in to the Everyday Apostle. Stay blessed.
