It’s Monday of Holy Week. And we know that for most of our listeners, this means that we have a long week ahead of us.

For many of us, our music is (mostly) prepared at this point, all of the liturgy committee meetings are done, and Victimae Paschali Laudes is practiced and ready. And yet, there are still things to do.

Where are we, ourselves, on our own to-do lists? Have we devoted enough time to prepare, spiritually, for our Triduum journey this week?

I asked Mary Birmingham to share some thoughts about how we, as pastoral ministers, can slow down at the beginning of this holiest of weeks and meditate on the journey ahead.

We continue to celebrate Women’s History Month in the many ways that we, as women, serve the Catholic Church. We’ve been highlighting Women’s History Month on our website, and we encourage you to check out npm.org for more resources. We’ve also made a Youtube playlist of videos highlighting women in their strength, their resilience and their faith. Our YouTube channel, and all of the playlists we create, can be found at npm.org, so go and check it out!

Today I speak with Holly Mohr, Director of Religious Education at Mary, Queen of Peace Parish (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). Holly draws strength and inspiration from those who were empowered to do God's will in the church during their time. Holly shares her reflections about four women she is most inspired by in the Church: Mary Magdalene, Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich and Dorothy Day. As we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s a great conversation to have.

Today’s episode is a replay from exactly one year ago. On March 16, 2020, I released an interview with Steven C. Warner. Steven is the founder of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, and currently ministers at the Newman Centre for Faith and Reason in Dublin, Ireland. He and I spoke over Zoom in the early days of a global shutdown due to the pandemic. In many ways, our conversation could’ve taken place last week and the elements of uncertainty, hesitancy and safety still ring true. But our conversation was more than just the pandemic. In the days leading up to the Feast of Saint Patrick, we discussed the Catholic Church and its joys and struggles in Ireland. It’s a great episode, and one that bears repeating.

Lastly, we hope you’ll join us for a live streamed broadcast of Mass for the Feast of Saint Patrick, streamed from Dublin, Ireland, this Wednesday, March 17, at 7 pm Eastern Time on NPM’s YouTube channel. Links to the Mass and our Youtube channel can be found in the show notes of this episode at ministrymonday.org, and on our main website, npm.org. We hope you’ll join us and pray with us on the evening of the Feast of Saint Patrick.