It’s so easy to take for granted the wonderful things that happen to us in life. Especially in today’s “hurry up” world. We can lose sight of the fact that God brought us the most awesome spouse, helped our child gain a full scholarship, gave you the grace to ace the bar exam, led you to complete your flying lessons and become a licensed pilot, that you overcame a major illness or injury, or any number of other incredible things. What would you say to complete the sentence, “I still can’t believe…” Share your inspiring take with Jerry and Debbie – and the world – on Monday!

Everyone needs to love and to be loved. Without love, life would be unnatural and incomplete. One form of love is romantic, or marital, love. If you feel called to that vocation it must seem only right that by a certain point in your life you will have met that perfect person and settled down. Yet, many people pass through their twenties, their thirties and even later in life and still have not “found” Mr. or Mrs. Right. Does that mean the saying is false that “there’s someone for everyone,” or does it mean you have to keep being patient? Are you someone who feels that love has passed you by, that your “window of opportunity” is now closed? Let’s talk about this Thursday at 800-585-9396.

On Wednesday, join Jerry and Debbie and share your take on what your kids are up to this summer. A lot of children run around aimlessly when school is out. Others are provided with choices by their parents. Let’s discuss positive and healthy activities that kids are involved in this summer. Things like faith or Bible camps, part-time jobs, etc. Other parents will learn a lot of great new ideas from what you share on the program. And don’t forget you can now watch the show on EWTN’s Facebook page and YouTube channel!

In years gone by people might have saved their important files and documents – typically in paper form – for a few years, after which they would shred them or get rid of them in some similar fashion. Today, with so much storage space available on computers, external hard drives and “in the cloud,” we not only don’t think of downsizing our electronic collection of photos, documents and other files, but it has created a new mindset along the lines of, “I’m sure I’ll need this someday. And it’s so easy to store on my computer or in the cloud.” It’s time for a little honesty: do you “keep” everything you ever handle electronically? Do you think that one day this or that file or photo will come in handy? Do you have a ton of files that you haven’t handled in, say, years? Share your experience with Jerry and Debbie on Tuesday.

Just about everyone has a fear of something. For some it might be heights. Others might cringe at the thought of touching a spider or a snake. Many people have a fear of flying in airplanes. Are these phobias rational or might they be the product of something we have experienced in our lives? Share your take on Monday with Jerry and Debbie at 800-585-9396.

RESOURCES:
Understanding Scrupulosity by Fr Santa

NCR: 6 Tools for the Scrupulous

There are occasions in life when we are out in public and we see people who could use a hand-up. They could be homeless or just someone you discern could use a helping hand. Maybe you secretly told your waiter or waitress that you would pick up the check for a family at a restaurant. Perhaps someone in the grocery line in front of you was a couple bucks short of what they needed and were going to have to go home and scrounge up enough money to make a return trip to the store. Share with Jerry and Debbie on Friday when you have offered a random act of kindness.

Thursday marks the second anniversary of Take 2 With Jerry and Debbie. You’ve gotten us to this wonderful milestone. Thank you so much! On our anniversary broadcast, we’ll invite your takes on how the show has helped you (we hope it has!), what topics you’d like to suggest for future shows and what you think will make the show better. We want to let you help shape the future of the show so that it reaches its maximum potential as part of the EWTN lineup. Be sure to call early at 800-585-9396.

The Catholic Church is the steward of the fullness of the Christian faith. She is safeguarded by the Holy Spirit from ever teaching as truth something that is in fact false in the areas of faith and morals. This doesn’t mean it’s always easy to accept what the Church teaches infallibly. And it doesn’t even touch upon the fact that the Church puts forth for the faithful many wise statements that leave room for people of goodwill to disagree on. Has there ever been a time in your life when you struggled to embrace something the Church officially teaches? Maybe you once dissented strongly from one or another of her teachings. Or do you find yourself occasionally in conversations about issues that have not been defined as doctrine or dogma where you disagree with someone else’s position? Let’s have a frank discussion about this on Wednesday.

In Jeremiah 20:7 the prophet cried out, “O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and thou has prevailed.” He was referring to His call to be a prophet. We don’t know what the Lord did to “dupe” Jeremiah, but the prophet made a decision to follow and serve the Lord before He knew what the stakes were. Sometimes we all feel that way. We might think something like, “Lord, this isn’t what I signed up for,” or, “If I had known it was going to be like this I would have given it a lot more thought before jumping in.” How did the Lord’s persuasive power coax you into enthusiastically following Him? And have there been times when – like Jeremiah – you have lamented to God about the cost of serving Him? Share your take with Jerry and Debbie on Monday.

RESOURCES:
MOTHER ANGELICA’S- SUFFERING  & BURNOUT

Our lives as Christians are saturated with the Scriptures. At least, they should be. There are the daily and weekly readings at Mass. And we should also spend time reading, studying and praying over the entire Bible. We know that every word in Scripture was written to a certain audience at a certain time in history. Still, it’s all meant for people of all ages. Is there a verse or passage that you especially like and that you believe applies in a special way to your life today? Share your take on Thursday with Jerry and Debbie.