Matters of Soul Importance with Roxane Salonen

When Ramona Trevino accepted a job to manage a Planned Parenthood clinic, she thought she would be helping girls and women live lives of abundant freedom through the promise of choice. But in time, the truth became evident, and she experienced a dramatic conversion of both faith and life, leading her out of the abortion industry and eventually to speaking out on life issues nationally.

Ramona’s message challenges us to consider how contraception has become a gateway to abortion, insisting that we can’t have an honest discussion about abortion without recognizing contraception’s contributing role; a role that has often been unacknowledged or ignored, to the great detriment of society. Ramona brings the experience of her own unplanned pregnancy and surviving abuse, as well as the joys of following God’s plan for an openness to life, into her work spreading a message of hope.

● The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/seasons-and-feast-days/our-lady-of- guadalupe-21357 ● Pope Paul VI's encyclical on human life, Humanae Vitae: https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p- vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html ● Ramona’s memoir, “Redeemed by Grace: A Catholic Woman’s Journey to Planned Parenthood and Back”: https://a.co/d/e1hZz9q ● 40 Days for Life website: https://www.40daysforlife.com/en/ ● “What is Natural Family Planning?” article (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops): https://www.usccb.org/topics/natural-family- planning/what-natural-family-planning

In this episode, Dr. Stacy Trasancos will discuss the difference between science and what some have dubbed “scientism,” and why it even matters.

Dr. Trasancos brings with her discussions advanced degrees in chemistry, dogmatic theology, and systematic philosophy, as well as her work as an educator, speaker, author and mother committed to the intellectual tradition of the Catholic Church.

Dr. Trasancos hasn’t always been Catholic. She grew up evangelical, and eventually left her faith for a time, fully dedicating her energies to the pursuit of science. But when that pursuit left her empty, Dr. Trasancos eventually found her way back into a life of grace.

Now, she’s able to bring both her intellectual curiosity and training and her experiences with a vibrant faith life into discussions, merging these disciplines in a way that is rarely found in one place in our times.

SHOW NOTES:

• Particles of Faith book: https://a.co/d/8G3lts5
• Dr. Trasancos’ website: https://stacytrasancos.com/
• God & Elements (Dr. Trasancos’ Substack): https://stacytrasancos.substack.com/
• Roxane’s “Faith Conversations” article on Dr. Transancos’ Fargo visit: https://roxanesalonen.com/2022/03/27/faith-conversations-chemist-calls-science-the-study-of-gods-handiwork/

Shortly after the election in November, a meme began floating around social media: “To think that God ordained a filthy-minded, adulterous, wealthy man with evil in his heart to preside over a nation challenges my self-righteous understanding. But He did, and that sinful man by grace gave us the Psalms. #KingDavid.” Not surprisingly, the reaction was divided. But truth resides at the heart of these words. To misunderstand that politicians are human and flawed is to misunderstand human nature itself.

John Trandem, a lifelong Fargoan who has been involved in North Dakota politics as a Republican, along with being a business owner, husband, father, and committed Lutheran, understands the limits of our humanity, including when it crosses over into such spheres as politics. John will offer his thoughts today on the flawed state of humanity, and whether Donald Trump, whom he's met on several occasions, is too flawed to lead our country through its current troubles.

Fr. Vincent Druding, a priest in the Archdiocese of New York, is well-versed in the realities of the spiritual world. As a trained exorcist who leads a deliverance and liberation ministry, Fr. Druding is especially equipped to answer the questions we pose today, just ahead of Halloween.

With the growing prevalence of the minimization of sin and its effects, disregard of the devil’s existence, and skepticism over whether hell is real or just a scare tactic of Christians, our need to understand the spiritual world in reality is great. Along with sharing a few stories of his participation in freeing souls weighed down by demonic possession and oppression, Father also reveals an action we can all take that is more powerful than exorcism, bringing balance and hope to an otherwise frightening subject. His story of conversion and finding his life’s purpose will undoubtedly inspire even the doubters.

SHOW NOTES:

• Article on Fr. Druding’s draw to the priesthood: https://www.cny.org/stories/911-experiences-pointed-three-men-to-priestly-vocation-,6040
• Baccalaureate speech on Fr. Druding’s conversion: https://blog.wabash.edu/magazine/2016/09/28/a-light-that-cannot-be-hidden-by-fr-vince-druding/
• Demonic Abortion: A Sobering Commentary on the Satanic Nature of the Modern Abortion Industry: https://www.amazon.com/Demonic-Abortion-Sobering-Commentary-Industry/dp/1559220627
• Sisters of Life order and ministry: https://sistersoflife.org/
• Article, “A Witness to Love,” by Fr. Druding’s sister Colleen: https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/2012/01/19/a-witness-to-love
• Fr. Druding on Integrity Restored podcast: https://integrityrestored.com/ep165/
• Articles on Fr. Druding’s newly developing Franciscan order, Sisters of the Pure Heart: https://thetablet.org/new-religious-community-aims-to-be-spiritual-mothers-to-spiritual-orphans/ and https://holycrossbronx.com/franciscan-sisters-of-the-pure-heart

Katie Bruckbauer grew up in a large, faith-filled family on a farm outside of Casselton, North Dakota. As a child, she loved to dance, and later, sought ways to bring her athletic and musical abilities together. She studied modern dance and creative movement, eventually working for a studio, and then owning it with two others in the Fargo-Moorhead area under the name 8th Street Studio of Dance.

In all, she contributed her talents to that work for three decades. Katie has recently rediscovered how vital dancing is to her physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing, along with realizing how writing poetry can be a healing avenue to many of life’s challenges.

Show notes:

• Katie’s stage performance of her “Two Birds” poem, November 2023 in Fargo, North Dakota: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6r4lYGjs9Q&t=240s
• Katie’s Word Dances website: https://www.worddances.com/
• Katie’s book, “Time to Soar: Word Dances and Bird Songs for Every Season”