The Restless Hearts Podcast

Episode 106: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 10, The Women of Tradition and in the Church Today (7/1/23)

The tenth and final conference of the retreat briefly touches on the significant roles of women in shaping the tradition and life of the Church through peacemaking, study, prayer, actions for justice and holding male power accountable to the fulness of the mystery of God. 

Episode 105: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 9, The Women of the Early Church (7/1/23)

The ninth conference of the retreat sifts through the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of St. Paul to take note of the many women given passing mention in these texts while revealing the highly significant roles of leadership, influence, and service played by women in the foundation and spread of the Church.

Episode 104: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 8, The Women of the Parables (6/30/23)

The eighth conference of the retreat explores the women of the parables of Jesus and how their actions reveal God’s ways to us. After starting with the parables of the woman leavening wheat with yeast, searching for the lost coin, the conference invites us to allow the parables of the persistent widow demanding justice and the ten virgins awaiting the bridegroom to challenge us. Finally, although not a parable per se, the story of Jesus’ response to the widow who gave all she had to live on to the temple is examined.

Episode 103: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 7, The Women of the Gospels (6/30/23)

This seventh conference of the retreat brought to light encounters that Jesus had with particular women in the Gospels that reveal God’s ways in unique and invaluable ways. These women include the sinful woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee; Mary of Magdala; the sisters, Martha and Mary; the Samaritan woman at the well; the woman caught in adultery; the women at the cross of Jesus; and the women who were the first witnesses to the Resurrection.

Episode 102: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 6, Feminine Images of the Divine in the New Testament (6/29/23)

The sixth conference of the retreat turns to the New Testament and begins with a reflection of the very unique and ordinary role of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and of her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and their joyful experience and expression of knowing the ways of God in our lives. It continues with an exploration of how Jesus, a human male, reveals how the fullness of humanity is fully feminine and masculine at the same time.

Episode 101: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 5, Feminine Images of the Divine in the Old Testament (6/28/23)

The fifth conference of the retreat explores the challenges of imaging a personal God as the fullness of gender rather than as either male or female. It calls upon images from the Old Testament, especially Wisdom Literature and the Prophets, to open our imaginations to receive the fullness of the revelation of God’s being in relationship with us.

Episode 100: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 4, The Women of the Historical Books (6/28/23)

The fourth conference of the retreat explores the actions of women in the history of Israel from the time of the Judges, the transition to the twin institutions of Monarchy and Prophecy, as well as how heroism displayed by women during times of foreign conquest, exile, and persecution allowed God’s people to cling to freedom. Click here to hear the podcast of this session.

Episode 99: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 3, The Women of Exodus (6/27/23)

The third conference of the retreat offers reflections on the heroic and essential actions of women making possible the salvation of God’s people from oppressive slavery in Egypt to freedom as portrayed in the Book of Exodus including courageous acts of civil disobedience, calculated risks, compassion and love overpowering oppression, and the hidden but essential role of Miriam; the sister of Moses; before, during, and after the escape of the Israelites from Egypt.

Episode 98: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 2, The Women of Genesis (6/27/23)

This second conference of the retreat explores the very messy narratives of the Book of Genesis which set the stage for all of the subsequent actions of God’s revelation in history. It explores the roles of Eve, the mother of all the living; Sarah and Hagar, the mothers of the children of Abraham; Leah and Rachel, sisters who were the wives of Jacob; and the very curious but pivotal role of Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah.

Episode 97: God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition—Session 1, Introduction (6/26/23)

This and the following nine episodes of the Restless Hearts Podcast were recorded between June 26 and July 1, 2023 at the Dominican Retreat and Conference Center in Niskayuna, NY. During that week, Fr. Ray Dlugos offered a preached retreat for women who are vowed members of Religious Communities. The overall theme of the retreat was “God’s Ways Revealed through Women in Scripture and Tradition.” This first conference introduces that theme and explains how and why it was chosen.