Mari Pablo, a seasoned religious educator and youth minister, joins Edmund on this episode of the Real+True Podcast. Their discussion starts with dissecting Maris’ pedagogy in presenting the Church’s moral teaching, the importance of ‘first principles,’ building trust with students, and finally the power of personal testimony. Edmund asks Mari how she’d respond to a family member or co-worker who confronts her with a difficult question related to Church teaching; her response is powerful. Learn how to bring the powerful truths of our faith to life in a way that impacts hearts, and honors the beauty of our Catholic tradition.

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Show Notes:

(00:12) Edmund welcomes Mari Pablo to the Real+True podcast. Mari graduated from Franciscan University with a double major in theology and psychology. Mari holds a Master of Theology from the Augustine Institute. She has worked in youth ministry for over 15 years. Mari currently serves with The Evangelical Catholic. Edmund and Mari discuss Mari’s first encounter with the Catechism. When teaching theology, Mari shares that her goal is to help her students see God’s plan for their lives: “What God teaches about morality will make them the happiest and freest and give them the best life possible.”

(08:45) Going back to first principles: Mari discusses her pedagogy in presenting the Church’s moral teaching. She explains that she builds moral truths off of the truths of God and the human person: “Truth is real and you are created good.” And then after that foundation is in place, she then presents the Church’s teaching on morality within the context of that larger framework and worldview. This is also done once there is a foundation of truth set with her classroom.

(17:34) The power of personal testimony: Mari shares the impact of implementing her own testimony when presenting the Church’s more difficult teachings. She says she isn’t afraid to admit to her students that her heart has been changed over time on morality and her conversion has been an ongoing process. She emphasizes the power of personal testimonies, and even the testimonies of her students.

(24:06) When you’re asked a hard question: Edmund asks Mari to walk the listeners through a confrontation with someone asking a challenging question about the faith, “Take a breath, take a step back. Ask questions, and thank them for the question. Respond lovingly. Be patient. Break it down. Ask the Lord to help you. Know when to end the conversation, and when to say, “I don’t know the answer but I’d love to get back to you.’” Edmund encourages listeners, “when you’re reading the Catechism, ask yourself, ‘what does this have to do with Jesus?” Always bring everything back to Jesus.”

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We believe the Catechism is not a textbook, a collection of ideas, or a set of rules. We believe it is the faithful echo of a God who desires to reveal himself to us. The mission of Real+True is to retransform the Catechism into a living voice for the modern world. We’re creating videos, stories, animations, podcasts, to unpack and unlock the Catechism of the Catholic Church for the modern world. All these videos are free, and translated into multiple languages for the world.

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