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What Most Christians Miss About Forgiveness, Anger, and Emotional Healing
Since we all make mistakes, it’s a great gift that we can forgive and be forgiven. I can’t think of any Christians I’ve met who objectively disagree with the necessity of repair processes. I have met many who have never learned what forgiveness actually is, and is not. Sometimes this desire to do more only reveals how much of our spiritual life has become driven by pressure, fear, or the need to maintain an image of ourselves. We are no longer simply praying. We are managing.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Struggle to Love
Oftentimes, our attempts at rest can quickly become another form of doing. We do more to create rest, plan, schedule, and optimize. And suddenly the slower summer we longed for becomes another thing to manage or “get right.”
Sometimes this desire to do more only reveals how much of our spiritual life has become driven by pressure, fear, or the need to maintain an image of ourselves. We are no longer simply praying. We are managing.
How I’m Slowing Down This Summer
Oftentimes, our attempts at rest can quickly become another form of doing. We do more to create rest, plan, schedule, and optimize. And suddenly the slower summer we longed for becomes another thing to manage or “get right.”
Sometimes this desire to do more only reveals how much of our spiritual life has become driven by pressure, fear, or the need to maintain an image of ourselves. We are no longer simply praying. We are managing.
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Five Things Everyone Should Know About the Immaculate Heart of Mary
I knew Mary was important—she had a statue in the church, she was in the prayers—but she wasn’t for me. I grew up Catholic, but…
The Key to a Thriving Marriage
Marriage isn’t just about loving your spouse in the same way you love yourself—it’s about treating their internal world with…
The Love That Sets Us Free
Living with OCD, I’ve found myself turning the car around to check that I didn’t hit a pedestrian, throwing out a batch of cookies because…
Where Trust is Rebuilt
Fear is woven into the human experience. We fear that things won’t work out. That we’ll be hurt, abandoned, forgotten. That we’ll…
A Way Forward for Perfectionists
Well, there are many challenges that come from being a perfectionist. Not just one! Here are the three biggest, at least…
When I Feel Frozen
Saying something hard but true is a people pleasers worst nightmare. There’s a particular kind of fear I know well—the fear that if I speak…
The Two Types of Narcissism
When you hear the word “narcissism,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For many people, it’s an image of someone…
Pope Leo XIV: What His Name Choice Reveals About His Vision for the Church
White smoke has risen from the Sistine Chapel chimney, and the 267th pontiff has been elected. This choice brings historical…
Learning to Mother with Mary
If I could name one constant in my motherhood journey, it would be fear. I wish this wasn’t true, but it is…
Why the Force Still Moves Us
Star Wars illustrates three deep truths about what it means to be human—truths that we at the CatholicPsych Institute try to live out…
Mental Health, and the Gift of Becoming
Work, Mental Health, and the Gift of Becoming: Lessons from St. John Paul II on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker “Daddy, why do you have to go to work?” For about a week or so, my daughter Maggie stopped me just before I left for work and looked up at me with her...
The Mindful Catholic
Written by Dr. Peter Kreeft, this foreward comes from Dr. Greg's book, "The Mindful Catholic" “Greg Bottaro was a student of mine at Boston College. He was a very good student, but even very good students seldom write very good books. He did.” It is a good book not...
Let Christmas Correct Aquinas
Every Christmas, our attention turns to the manger scene and the profound mystery of the Incarnation: the eternal Son of God entering the world through the womb of the Virgin Mary. In meditating on this event, it is striking to note how Mary gave Jesus at least half...
The Secret of Real Self-Compassion – Episode 204
Transcript Hello and welcome to The Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today, I’m going to share a secret with you — the secret for self-compassion. Now, this might sound fluffy or easy, something you can just roll past, but wait a minute....
The Secret Opportunity Gender Confusion Gives Us – Episode 203
Transcript Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today I'm going to share with you another continuation of this little series we're doing on man and woman. Specifically, I'm sharing with you the next lecture from...
Complementarity Without The Competition: Why We Need Each Other – Episode 202
Transcript Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today we're going to carry on this theme over the last couple of episodes. I shared with you for our 200th episode a keynote that I delivered at the Franciscan...
Is Leadership of the Family a Man’s Job? with Special Guest Barbra Bottaro – Episode 201
Transcript Dr. Greg:Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Botarro. Today, I've got my favorite special guest ever. She's my wife, and we always get great reviews whenever she's on. I really should learn more from that and just have...
Being Human Episode 200: Keynote from Franciscan University
Transcript Hello and welcome to the Being Human podcast. This is episode number 200 and I have something to share with you today. I wasn't sure if I was going to have permission to share today's episode, but I did just get permission just in time to release this...
3 Spiritual Diseases Plaguing Our Personhood – Episode 199
Transcript Dr. Greg:Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today I've got a special guest from across the world. We have Alex Havard, who's coming from Moscow. We're on a Zoom call on a call across the world, and so...
Overwhelmed by Shame
Life isn't always so clean cut. Sometimes you are thrown a curveball and wondering how you're meant to make it through. With God, there is always hope. “Will they ask me about my baby's dad?” When I was pregnant, I would put on a fake wedding band when I'd go in...
A Bishop’s Raw Story of Anxiety and Depression: Why ‘Try Harder’ Doesn’t Work – Episode 198
Transcript Dr. Greg:Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today I've got an awesome, super special, blessed conversation to share with you. Such a blessing to be able to speak with Bishop Conley. He is just an amazing...
Correcting Aquinas: JP2’s Truth Bomb on Gender and Human Dignity – Episode 197
Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today is a really special day. This is being released on the Feast of St. John Paul II. So, happy Feast Day St. John Paul II. Pray for us. AI-Generated transcript of this episode: I'm...
The Single Most Important Thing to Live a Holy Life – Episode 196
Transcript Dr. Greg:Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today I have a co-host with me for this episode, Fr. Louis Merosne. He is a being human friend and favorite. Today, actually, we're doing something a little...
Better Than Global Outreach? An Interview with CPMAP Graduate Jack Beers – Episode 194
Dr. Greg:Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today I've got an amazing guest, another graduate from the CPMAP certification. And the day this episode is getting released, it's a really special day because today is...
From Missionary to Mentor: An Interview with CPMAP Graduate Mary Sutarik – Episode 193
Transcript Dr. Greg:Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and we are continuing our series of insider baseball here. A look at the Catholic Psych CPMAP certification through the lens of graduates, students who have...
From Missionary to Mentor: An Interview with CPMAP Graduate Mary Sutarik – Episode 192
Transcript Dr. Greg: Hello and welcome to the Being Human Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Greg Bottaro, and today I have another amazing guest, a graduate from the CPMAP Certification Program. We're doing this little series of graduates in preparation for...
Are You Dreaming? (3 Tips to Help You Start)
Dreaming big is what God expects of us! I'm sharing 3 tips for dreaming if it's been a while and you don't know where to start. “If you don’t use it, you lose it” This clichéd phrase has commonly been used to explain how, if you don’t exercise the physical...