Universal Voices is back with an all new mini-series. This season we explore how different folks within the Universal Church are experiencing community within the Body of Christ. In this episode, Alissa welcomes Karina Breceda. Alissa and Karina discuss Fr. Rick Thomas whose case for canonization was recently opened. Fr. Rick was a central figure in Karina's life and she credits him for leading her to the work with migrants that she now does. The two chat about the rich community Fr. Thomas shepherded and how his model of prayer, joy, obedience, and service left a lasting impression. In this episode you'll also hear the two talk about:

• The blessing of place.
• The multiplication of Christmas Dinner.
• The miracle of a dump that becomes a "city on a hill."
• Being crazy for Jesus.
• The only thing that makes sense.
• Fr. Thomas' prophetic witness in creating a youth center.
• Being the 2025 version of the work of the Gospel.
• Being one day saints like Father Thomas.

The video we reference (in which Father Thomas is interviewed about Christmas Dinner can be found here or by searching "The Glory of God" - Juarez Full Length on Youtube.

Karina Breceda is a Fronteriza activist and cross-border advocate focusing on pro-life migrant work. She is Co-Founder and Director of Stela and Casa Maris, shelters located on both sides of the US/MX international border serving pregnant women and children seeking refuge.

Nuestro presentador, Juan Carlos Hernández, regresa esta séptima temporada con más entrevistas en español.

Emmanuel Simental, abogado de profesión y nacido en el seno de una familia católica que le inculcó la fe y su amor por la Iglesia llevándolo a servir en diversos ministerios como monaguillo, catequista y coordinador, además de fomentar su formación en círculos de apologética y doctrina social y diplomados en diversas materias como Sagradas Escrituras, Música Sagrada y Derecho Canónico. Su vida de fe, la espiritualidad ignaciana y la búsqueda de una vida más saludable lo llevaron a fundar dos proyectos: Biciclub Católico, un grupo ciclista con enfoque espiritual, y Bici sin Fronteras, una iniciativa solidaria que dona bicicletas a quienes más las necesitan.

Encuéntralo en Instagram @biciclub.catolico.

Growing a Catholic Community on Wheels

Our host, Juan Carlos Hernández, returns this seventh season with more interviews in Spanish.

Emmanuel Simental, a lawyer by profession, was born into a Catholic family that instilled in him a faith and love for the Church, leading him to serve in various ministries as an altar boy, catechist, and coordinator, as well as encouraging his formation in circles of apologetics and social doctrine and diplomas in various subjects such as Sacred Scriptures, Sacred Music, and Canon Law. His life of faith, Ignatian spirituality, and search for a healthier lifestyle led him to found two projects: Biciclub Católico, a cycling group with a spiritual focus, and Bici sin Fronteras, a charitable initiative that donates bicycles to those who need them most.

Find him on Instagram @biciclub.catolico.

To ensure we can continue sharing the wisdom and faith of lay Catholics across the Universal Catholic Church, make your tax-deductible donation at fromheremedia.org/donate

Universal Voices is back with an all new mini-series. This season we explore how different folks within the Universal Church are experiencing community within the Body of Christ. In this episode, Alissa welcomes Jessica Mendoza. Alissa and Jessica discuss, "Partners in the Gospel," currently taking place in the Archdiocese of Seattle. The two talk about:

• Why Partners in the Gospel came about and the hope behind it.
• The power of being intentional and careful with important things.
• The power of listening and responding.
• Practicing not bringing "serial consumerism" into parish life.
• Working together as the Body.
• Allowing ourselves to grieve loss or change.
• Bringing a lion's share of fraternal care to the table.

Jessica Mendoza was born and raised in the Seattle area but counts her roots in Michoacán México. Her works as a pediatric and neonatal physical therapist, and is also active in her parish, volunteering in high school youth ministry, parish leadership, and working alongside their companion parish in Guatemala. She also helps chair her Archdiocesan Disability Inclusion Ministry, so that people of all abilities are able to participate fully in the life of the Church. In her spare time Jessica loves reading, hiking around the beautiful Pacific Northwest scenery, and playing the flute in a community Wind Symphony.

In this quick 10 minute episode, Alissa talks of a slight pivot in this, the 7th season of Universal Voices Podcast Miniseries. She talks unity but not uniformity, introduces a key scripture verse and expresses the hope that the podcast will continue to reflect both the hard and the hopeful of the experiences of faith.

Miriam y José Manuel Tejeda son una pareja católica de la Ciudad de México cuya misión de vida nació bajo circunstancias desafiantes (pero también milagrosas), tras una enfermedad y 47 días en terapia intensiva en un hospital de los Estados Unidos. En este podcast, comparten su vida y cómo su misión se extiende no solo a los bebés por nacer, sino también a las mujeres que crían a esos niños.

Mater Filius (latín para Madre e Hijo/a), su ministerio, comenzó con una casa de acogida y refugio en la Ciudad de México y desde entonces se ha extendido a diez ciudades en México, con tres más en camino. El ministerio cuenta con tres casas en los Estados Unidos y cuatro más en América Latina.

Conoce más sobre su ministerio en www.materfilius.org.

From Death to a Mission for Life: Miriam and José Manuel Tejeda

Miriam and José Manuel Tejeda are a Catholic couple from Mexico City whose life's mission was born under challenging (but also miraculous) circumstances following an illness and 47 days in intensive care at a hospital in the United States. In this episode, they share about their lives and how their mission extends not only to the lives of babies but also to the women who raise those children.

Mater Filius (Latin for "Mother and Child"), their ministry, began with one house of welcome and refuge in Mexico City and has since expanded across Mexico to ten cities, with three more in development. The ministry has three houses in the United States and four across Latin America.

Learn more about their ministry at www.materfilius.org.

Universal Voices is back with an all new A Heart For mini-series. In this episode, Alissa welcomes Alexander Walton. Alissa invites Alexander in to discuss his time in a Laudato Si' Fellowship Program through the National Religious Partnership for the Environment and the USCCB. The two talk of the program as well as a host of other topics including:

• Christ as the Morning Star.
• Grappling with our tradition as gift to the Church.
• Alexander's background in philosophy.
• The interconnectedness of all things.
• Pope Francis as conversation starter.
• Being a good neighbor as an extension of our citizenship.
• Learning and leaning into more than one thing.
• Hope.

Alexander Walton is an alumnus of Morehouse College, where he graduated with Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude honors while earning a Bachelor of Arts in political philosophy and early modern English literature. Walton has completed fellowships, attended seminars, and conducted research on political philosophy, theology, constitutional law, Shakespeare, and Milton at the University of Dallas, Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, the Hertog Foundation, the Thomistic Institute, and the Dominican House of Studies. In Walton’s free time, he enjoys weight training, singing, and creative writing.

Nacido en el seno de una familia católica en Monterrey, México, Diego Estrada comparte sobre un profundo encuentro con Dios cuando era adolescente. Después, la constante interacción con sacerdotes y seminaristas lo condujo al seminario. Actualmente es seminarista de la Diócesis de Austin en el estado de Texas en los Estados Unidos. Habla de los pasos graduales del discernimiento y de cómo busca seguir la voz de Dios en libertad y tomando como ejemplo a los santos. Sus santas favoritas son Santa Teresa del Niño Jesús y Santa Teresa de Ávila.

En Instagram lo puedes seguir en @tuvidaesincreible

The Gradual path of faith

Diego Estrada

Show notes (English)

Born into a Catholic family in Monterrey, Mexico, Diego Estrada shares a profound encounter with God that occurred during his teenage years. Later, his constant interaction with priests and seminarians led him to the seminary. He is currently a seminarian in the Diocese of Austin, in the state of Texas. He speaks about the gradual steps of discernment and how he seeks to follow God's voice in freedom, drawing on the example of the saints. His favorite saints are St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Teresa of Ávila.

You can follow him on Instagram at @tuvidaesincreible

Universal Voices is back with an all new A Heart For mini-series. In this episode, Alissa welcomes Deanna Johnston. Alissa and Deanna jump into a wide range of topics related to faith, marriage and family life including:

• Finding joy and peace in our own gifts and the gifts of others.
• Being rooted in our worth.
• NFP as gift and also as purifying cross.
• The Church as a place of joy.
• Honoring each family's story within our Church.
• The gift and value that every family brings to the Church.
• The School of Love.
• Accompanying families and encouraging them in their gifts.

Deanna Johnston is the Director of Family Life for the Diocese of Tyler. She has been married to her husband Michael for 11 years and they have 5 children between the ages of 2 and 10. Before coming to East Texas, Deanna worked in Pastoral Ministry at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City, Kansas. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Spanish from the University of Memphis and a Master of Arts in Theology from Newman University in Wichita. Deanna has been featured on EWTN News In Depth, Embodied Magazine, and was part of the U.S. Delegation to the World Meeting of Families in Rome in 2022.