One of the great blessings of Catholic radio is its ability to have a significant impact in the lives of those who listen and, as a program provider for EWTN Global Catholic Radio, I have the opportunity to experience this often.

Take this past Monday’s program for example. At the beginning of the program I shared a little about the difference between good fear and morbid fear and the virtue of trust. Apparently, it struck a chord with a lot of our listeners. Following is one email we received. What touched my heart about this woman’s experience is that she began to see God making a difference in her life almost immediately.

When you have finished reading the piece you can find additional information about the topic by listening to the podcast of our program (go to the website www.womenofgrace.com) or you can read my post dated 04/28/09.

May God bless you and meet your deepest need!

Johnette,

I was listening to you on KPIO am1570 Loveland, CO this morning (10/6/09 9-10am Mountain Time) and was unable to call in because I was transporting kids around and in and out of the car. I wanted to share with you how much your message touched me.

Fear and trust. BIG issues in my life right now. I have been trying to find a therapist to help with my anxiety issues who will not ridicule me for being Catholic, practicing NFP, or having 6 kids. My issues have been making an uncomfortable influence on our home (literally it’s a mess and we do not invite people over for the embarrassment). Hearing your broadcast was what I needed to hear. The devil is, and has been for a long time, at work in my life and I need him out of here, out of my life, and out of my home!                                                                                                                        

To further intensify God speaking to me and telling me that HIS is the road I need to follow right now, today, when I got in the house, there was a message on my home phone. I picked it up to listen as I would for any other message, and it was literally a message from God.

What I heard blew me away. It was an accidental call from someone whose phone “called” me from Mass. I sat there listening to the song “You are Mine” by David Haas, crying and praising God. “Do not be afraid I am with you…come and follow me, I will bring you home, I love you and you are mine. I am strength for all the despairing, healing for the ones who dwell in shame, all the blind will see, the lame will all run free, and all will know my name”.

Ok, so I need to deal with this and deal with it now.

I was so curious to see who it was that God asked to call me. It turns out it was a person with whom I have a lot of tense feelings and we disagree on a number of serious issues even though we are both Catholic. I have experienced direct and indirect ridicule from her especially over political issues regarding pro-life. It has been so hard and is made worse by the fact that we are related.

How odd that this call came from God through her. Perhaps I need to pray for her instead of complaining and avoiding talking with her.

Please pray for my recovery, and thank you so much for accepting God’s guidance this morning and saying what he asked you to say on the air.

God bless you and thank you!