Daughter-Father Dance Podcast
Episode 6: The ‘Hail Mary’ Pass
TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] SHOW INTRO

[00:00:40] Jenée Arthur:
Hello everybody. Oh, gosh, I have to redo that. That totally reminds me when Dad and I were attempting to record a 'coming soon' video for the podcast and he kept saying, "Gosh, Née, stop saying, "Hello, everybody!" You sound like Aunt Bethany in Christmas vacation."

And sadly, I totally did sound like her.

CLIP OF 'Hello, Everybody!' FROM CHRISTMAS VACATION

This week, Dad and I dive into one of his favorite subjects—prayer. And though I've gotten feedback from people about how the show focuses too much on dad's religious bent or "Can't we discuss topics that don't entail mention of the Catholic church.” Well, as I mentioned in episode one, there are two things I, or anyone, would be hard-pressed to keep my dad from discussing.

And those are his faith and his family. Besides I to recognize prayer as a powerful supernatural force. And today we all get to experience one of my favorite realization. About intercessory prayer that I actually discovered during our recording of this episode and the realization points to something I've been desperately wanting to discuss in full about the glaring imbalance and failure, really, of the patriarchy.

And I mean, the failed patriarchal constructs that span every sector of life, be them, the workplace,politics, organized religion, and sometimes even the family. We will get to that in a future episode. But today is our prelude.

This episode also touches on a figure to whom much of mankind is already endeared. And yet her power has yet to be fully brought into the limelight. For reasons I think is by design because if we allowed the true power of the feminine to be fully realized, well, everything would change.

Okay. Here's Dad.

[00:01:59] Gene Arthur:
There's two things I would say again. And I've probably already told them to you about prayer. First of all, it's easy. Secondly, it's effective. Those are the two things that I would brag about if I was to have to give a talk on for yeah.

Some people might ask, well, give me an example of prayer or how many types of prayer are there? Well, from my own experience, uh, I would say that spontaneous prayer is really easy for me. Uh, devotional prayer— it's more demanding than spontaneous prayer because devotional prayer, you should put yourself in the mindset of the devotion that you're entering into.

[00:02:54] Jenée Arthur:
But what do you mean by devotion, Dad? Like what do you mean by devotional?

[00:02:58] Gene Arthur:
Okay, good question. Devotional prayer would be, number one, the rosary. Number two, Divine Mercy Chaplet.

[00:03:09] Jenée Arthur: [VOICEOVER]
Just hearing the phrase'Divine Mercy Chaplet' makes me both cringe and slightly giggle, because it reminds me of that time my godson, Sean Patrick, wanted to murder me at his own father's wake. And though there's nothing funny about my uncle's wake,the fact that I exceeded the five verse count of the Chaplet by rounding into verse number seven, before Aunt Becky nearly dove into the pew to chokehold me, does cause me to slightly chuckle. I bet it makes uncle Steve laugh, too.,

[00:03:40] Gene Arthur:
Other devotional prayers would be the 'Memorare.'

[00:03:45] Jenée Arthur:
What about the Our father?

[00:03:47] Gene Arthur:
Well, the Our Father is the most common devotional prayer on earth given by the author of prayer himself. So other forms of prayer are the Hail Mary, the Apostle's Creed, then there are the twelve-year prayer of St. Bridget of Sweden that I pray daily.

[00:04:10] Jenée Arthur:
The 12 year aka the twenty-year prayer. Please talk about that.

[00:04:17] Gene Arthur:
I've not missed one day of saying that 12 year prayer in six years. There are prayers of panic.

[00:04:27] Jenée Arthur:
But that's not devotional, right?

[00:04:28] Gene Arthur:
I'm done with devotional, I'm going into panic prayer.

[00:04:33] Jenée Arthur:
Gotcha.

[00:04:33] Gene Arthur:
Panic, prayer. You get bad news that puts you into panic mode for prayer. And then there are, uh, prayers when a loved one is in an accident and you don't know what the result of that accident is going to be.

Sometimes it means hospitals stay emergency room stay. Uh, you may not even know. Or, from a natural disaster, somebody from a tornado or hurricane earthquake loved ones or possibility, maybe victims of that. Those are prayers that you don't even know what's going on, but you want divine intervention to aid.

The person that you love or are concerned about. Because you just don't know what going on. So to me, that's a, they might call it a prayer of great faith that divine Providence is going to assist you in. what's going. You know, cause people say, well, God knows everything. Right, but you don't know everything.

And when you find things out, go to the guy that knows everything. So, I don't know how much more I can say about prayer other than what you can imagine in your own mind that runs through your mind at opportunities to pray.

[00:05:55] Jenée Arthur:
Talk about with regard to that you have for several years now, um, quoted Padre Pio because like, you know, I'll call you or talk to you and mom about something I'm concerned about or afraid or. I've got a weird lump that I'm scared about or whatever. I made that last one up. I don't have any weird bumps, but what you, you will respond, “Née, pray, don't worry, and be joyful. Go live your life in joy.” So talk about that. Like what's the power in that little formula?

[00:06:28] Gene Arthur:
The formula that I remember being given is pray, hope and don't worry.That virtue of hope is a acknowledgement of trust because when you hope, you've just saying, God, I hope you take care of this. And you're saying, I trust you. And then don't worry is don't belabor yourself on the burden of having your mind more focused on what's going on. Have your mind focused on that you're turning this over.

[00:07:00] Jenée Arthur: [VOICEOVER]
I love this. It's the fundamental act of detachment.

[00:07:04] Gene Arthur:
So, when they say pray, hope, and don't worry, that's basically some of the things that St. Padre Pio said. Some of your listening audience may not know what a stigmata is.

[00:07:17] Jenée Arthur:
Dad goes on to explain more about Padre Pio and the fact that he was blessed(if you consider it a blessing) with the stigmata.

I ended up telling Dad that he needs to start his own YouTube channel so he can talk all he wants about the catechism and the lives of the saints. He's thinking about it.

[00:07:34] Gene Arthur:
And the wounds bled. They became so saturated with body fluids.

[00:07:40] Jenée Arthur: [VOICEOVER]
Um, yeah, you can count on me to keep pressing that YouTube channel thing real hard. We'll just fast forward here a little bit.

[00:07:49] Gene Arthur:
Now, those are things that I can tell you just from my own knowledge of reading and, and learning about the life of Saint Padre Pio. But the intercessory after his death is really something to look into because Padre Pio's power of intercession is quite amazing.

Many people pray for different saints as intercessors for their causes. I use the Blessed Mother quite a bit. I use St. Joseph quite a bit, and I use other saints. I use saints to intercede for my prayer life. Now the Saint doesn't grant, the favors God himself grants the favors through his saints. Saint Paul even tells us as non canonized saints on earth to pray for one another.

[00:08:49] Jenée Arthur: [VOICEOVER]
I don't know if you could hear dad tapping his finger on his desk over the background music, , but he was very emphatic about that statement.

[00:08:57] Gene Arthur:
And you pray for one another, you become their intercessor. I am Meredith's intercessor. I am Gabby's intercessor. You are too. So is your mother.. Barb's mother, she's an intercessor for all the prayers for her children.

[00:09:18] Jenée Arthur: [VOICEOVER]
What you're hearing here is Dad recalling a few of the many people that in the week of this recording had called me, requesting the Dad and Mom please pray for their respective intentions. This is serious business, actually. And my favorite part is yet to come.

[00:09:37] Gene Arthur:
We are called to be intercessors for one another.

Well, if we here on earth can be intercessors for one another, how much more powerful would be intercessors that we know are in the presence of God. That's why it prayers easy for me because I know it's effective because there's, there's a lot that goes into it that you don't see. Because God made the visible and invisible.

[00:10:05] Jenée Arthur:
That's a really good, interesting topic about the invisible, because a lot of people walk or turn away from the idea of faith because it is invisible, right. Because there's nothing tangible to say, you know, it's not scientific. Although I think there is some science to it. That's for another conversation, but there's nothing like tangible to say, "Well, I don't know. I can't believe in a God, cause I've never met them or I can't believe in a God because there's no real proof. If you think about the invisible and all the things that we kind of don't understand any way, but we believe in like love, right? Who can really explain love— the phenomenon of that feeling, that expression, that receiving that giving.

Yet we all feel it. We all believe in it and there's nothing tangible about it. And so I love is the invisible expression of it. But as is God, God is invisible in a sense, but God's expression in the world is not.

[VOICEOVER] And to me, God's expression in the world isn't about religion. God's expression in the world is about EVERYTHING. Everything beautiful and expansive and limitless possibilities because God is the creative intelligence of everything.

And so are we.

[00:11:24] Gene Arthur:
Well said. I might also add when you brought up the subject of love, love is it's a feeling, but it's also an act of the will.

[00:11:35] Jenée Arthur:
Can I say more?

[00:11:36] Gene Arthur:
Say more ?

[00:11:39] Jenée Arthur:
About what that means to you?

[00:11:41] Gene Arthur:
Are we going to talk about invisible? Or are we going to talk about love? Yeah, let's come back to you. You wanted to talk about invisible.

Well, have you heard of the invisible man?

[00:11:54] Jenée Arthur:
Uh, yeah?

[00:11:56] Gene Arthur:
Well, okay. Uh, I bring that up to be honest with you, because some people may think that God's invisible or because he's not visible there's no, God, well, basically right now, in our limited capacity through our vision and understanding, we don't see spirits. So God, the father is invisible to us.

We don't know what our guardian angels look like.

[00:12:26] Jenée Arthur:
Well, some people do.

[ CLIP FROM IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE OF CLARENCE ODDBODY AND GEORGE BAILEY]

[00:12:29] Gene Arthur:
But we're told as Catholics and or Christians that we all have an angel assigned to us at conception. The unknown is what's our guardian angel looked like. I don't know what your guardian angel or my guardian angel or anybody else's looks like, but I believe in guardian angels. My faith that I believe that is the proof that guardian angels exists.

[00:12:56] Jenée Arthur:
Hold on. It's your proof. Not, uh, not somebody outside of you. So. If I don't believe in guardian angels., and you tell me, I believe in guardian angels, that's not proof to me they exist. That's just proof that you believe they exist.

[00:13:10] Gene Arthur:
Well, then that may be in the same realm of the person that does not believe. Why does he not believe? Is it faith?

[00:13:21] Jenée Arthur:
No. Cause. It wouldn't mean they believed.

[00:13:26] Gene Arthur:
I would explain it this way. Faith is proof that God exists. Now I can also say I'm looking at proof of God because I'm looking at you. How did you get here? How did you see. And then that'll take you biological physiological theological way, way, way back to where's the chicken or the egg. What was it?

[00:13:51] Jenée Arthur:
That's kind of my point though. I don't just because you look at me and see that as proof of God, doesn't mean somebody outside of you—that doesn't mean, I believe it, I'm just playing the devil's advocate of somebody who doesn't have faith. Right. I have faith. I believe there is a God.

However, I know people who do not, and they stand very strong in that understand. So I'm just confused to your assertion, that the fact that you have faith means there is God, because it doesn't to somebody outside of you mean that .

[00:14:27] Gene Arthur:
There's, there's other approaches. That's probably a very elementary example of it.

[00:14:33] Jenée Arthur:
It's not a hypothesis you can really prove.

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The Human Library definitely inspires me to continue creating more connection and less division in our world. Go check 'em out..

[00:15:40] Gene Arthur:
We live in a natural reality of sight, sound, taste, touch. The supernatural reality—there's those things, invisible, unknown, and hard to believe. You could prove that there was a man who walked the earth that said that I am the father, the invisible God of all creation. There's proof that a person named Yeshua actually walked the face of the earth, suffered underPontias Pilot,was crucified and died and was buried. Now maybe I'm using that my faith is proof of the unknown is a better way "My faith is proof that God exists."

[00:16:29] Jenée Arthur:
Well, Daddy, there's a—in the guest room where they used to be Jason's room that I sleep when I come visit you and Mom, there's a plaque that's got this beautiful sunset and it says "All that I, I can see, teaches me to trust the Creator for all I cannot see." or something like that. Do you remember what it says?

[00:16:49] Gene Arthur:
I can find out real quick.

[Humming of the Jeopardy waiting music]

[00:16:54] Jenée Arthur:
Oh wow, he brought the whole thing. Good Lord. Good thing it wasn't a 20 by 18 foot canvas. "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen." Okay, perfect. I love that. I always. I… every time I come home, I look at that and just smile. That's how I feel.

[00:17:26] Gene Arthur:
Well see. That's part of the visible and invisible.

I was told as a child, pray to Mary, the mother of Jesus for favors that you want because Jesus will never deny his mother anything.

[00:17:43] Jenée Arthur:
Wow. I've never heard that.

[00:17:46] Gene Arthur:
You never heard that?

[00:17:47] Jenée Arthur:
No. Wow. That is beautiful. I mean, think about that. Well, tell me about what you were going to say about, um, about that —he would never deny his, his mother something. That's beautiful.

[00:17:59] Gene Arthur:
Well, Mary is so important to Christians as an intercessor. And when I say God himself loved his mother —you've got to think about that for a minute. God became man through Mary.You can't tell me a child that doesn't love their mother, especially if that mother was always there and loving— you can't help but love your mother.

And if your mother tells you to do something to damn well better do it! Well as Catholics, we use Mary as an intercessor. And we believe that Jesus will not deny his mother, whatever she asks him. When I said Jesus will never deny his mother. When we pray and ask Mary to intercede for us, we are hoping —one of the theological virtues, faith, hope, and love.

We are hoping that Mary takes that request to Jesus. So when I pray for Meredith's friend's father, Mary's going to Jesus with the prayer requests that I have for all those involved in the care and the well-being of this man, may they be to God's holy will. That's what my prayer requests are that they be of God's holy will, even though my will is I want this guy to getwell. I want him to be covered. I want Gabby to be back on the court —be an all star. That's what I want, but we pray for God's will, because that's a better thing than our will. That's all I'm saying. If you've never heard that before, shame on me, because I should've told you kids that when you were little. You go to Mary if you want something from Jesus, because Jesus will not deny his mother anything.

[00:20:02] Jenée Arthur:
You know, what's interesting about that ,Dad, on so many levels. I mean, my mind is spinning because I can't believe I've never heard this before, but also I feel like if that were, if, if Mary were more recognized in the world of faith or, or, you know, just in the world in general that she's an interceding entity for God, it almost feels like more people would turn to faith. You know, I know people that are sick of the patriarchy and why would would God be only father? Why isn't God a mother? Mothers are creators and you know, and I have to admit like, I've thought the same thing. I think God is genderless. So I, I get real annoyed sometimes that we have to call him father.

Just think of how, like, if, if that sort of nodding to Mary as a way to God, I feel like there would be people that would actually do that versus people that just flip the middle finger to faith. It's an interesting, it's an interesting way in.

[00:21:04] Gene Arthur:
Let me give you a little bit of history. The founder of the Lutheran religion, Martin Luther was a Catholic Augustinian monk.

He's the one that actually started the big Protestant revolt that fractured Christianity. That's another story I could spend hours about how Melanchthon. His good friend told Luther, "Don't do what you're going to do. You're going to fracture Christianity."

[00:21:31] Jenée Arthur: [VOICEOVER]
See, I'm telling you—he needs that YouTube channel.

[00:21:35] Gene Arthur:
Luther did it anyway. And now we have, I don't know how many thousands of different Protestant religions, because Martin Luther went against advice from his close friend. Martin Luther had a devotion to the mother of God, but Protestants today. I have very little or no devotion or recognition of the mother of God.

That's a shame. And I think that pisses Jesus off because I think he wants everybody to love his mother. As much as he loved her, but that being said, if Lutherans would look at the biography of Martin Luther and his own faith journey, after the Protestant reformation, they would see that Martin Luther never abandoned his devotion to Mary.

Now, because you said if more people knew about Mary, I think you touched on a very good topic there, Jenée. You're right. If more people, I think use Mary as an intercessor, that's not taking anything away from Jesus at all. Because the Protestant friends that I have, they go right to Jesus, the emphatic finger tapping again, serious stuff, guys.

They pray to Jesus Christ in Jesus' name. Only no sinks, no Mary, no angels. Jesus. Okay. You can't get any better than that, but if you want to take Jesus' word in scripture through the mouth of Paul, we are called all to be intercessors for each other.

[00:23:24] Jenée Arthur:
It's making me think of a lot of very interesting things.

Dad, this is a really unexpected and welcome tangent that we went on the mother, Mary, because her, her significance in my life has always been secondary. And it's interesting that the older I get she's becoming more primary. And again, I've never, ever heard you say, nor have I heard any other human beings.

That comment about Christ would never deny his mother and therefore prayers through Mary have a different sort of, you can count on them because he's not going to deny her a request.

[00:24:04] Gene Arthur:
Well, the tail end of the hail Mary is holy Mary mother of God. Pray for us now. And at the hour of our death, that's an intercessory prayer right there.

[00:24:16] Jenée Arthur:
Exactly. Okay. Well, I think that we're onto something about this Mary thing. It's opening up some interesting doors in my brain. So, um, more to come on that.

[VOICEOVER]
Well, I hope you're glad you stopped by. The way dad and I allow these conversations to unfold is always authentically and often organically. As my brain cogitating just how symbolically profound my dad's assertion that God will not deny his mother anything. Wow. If you think I had a case for female empowerment before now. Whoof—get ready.

Thanks again for joining us. My belief. Dad's belief. Your belief. They're all valid. Not one is any better or more true than another.

Unless somehow that belief is rooted in the intent of hurting, oppressing, denying or hating—at which point that is not a difference of perspective. That is simply nefarious and gross.

Don't forget to check out humanlibrary.org.

I'm glad you're here.

See you next time.

Division is Optional