Forgiving What Seems Unforgivable with Michelle Ovalle
As a teenager, Michelle Ovalle agreed to help her aunt take photos at a Quinceañera, not thinking much of it.
The Quinceañera changed Michelle’s life.
While Michelle was captivated by the beauty of the Mass, she had no idea she was standing in the very church where her parents had been married and where she had been baptized. Michelle didn’t even know she was Catholic.
All of this and much more was revealed to Michelle once she got home and began to engage in the faith she was blessed with as a baby.
Listen to this “mini retreat in a podcast” to hear Michelle’s inspiring conversion story and learn how her Catholic faith has supported her through difficult seasons in marriage and parenthood, including infidelity.
God has blessed Michelle with forgiveness, healing, and joy beyond her imagination. Discover how you can open your heart so that God can work miracles in you!
Transcript:
Lindy Wynne (00:00)
Welcome to Mamas in Spirit, a podcast pointing you towards God in everything you are and everything you do. I'm Lindy Wynne and it's a blessing to be with you. Hello everyone and welcome to this mini retreat in a podcast. And my heart is just overjoyed and delighted right now. I have been chatting with our guest today and there are so many pieces of the puzzle that we've already been talking about that are going to come up in this mini retreat.
that just enliven my heart and touch on the things in my own story and my own life and journey of faith that are just so invigorating. so Michelle Ovalle I want to thank you so much for being with us.
Corazon Catolico (00:40)
⁓ thank you for having me, Lindy. I'm just so happy, happy to be here and could share the joy in my heart.
Lindy Wynne (00:46)
Well, and that's what really comes forth from you is the joy of the Lord. And to me, that is just one of the greatest gifts of all. And it's just very fortifying and encouraging. And I know you are a Catholic coach and your name is La Mama Catholic Coach right? Yes. And I love that because we're Mamas in Spirit And Michelle, I don't know if you know this, but that "Mama" in Mamas in Spirit comes from my time in Mexico at an orphanage. And I saw that the little girls were called mama.
Corazon Catolico (01:02)
Yes, yes.
Lindy Wynne (01:15)
And I thought it was the most endearing thing, these little darlings walking around being called mama. And so that comes from us being beloved daughters of the Lord and knowing that identity deeply and thoroughly and living in that identity. And then also being spiritual mothers, mothers to all and all the different ways that we become mothers as well as Our Blessed Mother I told Michelle too, because her family's originally from Mexico, her parents are from Mexico.
Corazon Catolico (01:33)
Yes.
Lindy Wynne (01:42)
Our Lady of Guadalupe just is so important to our family. We're a family through the gift of adoption and my children, our children, all of them are at least part Mexican.
Corazon Catolico (01:47)
Yes. Yes. ⁓ yes. It's so beautiful to.
you know, to have this ⁓ beautiful culture, that love radiates in our families, you know, and through going through, you know, challenges or situations, but at the end, seeing the love of God in every, as we walk through our life and through our purpose.
Lindy Wynne (02:13)
Amen. In every situation which we are going to be getting into and talking about. So thank you so much for that, Michelle. And in that spirit and in the spirit of a God who redeems our beloved Father who loves us boundlessly and when we so choose to turn our hearts and our free will to God, God by His grace converts us and returns us fully to Him. So in that spirit, in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen.
Corazon Catolico (02:17)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Lindy Wynne (02:40)
Lord, I just want to thank you for this gathering and this time together. Women are such a blessing and a gift in our lives, Lord. And we want to thank you and praise you for this opportunity to open up about all the things that are really going on in our hearts and our lives. Real testimonies, Lord, about all the ways that you graciously pour out on us, give us everything we need to persevere by your grace through whatever we face in our lives because we all face.
Corazon Catolico (03:07)
So.
Lindy Wynne (03:09)
so many different things and at the heart of them is the same struggle, that struggle to surrender, to fully trust in you, Lord, to trust in your provision and to know that you're with us and hopefully and prayerfully choose you, choose love itself ultimately to be with you forever. Thank you, Lord, we love you. In your name we pray, amen. In the of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen. So Michelle, I would love, I see on your, if you're on YouTube, it says
on you, Corazon Catolico.
You have a Catholic heart, a heart for the Lord, and I would love for you to start at the beginning of your story.
Corazon Catolico (03:40)
Yes. Yes.
Thank you so much. Well, my parents are from Mexico and I was when I was born, I was in Mexico for a whole year until my dad My mom helped him get his residential and we moved to Texas and we lived there for a while. I grew up there and throughout my growing up, I met some friends in high school and
First, we would all like to go out to parties and quinceañeras and all that. And my mom would always tell me, when you turn 15, you're able to go dancing. You're able to have a boyfriend. one day one of my aunts, she invited me. She was a photographer for the quinceañeras. And I was 15 years old. And my mom said, well, you can go with your aunt and accompany her to help her out. So I did. And I went
One thing that I remember that she told me was like, Michelle, when we go to church, we do not chew gum and we don't cross our legs and that's for reverence. And I said, yes, because I knew about God and in my family we prayed at dinner and we pray before we went to bed. so I said, OK, so that's what I mean by that. And then.
I was there, I enjoyed, I was in the house of the Lord and I was just looking around and I had fun. And then when I went home the following day, my mom goes in the morning, she goes, so did you have fun? And I say, yes, mom. And she goes, I say, we went to this church. Oh, you were baptized there and I was married there. And I go, what? So then I realized I was a cradle Catholic But you know, the transitions in lives, you know,
when we're going through different, you know, areas in our life, it changes. And my mom and my dad were going to another church, non-denominational church, and we still learned to pray then. And we were, we loved God. But when I learned I was a Catholic and it came together with my friends, they all went to Mass and
I was like, I know, I know, I go to Mass you know, I'm starting to go to Mass. And a family, their daughters, they took me under their wing. And every Saturday we would go, I loved it because every Saturday we would go out to Dairy Queen and out to the little placita, because even though we're in Texas and the border, they have the little, you know, the square. And it's like a placita has the, placita means like the plaza.
It has like little seats where you can sit around and just, you know, have a community. And so I loved it because we would go and then we would go home and we would get up at six in the morning with my friends and their dad would and their mom would wake up at six in the morning to go to Mass at seven. And I loved it because it was just like something that it was done with love and then
After Mass, we would go back to their house and their grandma had hot tortillas with eggs and bacon and beans and chili, you know, all that. then one day they asked me to go to a retreat with them. And I will never forget because that's when I got baptized, but I didn't do my First Communion So.
at the retreat, it was, was 18 at the retreat at the gym at the, at the, at the church gym. We had the retreat and then my friend told the priest, you know, Michelle can't do Communion because she has never done her reconciliation or anything. He goes, no, I'll, we'll do that here. And I got to, I got to receive God and through confession, I spoke to the priest and I said, and I told him, you know what?
I am going to pray for a Catholic man. And when I met my husband after the years went by and I moved closer to Dallas and I met my husband, I didn't ask him if he was Catholic or not. We just fell in love. And by the time I knew it, we were getting married by the church in Mexico. In Mexico, his mom
had arranged everything so that when we would go, we would just get married. And I took my marriage classes or something like pre, yes, preparation here in Dallas. And so we went and we had our big wedding, a Mexicano and Mass and in a little old town and an old little church, so beautiful. And I was just so happy. Everything just, you know, went and I,
Lindy Wynne (07:47)
Preparation.
Corazon Catolico (08:05)
And I thank the Lord because when I was getting married at the altar, I was just going, wow, thank you God, because you gave me a Catholic man, you know, that I want to live This is my faith that I have learned to love and, you know, to take with me. so as the years went by and our fifth five years into our marriage, infidelity came into our.
our family and everything happened so fast. felt like I was like, I don't know, like I was just in the middle of the whole world just going around me, like just turning and I could not believe it. So it happened so fast. And I, you know what, there I did not turn to God. I was like, I was like, that was just so fast and just, I didn't even
say, I don't remember. I don't remember turning to him. And I kept going. All I knew in my heart was that we fight for our marriage. That's what I, that was a belief. You know, we keep going and we fight for our marriage. He did say he was sorry. He did say that and, and we kept going and we had our third child and
Then things happened, you know, they just kept going. And it was very hard for me. Very, very hard.
We moved to another in Atlanta. We moved to Atlanta. And then it was so difficult because what I see now is that we were trying to do things and to forget what had happened because it was, you know, we say sorry and we keep going. But we never did the healing, you know, the healing part where we can go find
someone that can walk with this or we can go find that help that can help us heal. And I think I want to, I just want to share this because I grew up hearing my mom say that only people that were mentally like ill or sick, that there were the only ones that went to ask for help.
And now that I see things, I think my husband and his family, they come from back in those, back in the ranch, like they live by the mountains and things like that. And there was no, no, nobody therapy or a counselor or, or anything like that. And I want to share this with y'all because I think it is necessary. It is.
It is okay. It doesn't make us any less to go out and ask for help. You know, just to walk with you, when the two persons they wanna keep, you know, going and working together and just healing, I think it's very important. And even though if they wanna become separate, but also go through the healing. I see that it's so important because we cannot
give what we don't have if we move on forward we need to heal and love ourselves first. And so we went through, then we came to retreats. We knew that we needed some help. So there was retreats. And I don't know if you have ever heard of the Acts retreats.
And my husband and I, we started attending the Acts retreat and our family started healing spiritually. And we both, we were so happy that we you we felt a relief. We felt like we were on the same path as we were going. But also right there, I noticed that we were focusing on us.
And then we were our kids, you know, our children. They were just going along with us. They were following us and no explanation given why, you know, we were what we did. We just like we were doing the things him and I, my husband and I, but our kids were not we were not including them. And now I see a lot of things that. We.
I was repeating what I lived in my home without even knowing, without even knowing. And I understand that it's all in the subconscious. We repeated without even knowing that we're repeating the same story. And I didn't see it that way. And then one of my sons, after we never, I just want to share that we never went through the healing, we just did retreats.
and that helped us in spiritually and our kids did their sacraments, the baptism, their first Communion, the Confirmation And there it goes again. There's a pause in our life when I have one of my eldest son, my eldest son, have two beautiful sons and a beautiful daughter. And I love so much. so my middle son was going through a hard time.
And I did not notice that because I was busy. I was a busy mom trying to make marriage work, trying to keep everything under control in the house, working and forgetting about myself and helping serving the community without leaving myself out of everything. And
Basically I burned out, burned out. so one day I come home and I would, I remember that I would tell my son, I'm cooking. I don't have time. I got to do this. would repeat, repeat him all my schedule, all the things that I had to do. And I didn't have time for him. And so I got home one day and I could, I could smell something.
in the house. And, ⁓ and I said, wow, I don't, I kind of know that's a, that smell is not, it's not a, a good sign, but you know what? I'm going to, I'm going to go ahead and, ⁓ and check what it is. So I went to the, to the bathroom and I, I found there was some things in the bathroom. So, I was just, I took it very,
very calm and when my son got home and he goes hi mama said hi and I said how are you he goes fine and I said well you know what I came in the house and I kind of smell something there and I went to look in the bathroom and I found some stuff there and I just wanted to to let you know if it would if those things could go you know taken out of the bathroom and I would appreciate it if they're
We don't, if I don't smell that thing anymore. And he goes, yes. Okay, mom. Okay. So by that time, I was already, I already had taken a master class, a master class. And so through my journey in my retreats and my spiritual, and then taking that master class and learning who I was,
who I was and who, where I was going and I was made in God's self-image and putting a lot of things together. I just, I said, wow, this is just like, makes, it's coming together. And I could take that as my son saying, mom, I need you. know, mom, love you. And I want to be loved.
I want to be loved. So we worked through all those things and then I finished my master class and that's how I became a life coach. A life coach and it's a purpose. like to to be, you know, that's how I came to La Mama Catholic coach because I discovered God's love through that moment.
through that moment, because as I was sharing with y'all, I kept walking. I didn't know how to find that help that I don't know what was lacking in me. And it was love. To love myself, because if I did not love myself and love God, I could not give what I did not have.
Lindy Wynne (15:47)
Michelle, I am so deeply moved by God met you through the Quinceañera. And it says in scripture that God draws us, Jesus draws us by grace to God. And that was your experience just by going to this Quinceañera and showing up at this church that you had no idea that you were standing with your aunt as her helper as a photographer.
Corazon Catolico (15:49)
Okay.
hmm.
Lindy Wynne (16:11)
that you are standing
in the very church that you were baptized in and that your parents were married in. To me, that is miraculous. That is just the miraculous work of the Lord. It says in scripture that God is a miracle worker. To me, that feels like a miracle, yet it is also so intimate. And that is where the Lord meets us is in the intimacy. So then when you went home and talked to your mom in that intimate conversation with your mother, you discovered so much about yourself and your family.
Corazon Catolico (16:16)
Yes.
Yes.
Lindy Wynne (16:40)
that you didn't even know you were being raised non-denominational and then you discovered your Catholic roots and then returned by God's grace through retreat back to Catholicism, through your confession, through reconciliation and then receiving the Eucharist and engaging so fully in your faith and then being blessed with your husband of Catholic faith.
Corazon Catolico (16:41)
Yes.
Lindy Wynne (17:05)
And I have to tell
you, Michelle and I, imagine that everybody listening is also deeply struck by this. To hear that you experienced infidelity, which in over 300 podcasts, I have only heard of this in three podcasts. Like it takes such courage to share about infidelity, like the pain and the suffering and the agony that comes from infidelity. It is so, is so deep. And yet the Lord is deeper.
Corazon Catolico (17:06)
I'm sure that she is going to be so with me when she's over and she comes up to us back. So, yeah.
Lindy Wynne (17:35)
And so for you, first of all, just to share that and then also to point to how in your heart that you chose to fight for your covenant. And here you are almost 25 years later, right? Am I correct?
Corazon Catolico (17:48)
Yes, 25, but we're going on our 29th anniversary.
Lindy Wynne (17:53)
Yes. Yeah, that's so beautiful, Michelle. That is a testimony to the goodness of the Lord. Michelle, when you first returned to the Catholic faith and all that joy that just pours out from you from going on that retreat and that experience of conversion, this return to God with all your heart, the first five years of your marriage, know, meeting your husband, marrying him in these five years, and then this devastation came in of infidelity.
Corazon Catolico (17:58)
you
Lindy Wynne (18:21)
Can you talk to me about like in the intimacy of your prayer life, in the intimacy of your relationship with Jesus, how did God help you to forgive and to move forward in your relationship with your husband in your marriage to love fully and freely after that experience?
Corazon Catolico (18:32)
Yes.
Yes.
So when that situation happened, to me it was like I was sharing with you all. It was like I was frozen. It was like I was paralyzed. Like everything around me paralyzed. And I didn't seek God at that moment because everything happened so fast.
so we separated.
I went back to my hometown. I went back with my kids and I lived at one of my aunt's homes. And through that process. I, know what, Lindy, I am thinking God is so, so merciful. He's just full of love and, gives us graces that now I see like, he took me away from everything
it was more like, here you are, my daughter, I'm going to take you and the kids and I'm going to, you know, place you over here in your hometown. And I just want you to just be just heal Just I'm going to love you and I'm going to heal you. And so my cousins
they both took me under the wing in that time. And one of my cousins told me, you know what, Michelle, there's a there's a retreat in South Padre Island, South Padre Island. And right there I received, you know, through prayer, the healing of God. And he just took care of me, you know, took care of me and loved me. And then my husband came in and he goes, you know what, Michelle?
I need you and the kids. And I said, okay, let's try again. I said, but how about if this time we get more involved in our faith, in our Catholic church, not just going to Mass know, going to Mass and come out and then the following, you know, just to, just going to Mass. And he goes, I think, I think you're right. We should do that. So we returned to church and we started.
Going and then this is when I signed him up. I heard something about a retreat and he he had just told me how about if they have retreats, know, we can sign up and he left to Mexico. He had to go see his mom and I went to Mass with the kids and they say, we'll sign up for a next retreat. And I signed my husband up and and he went and and then he goes and he came out and he goes, is your turn now? And I said yes. And he was so happy.
And when I went in there, I want to show this with all that's why I came a little bit back. Because, Lindy, I do not know that this, the sacrament of the Eucharist was God. Like he was there. And then the retreat when they, I said, I don't know. I never knew. I mean, I knew we took the Eucharist, but I do not know the meaning that he was God.
So he just came and wrapped me up in his arms and then I gave Mother Mary, because they spoke about our Mother Mary, and I asked Mother Mary for forgiveness to believe in her Because I saw the mother, the mother, and I am a mother, and a mother that went through...
her son, you know, when he died for us, the process. And when I saw that, said, please forgive me because you're an important part in our, in God's life and in our life. Cause you said yes to be his mom, to Jesus. And we think right there in that retreat, everything came together and God gave me all those graces, all that love and just
prepared me to keep walking. And that's where I learned to pray. I pray novenas, my Rosary going to Holy Hour and I keep praying. And that's what I have been given so that I can walk with my husband and with my children.
Lindy Wynne (22:21)
Yes, Michelle, that is so glorious. And one of the many things that I am really seeing in you is that supernatural love of God that just is pouring forth from you. And I'm hearing that's really from your prayer life, from all of that time in silence, all the time with a Rosary sitting in the presence of Christ, praying your novenas, because your heart's in it. That's what I see in you is like this very open heart.
And even after very, very difficult experiences. And when you talk about our blessed mother, our mama Mary, I have never, I don't think in all the podcasts I've ever recorded, I've ever talked about this, but what's striking me through listening to you is that our blessed mother had a totally pure heart. She is the only fully immaculate heart. And she forgave those who killed her son. Like she,
Corazon Catolico (22:59)
But what she means in making it clear is that our request for the governor to remove your contract, we can't do that. we need to make that we're
Lindy Wynne (23:15)
forgave what would seem to us the
Corazon Catolico (23:16)
going to force you to do that.
Lindy Wynne (23:18)
unforgivable and she watched it happen. It was the piercing of her heart and yet she still loved fully with that full purity of heart. And that's what I'm seeing in you like because I think for many, the infidelity would be unforgivable. But for you, you returned time and time again.
Corazon Catolico (23:24)
Yes. Okay.
Lindy Wynne (23:40)
to love your husband and to love your covenant, but ultimately to love Christ. And my husband, Brian, and I just celebrated 25
years. And I really think the like little epiphany that I had during that time is that it's not that we chose each other for 25 years. We did, but ultimately what we were choosing was Christ. We were choosing God through all of the different experiences that we had, different struggles, different things we grappled with. have our own story and our own testimony in a sense as a couple.
Corazon Catolico (23:48)
Yes.
Mm
Lindy Wynne (24:09)
to different things that we face that are different than you did, but nonetheless, very difficult, very serious illness, infertility, raising children with very significant needs and all different kinds of things. And so what I'm seeing and hearing in you is that memory comes back to me even though I was not there. see you as a young person standing in that church that you didn't know you were baptized in and this glorious
Corazon Catolico (24:33)
hmm. Mm hmm.
Lindy Wynne (24:34)
plan unfolding.
And your yes, hopefully reflective, hopefully our little f Fiats are reflective of Our Blessed Mother's yes to the Lord for all of this to unfold. So no matter how many times your heart was pierced, whether it's the infidelity or whether it's the things that you discovered that your son was doing that had to have pierced your heart for any of us who are mothers here. Like I imagine that story as well has really touched a lot of hearts listening to this because
Corazon Catolico (24:38)
Mm-hmm.
Lindy Wynne (25:03)
raising children, it can be very, very difficult. And because of the love of a mother's heart, the piercings can run very deep. But here you are with this like abundant love of the Lord and the Lord's abundant love pouring out through you. It's very beautiful, Michelle.
Corazon Catolico (25:18)
Yes,
yes, yes. speaking about my son, it's like he...
He told us once, it's like walking the walk in our journey and our purpose to discover our purpose in life. It got to a point where he said, mom, you and dad, go to retreats and y'all have even served and have a community.
When y'all go to retreats, love it because it's like a whole when y'all come back, it's like a whole week. Y'all are just radiant and everything. But mom, after that.
It's very hard on us because I don't, to me, you know, from us not understand, well, it was, you know, we did not listen. We did, we were just like, because like I was saying, we, the sub, you know, subconscious, have the way we were raised because that's the only way our parents knew because on my mom's side, they were very raised, very, very strictly, you know, very word and,
And we were raised like that too. But you know, God was always there just to, you know, walk with us. And, and he goes, mom, y'all, y'all are not what y'all y'all are saying that you are. And that right there, Lindy, it was so hard to hear, to hear. And, ⁓ and I said, okay. So then he goes, I want to show this because he said, mom,
Lindy Wynne (26:40)
Hmm.
Corazon Catolico (26:48)
I do not believe in God anymore. I do not.
you know, because of all that he was living. And I didn't understand. And my husband tried to explain to him because he goes, I don't believe in our in our faith and our being Catholic and all this. And they went to Catholic school as well. And he goes, I don't believe in none of that. And and my husband start to read, you know, talking to him and and kind of going through our faith through the catechism and everything. And they did.
If we could explain everything, we could have listened to everything, but he was looking for that love. That love and through my, ⁓ when I opened my heart through the, the gift of being able to, to have that masterclass that I learned about me, you know, who I, who I am through, through theology and anthropology. And one thing that stuck to me, that helped me to.
Lindy Wynne (27:23)
Mm.
Corazon Catolico (27:42)
to receive and to regain my sons and my children's trust again. It was just like St. John Paul II. And back in 1992, he wrote some letters. And in one of the letters, he said that we were so filled in spiritually.
but we also needed that human formation.
And that's where theology, anthropology come in. And, um, and that really stuck to me. And I said, well, I, I, I have got in my heart. love God, mother Mary, I love my faith, but I am not representing them. The love, the light that he has given us. So through that transformation, now my son, he calls me.
And we have the beautiful, biggest conversations. And, and I listened to him in one day. I want to show this one day he was at work and he was having a hard time at work. And he, when he would talk, he would, you know, like loud,
And I just waited till he was done and he was talking very loud. I said, said, sweetheart, I love you so much and I understand what you're going through and I understand how you feel. And I just want to let you know that I am so sorry I never gave you the time to listen to you.
And he just broke down and he goes, yes, mama. Yes. Every time I would say something, I could just hear people roll out their eyes or just not pay attention to me. But yes. And I said, well, I am sorry for all that. And I love you so much. And he was just he he goes, mama, I love you. And from there on, Lindy.
We are working back in that trust. Now he lets me like bless him every time he comes to visit because he lives in Austin, Texas. and then when we have those beautiful conversations, he goes, Mama, I want to see if you can walk with me through this situation I'm going through. And I said, of course, son. And I let him talk. And then I said, OK, we talk. And then I said, OK, you ready for your blessing? And he goes, yes, mama.
So I bless them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. May God be with you. Mother Mary cover you with her mantle and your guardian angel always be with you. So it has just been that love God has given me. I just want to let every woman know that love, even though it's
Now understand with this love is patient. Love is kind. Love is now understand God's word in that scripture right there. So just want to tell every mom that. I I understand when we go through through those situations, but it's just God. Giving us strength. And. For us to shine and give that love that he gave us every one of us.
Lindy Wynne (30:43)
I love your tears, it's so deeply moving how you share your heart so fully. Can you tell us why right then you tear up? What is that?
Corazon Catolico (30:51)
It's when I tear up is because I am so happy, so full of joy that there is hope that there is.
there is that for our children. tears of joy is because my husband and I are living like if it was our first day in our honeymoon. And our kids are coming like we can, there's still healing going on now. It's like with
my husband and my children, but they're opening their hearts to listen to each other. They hug now. My husband could not hug. And now he hugs his boys. He hugs his daughter, but it's baby steps. And those tears are from the love coming together. What would have happened if I had just said,
Well, no, am worthy or I'm more, because that's what I used to think. know, like, we're worthy, we're valued for what we do, for what we are. I would, what would I have if I hadn't listened to my heart? If I had just judged my husband, judged him and criticized him and...
not understand that he was also hurt. He also had wounds and
and walking together and God putting us in the path because I believe we were meant for each other. I believe that we were to be one with God and God gave us our children so that we could walk with them.
and in good and in bad and in situations that it will come through with God's love. And that's why my tears, because I am joyful. I understand that there's that love. We can just have that patience. Walk that in that moment. Walk and let God work, do our part.
and let God do his it would all come together.
Lindy Wynne (32:50)
Amen. That is so glorious. And I'm totally tearing up because Michelle, my husband and I have renewed our vows three times since we got married and we just did recently. And the part that usually is so hard for me to get through now, but that was not when we got married is in sickness and in health. I always cry. Like it's hard for me to verbalize because now we have 25 years behind us and that's very real. Like those vows, they come to life.
Corazon Catolico (33:01)
Mm-hmm. ⁓
Lindy Wynne (33:18)
And in the love by the grace of God, you know, holding on and by the grace of God, honoring that covenant and staying in that covenant,
that love deepened so profoundly being able, like I felt like when we renewed our vows at 25 years, 25 years flashed before my heart. So when you say in good and in bad, that's what makes me tear up after hearing your story, Michelle, because you really mean that.
in the good and in the bad. And we just heard the good and we heard the bad and I'm sure there's so much more. But it's such a glorious testimony and it totally reminds me of the scripture from Ezekiel about God making a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. Because that's what I'm hearing is that your heart has become fleshier, your husband's heart has and your children's heart have and it's from that
Corazon Catolico (33:58)
So
Lindy Wynne (34:13)
Pastoral presence it sounds like you are now present You're not just trying to get through a day and get through all of these things and check all these things off the list But it's in when I think about how you
were almost emotional talking about the Eucharist being the true presence of Christ and not having known that but receiving that living bread that living water of Christ and receiving that presence
Corazon Catolico (34:35)
You
know, I just heard off the You are also.
Lindy Wynne (34:37)
receiving that supernatural presence from Christ and now giving that to your children as well as the mercy, like the mercy of Christ, that pastoral gift. And Michelle, you had told me that you are also
being formed now in Ignatian spirituality and you have been for a few years now. That is so deeply moving and I can just see how that is by God's grace going to continue to form you to continue to love.
Corazon Catolico (34:51)
about taking first dollars. Yes. So, I'm going to into the point where we can't either. I'm going to speak for the sake the public. I'm going speak the sake
of So, going to speak So, So,
Lindy Wynne (35:05)
so gloriously. Michelle, thank you for sharing your beautiful hearts with us and reminding us to live from
the heart, bringing our hearts to the Lord so that he can make our hearts hearts of flesh to love as we're called to love, to love as we're called to love by God.
Corazon Catolico (35:24)
Yes.
Thank you, Lindy. I'm just now you're sharing the scripture, Ezekiel. I saw that scripture two, three days ago when I was in prayer and I said, God, speak to me.
to me and he put that scripture right there and I said hmm the heart of flesh you know and I was going but I never saw it this way and thank you for sharing that with me
Lindy Wynne (35:48)
Well, it's funny, the first time I saw that scripture, I'm like, interesting word choice, flesh. But now I understand it's flesh is human, and to be love, fully human, but to receive the love of who is fully divine so that we can love, to have a willing heart so that that grace can be poured into us. So Michelle, thank you. How can everyone get ahold of you?
Corazon Catolico (35:53)
Yes, yes.
Mm-hmm.
Well, I do a of my things in Spanish but I do I'm starting a podcast also in English because I have one in Spanish but it's it's called the love setter podcast and And it's about love, you know, you know free redefining our love and also
I am an Instagram La Mama Catholic Coach and I am going to, they can find me there and I'll be, what I'm doing, I'm going to connect my English and Spanish podcast and I'll put the links, but they can find me on Instagram as La Mama Catholic Coach and the Love Setter podcast. Yes.
Lindy Wynne (36:51)
Wonderful. Thank you so much,
Michelle. Thank you for being with us. You've been such a blessing.
Corazon Catolico (36:55)
Thank you, Lindy Thank you for having me.
Lindy Wynne (36:57)
and let us close in prayer in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. Dearest Lord, we pray to just return our hearts to you, Lord, and for you to help us to love. need you. We need you, Lord. So we pray for willing hearts and open hearts for you to pour in your grace, your goodness, your boundless love, so we can hopefully, obediently follow you and love as we are called. In your name we pray.
Corazon Catolico (37:15)
Amen. Thank you. ⁓
Lindy Wynne (37:24)
In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen. Thank you everyone for being here for this mini retreat and podcast. And you can go to any of the podcast hosting platforms or mamasinspirit.com for many more faithful podcasts and reach out at any time for prayers or to be pointed. Like in this podcast, you talked about different
Corazon Catolico (37:44)
I hope
Lindy Wynne (37:44)
struggles with children, about infidelity, about conversion, about...
meeting the Lord, all the things. And so if there's a specific topic that you feel
Corazon Catolico (37:49)
that we can all get in of the things that you are doing. So thank you for coming.
Lindy Wynne (37:53)
like right now in your life that you need help with, please reach out at mamasenspirit.gmail.com and I will share any podcasts about that topic with you. Can't wait to be together again next time. This is Lindy Wynne with Mamas in Spirit. May God bless you and yours always.