Visitation Sessions (A Podcast)

Today, we’re talking about homeschooling, the purpose of the domestic Church, why awkwardness matters, and a whole lot more of listener requested topics, in this special Q&A Episode. In This Episode:Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fate of Human Societies by Jared DiamondJohn Henry (Tonie character)John Henry (short—Also available on Disney Plus)Future Faithful Families Project“Every Tech Tool in the Classroom Should Be Ruthlessly Evaluated,” by Jessica Gros“To Fight Less About Books in Schools, Have More Books at Home” by Brandon McGinley (Paywalled. Sorry!) Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we dive deeper into the Christian obligation (yes, obligation) to practice hospitality and answer your questions about what that looks like when you’re tired, strapped for cash, and would rather just watch Netflix. Mentioned in this episode:Apostolica Acuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity), Second Vatican Council“Enduring Homelessness Requires More Than Just Survival,” by James DeMasi“Why Dutch People Don’t Mind You Peering Into Their Homes” by Katja BrokkeAround the Catholic Table: 77 Recipes for Easy Hospitality and Everyday Dinners (Cookbook) by Emily Stimpson ChapmanThe Catholic Table: Finding Joy Where Food and Friendship Meet (Book), by Emily Stimpson Chapman Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

Two high schoolers, a homeschooling mom, and a sleep deprived writer sit down over drinks to talk about learning. It sounds like the beginning of a very boring joke, but it actually was a fascinating late night conversation about learning, education, technology in classrooms, the virtue of studiositas, the vice of curiositas, the wonder of children, and why Emily dislikes the word “educator” almost as much as she dislikes the word “creative” when it’s used as a noun. Mentioned on Today’s Show“Every Tech Tool in the Classroom Should Be Ruthlessly Evaluated,” by Jessica GrosReal Learning Revisited by Elizabeth Foss“Why I am Not Going to Buy a Computer,” by Wendell BerryMen I Have Chosen for Fathers by Marion MontgomeryAnother Sort of Learning by Father James SchallSt. Michael’s Abbey Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

The Chapmans are counting down the days until they take two three-year-olds and a five-year-old to Italy. The Stapletons are counting down the days until they take six kids on a converted school bus and embark on their summer concert tour. Obviously, when it comes to travel, none of us are sane. But there is a reason for our madness. This week, we’re talking about the graces of travel—why we do it, the different ways it can look for different people in different seasons, and why travel, in some form or another, is so integral to the life of faith. Mentioned on “Traveling Mercies”The Miracle ClubWalking the Camino": Six Ways to SantiagoThe Shrines of Pittsburghhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acteal_massacreBike to Mary Pilgrimage (Wisconsin)Faraway by the Stapletons Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

Today, we welcome our first guest ever to the show, Dr. Matt Breuninger—associate professor of Psychology at Franciscan University, author of Finding Freedom in Christ: Healing Life’s Hurts, and most important, the former owner of Visitation House.We talked for a solid 90 minutes up in the attic about what it means to be a good man, a good father, and a good husband (including an inordinate amount of time discerning if it involves jiu jitsu), and had way too much fun. Maybe a little too much fun. But once you get past the first 15 minutes of nonsense, we promise there is a ton of substance, largely thanks to Matt, who is one of the smartest and best guys any of us know. You should buy his book, follow him on Instagram, and bring him to your diocese to speak. Mentioned on Today’s Episode:Known: Embraced By the Heart of the Father (A 12-Week Online Coaching Program led by Matt Breuninger and Isaac Wicker)A Father Who Keeps His Promises by Scott Hahn The HoldoversTwilight SamuraiThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks“Evangelical Sanctity: The Completion of Natural Virtue,” by Saint John Henry Newman (Sermon III of the Oxford Sermons)These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body by Emily Stimpson ChapmanFamiliaris Consortio Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

After a two week Easter break, we’re back this week with a new conversation on modesty. Yes, modesty. But we promise, it’s not the conversation you had with your mom (unless your mom is Emily or Kate). Links:* The Summa: Modesty (II-IIae Q.160); Adornment in the Creation of the World (I-I Q. 70)* Daily Life in the Time of Jesus by Henri Daniel-Rops* These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body, by Emily Stimpson Chapman* The Family (A Netflix Documentary)* Sacred Heart Church (part of Saint Jude Parish) in Pittsburgh, PA Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we’re talking about using our phones, navigating social media, cultivating quiet, and how much Emily misses 2004. Links:Reclaiming Quiet: Cultivating a Life of Holy Attention (Pre-order) by Sarah ClarksonBeauty in the Word: Rethinking the Foundations of Education by Stratford Caldecott“Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer” by Wendell Berry“Why We Can’t Read Anymore,” by Hugh McGuireThe Dating ProjectLove on the Spectrum“What Happens to Frozen Embryos When Couples Break Up?” Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

Casey shares some terrifying family secrets. Emily reveals her deep dislike of Russian literature. And we chat about women’s work—in the home and in the world, why both are important, what the Church has to say about it, how it’s changed with time, and how Catholics can be witnesses to creativity in making family the priority for both men and women. Letter to Women, John Paul IIMulieris Dignitatem, John Paul IIWoman, Edith SteinWomen in the Days of the Cathedrals, Regine PernoudThe Feminist Question, Father Francis MartinAre Women Human, Dorothy SayersSpaghetti CarbonaraA recipe adapted from a recipe Stephanie Weinert adapted from someone elseFeeds: 4 adultsPrep Time: 5 minutes; Cook Time; 20 minutes* 1 pound Bucatini Pasts (or Spaghetti)* 1 pound bacon, chopped* 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed* 3 eggs* 1 cup Parmesan* Pepper* Crushed Red Pepper* In a large bowl, beat three eggs; add parmesan and a lot of fresh pepper (maybe 20 turns of the peppermill)* Bring a large pot of water to boil; when boiling, add pasta and cook until al dente; reserve 1 cup of pasta water; drain and return to pot, covering to keep warm.* While pasta cooks, fry bacon and garlic clove; when cooked, drain about half the grease into a bowl or mason jar; add remaining bacon and drippings into egg mixure; immediately add pasta and stir until coated; if it seems dry, add equal amounts of bacon drippings and pasta water, until you like the consistency (it should be creamy but not watery); add additional pepper and crushed red pepper to taste. Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

What is work? Why is it so hard? What defines success? Can we serve both God and mammon? How do we rightly order our vocations so that first things come first? And does that ordering look different for men and women?Talking about these things and more in the attic, this week on Visitation Sessions.Not a subscriber? Sign up today (it’s free). Show Notes:Church Documents* Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of Labor)—Pope Leo XIII, 1891* Quadragesimo Anno (After Forty Years)—Pope Pius XI, 1931* Mater et Magistra (Christianity and Social Progress)—St. John XXIII, 1961* Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples)—Blessed Paul VI, 1967* Laborem Exercens (On Human Work)—St. John Paul II, 1981* Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concern)—St. John Paul II, 1987* Centesimus Annus (The Hundredth Year)—St. John Paul II, 1991Shop Craft as Soul Craft by Matthew CrawfordDark Night of the Soul by St. John of the CrossSaint Katharine Drexel The Book of Tobit Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

Today Chris, Kate, Casey, and I are talking about creativity. What is creativity? What does it mean to be creative? How does pursuing creativity in work, life, marriage, and family make us more alive and help us live more deeply human lives? Also, why does my skin crawl when people use the word “creative” as a noun and not an adjective? (Seriously people, please don’t ever call me “a Creative.”)P.S. This is the last day, these podcast episodes will be available on my Substack. After today, all future episodes (and all back episodes) will be available on most major podcast streaming apps, and here on Substack, with a Substack of its own. All podcasts will be free, but Substack will allow us to interact more with listeners, solicit feedback and questions from you, and provide exclusive subscriber content. I’ll send out an invite once everything goes live, and I do hope you will join us.Mentioned on Today’s EpisodeArticles and BooksJohn Paul II’s “Letter to Artists” A Room of Ones Own by Virginia Woolf“Christianity and Poetry,” by Dana GioiaStudying With Miss Bishop by Dana Gioia  Music Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

Today, Chris, Kate, Casey, and I are talking all things Lent: the meaning of the season, abstinence and fasting, Fish Fries, practical penances, prayer, almsgiving, loving the poor, living Lent in marriage and with children, and what happens when you fail at it all.Mentioned on today’s episode:Approach to Penance by Hubert Van ZellarSt. Michael’s AbbeyFriendship RoomThe Red Door Ministry Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe

Introducing Visitation SessionsFor over a year now, I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a podcast. This is partly because I love good conversations, and those have become almost impossible to have on social media these days. It’s also because I’ve wanted you to know my husband Chris better. He is one of the healthiest, wisest, and most mature Christian men I know, and I think a lot of you would enjoy (and benefit from) hearing more of what he has to say.Up until now, this has remained only an idea because I didn’t have the technical knowledge needed to produce a high quality podcast. Then, my good friend Kate Stapleton and I got to talking. Kate and her husband Casey are musicians who are working on their third album together. Every summer, they load their six children into their big blue converted school bus, and travel the country on tour. When they’re not touring, Casey, like Chris, teaches theology at a Catholic high school in Pittsburgh. Kate and Casey are two of the most fascinating people you will ever meet, and Casey is a tech wizard, who does all the producing on their albums. How fun would it be, we thought, to do a podcast together, as married couples and friends?And it has been fun. Not just because this is allowing us to have the most uninterrupted conversations we’ve ever had (something that never happens when nine kids are around), but also because conversations about the things that matter are always life-giving. In conversation with others, we discover not only new dimensions to truth, but also new dimensions to ourselves. Our hope with this podcast is to invite you into these conversations, so you can make those discoveries along with us. We’re not here to teach you the Faith, but to share with you how we are living the Faith—and struggling with it, stumbling through it, and being changed by it. This isn’t a podcast that aims to give you all the answers, wrapped up in a neat and tidy black and white package. But it is a podcast that aims to show you the beauty of asking questions and listening to others and encountering Christ in the midst of it all.Show Notes:Here are links to books mentioned on the show and the books we’re reading.Spiritual Theology by Jordan AumannThe Temperament God Gave You by Art and Laraine BennettThe Catholic Table: Finding Joy Where Food and Faith Meet by Emily Stimpson ChapmanAround the Catholic Table: 77 Recipes for Easy Hospitality and Everyday Dinners by Emily Stimpson ChapmanThe Political Economy of Distributes: Property, Liberty, and the Common Good by Alexander William SalterAtonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theologyby Margaret M. TurekSHTF Survival Stories: Memories from the Balkan War by Selko BegovicLittle Women Abroad: The Alcott Sisters Letters from Europe by Louisa May AlcottWild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl StrayedAn Incomplete Revenge: A Maisie Dobbs Mystery by Jacqueline Winspear Get full access to Visitation Sessions at visitationsessions.substack.com/subscribe