To Jesus, through Mary: The Friendship Forged in Faith of Tammy Peterson and Queenie Yu
God speaks to us in many ways. From the gorgeous morning sunrise, to the joyful laughter of children, or a hospital visit from an unexpected guest.
God doesn't need any words to let us know of His presence.
We may not be aware of Him, but our Loving Father is communicating to us, reaching out to us, trying to get our attention, because He is calling us to Him.
Sometimes God's voice may be in different forms, and it may even come in the form of our daily crosses.
God waits for us to respond.
And in this powerful story, we hear of one such call and response.
***
When we ask God for miracles, God often sends people around us because we are invited to become instruments of God on this side of Heaven.
Five years ago, Tammy Peterson was given 10 months to live.
Doctors removed half of her left kidney and the cancer surgery was successful, despite the grim prognosis. And then a medical crisis that doctors couldn’t solve which landed her back to the hospital.
Queenie, an acquaintance at the time, came to visit her and brought her a Rosary.
Their friendship blossomed as they prayed the Rosary together at the hospital every morning for five weeks.
Defying all odds, Tammy Peterson survived and thrived in her faith and in her new life mission of seeking and speaking the truth in her podcast.
It was a full circle moment as Mrs. Peterson entered the Catholic Church this past Easter at Holy Rosary Parish in Toronto.
Queenie, a convert herself who introduced Tammy to the faith and to the Rosary accompanied her as her confirmation sponsor.
This story is about the apostolate of friendship, and how newly confirmed Catholic Tammy Mary Peterson was brought to Jesus through Mary.
Join us for Part Two when we look at the Cross and the meaning of sacrifice, and how Tammy's role in the recently launched "We Who Wrestle with God" book tour of her husband, Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, was inspired by the search for truth and the perseverance of faith.
Thank you for joining us. God bless!
Copyrighted Video and Photographs: Please do not copy and paste without attribution. Thank you! We are all creators - please, let's support each other!
A special "Thank You" to Queenie Yu and Mrs. Tammy Peterson for the grace-filled interview!
For more info on Hawthorn School For Girls in Toronto (North York), please visit:
https://hawthornschool.com/
The Tammy Peterson Podcast is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and all podcasting platforms. Mrs. Peterson is also on Instagram and X https://www.x.com/@tammy1peterson
For info on the newly released book "We Who Wrestle with God" by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson's tour, joined by his wife, Tammy, please visit: https://www.jordanpeterson.org
Many thanks to Laura Salem, In His Image Photo & Film for the superb photos and videography! To find more of Laura's work: https://www.instagram.com/@inhisimage_laura
Thank you and God bless!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sheila Nonato (00:00):
God speaks to us in many ways.
God doesn't need any words tolet us know of His presence.
We may not be aware of Him, butour loving Father is
communicating to us, reachingout to us, trying to get our
attention, because he is callingus to Him.
Sometimes God's voice may be indifferent forms, and it may
(00:21):
even come in the form of ourdaily crosses.
God waits for us to respond,and in this powerful story we
hear one such call and response.
When we ask God for miracles,god often sends people around us
because we are invited tobecome instruments of God on
this side of heaven.
Five years ago, Tammy Petersonwas given 10 months to live.
(00:45):
Doctors removed half of herkidney and the cancer surgery
was successful, despite the grimprognosis.
And then a medical crisis thatdoctors couldn't solve, which
sends her back to the hospital.
Queenie Yu, an acquaintance atthe time, came to visit her and
(01:05):
brought her a rosary.
Their friendship blossomed asthey prayed the rosary together
at the hospital every morningfor five weeks.
Defying all odds, tammy Petersonsurvived and thrived in her
journey of faith and in her lifemission of seeking and speaking
the truth in her popularpodcast.
It was a full circle moment asMrs.
(01:28):
Peterson entered the CatholicChurch this past Easter at Holy
Rosary Parish in Toronto,queenie.
A convert herself, whointroduced Tammy to the faith
and to the rosary, accompaniedher as her confirmation sponsor.
This story is about theapostolate of friendship and how
(01:49):
newly confirmed Catholic TammyMary Peterson was brought to
Jesus through Mary.
Hello and welcome to the Veiland Armour Podcast.
This is your host, sheilaNonato.
I'm a stay-at-home mom and afreelance Catholic journalist,
(02:13):
seeking the guidance of the HolySpirit and the inspiration of
Our Lady.
I strive to tell stories thatinspire, illuminate and enrich
the lives of Catholic women, tohelp them in living out our
vocation of raising the nextgeneration of leaders and saints
.
Please join us every week on theVeil and Armour podcast, where
stories come alive through ajournalist's lens and mother's
(02:35):
heart I usually start with aprayer.
Did you want to lead, please?
Okay, yeah.
Tammy Peterson (02:42):
Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as itis in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive thosewho trespass against us and lead
us not into temptation, butdirect us from evil.
(03:04):
Amen.
Sheila Nonato (03:07):
Amen.
Thank you for that and welcomeMrs Peterson and Queenie Yu.
It's been a while since I'veseen you, and how have you both
(03:29):
been?
We last saw each other at theEaster Vigil, a very beautiful
Mass and confirmation at thattime.
Queenie Yu (03:32):
What have you both been up to.
Who would like to start?
Tammy, I'll let you start.
Tammy Peterson (03:36):
Let me start.
What have I been doing sincethen?
Okay, let's see.
So that was last Easter andthat was a lovely day.
There were lots of people thereat the church I couldn't
believe how many, but there werea number of people being
baptized and a number of peoplebeing confirmed, so the church
was full and that was nice tosee a church that's full.
(03:57):
You see that on it looks likebig saints' days.
Often lots of people come,which is good.
It still shows that there'sobservance and that gives me
hope.
You know, I guess I've beeninvited and welcomed by
(04:19):
Catholics this year since beingconfirmed.
I've had a number of people,I've done podcasts with a number
of Catholics and I went to aCatholic Women's Dynamic Women
of Faith conference in Torontoand I shook hands with 250 women
(04:45):
.
That's a lot of women.
So that was really well.
You know, out of the ordinary,right Out of the ordinary.
So you know, and I feel God'shand in what I'm doing, you know
that the road that I'm on isdifferent than the road that I
(05:08):
was on before and that it's verymeaningful and it's challenging
.
And there's no doubt I wouldnot be doing this if it weren't
for the inspiration that I getthat I get, and so I know now.
I understand now that whenyou're working in God's will,
(05:30):
that he puts you to work, and itisn't an easy road, but it
isn't something that you can'tdo If you don't ask.
If you ask for courage andstrength, you can do it, and so
that's been really insightful.
So that's some of the thingsI've been thinking about and
people I've been meeting.
Sheila Nonato (05:53):
And you Queenie.
Queenie Yu (05:57):
For me.
Well, I've gone back toHawthorne School for Girls, an
independent school for girls inToronto.
The school year began inSeptember and I'm doing
character education, so helpingthe girls to develop virtue,
good habits and help them livetheir life, because one thing is
(06:18):
knowing what's in the textbookand another thing is respecting
people, doing good in thecommunity, having a positive
attitude.
And actually yesterday we had asession on emotional
intelligence Imagine withteenagers and we studied a case
(06:39):
of a fictional case of twoteenage friends who are getting
into an argument and the girlsexplored the emotions of each of
those girls while they werebefore and after the argument
and also the emotions of thefamily members who would see
(07:02):
these girls being irritable orwithdrawn.
So we studied emotion and wehelped them to see life from
another person's perspective andhopefully that will help them
to make better decisions andmaybe not judge others so
quickly.
So that's just one of thethings that I do with the girls.
(07:25):
I also live at Kinter Collegewith 22 university students, so
in the daytime I'm with many,many girls and then at night I'm
with 22 more, so never a dullmoment.
And one thing I like about myfriendship with Tammy is I can
(07:47):
always ask her for advice on howto deal with difficult
situations, because she's a mom,she's been through it and yeah.
Tammy Peterson (07:59):
Yeah, I'm older, there's no doubt about it.
So I have grandchildren now,and I have one grandchild who's
seven years old, and Iintroduced her to the rosary
yesterday.
Queenie Yu (08:09):
Amazing.
Tammy Peterson (08:11):
And it was really what was really nice, and
I didn't know this would happen, but she you know it was I was
up at six in the morning for ameeting and she got up about
6.15.
So she was up very early and itwas just her and I.
And when my meeting was over at6.30, I asked her if she'd like
(08:31):
to learn the rosary and shesaid sure, and so I introduced
it to her.
We did the first mystery.
So we did the beginning and thefirst mystery.
That's as far as we got.
But I was able to say you know,you have an eternal father now
(08:52):
and you have an eternal mother,and this eternal mother will be
on your side, no matter what youdo, ever, anything in your life
, she will be there for you.
And your Eternal Father hasbeen there always and is there
now and will always be there andyou can always rely on him.
(09:13):
And it was so nice to be ableto say that to this little girl
who has good parents.
But you never know what willhappen, because we all are
broken people and we all havethings that we're dealing with,
but we have an Fternal Fatherand an eternal mother and so,
(09:33):
even if the road gets bumpy.
In your family, you have a verystrong rod to hold on to, and
that was really wonderful to beable to share with her.
Sheila Nonato (09:48):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Yeah, that is amazing, and yourfriendship has been forged in
faith.
It started with Our Lady, theRosary, and it's beautiful to
hear that you are passing thaton passing that knowledge, and
that, the miracle that you havereceived from Our Lady, from Our
(10:09):
Lord.
It's also been, I guess, fiveyears since your miraculous
healing, since you told yourhusband I'm going to be healed
on our anniversary.
Did you commemorate that?
Did both of you commemoratethat sort of anniversary at all?
Your friendship and then thehealing that came from that?
Tammy Peterson (10:26):
We not in a big way, you know, but we definitely
, we definitely stopped for amoment to, you know, reflect on
that miracle and that it wasthat day.
So that makes our anniversaryevery year much more special,
(10:48):
you know, because it is a timeto remember that God is there,
was there, is always there, andNow we have a day to mark that.
So, yeah, that's good.
Sheila Nonato (11:07):
And Queenie, how did you reach out and just
decided I'm going to visit myfriend Tammy and introduce the
rosary?
What made you decide to do this?
Queenie Yu (11:22):
Well, we weren't really friends at that time.
I had her email address, wewere more like acquaintances.
But I know that anybody who'sin a lot of pain or who's
experiencing a lot of sufferingwould find a lot of consolation
(11:43):
in the Rosary.
So that's why I decided tovisit Tammy and, yeah,
immediately she embraced it.
So that's great, because noteverybody's so open, right?
Yeah, and then she was willingto to try it and I was amazed
that she found a lot of comfortin praying the Rosary.
(12:03):
And then one day I asked heryou, you know, like some people,
when they're going through adifficult time, they can rebel
against God, but you're gettingcloser to him.
Why?
And I remember her saying thatin difficult times she used to
turn to yoga, but it wasn'tenough and she needed more, and
that's why she was turningtowards prayer.
Tammy Peterson (12:26):
Yeah, and it gave me so much, um comfort, you
know, in times of when theywould scan me looking for this
leak that they couldn't find,all my nutrients were, uh,
really just seeping out into mylegs and not nourishing my body.
So I was wasting away, and thiswas over months at a time, and
(12:51):
so I was in the hospital.
They were just keeping me alive, looking for answers, and
Queenie shows up and offers me aRosary, and I'd seen a Rosary
before.
You know, when I was a younggirl I didn't go to the Catholic
school, I went to theProtestant school, but I had a
friend who took piano lessonsfrom the nuns, and so now and
(13:15):
then I would wander over towhere the nuns stayed, and so I
had a little bit of.
You know, I knew a little bitabout Catholicism, but not very
much at all.
But for some reason I wasfamiliar with the Rosary, and I
don't know why it may have come,it may have been when I was
(13:37):
very, very young, because, itturns out right, my
great-grandmother was Catholicand so I did meet her, and I
remember seeing her in thenursing home when she was 104.
So she was an old, old lady andshe was still with it.
You know she wasn't.
I remember meeting her.
I thought you know this is avery old woman.
(14:00):
It's always kind of a shock whenyou're a little kid to see
someone like that.
But it's a good experience togo and see elderly people
because we will all, if we'relucky, become elderly and maybe
at some point there.
Because I know that mygreat-grandmother kept her
rosary with her and so maybe Iwas introduced to it then, and
(14:23):
so when you introduced it to me,it seemed like a friend that I
could get to know better.
You know that's what it seemedlike, and so when you offered it
to me, it just seemed like theright, next right thing to do to
say, okay, let's see how thisworks.
And so it was really good youhad the time to do it.
(14:44):
I appreciate that.
Queenie Yu (14:46):
You know, the amazing thing is you mentioned
that.
You mentioned that you found alot of comfort in the rosary and
some people, when they're inpain, they're just thinking or
they're just praying to God thatGod would take away the source
of their suffering.
But the source of the sufferingwas still there.
You still had your cancer, butyou received comfort from the
(15:07):
prayer.
Yeah, that's right.
Tammy Peterson (15:10):
Well, I had a big.
You know, I had a huge changeof heart when I told my son I
was going to die and I looked athis response and saw the grief
in his eyes that he was going tolose his mother and I saw the
love that I had for himreflected back to me in a way
(15:34):
that I had never had that donebefore and it was redeeming.
You know, it was redeeming.
It was I have.
I have loved this boy, this man, really.
I have loved this boy, this man, really for 30.
He was not 30, but he wasgetting close to it.
I guess he was 25 or so then.
Yeah, because he was just newlymarried.
(15:54):
He didn't have any children andnow he has two and is expecting
a third.
So it was a while ago and Ithought, I don't know, it was
just I had done, I had loved mykids.
I had loved my kids, but in adutiful way, I think.
You know, like these are mychildren.
(16:16):
I love them, I want to doeverything I can for them so
that they will prosper, but itwasn't exactly in a biblical way
.
And when I told him that I wasmaybe going to leave him and I
saw his response to me.
It reflected back to me thiswork that I had done to be a
(16:43):
mother and to put in the time todo the things that a mother
does was enough.
It was enough.
What I had done was enough toit was enough to be worthy.
It was enough to feel worthy.
(17:04):
To feel worthy of what?
Of what?
Of God's love I guess I was.
It was a.
It was such a, such atransformation.
I think it'll take me the restof my life to understand.
You know, because these thingshappen, if that, if these things
(17:24):
happen, because these thingshappen, if these things happen
and I didn't even see thishappening, because I could feel
all my.
I felt all of my doubt, all ofmy suspicions, or I had
misunderstandings aboutauthority.
(17:44):
I was pretty skeptical ofauthority.
I'd had some issues when I was17 with an employer and I tried
to do the right thing and thenthey didn't support me and so it
put a bad taste in my mouth andI kind of kept that with me
over time because I guess Iwasn't counseled at the time
(18:07):
very well through that time tounderstand what happened.
But all of that it just seemedto.
All of a sudden I was lighter.
I was much lighter and I feltpeace fill my body and you know,
(18:31):
that was such a moment of gracethat it's hard to understand
because it's too much for me,it's too much for anyone to
really understand something thatis that spiritual, you know,
that is that totally spiritual.
It wasn't of this world.
That's how it felt.
It wasn't of this world.
That's how it felt it wasn't ofthis world.
So to even understand what thatmeans, I think will take the
(18:54):
rest of my life.
But at that moment my son,looking at me that way, made me
feel worthy of accepting medicalattention with gratitude, but
(19:15):
not thinking that I had control,that God was in control and he
was going to be the one whodecided whether I would live or
die.
Just at that moment it's likeno, it's not up to the doctors,
it's not up to, it's notnecessarily up to how much we
(19:36):
try, it is really just up to God.
He will decide how this isgoing to go.
But you know, in the momentit's us taking the next right
step.
So accepting the help thatcomes our way, but not being
overly controlling and forcingthings, but to see where the
(20:03):
doors open.
I guess right To see where thedoors open and not to worry
about the outcome, the future,because that's God's territory,
and that all became very clearto me in that moment.
So it changed my relationshipwith illness.
So when I was sick and in painand being scanned all the time
(20:27):
and not getting any answers andsitting in the hospital bed for
five weeks so it was a very longtime of the doctors not knowing
what to do with me I didn'tthink about what the future was
going to hold, because I didn'tknow if I had a future or not
and it wasn't up to me to decide.
(20:49):
So every time someone came inthe room I was grateful for them
to be there.
And at night, when I wassleeping and I was cold because
I had lost a tremendous amountof weight, I would wake up in
the night and I would just praythe Lord's Prayer and that would
sustain me.
Through all of the scans, allof the cold nights, I'd pray the
(21:15):
Lord's Prayer and that wouldjust sustain me.
I wouldn't worry.
I didn't let that happen.
I stopped those thoughts and Ijust prayed instead, and that
practice over time has stoppedmy mind from worrying on the
most part, but if it doesn't,that means I'm not praying
enough.
That's really what that means,yeah.
Queenie Yu (21:38):
That's beautiful.
You talked about control orlike that we shouldn't want to
control things that God has abetter plan.
And how often we forget thatbecause we have our schedules,
we have our goals, but God'sgoals, you could say, god's
plans for us are so much betterthan what we could imagine.
(21:59):
And if you had not gone throughthat illness, or if you had
experienced it and then prayedit away right away, would you
have gotten all the wisdom thatyou already have right now?
Probably not.
Tammy Peterson (22:17):
Oh, I don't think so, because this is a.
It's a daily practice, right?
It's a daily practice to submitto God's will every morning,
every morning and sometimes afew times during the day, when
it's a tricky day, and at nightto be grateful and thankful for
the day.
And that is what helps me tostay with whatever gift I have
(22:44):
been given, to benefit from thegift that I was given the gift
of life.
Really, it was the gift of lifeand the gift of what is that?
I was feeling nurtured andloved in a way that I had never
felt before.
(23:05):
You know, it could have beenthat.
You know, I mean our mother andour father, just like I told
you that I talked to mygranddaughter and told her about
her eternal father and eternalmother.
You know my mother and myfather.
They did their best, butsometimes I wanted attention and
(23:27):
it wasn't coming my way, so thelove that I needed wasn't
always available.
And so little children.
They will do anything forattention.
They will do anything for love.
That's what they want.
They want love.
They don't want new toys, theywant love, they want attention.
They want attention.
They want someone there.
(23:48):
When they turn their gazetowards you, they want someone
to be staring back at them Likethat's what they want.
That's what this little boywho's nine months old, that's
here, you know he crawls alittle bit and then he looks.
He looks at me.
Is it okay if I'm going in thisdirection or am I making
progress?
(24:08):
Is this the way to go?
You know he's looking and he'sasking, and I don't think we
stop doing that.
We continue to do that and wefind that feedback from our
community right.
Without community on our own,we get lost and we make bad
(24:32):
choices.
But within a community, ifeveryone is trying to adhere to
what is best in life, so theirintentions are honorable, so
that means that their intentionsis to be with God's will, then
you can look to each other inthat community and find your way
(24:55):
forward, even when you're lost.
But when you're alone, if youisolate yourself and you aren't
open to God's will, ooh, youknow that's a dicey situation
and it'll get you in trouble.
It's not a good plan.
It's better to humble yourselfand say you know, really I need
other people.
I need my mother, I need mysisters, I need my community to
(25:20):
help me find the right wayforward, to take feedback from
people, because we will oftenhave made decisions that aren't
the best for us or for otherpeople.
Sheila Nonato (25:35):
Yes, and I wanted to ask you both, since you are
both helping young women, reallyyoung girls, young women to
become women of God and to berole models.
What is it about?
Because you had Mrs.
Peterson, you had taken thename of Mary as your
(25:57):
confirmation name and, queenie,you were there standing beside
her on that beautiful day.
What was it?
What is it about Mary who, inour culture, day?
What was it?
What is it about Mary who, inour culture, she's really the
anti-hero, because she is notthe quote liberated woman, she
is a woman of God.
She humbled herself to acceptGod's will.
(26:18):
What is it about Mary?
When you looked at Mother Mary,what was it about her that you
said, yes, I would like to modelmyself after her?
Tammy Peterson (26:29):
Well, Mary said yes to the Angel Gabriel when he
came to her.
She in humility, even thoughshe didn't understand and that
was not her intention, her ownintention, it was God's
intention and she was humble andshe said yes.
And so young women today aretaught that their career is
(26:55):
going to be the most fulfillingendeavor that they ever
undertake in their lives.
But Mother Mary representstheir lives.
But Mother Mary represents, sheis a mother.
That's why she's called MotherMary.
She's a mother and that madeher into a woman.
And I think that this sillyquestion that we've had this
(27:18):
year about what is a woman, it'sbecause we're looking for
Mother Mary.
Mother Mary is a woman.
She's given herself to othersand others is also us.
On tomorrow and forevermore,that's others as well.
On tomorrow and forevermore,that's others as well.
(27:38):
But it's not us today, in ahedonistic, momentary, whimsical
manner.
It's us over the long term,with deep thoughts about what is
best for us and for our lovedones, and maybe even branching
out into our community andhelping those that are farther
(27:59):
from us.
Mother Mary is a figure that isnot putting herself first, she's
putting Jesus first, and so sheis putting what is her function
?
She is putting.
(28:24):
What is her function.
The next right thing is for herto give up whatever it is she
wanted to do and to give herselfover to what the angel Gabriel
has instructed her is the nextright thing to do.
And she just gave herself overto that without thinking.
She had no husband.
She had Joseph there, but hewas not the earthly father, so
(28:47):
that would have beendisconcerting for him.
So whatever it was she wasdoing was not going to be an
easy road.
Right, it wasn't an easy road,it was a rough road, and just
because the road is roughdoesn't mean it's wrong.
Right, we have to look moredeeply at what is calling us, to
(29:09):
see if it is something of Godor not, because you're not
always called by God, you mightbe called by power.
Because you're not alwayscalled by God, you might be
called by power.
Right, you might be called bymoney or status, prestige, and
you know women who are racingafter status.
You know there is absolutely nocorrelation between status and
(29:33):
attractiveness attractiveness tomen and attractiveness,
attractiveness to men, statusfor men.
Women look for men who havestatus.
So it's no wonder that men are,you know, playing the game of
who's going to climb thehierarchy fastest, because
(29:55):
whoever does climb the hierarchyfastest is going to be more
attractive to the women who arealso at the higher point of
their community.
But that doesn't work that wayfor women, their community, but
(30:17):
that doesn't work that way forwomen.
Women have to be humble andhave to be paying attention to
their intuition, because we arevery good at taking care of
ourselves and of one another,whereas men, you know they are
pretty good at getting out thereand getting things done.
And it's not as if women arenot good at getting things done.
(30:39):
We're very good at gettingthings done, but as Margaret, or
as Mary and her sister.
Was it Margaret?
No, Mary Mary.
When Mary and Martha went toChrist Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary,
when she, when Mary and MargaretMartha went to Christ.
Sheila Nonato (31:01):
Martha?
Tammy Peterson (31:03):
Martha, Martha and Mary sat at Christ's feet
and Martha busied herself.
She busied herself and then shelooked at Mary and was
skeptical of what Mary was doing, whether it was as worthwhile
as what she was doing.
And that's something that we'redoing in our society now.
(31:24):
We are educating young women tobe worker bees in the workforce
, right, so they're gettingready to be independent and to
be financially independent andnot needing any men to take care
of them, and that we're toldwell, women can do anything.
(31:49):
But that message has beentwisted right Women can do
anything, and we've made thatsound like it's something that
we should do in the, in the malerealm of things.
But the whole idea of womenbeing able to do anything, that
could also mean that, if we areattentive and careful, that when
(32:12):
trouble comes we can see ourway through.
So it's the intuition and theattention to each other in the
day-to-day that women are very,very good at.
And you know, I know thatthere's now and then there's a
(32:33):
woman who's different andexceptional and that she is not
going to be one of those.
Maybe she's I don't know asculptor, or maybe she has a
vision that takes her far beyondher community.
But most of us we're prettygood in our communities, we can
(32:56):
function in there, and the thingis that our babies, they look
up to us within our communitiesto see what they ought to be
doing.
And if we're not there anymore,if we've flown the coop and
gone off and on the adventure ofour lifetime but it's away from
our community, then we're notthere to foster their
(33:18):
development and encourage themto be good people in the eye of
God and to take on difficultthings, but the right, difficult
things that are in keeping withwhat would foster themselves,
(33:39):
their family and their community.
So, girls, so that's where themodern idea of what is best has
veered off from what Mother Maryis all about.
At least that's what I knowanyway.
Queenie Yu (34:02):
You know, tammy, you mentioned earlier that what
children want is to be loved andthey want attention.
So that's what Our Lady does.
She's always looking after us.
So that's what Our Lady does.
She's always looking after usthe smallest needs.
For example, at the wedding ofKena, she noticed that they were
(34:23):
running out of wine.
It's something small.
It wasn't even her job to belooking after that, like she was
a guest.
She wasn't organizing thewedding, but she noticed that
small detail.
And that's just an example ofthe small like if you don't have
wine, okay, it's not the end ofthe world.
You won't die from not havingwine.
(34:44):
Yeah, you're going to getembarrassed if you're the bride
and the groom, but it's not theend of your life.
So the fact of that detailbeing important to our lady
means that everything in ourlife is important to her.
She's paying attention to us.
And the other thing is what youmentioned, tammy.
(35:07):
I remember when I was stillfinishing up my MBA, I was
talking with a prof and Imentioned that I really wanted
to work in a high-tech startupbecause that's so cool.
And he said I think it would bea waste of your talent, because
you like working with peopleand you care about people.
You won't be able to exercisethat aspect of you in a
(35:28):
high-tech startup.
But after I graduated, I waslike, no, I want the high-tech
startup.
And then, years later, what amI doing?
I'm working in a school,helping young women to try to be
the best version of themselves,and I genuinely find that
fulfilling.
And I find that, yeah, I'mtrying to learn how to be a
(35:53):
parent, not that I'm a parent,trying to learn how to be a
parent, not that I'm a parent,but to educate young women.
It involves the heart of a, ofa mother, and I look to our lady
, for example.
So, for example, if a girl feelslike I don't know, feels that
(36:20):
you don't like her and it couldbe her perception but if she
perceives that you don't likeher, she's gonna be totally
closed and and won't listen inclass, won't hear anything you
say.
So what do I try to do?
I try to interest myself inwhat she likes.
Okay, she likes that type ofcartoon.
I'll find out a bit more aboutit.
(36:42):
She says that she has a bit ofa headache.
I'll ask her how she's feeling.
Attention, yes.
And then when I do that, Inotice that the next day she has
a better attitude and then shelearns better.
So, yeah, I notice that thenext day she has a better
attitude and then we could.
She learns better.
So, yeah, I learned that fromOur Lady, and she pays constant
(37:04):
attention to us.
Tammy Peterson (37:13):
And she's trying to direct us to God all the
time.
So we don't have to worry,because we just have to pray and
to pay attention and to seewhat the next right thing is to
do.
I find that sometimes I'll bedistracted by my worries about
my family.
You know so, the people in myfamily, and they're doing well.
(37:37):
They're doing well, all of them.
They're doing very, very well,and so I have realized, and I
continually have to convincemyself that they are doing a
great job and it's theirrelationship with Mother Mary
(38:02):
that will bring them in theright direction and that she's
always there, and to have thefaith and the trust that she's
always there.
So I still have.
But it'll take time, you know,it'll take time.
It'll take more prayer andmaybe who knows how long, and
(38:23):
I'll be able to grow myrelationship with Mother Mary so
that I believe and trust thatshe is there and she's taking
care of all of us, and that waymy worry will be minimized.
Sheila Nonato (38:41):
While each person's faith journey is unique
, a common bond is the interiorstruggle the struggle with self
and the struggle with God.
In the Bible we read of Jacobwrestling with God, prevailing
with God by faith and hisradical transformation
afterwards.
A new name and the gift ofGod's blessing for his life and
(39:05):
mission.
For Tammy Peterson and QueenieYu, both former atheists and now
converts to the Catholic faith,her journey towards God has
also led to a new life, thebirth of a new woman in Christ,
inspired by the feminine geniusof Mary, our Blessed Mother, and
(39:25):
with a mission to help othersknow the message of hope in our
faith, in the power of prayerand the unconditional love of
God.
Join us for part two when welook at the cross and the
meaning of sacrifice and howTammy's role in the recently
launched we who Wrestle With Godbook tour of her husband, dr
(39:48):
Jordan B Peterson, was inspiredby the search for truth and
perseverance in faith.
Thank you for joining us, godbless.
Thank you for listening to theVeil and.
Armour Podcast.
Co-Host (40:03):
I invite you to share this with another Catholic Mom
today.
Please subscribe to our podcastand YouTube Channel and please
spread the word.
Let's Be Brave, let's Be Boldand Be Blessed together.
God speaks to us in many ways.
God doesn't need any words tolet us know of His presence.
We may not be aware of Him, butour loving Father is
communicating to us, reachingout to us, trying to get our
attention, because he is callingus to Him.
Sometimes God's voice may be indifferent forms, and it may
(00:21):
even come in the form of ourdaily crosses.
God waits for us to respond,and in this powerful story we
hear one such call and response.
When we ask God for miracles,god often sends people around us
because we are invited tobecome instruments of God on
this side of heaven.
Five years ago, Tammy Petersonwas given 10 months to live.
(00:45):
Doctors removed half of herkidney and the cancer surgery
was successful, despite the grimprognosis.
And then a medical crisis thatdoctors couldn't solve, which
sends her back to the hospital.
Queenie Yu, an acquaintance atthe time, came to visit her and
(01:05):
brought her a rosary.
Their friendship blossomed asthey prayed the rosary together
at the hospital every morningfor five weeks.
Defying all odds, tammy Petersonsurvived and thrived in her
journey of faith and in her lifemission of seeking and speaking
the truth in her popularpodcast.
It was a full circle moment asMrs.
(01:28):
Peterson entered the CatholicChurch this past Easter at Holy
Rosary Parish in Toronto,queenie.
A convert herself, whointroduced Tammy to the faith
and to the rosary, accompaniedher as her confirmation sponsor.
This story is about theapostolate of friendship and how
(01:49):
newly confirmed Catholic TammyMary Peterson was brought to
Jesus through Mary.
Hello and welcome to the Veiland Armour Podcast.
This is your host, sheilaNonato.
I'm a stay-at-home mom and afreelance Catholic journalist,
(02:13):
seeking the guidance of the HolySpirit and the inspiration of
Our Lady.
I strive to tell stories thatinspire, illuminate and enrich
the lives of Catholic women, tohelp them in living out our
vocation of raising the nextgeneration of leaders and saints
.
Please join us every week on theVeil and Armour podcast, where
stories come alive through ajournalist's lens and mother's
(02:35):
heart I usually start with aprayer.
Did you want to lead, please?
Okay, yeah.
Tammy Peterson (02:42):
Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy
name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as itis in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive thosewho trespass against us and lead
us not into temptation, butdirect us from evil.
(03:04):
Amen.
Sheila Nonato (03:07):
Amen.
Thank you for that and welcomeMrs Peterson and Queenie Yu.
It's been a while since I'veseen you, and how have you both
(03:29):
been?
We last saw each other at theEaster Vigil, a very beautiful
Mass and confirmation at thattime.
Queenie Yu (03:32):
What have you both been up to.
Who would like to start?
Tammy, I'll let you start.
Tammy Peterson (03:36):
Let me start.
What have I been doing sincethen?
Okay, let's see.
So that was last Easter andthat was a lovely day.
There were lots of people thereat the church I couldn't
believe how many, but there werea number of people being
baptized and a number of peoplebeing confirmed, so the church
was full and that was nice tosee a church that's full.
(03:57):
You see that on it looks likebig saints' days.
Often lots of people come,which is good.
It still shows that there'sobservance and that gives me
hope.
You know, I guess I've beeninvited and welcomed by
(04:19):
Catholics this year since beingconfirmed.
I've had a number of people,I've done podcasts with a number
of Catholics and I went to aCatholic Women's Dynamic Women
of Faith conference in Torontoand I shook hands with 250 women
(04:45):
.
That's a lot of women.
So that was really well.
You know, out of the ordinary,right Out of the ordinary.
So you know, and I feel God'shand in what I'm doing, you know
that the road that I'm on isdifferent than the road that I
(05:08):
was on before and that it's verymeaningful and it's challenging
.
And there's no doubt I wouldnot be doing this if it weren't
for the inspiration that I getthat I get, and so I know now.
I understand now that whenyou're working in God's will,
(05:30):
that he puts you to work, and itisn't an easy road, but it
isn't something that you can'tdo If you don't ask.
If you ask for courage andstrength, you can do it, and so
that's been really insightful.
So that's some of the thingsI've been thinking about and
people I've been meeting.
Sheila Nonato (05:53):
And you Queenie.
Queenie Yu (05:57):
For me.
Well, I've gone back toHawthorne School for Girls, an
independent school for girls inToronto.
The school year began inSeptember and I'm doing
character education, so helpingthe girls to develop virtue,
good habits and help them livetheir life, because one thing is
(06:18):
knowing what's in the textbookand another thing is respecting
people, doing good in thecommunity, having a positive
attitude.
And actually yesterday we had asession on emotional
intelligence Imagine withteenagers and we studied a case
(06:39):
of a fictional case of twoteenage friends who are getting
into an argument and the girlsexplored the emotions of each of
those girls while they werebefore and after the argument
and also the emotions of thefamily members who would see
(07:02):
these girls being irritable orwithdrawn.
So we studied emotion and wehelped them to see life from
another person's perspective andhopefully that will help them
to make better decisions andmaybe not judge others so
quickly.
So that's just one of thethings that I do with the girls.
(07:25):
I also live at Kinter Collegewith 22 university students, so
in the daytime I'm with many,many girls and then at night I'm
with 22 more, so never a dullmoment.
And one thing I like about myfriendship with Tammy is I can
(07:47):
always ask her for advice on howto deal with difficult
situations, because she's a mom,she's been through it and yeah.
Tammy Peterson (07:59):
Yeah, I'm older, there's no doubt about it.
So I have grandchildren now,and I have one grandchild who's
seven years old, and Iintroduced her to the rosary
yesterday.
Queenie Yu (08:09):
Amazing.
Tammy Peterson (08:11):
And it was really what was really nice, and
I didn't know this would happen, but she you know it was I was
up at six in the morning for ameeting and she got up about
6.15.
So she was up very early and itwas just her and I.
And when my meeting was over at6.30, I asked her if she'd like
(08:31):
to learn the rosary and shesaid sure, and so I introduced
it to her.
We did the first mystery.
So we did the beginning and thefirst mystery.
That's as far as we got.
But I was able to say you know,you have an eternal father now
(08:52):
and you have an eternal mother,and this eternal mother will be
on your side, no matter what youdo, ever, anything in your life
, she will be there for you.
And your Eternal Father hasbeen there always and is there
now and will always be there andyou can always rely on him.
(09:13):
And it was so nice to be ableto say that to this little girl
who has good parents.
But you never know what willhappen, because we all are
broken people and we all havethings that we're dealing with,
but we have an Fternal Fatherand an eternal mother and so,
(09:33):
even if the road gets bumpy.
In your family, you have a verystrong rod to hold on to, and
that was really wonderful to beable to share with her.
Sheila Nonato (09:48):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Yeah, that is amazing, and yourfriendship has been forged in
faith.
It started with Our Lady, theRosary, and it's beautiful to
hear that you are passing thaton passing that knowledge, and
that, the miracle that you havereceived from Our Lady, from Our
(10:09):
Lord.
It's also been, I guess, fiveyears since your miraculous
healing, since you told yourhusband I'm going to be healed
on our anniversary.
Did you commemorate that?
Did both of you commemoratethat sort of anniversary at all?
Your friendship and then thehealing that came from that?
Tammy Peterson (10:26):
We not in a big way, you know, but we definitely
, we definitely stopped for amoment to, you know, reflect on
that miracle and that it wasthat day.
So that makes our anniversaryevery year much more special,
(10:48):
you know, because it is a timeto remember that God is there,
was there, is always there, andNow we have a day to mark that.
So, yeah, that's good.
Sheila Nonato (11:07):
And Queenie, how did you reach out and just
decided I'm going to visit myfriend Tammy and introduce the
rosary?
What made you decide to do this?
Queenie Yu (11:22):
Well, we weren't really friends at that time.
I had her email address, wewere more like acquaintances.
But I know that anybody who'sin a lot of pain or who's
experiencing a lot of sufferingwould find a lot of consolation
(11:43):
in the Rosary.
So that's why I decided tovisit Tammy and, yeah,
immediately she embraced it.
So that's great, because noteverybody's so open, right?
Yeah, and then she was willingto to try it and I was amazed
that she found a lot of comfortin praying the Rosary.
(12:03):
And then one day I asked heryou, you know, like some people,
when they're going through adifficult time, they can rebel
against God, but you're gettingcloser to him.
Why?
And I remember her saying thatin difficult times she used to
turn to yoga, but it wasn'tenough and she needed more, and
that's why she was turningtowards prayer.
Tammy Peterson (12:26):
Yeah, and it gave me so much, um comfort, you
know, in times of when theywould scan me looking for this
leak that they couldn't find,all my nutrients were, uh,
really just seeping out into mylegs and not nourishing my body.
So I was wasting away, and thiswas over months at a time, and
(12:51):
so I was in the hospital.
They were just keeping me alive, looking for answers, and
Queenie shows up and offers me aRosary, and I'd seen a Rosary
before.
You know, when I was a younggirl I didn't go to the Catholic
school, I went to theProtestant school, but I had a
friend who took piano lessonsfrom the nuns, and so now and
(13:15):
then I would wander over towhere the nuns stayed, and so I
had a little bit of.
You know, I knew a little bitabout Catholicism, but not very
much at all.
But for some reason I wasfamiliar with the Rosary, and I
don't know why it may have come,it may have been when I was
(13:37):
very, very young, because, itturns out right, my
great-grandmother was Catholicand so I did meet her, and I
remember seeing her in thenursing home when she was 104.
So she was an old, old lady andshe was still with it.
You know she wasn't.
I remember meeting her.
I thought you know this is avery old woman.
(14:00):
It's always kind of a shock whenyou're a little kid to see
someone like that.
But it's a good experience togo and see elderly people
because we will all, if we'relucky, become elderly and maybe
at some point there.
Because I know that mygreat-grandmother kept her
rosary with her and so maybe Iwas introduced to it then, and
(14:23):
so when you introduced it to me,it seemed like a friend that I
could get to know better.
You know that's what it seemedlike, and so when you offered it
to me, it just seemed like theright, next right thing to do to
say, okay, let's see how thisworks.
And so it was really good youhad the time to do it.
(14:44):
I appreciate that.
Queenie Yu (14:46):
You know, the amazing thing is you mentioned
that.
You mentioned that you found alot of comfort in the rosary and
some people, when they're inpain, they're just thinking or
they're just praying to God thatGod would take away the source
of their suffering.
But the source of the sufferingwas still there.
You still had your cancer, butyou received comfort from the
(15:07):
prayer.
Yeah, that's right.
Tammy Peterson (15:10):
Well, I had a big.
You know, I had a huge changeof heart when I told my son I
was going to die and I looked athis response and saw the grief
in his eyes that he was going tolose his mother and I saw the
love that I had for himreflected back to me in a way
(15:34):
that I had never had that donebefore and it was redeeming.
You know, it was redeeming.
It was I have.
I have loved this boy, this man, really.
I have loved this boy, this man, really for 30.
He was not 30, but he wasgetting close to it.
I guess he was 25 or so then.
Yeah, because he was just newlymarried.
(15:54):
He didn't have any children andnow he has two and is expecting
a third.
So it was a while ago and Ithought, I don't know, it was
just I had done, I had loved mykids.
I had loved my kids, but in adutiful way, I think.
You know, like these are mychildren.
(16:16):
I love them, I want to doeverything I can for them so
that they will prosper, but itwasn't exactly in a biblical way
.
And when I told him that I wasmaybe going to leave him and I
saw his response to me.
It reflected back to me thiswork that I had done to be a
(16:43):
mother and to put in the time todo the things that a mother
does was enough.
It was enough.
What I had done was enough toit was enough to be worthy.
It was enough to feel worthy.
(17:04):
To feel worthy of what?
Of what?
Of God's love I guess I was.
It was a.
It was such a, such atransformation.
I think it'll take me the restof my life to understand.
You know, because these thingshappen, if that, if these things
(17:24):
happen, because these thingshappen, if these things happen
and I didn't even see thishappening, because I could feel
all my.
I felt all of my doubt, all ofmy suspicions, or I had
misunderstandings aboutauthority.
(17:44):
I was pretty skeptical ofauthority.
I'd had some issues when I was17 with an employer and I tried
to do the right thing and thenthey didn't support me and so it
put a bad taste in my mouth andI kind of kept that with me
over time because I guess Iwasn't counseled at the time
(18:07):
very well through that time tounderstand what happened.
But all of that it just seemedto.
All of a sudden I was lighter.
I was much lighter and I feltpeace fill my body and you know,
(18:31):
that was such a moment of gracethat it's hard to understand
because it's too much for me,it's too much for anyone to
really understand something thatis that spiritual, you know,
that is that totally spiritual.
It wasn't of this world.
That's how it felt.
It wasn't of this world.
That's how it felt it wasn't ofthis world.
So to even understand what thatmeans, I think will take the
(18:54):
rest of my life.
But at that moment my son,looking at me that way, made me
feel worthy of accepting medicalattention with gratitude, but
(19:15):
not thinking that I had control,that God was in control and he
was going to be the one whodecided whether I would live or
die.
Just at that moment it's likeno, it's not up to the doctors,
it's not up to, it's notnecessarily up to how much we
(19:36):
try, it is really just up to God.
He will decide how this isgoing to go.
But you know, in the momentit's us taking the next right
step.
So accepting the help thatcomes our way, but not being
overly controlling and forcingthings, but to see where the
(20:03):
doors open.
I guess right To see where thedoors open and not to worry
about the outcome, the future,because that's God's territory,
and that all became very clearto me in that moment.
So it changed my relationshipwith illness.
So when I was sick and in painand being scanned all the time
(20:27):
and not getting any answers andsitting in the hospital bed for
five weeks so it was a very longtime of the doctors not knowing
what to do with me I didn'tthink about what the future was
going to hold, because I didn'tknow if I had a future or not
and it wasn't up to me to decide.
(20:49):
So every time someone came inthe room I was grateful for them
to be there.
And at night, when I wassleeping and I was cold because
I had lost a tremendous amountof weight, I would wake up in
the night and I would just praythe Lord's Prayer and that would
sustain me.
Through all of the scans, allof the cold nights, I'd pray the
(21:15):
Lord's Prayer and that wouldjust sustain me.
I wouldn't worry.
I didn't let that happen.
I stopped those thoughts and Ijust prayed instead, and that
practice over time has stoppedmy mind from worrying on the
most part, but if it doesn't,that means I'm not praying
enough.
That's really what that means,yeah.
Queenie Yu (21:38):
That's beautiful.
You talked about control orlike that we shouldn't want to
control things that God has abetter plan.
And how often we forget thatbecause we have our schedules,
we have our goals, but God'sgoals, you could say, god's
plans for us are so much betterthan what we could imagine.
(21:59):
And if you had not gone throughthat illness, or if you had
experienced it and then prayedit away right away, would you
have gotten all the wisdom thatyou already have right now?
Probably not.
Tammy Peterson (22:17):
Oh, I don't think so, because this is a.
It's a daily practice, right?
It's a daily practice to submitto God's will every morning,
every morning and sometimes afew times during the day, when
it's a tricky day, and at nightto be grateful and thankful for
the day.
And that is what helps me tostay with whatever gift I have
(22:44):
been given, to benefit from thegift that I was given the gift
of life.
Really, it was the gift of lifeand the gift of what is that?
I was feeling nurtured andloved in a way that I had never
felt before.
(23:05):
You know, it could have beenthat.
You know, I mean our mother andour father, just like I told
you that I talked to mygranddaughter and told her about
her eternal father and eternalmother.
You know my mother and myfather.
They did their best, butsometimes I wanted attention and
(23:27):
it wasn't coming my way, so thelove that I needed wasn't
always available.
And so little children.
They will do anything forattention.
They will do anything for love.
That's what they want.
They want love.
They don't want new toys, theywant love, they want attention.
They want attention.
They want someone there.
(23:48):
When they turn their gazetowards you, they want someone
to be staring back at them Likethat's what they want.
That's what this little boywho's nine months old, that's
here, you know he crawls alittle bit and then he looks.
He looks at me.
Is it okay if I'm going in thisdirection or am I making
progress?
(24:08):
Is this the way to go?
You know he's looking and he'sasking, and I don't think we
stop doing that.
We continue to do that and wefind that feedback from our
community right.
Without community on our own,we get lost and we make bad
(24:32):
choices.
But within a community, ifeveryone is trying to adhere to
what is best in life, so theirintentions are honorable, so
that means that their intentionsis to be with God's will, then
you can look to each other inthat community and find your way
(24:55):
forward, even when you're lost.
But when you're alone, if youisolate yourself and you aren't
open to God's will, ooh, youknow that's a dicey situation
and it'll get you in trouble.
It's not a good plan.
It's better to humble yourselfand say you know, really I need
other people.
I need my mother, I need mysisters, I need my community to
(25:20):
help me find the right wayforward, to take feedback from
people, because we will oftenhave made decisions that aren't
the best for us or for otherpeople.
Sheila Nonato (25:35):
Yes, and I wanted to ask you both, since you are
both helping young women, reallyyoung girls, young women to
become women of God and to berole models.
What is it about?
Because you had Mrs.
Peterson, you had taken thename of Mary as your
(25:57):
confirmation name and, queenie,you were there standing beside
her on that beautiful day.
What was it?
What is it about Mary who, inour culture, day?
What was it?
What is it about Mary who, inour culture, she's really the
anti-hero, because she is notthe quote liberated woman, she
is a woman of God.
She humbled herself to acceptGod's will.
(26:18):
What is it about Mary?
When you looked at Mother Mary,what was it about her that you
said, yes, I would like to modelmyself after her?
Tammy Peterson (26:29):
Well, Mary said yes to the Angel Gabriel when he
came to her.
She in humility, even thoughshe didn't understand and that
was not her intention, her ownintention, it was God's
intention and she was humble andshe said yes.
And so young women today aretaught that their career is
(26:55):
going to be the most fulfillingendeavor that they ever
undertake in their lives.
But Mother Mary representstheir lives.
But Mother Mary represents, sheis a mother.
That's why she's called MotherMary.
She's a mother and that madeher into a woman.
And I think that this sillyquestion that we've had this
(27:18):
year about what is a woman, it'sbecause we're looking for
Mother Mary.
Mother Mary is a woman.
She's given herself to othersand others is also us.
On tomorrow and forevermore,that's others as well.
On tomorrow and forevermore,that's others as well.
(27:38):
But it's not us today, in ahedonistic, momentary, whimsical
manner.
It's us over the long term,with deep thoughts about what is
best for us and for our lovedones, and maybe even branching
out into our community andhelping those that are farther
(27:59):
from us.
Mother Mary is a figure that isnot putting herself first, she's
putting Jesus first, and so sheis putting what is her function
?
She is putting.
(28:24):
What is her function.
The next right thing is for herto give up whatever it is she
wanted to do and to give herselfover to what the angel Gabriel
has instructed her is the nextright thing to do.
And she just gave herself overto that without thinking.
She had no husband.
She had Joseph there, but hewas not the earthly father, so
(28:47):
that would have beendisconcerting for him.
So whatever it was she wasdoing was not going to be an
easy road.
Right, it wasn't an easy road,it was a rough road, and just
because the road is roughdoesn't mean it's wrong.
Right, we have to look moredeeply at what is calling us, to
(29:09):
see if it is something of Godor not, because you're not
always called by God, you mightbe called by power.
Because you're not alwayscalled by God, you might be
called by power.
Right, you might be called bymoney or status, prestige, and
you know women who are racingafter status.
You know there is absolutely nocorrelation between status and
(29:33):
attractiveness attractiveness tomen and attractiveness,
attractiveness to men, statusfor men.
Women look for men who havestatus.
So it's no wonder that men are,you know, playing the game of
who's going to climb thehierarchy fastest, because
(29:55):
whoever does climb the hierarchyfastest is going to be more
attractive to the women who arealso at the higher point of
their community.
But that doesn't work that wayfor women, their community, but
(30:17):
that doesn't work that way forwomen.
Women have to be humble andhave to be paying attention to
their intuition, because we arevery good at taking care of
ourselves and of one another,whereas men, you know they are
pretty good at getting out thereand getting things done.
And it's not as if women arenot good at getting things done.
(30:39):
We're very good at gettingthings done, but as Margaret, or
as Mary and her sister.
Was it Margaret?
No, Mary Mary.
When Mary and Martha went toChrist Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary,
when she, when Mary and MargaretMartha went to Christ.
Sheila Nonato (31:01):
Martha?
Tammy Peterson (31:03):
Martha, Martha and Mary sat at Christ's feet
and Martha busied herself.
She busied herself and then shelooked at Mary and was
skeptical of what Mary was doing, whether it was as worthwhile
as what she was doing.
And that's something that we'redoing in our society now.
(31:24):
We are educating young women tobe worker bees in the workforce
, right, so they're gettingready to be independent and to
be financially independent andnot needing any men to take care
of them, and that we're toldwell, women can do anything.
(31:49):
But that message has beentwisted right Women can do
anything, and we've made thatsound like it's something that
we should do in the, in the malerealm of things.
But the whole idea of womenbeing able to do anything, that
could also mean that, if we areattentive and careful, that when
(32:12):
trouble comes we can see ourway through.
So it's the intuition and theattention to each other in the
day-to-day that women are very,very good at.
And you know, I know thatthere's now and then there's a
(32:33):
woman who's different andexceptional and that she is not
going to be one of those.
Maybe she's I don't know asculptor, or maybe she has a
vision that takes her far beyondher community.
But most of us we're prettygood in our communities, we can
(32:56):
function in there, and the thingis that our babies, they look
up to us within our communitiesto see what they ought to be
doing.
And if we're not there anymore,if we've flown the coop and
gone off and on the adventure ofour lifetime but it's away from
our community, then we're notthere to foster their
(33:18):
development and encourage themto be good people in the eye of
God and to take on difficultthings, but the right, difficult
things that are in keeping withwhat would foster themselves,
(33:39):
their family and their community.
So, girls, so that's where themodern idea of what is best has
veered off from what Mother Maryis all about.
At least that's what I knowanyway.
Queenie Yu (34:02):
You know, tammy, you mentioned earlier that what
children want is to be loved andthey want attention.
So that's what Our Lady does.
She's always looking after us.
So that's what Our Lady does.
She's always looking after usthe smallest needs.
For example, at the wedding ofKena, she noticed that they were
(34:23):
running out of wine.
It's something small.
It wasn't even her job to belooking after that, like she was
a guest.
She wasn't organizing thewedding, but she noticed that
small detail.
And that's just an example ofthe small like if you don't have
wine, okay, it's not the end ofthe world.
You won't die from not havingwine.
(34:44):
Yeah, you're going to getembarrassed if you're the bride
and the groom, but it's not theend of your life.
So the fact of that detailbeing important to our lady
means that everything in ourlife is important to her.
She's paying attention to us.
And the other thing is what youmentioned, tammy.
(35:07):
I remember when I was stillfinishing up my MBA, I was
talking with a prof and Imentioned that I really wanted
to work in a high-tech startupbecause that's so cool.
And he said I think it would bea waste of your talent, because
you like working with peopleand you care about people.
You won't be able to exercisethat aspect of you in a
(35:28):
high-tech startup.
But after I graduated, I waslike, no, I want the high-tech
startup.
And then, years later, what amI doing?
I'm working in a school,helping young women to try to be
the best version of themselves,and I genuinely find that
fulfilling.
And I find that, yeah, I'mtrying to learn how to be a
(35:53):
parent, not that I'm a parent,trying to learn how to be a
parent, not that I'm a parent,but to educate young women.
It involves the heart of a, ofa mother, and I look to our lady
, for example.
So, for example, if a girl feelslike I don't know, feels that
(36:20):
you don't like her and it couldbe her perception but if she
perceives that you don't likeher, she's gonna be totally
closed and and won't listen inclass, won't hear anything you
say.
So what do I try to do?
I try to interest myself inwhat she likes.
Okay, she likes that type ofcartoon.
I'll find out a bit more aboutit.
(36:42):
She says that she has a bit ofa headache.
I'll ask her how she's feeling.
Attention, yes.
And then when I do that, Inotice that the next day she has
a better attitude and then shelearns better.
So, yeah, I notice that thenext day she has a better
attitude and then we could.
She learns better.
So, yeah, I learned that fromOur Lady, and she pays constant
(37:04):
attention to us.
Tammy Peterson (37:13):
And she's trying to direct us to God all the
time.
So we don't have to worry,because we just have to pray and
to pay attention and to seewhat the next right thing is to
do.
I find that sometimes I'll bedistracted by my worries about
my family.
You know so, the people in myfamily, and they're doing well.
(37:37):
They're doing well, all of them.
They're doing very, very well,and so I have realized, and I
continually have to convincemyself that they are doing a
great job and it's theirrelationship with Mother Mary
(38:02):
that will bring them in theright direction and that she's
always there, and to have thefaith and the trust that she's
always there.
So I still have.
But it'll take time, you know,it'll take time.
It'll take more prayer andmaybe who knows how long, and
(38:23):
I'll be able to grow myrelationship with Mother Mary so
that I believe and trust thatshe is there and she's taking
care of all of us, and that waymy worry will be minimized.
Sheila Nonato (38:41):
While each person's faith journey is unique
, a common bond is the interiorstruggle the struggle with self
and the struggle with God.
In the Bible we read of Jacobwrestling with God, prevailing
with God by faith and hisradical transformation
afterwards.
A new name and the gift ofGod's blessing for his life and
(39:05):
mission.
For Tammy Peterson and QueenieYu, both former atheists and now
converts to the Catholic faith,her journey towards God has
also led to a new life, thebirth of a new woman in Christ,
inspired by the feminine geniusof Mary, our Blessed Mother, and
(39:25):
with a mission to help othersknow the message of hope in our
faith, in the power of prayerand the unconditional love of
God.
Join us for part two when welook at the cross and the
meaning of sacrifice and howTammy's role in the recently
launched we who Wrestle With Godbook tour of her husband, dr
(39:48):
Jordan B Peterson, was inspiredby the search for truth and
perseverance in faith.
Thank you for joining us, godbless.
Thank you for listening to theVeil and.
Armour Podcast.
Co-Host (40:03):
I invite you to share this with another Catholic Mom
today.
Please subscribe to our podcastand YouTube Channel and please
spread the word.
Let's Be Brave, let's Be Boldand Be Blessed together.
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