We trace a family’s roots from Holocaust survival and Bishop von Galen’s courage to a modern Canadian home shaped by saints’ names, a modern-day courtship (with the help of a Catholic dating website), and faith that guides marriage, parenting, and public service. Practical habits and clear principles show how love endures amid busyness, travel, and six kids.
• naming children after saints who are role models of today
• St. Carlo Acutis inspiring a child-led naming choice
• von Galen’s witness and a grandmother’s survival
• intentional dating, clear vocational alignment
• long-distance courtship with focused questions
• proposal story and early married life
• practical conflict-solving routines in marriage
• viewing love as a daily, chosen practice
• faith integrated into family culture and work
• gratitude for community and listeners
Have you named your kids after saints? Let us know by commenting below or sending us fan mail on BuzzSprout
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Garnett Genius (00:00):
My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor and, uh
,she was living in the area,uh, where, um, where blessed,
uh, Clemens von Galen was.
And he had this because he wasa bishop, because he had an
aristocratic background, he kindof had a, uh, a, level of
stature that made him harder forthe Nazi regime to move
against.
And he really used his positionuh to speak out, uh, for, uh,
(00:21):
for justice, justice to speakout against what was happening.
And my grandmother pointed hisactivity as being a key reason
for her being able to survivebecause she was able to kind of
hide out on farms by people whowere hearing his sermons and
being influenced by it.
So now that I'm in politics, I,I reflect often on Von Galen's
example as someone who waswilling to speak truth to power
(00:42):
in an extremely difficultsituation.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (00:44):
Yeah, after Judah, we have Lily Kateri, so
the first indigenous Canadiansaint.
And then after her, we have.
uh.
Phineas Francis.
So.
um.
that was for St.
Francis Xavier.
Um.
my background, I'm from.
um.
a part of India called Goa, andSaint Francis Xavier on his
journeys to um evangelize, uh,spent time in Goa, and likely it
(01:06):
is uh a major part of the factthat my ancestors are Catholic,
was that he came and um andevangelized the uh the people in
that region.
Sheila Nonato (01:16):
A Saint in sneakers, and a brave bishop
speaking out against the Nazis.
What do they have to do with aCanadian family of eight in
Alberta?
Let's find out in this week'sepisode exploring the Genius
family's journey of faith andsecrets to a lasting marriage.
Thank you and God bless.
Good afternoon, Sisters inChrist.
(01:37):
We are humbled and honored tohave Conservative MP Garnett
Genius and his wife, Dr.
Rebecca Genius, on our podcast.
And if you wouldn't mindstarting us off, uh, with a
prayer, please.
Garnett Genius (01:49):
Sure.
Yeah.
In the name of Father, Son,and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Uh Heavenly Father, thank youfor this opportunity, for this,
uh, conversation.
I pray that you'll, uh, blessour time and bless those who are
listening.
Sheila Nonato (02:00):
Amen.
Amen.
Thank you so much.
And I.
um.
just.
uh .I have this book aboutCarlo Acutis, and it says "God's
Computer Genius," and yourname.
I mean, you're you have anawesome name.
Can you just give us a bit of abackground to your name?
Garnett Genius (02:17):
Uh, sure.
So, um, the, uh, my my, um,paternal grandparents were from
the little island of Malta, uh,where, uh, where St.
Paul was shipwrecked.
And, um, uh, so the originalpronunciation was Genuis, uh,
but when my uh my grandparent,suh, came to Canada. It was in
(02:40):
the 1950s, it was before kind ofthe the recognition of
multiculturalism that we havetoday.
So, uh, the pronunciation gotchanged to Genius in practice
because, uh, I guess that wasthat was him trying to, um,
blend in.
But anyways, it's a Maltesename and uh uh proud of that
that heritage and um uh that'swhere it comes from.
Sheila Nonato (03:03):
Okay, I'm so sorry.
I mispronounced your name then.
I'm gonna fix that.
Garnett Genius (03:08):
Well, the the point is everyone pronounces it
because my father changed it.
So, uh, no fault to anyone.
Sheila Nonato (03:16):
Okay, tell us again, how do you pronounce it
correctly?
Garnett Genius (03:18):
Uh , "Gen-us" is how we say it.
Sheila Nonato (03:20):
Gen-us.
Okay, so I'm gonna introduceyou to our non-Canadian
listeners, um, who are in a lotof them are in Australia,
actually, and uh some in Europe,so and a lot in America.
So just wanted to introduce youfirst.
Um, Garnett Genius, did I saythat correctly?
Garnett Genius (03:37):
Exactly.
Sheila Nonato (03:38):
Genius.
Garnett Genius (Gen-us) is amember of Parliament for
Sherwood Park for Saskatchewanand a Conservative Shadow
Minister for Jobs.
About his role in theConservative Shadow Cabinet,
Genius said, "A job is a way toearn a living, but is more than
that.
For many, a job is a criticalsource of meaning.
It helps us serve ourcommunities, provide for our
(03:58):
families, learn skills, and findour place in the world." First
elected to Parliament in 2015,Genius is a longtime resident of
Strathacona Concord County,where he currently resides with
his wife Rebecca, a familydoctor and their six children.
Genius has also been active onmany high-profile domestic and
(04:19):
international human rightsissues.
His interest in human rights wasshaped by the experience of his
grandmother, a Holocaustsurvivor.
He previously served for fiveyears as the Conservative Shadow
Minister for InternationalHealth Development.
Genius holds degrees fromCarleton University and the
London School of Economics, andhe runs a bi-weekly podcast
called Resuming Debate.
(04:39):
He publishes regularly onSubstack, and spends any spare
time reading history books andplaying strategy games with his
children.
The family also includes aNewfoundland, Newfoundlander dog
named Grace.
And now Dr.
Rebecca Genius is a physicianwith a special interest in
functional medicine as itpertains to women's health and
(04:59):
family.
And she has written for severalmedical journals and spoken at
numerous conferences on topicsincluding preconception care,
nutrition, environmental health,and medical ethics.
She is a mother to sixchildren, and having seen the
benefits of healthy living inher own family, she is
passionate about educatingcouples to make healthy choices
(05:20):
for themselves and theirfamilies.
Welcome.
And um, I'm already feelinginadequate.
I'm just joking.
But um, thank you so much for,um, joining us.
And I'm just really so inspiredby after I saw that story, um,
or that I guess it was a Twitterpost that was retweeted um by a
prominent Catholic blogger or,um, Twitter um influential
(05:44):
influencer, um, that you hadnamed your son after Saint Carlo
Acutis.
Can you tell us, um, yeah, howdid this happen?
How how why did you chooseCarlo Acutis?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (05:55):
Yeah, so all of our kids have saints' names
in their names because we think,I mean, the saints are these
great heroes for them to look upto and to hopefully learn from
and in some ways maybe modeltheir lives in different ways
after.
So um, but I will say with ouryoungest, so his first name's
Isidore.
Um we were, you know, we weretossing around names.
(06:16):
When you get to number six,maybe you don't have like your
poxary have been taken already.
So we I think that was like twoweeks before um I was set to
deliver, and we still didn'thave a name.
So we were playing with thesedifferent names.
And so one day at the dinnertable, I asked the kids, like,
hey, what do you guys think?
I gave them like fair warning.
(06:37):
We probably aren't gonna takethe names you suggest, but but
what do you think we should namethis baby anyway?
And we didn't know if it was aboy or a girl.
So so everyone, you know, cameup with these different names.
Um, my seven-year-old um saidwe should definitely name him
Carlo.
And it was because I've beenreading them this book on that
was called How to Become aSaint, based on sort of the life
(06:59):
of Blessed at the time, Carlo.
So, um, we'd been reading that,and then my seven-year-old had
like really caught the fire fromit.
And like one of the things wasgo to Mass as much as you can.
So she had started like comingto mass with me during the week
and different things.
So, anyway, so then she wassure that this baby's name
needed to be Carlo.
But her Dad and I weren't sosure.
(07:20):
So um, you know, one night Iwas she's sort of one of my more
sensitive children, which uh soone night we were, I was
putting her to bed, and I justmentioned, like, hey, just so
you know, we might not choosethe name Carlo.
And she just like burst intotears, and she was so sad she
couldn't even come for storytime because she couldn't
(07:41):
understand why this baby's namecouldn't be Carlo.
So Garnett was away the eveningthat happened, but I texted him
and I was like, "Lily's likereally sad about this." Like,
what are you saying?
And he was immediately like,"Okay, we just we'll have to
make it a middle name then ifit's a boy." So um, so okay, boy
number four.
And um, and that's sort ofwhere it came from.
(08:04):
So, like we, uh, I think wehave like learned a lot from
from now St.
Carlo, but it was reallyactually like the passion of my
seven-year-old that led to himgetting that as a middle name.
Sheila Nonato (08:17):
Okay, that's amazing.
And is there something now thathe's become a saint, it was his
feast day, the first feast daywas, uh ,on Sunday.
So yeah, that's pretty cool.
And um, yeah, what was itabou,t uh ,Blessed Carlo that
, um, I guess drew you drew youand your child to to the name?
Garnett Genius (08:36):
Yeah, so I as I recall, we had a a book about,
uh, then Blessed now Saint Carlothat, um, that, uh, our
daughter read and um she she gota lot out of.
And, um, I think it was kind ofhis his just kind of clear-eyed
focus on what was important,uh, and how that, um, was like
(08:59):
very easily understandable anddigested by by our children.
Um, and, uh, as Rebecca said, Imean, a key reason to name your
children after saints to holdup saints is that they be
examples of of virtue uh fromdifferent vocations.
We've got six kids now, so eachof them have kind of a
(09:20):
particular saint when we'redoing our our, uh, our family
prayers that we invoke and, uh,representing different different
kinds of, uh, vocations and andhighlighting for them that, um,
that God calls everyone from,um, from all circumstances and
in all vocations.
Sheila Nonato (09:36):
And are you able to share some of the names of
your kids?
Garnett Genius (09:40):
Sure, yeah.
So, um, well, uh the our ourour our oldest Saint Gianna
Molla, um, uh, uh, Rebecca'smedical background made that, uh
uh, a natural fit.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (09:53):
And yeah, that was negotiated while we
were dating.
Actually, I said our first borndaughter is gonna be Gianna.
So he agreed.
Garnett Genius (10:00):
Gianna Molla's son was in town here speaking to
the children.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (10:02):
That's right, when I was pregnant.
Garnett Genius (10:03):
So that was that was nice as well.
Um ,the the second, uh, son, uh, Judah Clement uh, for Clemens
von Galen, um, lesser known uhBlessed, uh, Blessed Clemens von
Galen was a um, was a very, uh,vocal critic of the Nazis in
Germany during the Second WorldWar.
(10:25):
Um, and a personal connectionto me.
So, uh, you mentioned the bio.
My grandmother was a Holocaustsurvivor, and she was living in
the area uh where um whereBlessed Clemens von Galen was.
And he had this because he wasa bishop, because he had an
aristocratic background, he kindof had uh a level of stature
that made him um uh harder forthe Nazi regime to move against.
(10:47):
And he really used his positionuh to speak out uh for uh for
justice, justice to speak outagainst what was happening.
And my grandmother, uh who wasnot Catholic, um attributed his
um his activity uh pointed hisactivity as being a key reason
for her being able to survivebecause she was able to kind of
hide out on farms uh uh bypeople who were hearing his
(11:10):
sermons and being influenced byi
t.
So uh now that I'm in politics,I I reflect often on Von
Galen's example as someone whowas uh willing to speak truth to
power in an extremely difficultsituation and um was able to
create uh create an environmentin that area where my
grandmother was able to survive.
So uh von Galen is particularlyimportant to me.
(11:30):
I have uh I have a big uhportrait uh of him on the wall
at my office.
And um uh there's uh there's agreed biography written uh
actually by a Toronto-basedpriest called uh uh "Lion of
Munster." So uh if if anyone isinterested in uh learning more
about Von Galen's story, uhagain, sort of lesser known uh
(11:50):
um uh I think compared to someof the other the others that
we've mentioned, but uh that's agreat, a great book that uh
that people can find.
Um , so ,uh, next one, do youwanna?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (12:01):
Yeah, after Judah, we have Lily Kateri, so
the first Indigenous Canadiansaint.
And then after her, we have,uh, Phineas Francis.
So um that is for St.
Francis Xavier.
Um, my background, I'm from uma part of India called Goa, and
St.
Francis Xavier on his journeysto um evangelize, uh, spent time
(12:22):
in Goa.
And likely it is, uh, a majorpart of the fact that um my
ancestors are Catholic was thathe came and um and evangelized
the uh the people in thatregion.
Garnett Genius (12:34):
And then, oh yes, and then we have you have
to do this when you have thismany children, you're like,
okay, we should have one, two,three.
Uh uh oh yeah, Augustine, uh,is his name.
We call him Gus for short, anduh uh of course after, uh, Saint
Augustine Hippo uh and then uhand then Isidore around the the
(12:55):
bunch.
Sheila Nonato (12:56):
Okay, amazing.
And um just to go back to yourgrandmother, I'm just curious.
So was she Catholic at thetime?
Can you tell us a little bitmore about her?
Garnett Genius (13:04):
Yeah, uh, so, uh, my grandmother was a
wonderful one of course, biginfluence on my life, uh very,
very devout uh Christian.
Um and uh so that I I think Ithink it there would have been
sort of a Catholic and aProtestant community in that
area of of uh of Germany.
Uh father's family were Jewish,although her grandparents had
(13:26):
converted to Christianity.
Um uh and uh so she I thinkturned 18 in 1945.
So she was she was a childliving in Germany kind of during
the the pre-war Nazi period andand uh and during the the war
itself.
Uh her father uh they were ableto get one visa out uh for the
(13:48):
family.
So her father, who was in thegreatest danger, uh and um uh uh
his presence would have causedmore danger for the family.
So he left uh right before thewar.
He took uh the Trans-Siberiantrain, got up, got a visa to
Ecuador, and ended up inEcuador.
Uh and then uh my grandmotherand her mother uh spent the war
(14:10):
uh in Germany.
And so she had to spend aportion of that period hiding
out.
And she would uh stay on farms,do some of the sort of hard
physical work, uh, and kind ofmove around from place to place
in order to avoid uh detectioncapture.
So um very, very hard, very,very painful uh time, but her
her faith was a great source ofstrength for her.
(14:32):
And um and so people may befamiliar with the the White Rose
movement.
So uh Clemens von Galen, thethe bishop, gave these um these
these very bold anti-Nazisermons that were widely
distributed.
And the Catholic Church faced alot of persecution uh in part
because of some of these stancesthat were that were taken uh
(14:53):
against the Nazis.
But because of his position ofprivilege, he was kind of able
to avoid able to avoidpersonally being um being
killed.
Although reports are that theNazi high command kind of
discussed how to deal with himand said that, well, they would
move against him after the warwas over.
And of course, uh they didn'tnever have the chance.
Now, von Galen was named acardinal right after the war,
(15:16):
and this was a powerful, um,powerful recognition of the good
people in Germany uh who hadstood up for what was right and
uh and stood against um againstthe regime.
And uh so he became a cardinaland uh a week later he uh he
died.
It was uh, you know, that wasuh I guess he knew he was quite
elderly at that point, and Iguess he'd he'd uh he'd
(15:38):
accomplished the tasks that hadbeen set out for him.
Meanwhile, my grandmother uh andher mother went to South
America to be uh reunited withher father.
Um my grandmother wasn't everable to finish um finish her her
education, but she got a job ina bookstore.
Uh so she uh she she made upfor what she hadn't been able to
(15:58):
learn in school and and thensome by reading voraciously.
Um and eventually she met uh uha Canadian engineer at a house
party um who was my grandfather,and uh they got engaged three
weeks after meeting and uh ummade it made a few other stops
in other places around theworld.
My uh my mother was born inVenezuela, but uh, anyways, they
(16:19):
ended up uh they ended up inCanada.
And so um um, you know, myfamily's quite ecumenical.
There's kind of a mix of uh uhpeople from different Christian
traditions in my family, but uhum the story of Von Galen has
has always been uh told uh toldvery fondly as a as a real
positive example of someonestanding out for what's right.
Sheila Nonato (16:41):
That's a phenomenal story.
And was that was yourgrandmother's um, I guess,
example, her faith?
What did that sort of informyour own faith growing up?
Garnett Genius (16:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um my my um my grandmother hadthis like incredible living
faith.
Like I remember when we werekids and we would stay over at
her house and uh we would praytogether before before we'd go
to bed, and invariably like wewould fall asleep in the middle
of her praying because she wouldpray for a long time, right?
But um but she had this likedemeanor when she was praying
(17:13):
like she was just talking tosomeone that she knew, right?
Like it was it was um like a awarm friendship conversation
with someone that she she knew.
And um uh I think you know,people who go through such
intense childhood trauma, um,you know, they have a lot of
different different kinds ofresponses to that, obviously.
(17:35):
And um, you know, and and andcertainly there had been a lot
of pain.
Um the the the version we sawof our grandmother was was just
so loving and optimistic andhopeful and um and uh it's
miraculous how her fate hassustained her uh through
(17:58):
incredibly different experiencesand and allowed her to be such
a blessing to so many people.
So I think a lot about her andum you know, and I think about
you know what when when you'rein a position of of power as a
leader, von Galen as a bishop,as a politician, um, you have
you have the opportunity to toto impact people's lives who
(18:19):
you'll you'll never meet.
So I think about her and Ithink about von Galen and and um
try to use the influence I havein my vocation to um this to be
a voice for those that don'thave a voice for themselves.
Sheila Nonato (18:31):
Um that's uh absolutely an amazing uh
testimony.
And um, Dr.
Rebecca, can you tell us alsowhere you said you mentioned
you're from Goa or you have tiesto Goa?
What what what is thebackground of your faith?
How did you did you grow up asa Catholic?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (18:47):
I did, yeah.
So both my parents were um wereGoan Indians, and so um like
the majority of Goans, they umthey were Catholic.
So they both came to Canadawhen they were before they knew
each other, before they weremarried.
And so I was born and raised inBurlington, Ontario, just
outside of Toronto, and um, andI was, you know, baptized as an
(19:08):
infant, grew up going toCatholic school, and um as I
think often is the case with umwith Catholics in that family,
sort of it was a slow discoveryof my faith and appreciation of
just the richness and the depthand the beauty of it as I got
older and learned more and waswas more formed.
Sheila Nonato (19:27):
Yes, amazing.
And um, so how did you both ifyou don't mind?
Garnett Genius (19:33):
Uh yeah, no, that that's fine.
So there are uh um a fewdifferent versions, but the most
immediate one was uh "CatholicMatch," the uh Catholic dating
website.
So we had some mutual friendsin common.
Rebecca had uh my my father's adoctor as well.
Rebecca had done an electivewith him.
Um but uh so so we we kind ofknew who each other were, but
(19:56):
the uh the immediate trigger wasuh Catholic dating website, uh
which is uh which is a you knowgood tool, frankly, for people
of uh of any faith to usefaith-based uh uh online tools
for expediting the process.
Sheila Nonato (20:11):
Yeah, amazing.
I mean Carl uh St.
Carlo had used the internet, soit's sort of a propos that you
met that way.
So yeah.
Um yeah.
Did you meet in Ontario?
I was gonna say, did you meetin Ontario or in Alberta?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (20:28):
Yeah, so Garner was going to school in
Ottawa at the time we met, so itwas like a six-hour drive away,
which was really doable.
So we we dated for about sixmonths, and then he proposed and
got on a plane to do a Master'sin England, and then he
returned a few weeks before ourwedding, and we got married 13
months about after we met.
Garnett Genius (20:48):
So it was more like four months.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (20:50):
No, it is actually six months, but uh so
we were long distance the wholetime.
Um, but on our first date,Garnet told me a few things.
He said, uh, number one, hisgreat pickup life, you know,
I've never dated someone in thenatural sciences, so I don't
really know if this is gonnawork.
Garnett Genius (21:10):
You know, it's part part of the context is my
whole like a lot of my familyare doctors, right?
So we have this like banterback and forth.
I'm I'm one of the uh minorityin my family that that uh
pursued a career in the in thesocial sciences.
So uh yes.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (21:26):
And then he also told me, um, after I'm done
in my education, I am movingback to Alberta and um and I'm
gonna be running for office.
So if that doesn't work withyour life plans, then uh this
also is not gonna work.
So I mean, I think earlyon, Garnett sort of knew what
his vocation was in terms ofpolitics, and um so that was
always the plan was that wewould end up here.
(21:48):
Um, and so we have.
Sheila Nonato (21:51):
And you're I mean, you're still very young,
but uh at that point, I guessyou were in your 20s when you
got married?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (21:56):
Yeah, I was 23.
And Garnet t was 24.
Sheila Nonato (21:59):
Okay, and so I mean, it's it's kind of
counter-cultural now to getmarried that young.
Um, what made you guys decide?
Um, you know, this is for us.
And um, and you wanted to uh dothis together, this political
life.
Garnett Genius (22:16):
Um maybe I'll go I'll go first on that.
Like um, so I have this to kindof connect something I'm doing
now.
So I have this role within ourour conservative team uh as the
point person for jobs.
And so I I talk to young peopleabout career planning.
And uh one of the things I seein the context of career
planning, I think it it itapplies to a lot of areas of
(22:36):
life, is is it's good to kind ofthink early about where you
want to go and and to startearly pursuing your goals.
If you're if you want to have acareer in a certain area, um
think about how you can startacquiring the skills for that
area when you're when you'reyounger.
And um and and it also when itcomes to marriage and family,
(22:57):
um, it was it was our judgmentthat it was it was good to um
identify um the direction wewanted to go and then to to
proceed down that path.
No, you know, it is funnylooking back because um like now
uh we've been married for about15 years, um, still still madly
(23:18):
in love, um and knowing knowingeach other much better than we
did.
It's sort of funny looking backand thinking, like, man, I I
really had very littleinformation when making that
initial decision, right?
But I guess I guess you wouldalways feel that way, right?
Like uh even if we had datedfor longer, like you you'd
always feel that relativelyspeaking, but it it's um um and
(23:40):
we had a lot of really likeintentional conversation.
It's probably part of thenature of a long distance
relationship, is is it's notlike we were attracted to each
other because of you know acommon interest in playing golf
or something, right?
Like we we were intentional inmeeting, intentional and having
conversations about um what wewanted to do and where we wanted
to go and what was important tous.
(24:01):
So um we we had the importantconversations and then we're
ready to pull the trigger.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (24:08):
Yeah, I think that's right.
I mean, I think we did prettytoo and felt like God
said, "Here is, here's the rightperson." And um that has
certainly proven to be the case.
Sheila Nonato (24:18):
And uh yes, as you were saying, the
intentionality.
Um my husband did the samething to me.
He had a book of questions.
Actually, the priest gave it tohim.
So I guess I passed.
It was a whole book, anyways.
Um that uh yeah, and we alsogot married like relatively
quickly, maybe within fivemonths.
Um but yeah, intentionality.
So yeah, he also said he's inthe military, he's in the
(24:39):
reserves.
He said, you know, this is mylife, and um, yeah, if you
doesn't work with you, then uhyou know, I guess this is not
gonna work, but it it's working.
Garnett Genius (24:48):
And so but yeah, I always try to advise people
like I mean, you know, you youyou want to still be more
romantic and not make it soundjust like a job interview, but
but it like it makes sense toask the serious questions early
on before you've wasted time andenergy.
And uh, you know, you don'twanna you don't want to be going
out with someone for a longtime and feel that emotional
(25:10):
entanglement and then be like,wait, wait, what?
There's some there's somefundamental aspect of your
future plans or your values thatmakes us incompatible like that
then you've just you've justset yourself up for unnecessary
uh heartache.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (25:25):
Or compromise.
Sheila Nonato (25:27):
Yeah.
And uh I hope you don't mind.
How did the proposal go?
Garnett Genius (25:32):
Well if the if the result was the she
said, "Yes." So uh yeah, it wasso uh I I don't I don't know if
this is still a thing, right?
But uh they had they had rideshares.
Uh and this is how I would savemoney traveling between Toronto
(25:52):
and Ottawa.
I would, you know, pay $20 tohitch a ride with someone.
Um, and uh so I was going toToronto to propose and surprise
Rebecca, and I had the ring inmy bag.
So I'm taking this ride share.
And I uh, you know, I was I wassharing a car with like the
most uncouth group of young menyou could possibly imagine, who
(26:15):
I casually mentioned I wasthinking about uh proposing, and
they actively tried to talk meout of it.
Um so I I kind of left the car.
Anyways, but uh uh we I had acake made that said, Will you
marry me?
And then I uh I uh stuck a ringin it.
Stuck a ring in the cake andcame to the door and ring the
(26:36):
bell and surprised her.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (26:38):
I was in my pajamas, it was brutal.
But I changed before we tookthe pictures, yeah.
Sheila Nonato (26:44):
Oh, that's such a sweet uh proposal.
Um and sorry, I I see that ourtime is almost up.
I just wanted to get to likemarriage.
And you know, it's hard.
Marriage is hard, and some youknow, young people seem to not
be wanting to get marriedbecause probably it's hard, and
so so are children, havingchildren.
Sorry, my son is in thebackground speaking of children.
(27:05):
Yes, yes, yeah, he has a littlecold, so he's asking for a
scotch mint, but anyways, um,yeah, so what are the you've
been married for 15 years and uhyou should be getting a medal,
you know how you guys have whatis the secret to a lasting
marriage?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (27:27):
Um like marriage is wonderful and it's
the best relationship thatyou'll ever have, and so with
the human.
So like it's worth working onand it's worth figuring out.
And I think like I think thething that makes our marriage
work well is just that we'redetermined to make it work.
So regardless of what'shappening in our lives or what
(27:49):
our circumstances are, um, wetake the time to figure out
what's not working if there arethings, and then we talk about
it and we try things and we sortof, I think of our marriage
just like this thing that we'regoing to find ways to make work.
And when it's not working, thenwe're going to analyze it like
a little bit scientific, butwe're just gonna like think
(28:10):
about okay, what is the problemhere?
And then we're gonna come upwith a solution, a hypothesis,
if you will, and then we'regonna try it for a while.
And then if it doesn't work,then we're going to develop
another hypothesis and we'regonna just keep working on it
until it works because um, likefor me, for children, like it
it's such a source of of joy, ofstability, and like a launching
(28:31):
pad for them in terms of theirencounter with with the world,
the culture, with their withtheir environment.
And um, so I I just think it'slike worth every amount of
effort um that that it requiresof us.
Garnett Genius (28:47):
I think one of the things we established early
on was like uh um when therewere points of friction, we
would try to talk things throughto solutions.
Like I we didn't want to behaving the same conversation
about the same problem over andover and over again.
Like we wanted to, we you know,if there was an issue, we would
(29:07):
talk talk it through and try tocome to a to a solution to it
and um and then action that.
Um like we now our life is likewhen you've got a large family.
I travel back and forth uhbetween Alberta and Ottawa for
work.
Like there are a lot of likelogistical and time pressures.
(29:30):
And uh having a large family, Imean it's it's uh uh it's it's
um there's a lot of likecoordination of logistics
involved, right?
Um, but I I I think um you knowwe're we're uh we we as we
constantly adapt to newcircumstances, we we make it
work well.
And at the at the center of itis that we we deeply love each
(29:52):
other and and see love as beinga choice, right?
Not not not just something thatthat hits you over the head and
and lasts as long as it does,but as
Sheila Nonato (30:05):
And finally, so how does faith play in your
marriage?
What role does it play and inyour family?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (30:20):
Um so I guess like I would say um like
being Catholic, trusting thechurch who says like marriage is
this metaphysical thing thatexists then, um, that has
informed my approach to marriageto say, you know, this is a
thing that I am sort of in forthe rest of my life.
And so I'm going to make itenjoyable for myself, for my
(30:41):
husband, because I don't want tobe a part of something that
that isn't that, right?
So I think like having thatsort of truth then informs my
approach to marriage.
It's not a thing that I enjoyas long as it's enjoyable and
then I leave, but it's sort of alonger commitment.
It's a lifelong commitment thatI've made.
Um and then I think like thefaith is just so rich that it
(31:02):
informs our family culture in somany ways.
Um, like we talked about ourchildren having saint names, so
we we celebrate their saints'feast days, right?
We um there's just there's somuch um about our faith, I
guess, that like trickles in,that informs our dinner time
discussions.
It um it helps us, you know, ifwe're watching a movie to talk
about like, hey, should thisperson have done this or should
(31:23):
they not have?
And like, why do you sing thator why don't you think that?
Right.
Like it's just um it sort ofpermeates our life in in many
ways.
Um, and the community too, thatwe have that comes from being
part of a faith community hasbeen uh a huge gift to to the
children and and to us too.
Garnett Genius (31:40):
Yeah, and and the way I would I would put it
is um like I I'm a Catholicbecause I believe the
propositions of our faith aretrue and that truth um truth
testifies to truth in in alldomains and um it is also good
(32:01):
and beautiful.
Um so uh it's not that I wouldsee faith as like this kind of
separate thing that uh informsor influences life.
I would I would more say thatlike um uh it is good to live
your life in accordance withreality, that is in accordance
with truths about the world,about the human condition.
Um and um you know uh I spend alot of time, uh, even as it
(32:32):
relates to the work I'm doing,sort of reading uh social
teaching, for example, as agreat um repository of truth, of
ideas about the human person,about society, the human
condition, uh that that um thatwork well in dialogue with other
sources.
So yeah, like I don't see faithas being sort of a thing
(32:52):
separate.
I see it as a thing, uh thingintegrated with our with our
marriage, with our family life,um, with the work we do.
Sheila Nonato (33:00):
And have you celebrated your anniversary yet
or is it coming up?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (33:04):
It's in May.
Ok, ok.
Garnett Genius (33:20):
So there's always a roll of the dice,
whether I am working or not.
Sheila Nonato (33:23):
Okay, okay.
Yeah, okay, okay.
Well, I'm I'm again trulyinspired by you and your family.
Uh, I've seen the the photos ofyou and then for Thanksgiving
you had this beautiful familypicture.
Um, that you know, I wastelling my husband, like, this
this family is amazing.
Like, I I wish that you wouldbe celebrated more, really,
(33:44):
because uh, you know, we do needa lot of witnesses, um, you
know, because yeah, fit familyand marriage is can be a
struggle, um, but it's it's alsoa joy.
And it's it's great to see thatjoy and that hope and that
happiness in your own family.
So thank you for sharing withus.
It was there anything else youwanted to add?
Garnett Genius (34:02):
I don't want to give people the impression that
like every moment is is easy orlike, you know, the the there's
a lot of uh there's a lot oftakes that go into every one of
those pictures, you know.
It's uh which is which is sortof like like life, I guess, but
uh but eventually eventually youtry to you try to get the good
one.
And and uh so thank you forthank you for this opportunity.
And um it's uh it's it's greatto have this chance for us to
(34:26):
reflect a bit more and chatabout these things too.
So thank you for what you do.
Sheila Nonato (34:29):
Okay, well, thank you so much.
Uh yeah, that's amazing.
And thank you for taking thistime.
I know you're you're superbusy.
Family time is so important andcrucial to you.
So I appreciate you taking thistime.
God bless you.
Garnett Genius (34:40):
Thank you.
Sheila Nonato (34:41):
Continued blessings.
Take care.
Thank you so much.
Bye.
Thank you very much for joiningus this week.
We want to wish a blessedThanksgiving to our American
listeners and subscribers, andthank you to all of you who have
been with us recently or sincethe beginning from different
countries around the world: Australia, Israel, Germany, (34:59):
undefined
Luxembourg, Vietnam, Russia,and, of course, Canada.
I'm so humbled to report thatwe are close to 5,000 downloads
on our audio podcast and havemore than 700 subscribers and
101,000 views on our humbleYouTube channel.
(35:19):
We appreciate each and every oneof you, and we sincerely,
sincerely keep you in ourprayers, and please keep us in
yours.
Thank you.
Have you named your kids aftersaints?
Let us know by commenting belowor sending us fan mail on
BuzzFroute.
Thank you again, God bless, andhave blessed Thanksgiving.
And thank you to the Geniusfamily for sharing their
(35:43):
beautiful story of faith andfamily as an example for all of
us.
God bless, thank you forlistening to the Veil + Armour
(36:10):
Podcast.
Let's Be Brave, let's Be Bold, andBe Blessed together.
My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor and, uh
,she was living in the area,uh, where, um, where blessed,
uh, Clemens von Galen was.
And he had this because he wasa bishop, because he had an
aristocratic background, he kindof had a, uh, a, level of
stature that made him harder forthe Nazi regime to move
against.
And he really used his positionuh to speak out, uh, for, uh,
(00:21):
for justice, justice to speakout against what was happening.
And my grandmother pointed hisactivity as being a key reason
for her being able to survivebecause she was able to kind of
hide out on farms by people whowere hearing his sermons and
being influenced by it.
So now that I'm in politics, I,I reflect often on Von Galen's
example as someone who waswilling to speak truth to power
(00:42):
in an extremely difficultsituation.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (00:44):
Yeah, after Judah, we have Lily Kateri, so
the first indigenous Canadiansaint.
And then after her, we have.
uh.
Phineas Francis.
So.
um.
that was for St.
Francis Xavier.
Um.
my background, I'm from.
um.
a part of India called Goa, andSaint Francis Xavier on his
journeys to um evangelize, uh,spent time in Goa, and likely it
(01:06):
is uh a major part of the factthat my ancestors are Catholic,
was that he came and um andevangelized the uh the people in
that region.
Sheila Nonato (01:16):
A Saint in sneakers, and a brave bishop
speaking out against the Nazis.
What do they have to do with aCanadian family of eight in
Alberta?
Let's find out in this week'sepisode exploring the Genius
family's journey of faith andsecrets to a lasting marriage.
Thank you and God bless.
Good afternoon, Sisters inChrist.
(01:37):
We are humbled and honored tohave Conservative MP Garnett
Genius and his wife, Dr.
Rebecca Genius, on our podcast.
And if you wouldn't mindstarting us off, uh, with a
prayer, please.
Garnett Genius (01:49):
Sure.
Yeah.
In the name of Father, Son,and Holy Spirit, Amen.
Uh Heavenly Father, thank youfor this opportunity, for this,
uh, conversation.
I pray that you'll, uh, blessour time and bless those who are
listening.
Sheila Nonato (02:00):
Amen.
Amen.
Thank you so much.
And I.
um.
just.
uh .I have this book aboutCarlo Acutis, and it says "God's
Computer Genius," and yourname.
I mean, you're you have anawesome name.
Can you just give us a bit of abackground to your name?
Garnett Genius (02:17):
Uh, sure.
So, um, the, uh, my my, um,paternal grandparents were from
the little island of Malta, uh,where, uh, where St.
Paul was shipwrecked.
And, um, uh, so the originalpronunciation was Genuis, uh,
but when my uh my grandparent,suh, came to Canada. It was in
(02:40):
the 1950s, it was before kind ofthe the recognition of
multiculturalism that we havetoday.
So, uh, the pronunciation gotchanged to Genius in practice
because, uh, I guess that wasthat was him trying to, um,
blend in.
But anyways, it's a Maltesename and uh uh proud of that
that heritage and um uh that'swhere it comes from.
Sheila Nonato (03:03):
Okay, I'm so sorry.
I mispronounced your name then.
I'm gonna fix that.
Garnett Genius (03:08):
Well, the the point is everyone pronounces it
because my father changed it.
So, uh, no fault to anyone.
Sheila Nonato (03:16):
Okay, tell us again, how do you pronounce it
correctly?
Garnett Genius (03:18):
Uh , "Gen-us" is how we say it.
Sheila Nonato (03:20):
Gen-us.
Okay, so I'm gonna introduceyou to our non-Canadian
listeners, um, who are in a lotof them are in Australia,
actually, and uh some in Europe,so and a lot in America.
So just wanted to introduce youfirst.
Um, Garnett Genius, did I saythat correctly?
Garnett Genius (03:37):
Exactly.
Sheila Nonato (03:38):
Genius.
Garnett Genius (Gen-us) is amember of Parliament for
Sherwood Park for Saskatchewanand a Conservative Shadow
Minister for Jobs.
About his role in theConservative Shadow Cabinet,
Genius said, "A job is a way toearn a living, but is more than
that.
For many, a job is a criticalsource of meaning.
It helps us serve ourcommunities, provide for our
(03:58):
families, learn skills, and findour place in the world." First
elected to Parliament in 2015,Genius is a longtime resident of
Strathacona Concord County,where he currently resides with
his wife Rebecca, a familydoctor and their six children.
Genius has also been active onmany high-profile domestic and
(04:19):
international human rightsissues.
His interest in human rights wasshaped by the experience of his
grandmother, a Holocaustsurvivor.
He previously served for fiveyears as the Conservative Shadow
Minister for InternationalHealth Development.
Genius holds degrees fromCarleton University and the
London School of Economics, andhe runs a bi-weekly podcast
called Resuming Debate.
(04:39):
He publishes regularly onSubstack, and spends any spare
time reading history books andplaying strategy games with his
children.
The family also includes aNewfoundland, Newfoundlander dog
named Grace.
And now Dr.
Rebecca Genius is a physicianwith a special interest in
functional medicine as itpertains to women's health and
(04:59):
family.
And she has written for severalmedical journals and spoken at
numerous conferences on topicsincluding preconception care,
nutrition, environmental health,and medical ethics.
She is a mother to sixchildren, and having seen the
benefits of healthy living inher own family, she is
passionate about educatingcouples to make healthy choices
(05:20):
for themselves and theirfamilies.
Welcome.
And um, I'm already feelinginadequate.
I'm just joking.
But um, thank you so much for,um, joining us.
And I'm just really so inspiredby after I saw that story, um,
or that I guess it was a Twitterpost that was retweeted um by a
prominent Catholic blogger or,um, Twitter um influential
(05:44):
influencer, um, that you hadnamed your son after Saint Carlo
Acutis.
Can you tell us, um, yeah, howdid this happen?
How how why did you chooseCarlo Acutis?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (05:55):
Yeah, so all of our kids have saints' names
in their names because we think,I mean, the saints are these
great heroes for them to look upto and to hopefully learn from
and in some ways maybe modeltheir lives in different ways
after.
So um, but I will say with ouryoungest, so his first name's
Isidore.
Um we were, you know, we weretossing around names.
(06:16):
When you get to number six,maybe you don't have like your
poxary have been taken already.
So we I think that was like twoweeks before um I was set to
deliver, and we still didn'thave a name.
So we were playing with thesedifferent names.
And so one day at the dinnertable, I asked the kids, like,
hey, what do you guys think?
I gave them like fair warning.
(06:37):
We probably aren't gonna takethe names you suggest, but but
what do you think we should namethis baby anyway?
And we didn't know if it was aboy or a girl.
So so everyone, you know, cameup with these different names.
Um, my seven-year-old um saidwe should definitely name him
Carlo.
And it was because I've beenreading them this book on that
was called How to Become aSaint, based on sort of the life
(06:59):
of Blessed at the time, Carlo.
So, um, we'd been reading that,and then my seven-year-old had
like really caught the fire fromit.
And like one of the things wasgo to Mass as much as you can.
So she had started like comingto mass with me during the week
and different things.
So, anyway, so then she wassure that this baby's name
needed to be Carlo.
But her Dad and I weren't sosure.
(07:20):
So um, you know, one night Iwas she's sort of one of my more
sensitive children, which uh soone night we were, I was
putting her to bed, and I justmentioned, like, hey, just so
you know, we might not choosethe name Carlo.
And she just like burst intotears, and she was so sad she
couldn't even come for storytime because she couldn't
(07:41):
understand why this baby's namecouldn't be Carlo.
So Garnett was away the eveningthat happened, but I texted him
and I was like, "Lily's likereally sad about this." Like,
what are you saying?
And he was immediately like,"Okay, we just we'll have to
make it a middle name then ifit's a boy." So um, so okay, boy
number four.
And um, and that's sort ofwhere it came from.
(08:04):
So, like we, uh, I think wehave like learned a lot from
from now St.
Carlo, but it was reallyactually like the passion of my
seven-year-old that led to himgetting that as a middle name.
Sheila Nonato (08:17):
Okay, that's amazing.
And is there something now thathe's become a saint, it was his
feast day, the first feast daywas, uh ,on Sunday.
So yeah, that's pretty cool.
And um, yeah, what was itabou,t uh ,Blessed Carlo that
, um, I guess drew you drew youand your child to to the name?
Garnett Genius (08:36):
Yeah, so I as I recall, we had a a book about,
uh, then Blessed now Saint Carlothat, um, that, uh, our
daughter read and um she she gota lot out of.
And, um, I think it was kind ofhis his just kind of clear-eyed
focus on what was important,uh, and how that, um, was like
(08:59):
very easily understandable anddigested by by our children.
Um, and, uh, as Rebecca said, Imean, a key reason to name your
children after saints to holdup saints is that they be
examples of of virtue uh fromdifferent vocations.
We've got six kids now, so eachof them have kind of a
(09:20):
particular saint when we'redoing our our, uh, our family
prayers that we invoke and, uh,representing different different
kinds of, uh, vocations and andhighlighting for them that, um,
that God calls everyone from,um, from all circumstances and
in all vocations.
Sheila Nonato (09:36):
And are you able to share some of the names of
your kids?
Garnett Genius (09:40):
Sure, yeah.
So, um, well, uh the our ourour our oldest Saint Gianna
Molla, um, uh, uh, Rebecca'smedical background made that, uh
uh, a natural fit.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (09:53):
And yeah, that was negotiated while we
were dating.
Actually, I said our first borndaughter is gonna be Gianna.
So he agreed.
Garnett Genius (10:00):
Gianna Molla's son was in town here speaking to
the children.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (10:02):
That's right, when I was pregnant.
Garnett Genius (10:03):
So that was that was nice as well.
Um ,the the second, uh, son, uh, Judah Clement uh, for Clemens
von Galen, um, lesser known uhBlessed, uh, Blessed Clemens von
Galen was a um, was a very, uh,vocal critic of the Nazis in
Germany during the Second WorldWar.
(10:25):
Um, and a personal connectionto me.
So, uh, you mentioned the bio.
My grandmother was a Holocaustsurvivor, and she was living in
the area uh where um whereBlessed Clemens von Galen was.
And he had this because he wasa bishop, because he had an
aristocratic background, he kindof had uh a level of stature
that made him um uh harder forthe Nazi regime to move against.
(10:47):
And he really used his positionuh to speak out uh for uh for
justice, justice to speak outagainst what was happening.
And my grandmother, uh who wasnot Catholic, um attributed his
um his activity uh pointed hisactivity as being a key reason
for her being able to survivebecause she was able to kind of
hide out on farms uh uh bypeople who were hearing his
(11:10):
sermons and being influenced byi
t.
So uh now that I'm in politics,I I reflect often on Von
Galen's example as someone whowas uh willing to speak truth to
power in an extremely difficultsituation and um was able to
create uh create an environmentin that area where my
grandmother was able to survive.
So uh von Galen is particularlyimportant to me.
(11:30):
I have uh I have a big uhportrait uh of him on the wall
at my office.
And um uh there's uh there's agreed biography written uh
actually by a Toronto-basedpriest called uh uh "Lion of
Munster." So uh if if anyone isinterested in uh learning more
about Von Galen's story, uhagain, sort of lesser known uh
(11:50):
um uh I think compared to someof the other the others that
we've mentioned, but uh that's agreat, a great book that uh
that people can find.
Um , so ,uh, next one, do youwanna?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (12:01):
Yeah, after Judah, we have Lily Kateri, so
the first Indigenous Canadiansaint.
And then after her, we have,uh, Phineas Francis.
So um that is for St.
Francis Xavier.
Um, my background, I'm from uma part of India called Goa, and
St.
Francis Xavier on his journeysto um evangelize, uh, spent time
(12:22):
in Goa.
And likely it is, uh, a majorpart of the fact that um my
ancestors are Catholic was thathe came and um and evangelized
the uh the people in thatregion.
Garnett Genius (12:34):
And then, oh yes, and then we have you have
to do this when you have thismany children, you're like,
okay, we should have one, two,three.
Uh uh oh yeah, Augustine, uh,is his name.
We call him Gus for short, anduh uh of course after, uh, Saint
Augustine Hippo uh and then uhand then Isidore around the the
(12:55):
bunch.
Sheila Nonato (12:56):
Okay, amazing.
And um just to go back to yourgrandmother, I'm just curious.
So was she Catholic at thetime?
Can you tell us a little bitmore about her?
Garnett Genius (13:04):
Yeah, uh, so, uh, my grandmother was a
wonderful one of course, biginfluence on my life, uh very,
very devout uh Christian.
Um and uh so that I I think Ithink it there would have been
sort of a Catholic and aProtestant community in that
area of of uh of Germany.
Uh father's family were Jewish,although her grandparents had
(13:26):
converted to Christianity.
Um uh and uh so she I thinkturned 18 in 1945.
So she was she was a childliving in Germany kind of during
the the pre-war Nazi period andand uh and during the the war
itself.
Uh her father uh they were ableto get one visa out uh for the
(13:48):
family.
So her father, who was in thegreatest danger, uh and um uh uh
his presence would have causedmore danger for the family.
So he left uh right before thewar.
He took uh the Trans-Siberiantrain, got up, got a visa to
Ecuador, and ended up inEcuador.
Uh and then uh my grandmotherand her mother uh spent the war
(14:10):
uh in Germany.
And so she had to spend aportion of that period hiding
out.
And she would uh stay on farms,do some of the sort of hard
physical work, uh, and kind ofmove around from place to place
in order to avoid uh detectioncapture.
So um very, very hard, very,very painful uh time, but her
her faith was a great source ofstrength for her.
(14:32):
And um and so people may befamiliar with the the White Rose
movement.
So uh Clemens von Galen, thethe bishop, gave these um these
these very bold anti-Nazisermons that were widely
distributed.
And the Catholic Church faced alot of persecution uh in part
because of some of these stancesthat were that were taken uh
(14:53):
against the Nazis.
But because of his position ofprivilege, he was kind of able
to avoid able to avoidpersonally being um being
killed.
Although reports are that theNazi high command kind of
discussed how to deal with himand said that, well, they would
move against him after the warwas over.
And of course, uh they didn'tnever have the chance.
Now, von Galen was named acardinal right after the war,
(15:16):
and this was a powerful, um,powerful recognition of the good
people in Germany uh who hadstood up for what was right and
uh and stood against um againstthe regime.
And uh so he became a cardinaland uh a week later he uh he
died.
It was uh, you know, that wasuh I guess he knew he was quite
elderly at that point, and Iguess he'd he'd uh he'd
(15:38):
accomplished the tasks that hadbeen set out for him.
Meanwhile, my grandmother uh andher mother went to South
America to be uh reunited withher father.
Um my grandmother wasn't everable to finish um finish her her
education, but she got a job ina bookstore.
Uh so she uh she she made upfor what she hadn't been able to
(15:58):
learn in school and and thensome by reading voraciously.
Um and eventually she met uh uha Canadian engineer at a house
party um who was my grandfather,and uh they got engaged three
weeks after meeting and uh ummade it made a few other stops
in other places around theworld.
My uh my mother was born inVenezuela, but uh, anyways, they
(16:19):
ended up uh they ended up inCanada.
And so um um, you know, myfamily's quite ecumenical.
There's kind of a mix of uh uhpeople from different Christian
traditions in my family, but uhum the story of Von Galen has
has always been uh told uh toldvery fondly as a as a real
positive example of someonestanding out for what's right.
Sheila Nonato (16:41):
That's a phenomenal story.
And was that was yourgrandmother's um, I guess,
example, her faith?
What did that sort of informyour own faith growing up?
Garnett Genius (16:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
Um my my um my grandmother hadthis like incredible living
faith.
Like I remember when we werekids and we would stay over at
her house and uh we would praytogether before before we'd go
to bed, and invariably like wewould fall asleep in the middle
of her praying because she wouldpray for a long time, right?
But um but she had this likedemeanor when she was praying
(17:13):
like she was just talking tosomeone that she knew, right?
Like it was it was um like a awarm friendship conversation
with someone that she she knew.
And um uh I think you know,people who go through such
intense childhood trauma, um,you know, they have a lot of
different different kinds ofresponses to that, obviously.
(17:35):
And um, you know, and and andcertainly there had been a lot
of pain.
Um the the the version we sawof our grandmother was was just
so loving and optimistic andhopeful and um and uh it's
miraculous how her fate hassustained her uh through
(17:58):
incredibly different experiencesand and allowed her to be such
a blessing to so many people.
So I think a lot about her andum you know, and I think about
you know what when when you'rein a position of of power as a
leader, von Galen as a bishop,as a politician, um, you have
you have the opportunity to toto impact people's lives who
(18:19):
you'll you'll never meet.
So I think about her and Ithink about von Galen and and um
try to use the influence I havein my vocation to um this to be
a voice for those that don'thave a voice for themselves.
Sheila Nonato (18:31):
Um that's uh absolutely an amazing uh
testimony.
And um, Dr.
Rebecca, can you tell us alsowhere you said you mentioned
you're from Goa or you have tiesto Goa?
What what what is thebackground of your faith?
How did you did you grow up asa Catholic?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (18:47):
I did, yeah.
So both my parents were um wereGoan Indians, and so um like
the majority of Goans, they umthey were Catholic.
So they both came to Canadawhen they were before they knew
each other, before they weremarried.
And so I was born and raised inBurlington, Ontario, just
outside of Toronto, and um, andI was, you know, baptized as an
(19:08):
infant, grew up going toCatholic school, and um as I
think often is the case with umwith Catholics in that family,
sort of it was a slow discoveryof my faith and appreciation of
just the richness and the depthand the beauty of it as I got
older and learned more and waswas more formed.
Sheila Nonato (19:27):
Yes, amazing.
And um, so how did you both ifyou don't mind?
Garnett Genius (19:33):
Uh yeah, no, that that's fine.
So there are uh um a fewdifferent versions, but the most
immediate one was uh "CatholicMatch," the uh Catholic dating
website.
So we had some mutual friendsin common.
Rebecca had uh my my father's adoctor as well.
Rebecca had done an electivewith him.
Um but uh so so we we kind ofknew who each other were, but
(19:56):
the uh the immediate trigger wasuh Catholic dating website, uh
which is uh which is a you knowgood tool, frankly, for people
of uh of any faith to usefaith-based uh uh online tools
for expediting the process.
Sheila Nonato (20:11):
Yeah, amazing.
I mean Carl uh St.
Carlo had used the internet, soit's sort of a propos that you
met that way.
So yeah.
Um yeah.
Did you meet in Ontario?
I was gonna say, did you meetin Ontario or in Alberta?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (20:28):
Yeah, so Garner was going to school in
Ottawa at the time we met, so itwas like a six-hour drive away,
which was really doable.
So we we dated for about sixmonths, and then he proposed and
got on a plane to do a Master'sin England, and then he
returned a few weeks before ourwedding, and we got married 13
months about after we met.
Garnett Genius (20:48):
So it was more like four months.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (20:50):
No, it is actually six months, but uh so
we were long distance the wholetime.
Um, but on our first date,Garnet told me a few things.
He said, uh, number one, hisgreat pickup life, you know,
I've never dated someone in thenatural sciences, so I don't
really know if this is gonnawork.
Garnett Genius (21:10):
You know, it's part part of the context is my
whole like a lot of my familyare doctors, right?
So we have this like banterback and forth.
I'm I'm one of the uh minorityin my family that that uh
pursued a career in the in thesocial sciences.
So uh yes.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (21:26):
And then he also told me, um, after I'm done
in my education, I am movingback to Alberta and um and I'm
gonna be running for office.
So if that doesn't work withyour life plans, then uh this
also is not gonna work.
So I mean, I think earlyon, Garnett sort of knew what
his vocation was in terms ofpolitics, and um so that was
always the plan was that wewould end up here.
(21:48):
Um, and so we have.
Sheila Nonato (21:51):
And you're I mean, you're still very young,
but uh at that point, I guessyou were in your 20s when you
got married?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (21:56):
Yeah, I was 23.
And Garnet t was 24.
Sheila Nonato (21:59):
Okay, and so I mean, it's it's kind of
counter-cultural now to getmarried that young.
Um, what made you guys decide?
Um, you know, this is for us.
And um, and you wanted to uh dothis together, this political
life.
Garnett Genius (22:16):
Um maybe I'll go I'll go first on that.
Like um, so I have this to kindof connect something I'm doing
now.
So I have this role within ourour conservative team uh as the
point person for jobs.
And so I I talk to young peopleabout career planning.
And uh one of the things I seein the context of career
planning, I think it it itapplies to a lot of areas of
(22:36):
life, is is it's good to kind ofthink early about where you
want to go and and to startearly pursuing your goals.
If you're if you want to have acareer in a certain area, um
think about how you can startacquiring the skills for that
area when you're when you'reyounger.
And um and and it also when itcomes to marriage and family,
(22:57):
um, it was it was our judgmentthat it was it was good to um
identify um the direction wewanted to go and then to to
proceed down that path.
No, you know, it is funnylooking back because um like now
uh we've been married for about15 years, um, still still madly
(23:18):
in love, um and knowing knowingeach other much better than we
did.
It's sort of funny looking backand thinking, like, man, I I
really had very littleinformation when making that
initial decision, right?
But I guess I guess you wouldalways feel that way, right?
Like uh even if we had datedfor longer, like you you'd
always feel that relativelyspeaking, but it it's um um and
(23:40):
we had a lot of really likeintentional conversation.
It's probably part of thenature of a long distance
relationship, is is it's notlike we were attracted to each
other because of you know acommon interest in playing golf
or something, right?
Like we we were intentional inmeeting, intentional and having
conversations about um what wewanted to do and where we wanted
to go and what was important tous.
(24:01):
So um we we had the importantconversations and then we're
ready to pull the trigger.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (24:08):
Yeah, I think that's right.
I mean, I think we did prettytoo and felt like God
said, "Here is, here's the rightperson." And um that has
certainly proven to be the case.
Sheila Nonato (24:18):
And uh yes, as you were saying, the
intentionality.
Um my husband did the samething to me.
He had a book of questions.
Actually, the priest gave it tohim.
So I guess I passed.
It was a whole book, anyways.
Um that uh yeah, and we alsogot married like relatively
quickly, maybe within fivemonths.
Um but yeah, intentionality.
So yeah, he also said he's inthe military, he's in the
(24:39):
reserves.
He said, you know, this is mylife, and um, yeah, if you
doesn't work with you, then uhyou know, I guess this is not
gonna work, but it it's working.
Garnett Genius (24:48):
And so but yeah, I always try to advise people
like I mean, you know, you youyou want to still be more
romantic and not make it soundjust like a job interview, but
but it like it makes sense toask the serious questions early
on before you've wasted time andenergy.
And uh, you know, you don'twanna you don't want to be going
out with someone for a longtime and feel that emotional
(25:10):
entanglement and then be like,wait, wait, what?
There's some there's somefundamental aspect of your
future plans or your values thatmakes us incompatible like that
then you've just you've justset yourself up for unnecessary
uh heartache.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (25:25):
Or compromise.
Sheila Nonato (25:27):
Yeah.
And uh I hope you don't mind.
How did the proposal go?
Garnett Genius (25:32):
Well if the if the result was the she
said, "Yes." So uh yeah, it wasso uh I I don't I don't know if
this is still a thing, right?
But uh they had they had rideshares.
Uh and this is how I would savemoney traveling between Toronto
(25:52):
and Ottawa.
I would, you know, pay $20 tohitch a ride with someone.
Um, and uh so I was going toToronto to propose and surprise
Rebecca, and I had the ring inmy bag.
So I'm taking this ride share.
And I uh, you know, I was I wassharing a car with like the
most uncouth group of young menyou could possibly imagine, who
(26:15):
I casually mentioned I wasthinking about uh proposing, and
they actively tried to talk meout of it.
Um so I I kind of left the car.
Anyways, but uh uh we I had acake made that said, Will you
marry me?
And then I uh I uh stuck a ringin it.
Stuck a ring in the cake andcame to the door and ring the
(26:36):
bell and surprised her.
Dr. Rebecca Genius (26:38):
I was in my pajamas, it was brutal.
But I changed before we tookthe pictures, yeah.
Sheila Nonato (26:44):
Oh, that's such a sweet uh proposal.
Um and sorry, I I see that ourtime is almost up.
I just wanted to get to likemarriage.
And you know, it's hard.
Marriage is hard, and some youknow, young people seem to not
be wanting to get marriedbecause probably it's hard, and
so so are children, havingchildren.
Sorry, my son is in thebackground speaking of children.
(27:05):
Yes, yes, yeah, he has a littlecold, so he's asking for a
scotch mint, but anyways, um,yeah, so what are the you've
been married for 15 years and uhyou should be getting a medal,
you know how you guys have whatis the secret to a lasting
marriage?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (27:27):
Um like marriage is wonderful and it's
the best relationship thatyou'll ever have, and so with
the human.
So like it's worth working onand it's worth figuring out.
And I think like I think thething that makes our marriage
work well is just that we'redetermined to make it work.
So regardless of what'shappening in our lives or what
(27:49):
our circumstances are, um, wetake the time to figure out
what's not working if there arethings, and then we talk about
it and we try things and we sortof, I think of our marriage
just like this thing that we'regoing to find ways to make work.
And when it's not working, thenwe're going to analyze it like
a little bit scientific, butwe're just gonna like think
(28:10):
about okay, what is the problemhere?
And then we're gonna come upwith a solution, a hypothesis,
if you will, and then we'regonna try it for a while.
And then if it doesn't work,then we're going to develop
another hypothesis and we'regonna just keep working on it
until it works because um, likefor me, for children, like it
it's such a source of of joy, ofstability, and like a launching
(28:31):
pad for them in terms of theirencounter with with the world,
the culture, with their withtheir environment.
And um, so I I just think it'slike worth every amount of
effort um that that it requiresof us.
Garnett Genius (28:47):
I think one of the things we established early
on was like uh um when therewere points of friction, we
would try to talk things throughto solutions.
Like I we didn't want to behaving the same conversation
about the same problem over andover and over again.
Like we wanted to, we you know,if there was an issue, we would
(29:07):
talk talk it through and try tocome to a to a solution to it
and um and then action that.
Um like we now our life is likewhen you've got a large family.
I travel back and forth uhbetween Alberta and Ottawa for
work.
Like there are a lot of likelogistical and time pressures.
(29:30):
And uh having a large family, Imean it's it's uh uh it's it's
um there's a lot of likecoordination of logistics
involved, right?
Um, but I I I think um you knowwe're we're uh we we as we
constantly adapt to newcircumstances, we we make it
work well.
And at the at the center of itis that we we deeply love each
(29:52):
other and and see love as beinga choice, right?
Not not not just something thatthat hits you over the head and
and lasts as long as it does,but as
Sheila Nonato (30:05):
And finally, so how does faith play in your
marriage?
What role does it play and inyour family?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (30:20):
Um so I guess like I would say um like
being Catholic, trusting thechurch who says like marriage is
this metaphysical thing thatexists then, um, that has
informed my approach to marriageto say, you know, this is a
thing that I am sort of in forthe rest of my life.
And so I'm going to make itenjoyable for myself, for my
(30:41):
husband, because I don't want tobe a part of something that
that isn't that, right?
So I think like having thatsort of truth then informs my
approach to marriage.
It's not a thing that I enjoyas long as it's enjoyable and
then I leave, but it's sort of alonger commitment.
It's a lifelong commitment thatI've made.
Um and then I think like thefaith is just so rich that it
(31:02):
informs our family culture in somany ways.
Um, like we talked about ourchildren having saint names, so
we we celebrate their saints'feast days, right?
We um there's just there's somuch um about our faith, I
guess, that like trickles in,that informs our dinner time
discussions.
It um it helps us, you know, ifwe're watching a movie to talk
about like, hey, should thisperson have done this or should
(31:23):
they not have?
And like, why do you sing thator why don't you think that?
Right.
Like it's just um it sort ofpermeates our life in in many
ways.
Um, and the community too, thatwe have that comes from being
part of a faith community hasbeen uh a huge gift to to the
children and and to us too.
Garnett Genius (31:40):
Yeah, and and the way I would I would put it
is um like I I'm a Catholicbecause I believe the
propositions of our faith aretrue and that truth um truth
testifies to truth in in alldomains and um it is also good
(32:01):
and beautiful.
Um so uh it's not that I wouldsee faith as like this kind of
separate thing that uh informsor influences life.
I would I would more say thatlike um uh it is good to live
your life in accordance withreality, that is in accordance
with truths about the world,about the human condition.
Um and um you know uh I spend alot of time, uh, even as it
(32:32):
relates to the work I'm doing,sort of reading uh social
teaching, for example, as agreat um repository of truth, of
ideas about the human person,about society, the human
condition, uh that that um thatwork well in dialogue with other
sources.
So yeah, like I don't see faithas being sort of a thing
(32:52):
separate.
I see it as a thing, uh thingintegrated with our with our
marriage, with our family life,um, with the work we do.
Sheila Nonato (33:00):
And have you celebrated your anniversary yet
or is it coming up?
Dr. Rebecca Genius (33:04):
It's in May.
Ok, ok.
Garnett Genius (33:20):
So there's always a roll of the dice,
whether I am working or not.
Sheila Nonato (33:23):
Okay, okay.
Yeah, okay, okay.
Well, I'm I'm again trulyinspired by you and your family.
Uh, I've seen the the photos ofyou and then for Thanksgiving
you had this beautiful familypicture.
Um, that you know, I wastelling my husband, like, this
this family is amazing.
Like, I I wish that you wouldbe celebrated more, really,
(33:44):
because uh, you know, we do needa lot of witnesses, um, you
know, because yeah, fit familyand marriage is can be a
struggle, um, but it's it's alsoa joy.
And it's it's great to see thatjoy and that hope and that
happiness in your own family.
So thank you for sharing withus.
It was there anything else youwanted to add?
Garnett Genius (34:02):
I don't want to give people the impression that
like every moment is is easy orlike, you know, the the there's
a lot of uh there's a lot oftakes that go into every one of
those pictures, you know.
It's uh which is which is sortof like like life, I guess, but
uh but eventually eventually youtry to you try to get the good
one.
And and uh so thank you forthank you for this opportunity.
And um it's uh it's it's greatto have this chance for us to
(34:26):
reflect a bit more and chatabout these things too.
So thank you for what you do.
Sheila Nonato (34:29):
Okay, well, thank you so much.
Uh yeah, that's amazing.
And thank you for taking thistime.
I know you're you're superbusy.
Family time is so important andcrucial to you.
So I appreciate you taking thistime.
God bless you.
Garnett Genius (34:40):
Thank you.
Sheila Nonato (34:41):
Continued blessings.
Take care.
Thank you so much.
Bye.
Thank you very much for joiningus this week.
We want to wish a blessedThanksgiving to our American
listeners and subscribers, andthank you to all of you who have
been with us recently or sincethe beginning from different
countries around the world: Australia, Israel, Germany, (34:59):
undefined
Luxembourg, Vietnam, Russia,and, of course, Canada.
I'm so humbled to report thatwe are close to 5,000 downloads
on our audio podcast and havemore than 700 subscribers and
101,000 views on our humbleYouTube channel.
(35:19):
We appreciate each and every oneof you, and we sincerely,
sincerely keep you in ourprayers, and please keep us in
yours.
Thank you.
Have you named your kids aftersaints?
Let us know by commenting belowor sending us fan mail on
BuzzFroute.
Thank you again, God bless, andhave blessed Thanksgiving.
And thank you to the Geniusfamily for sharing their
(35:43):
beautiful story of faith andfamily as an example for all of
us.
God bless, thank you forlistening to the Veil + Armour
(36:10):
Podcast.
Let's Be Brave, let's Be Bold, andBe Blessed together.
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