Starting now.
Commonalities where guests find common ground through uncommon
conversations, politics, religion, finances,
all the topics your grandmother told you not to discuss with friends.
And now your host, Matthew Dowling,
and today's guests on commonalities.
Well, thanks for joining us today on commonalities. I'm your host, Matt Dowling,
and I have a, uh, great guest for you today. We always, uh,
have the tagline on the show saying that we talk about politics, religion,
and finances,
all the things your grandmother told you not to talk about with friends.
And my grandmother as a young adult, uh,
used to caution me when I would start a political conversation with friends,
uh, not to talk about any of those three subjects.
Today's subject is going to be religion,
and I have a guest that is, uh,
joining us telephonically today that many of you from Uniontown,
or especially from Connorsville, may know from her recent work, uh,
although she's working, uh, a little further out now. Mary Samy and Mary,
are you there on the line?
I'm here, Matt.
Hey, Mary, thank you so much for joining me. Just to kind of preface things,
Mary and I, uh, friendship goes back about 30 years as kids.
We grew up , uh, on the same, uh,
two streets that were front and back with an alley in between. And, uh,
we rode bicycles up and down that short alley, many, many a times. Yeah. So,
Mary, why don't you, uh,
why don't you give us a little bit of a self introduction. Tell us, uh,
what you do and who you currently work for.
Sure. First of all, thank you so much for having me, Matt.
Those were great times in that neighborhood,
and I often look back fondly on them. Um, so many kids that,
you know, had so much fun with. So those were great times,
great memories. Uh, but my name is Mary Samy.
Currently I'm the youth and young adult minister at Christ,
the Divine Shepherd for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
And those parishes are located in Monroeville and Penn Hills.
But I am new to the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
I am homegrown Uniontown girl, as Matt said,
and I grew up in Uniontown. I went to St. John,
the Evangelist Regional Catholic School,
and I grew up as a Catholic.
I've been Catholic my whole life since I was three weeks old and baptized
at St. Anne's in Ross Traver.
And I went to school for Catholic Theology and Religious Education.
And I also went to Franciscan to get my master's in Catholic theology.
And I've been in full-time ministry,
and that's been everything from pastoral ministry to Director of Faith Formation
Evangelization,
and currently youth and young adult minister for the last 13 years.
So, Mary,
one of the reasons I wanted to have you on is because I was was very excited to
read on Facebook and on social media that you will be,
uh,
co-hosting a new podcast that's gonna be starting here very
soon. Um, why don't you tell us a little bit about that project and, uh,
and what people can expect if the, uh, decide to tune in.
And also where can they they find this new podcast?
Absolutely. So this is something that I've been wanting to do for a while.
I talk about my faith a lot on social media.
I think that it's really important for people to,
not only Catholics but Christians,
people of faith to realize that there are every single day people who
struggle, who thin, who need God.
And just because I work for the church doesn't mean that I need God any less
.
So a lot of times I feel like I am almost that voice for those on the
outside, um, that they can reach out to. A lot of times,
especially in the Catholic faith,
sometimes people feel uncomfortable reaching out to a priest at first.
And so I try to be that listening ear for people.
So I've been talking about religion for a long time in the public sphere,
and I'm not afraid to talk about it. People know that I'm a woman of deep faith,
and thankfully, most people respect that fact.
And you can believe that if I walk into a room,
we're probably going to talk about religion at some point in that
conversation. If I'm meeting you,
and I've been wanting to do a podcast for a long time,
but I thought it was really important to have the perspective as well,
not only as a layperson in the church, but from our priests as well.
So, um, there's a perspective for everyone.
There's a perspective on what the Catholic Church says, teaches,
believes as the apostolic authority of the church through our priests,
but also as a perspective of a layperson as someone who's married has
kids, who is a woman in the Catholic church in leadership.
So it's going to be, we're gonna be talking about all the Catholic things,
but also about Christianity in general and what we are called to as
Christians,
particularly who we are called to be as missionary disciples,
and what we are supposed to be doing in the culture that we live in,
in order to effectively be the disciples that were made to be.
And your new podcast, if I'm correct, is titled From Sheep to Shepherd.
And, uh, yes. And I think some of the, the items that, uh,
that you just mentioned, uh, make that a, a, a great, uh,
a great theme or a great title for your podcast. Now, in the first episode,
you're gonna be talking, uh,
about the woman at the well mm-hmm. and, uh,
sharing some of your, as you said, some of your personal faith journey as well.
Why don't you give us a little glimpse into, uh,
what you'll be talking about or what you talk about with the woman at the well?
Sure.
Sure. So the first podcast is going to be on Monday, March the sixth,
with which also happens to be my birthday. So I was really excited.
I was going to get to share my personal faith story that day.
It's going to be live on Facebook, on the Christ,
the Divine Shepherd Facebook page, and on our YouTube channel,
and it will also be available on Spotify.
And so that first episode, we, I wanted to entitle it the woman at the well,
because I used to write a lot of articles,
and I usually would call myself the woman at the well.
And if you're familiar with that story, which I know you are, Matt,
the woman at the Wells,
a story of a woman who did not have God in her life.
She had been living in a way that was not, um,
according to God's law. And in this moment or in her life,
she meets Jesus. And she's a Samaritan woman,
which means she is supposedly an, an enemy of the Jewish culture.
So Jesus should not have been conversing with her at all. Number one,
men would not usually converse with women one-on-one, that was a no-no,
unless you were married.
And he also meets this woman who is his enemy at this well,
and he meets her where she is. He doesn't judge her.
He, and he seeks her out.
And through this conversation,
she comes to realize that this Jesus is someone who can give her
every single thing that she's always wanted.
And I relate to that so much because growing up in the church,
I went to church just like you, Matt. I was involved in youth group.
We would go every Sunday there. It was a non-negotiable .
And I knew a lot about the faith because I went to
Catholic school,
but I didn't necessarily have relationship with Jesus.
And I didn't realize that Jesus wanted to have a love relationship with me,
and I didn't even think Jesus would want to have a relationship with me,
or why would he care, um,
with some of these things that I dealt with. And, you know, as a young person,
we all struggle. We all go through things. And I was that young person.
I was the typical college kid who liked to have fun, liked to party,
liked to get into things, and I was not happy.
And in this brokenness and in this sinful sinfulness,
thankfully, I had an encounter with Christ,
with the Jesus that basically said like, I love you,
regardless of what's going on unconditionally.
And because of that encounter,
I was able to live my life for him in a way that I
think hopefully would be pleasing to him, or at least I try to every day.
Obviously, we all struggle with that and, and need him constantly. Um,
but it was that encounter at the well where he just met me wherever I was and
just said, I love you. Aren't you exhausted of living this way? Like,
let me be that living water for your life and give you that joy
everlasting. So that's what it's gonna be about. It's gonna be about, um,
encounter with Jesus.
And, uh, people can look for that March 6th, 2023.
That'll be live at 10:00 AM again on the Christ,
the Divine Shepherd Parish Facebook page and YouTube channel. Mary,
uh, I do have more questions for you,
but we have to get our first break in today. So, uh,
we will pause to recognize our sponsors and we'll be right back.
You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should call Dave Dowling at Grandview
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers, freshly painted walls,
granite countertops, gleaming hardwood floors, and other touches.
What you can't see is the cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might be revealed when you hire a home
inspector. And when it comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications and experience needed,
should be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grand View Inspections is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial construction experience and hundreds of
inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity for you to hire an expert to
walk through the home and prepare a report outlining the home's major
components.
What needs immediate attention and what will require maintenance after you
move in your home is one of your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
Is your business using analog strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we bring in-depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides digital marketing, paid ad and media buying services,
web design, social media management, video production, and more for businesses,
organizations, and political campaigns with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world.
For a no-risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12,
or visit us online at
www.coordinatedthreesixty.com. Find us also on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey. Here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of home, that sense of belonging,
those fall Friday nights under the lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders, those refreshing spring afternoons at Bailey Park,
rooting on our Red Raider, softball and baseball teams.
I am grateful for those memories and hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future. During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back to a place where we can be proud of.
Begun our city's first comprehensive plan in over 20 years.
Started work on the city section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the faulty equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet service to our city residents.
We have done a lot, but there's still more to do. So I Bill Gerkey.
I'm running for a second term. We're Uniontown proud, we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild Uniontown for the next generation.
Paid.
For by Mayor Bill Gerkey.
Are you enjoying the program?
You're listening to support commonalities and help keep us on the air by making
a donation of five, 10 or $25,
or any amount you feel comfortable sharing online@donate.commonalities.online.
Again, that is donate.commonalities.online on the worldwide web.
Buy our host a cup of coffee or help pay for airtime at donate dot commonalities
online.
I'm Melinda de LaRose. As an Assistant District attorney,
I've protected Fayette County families and fought to uphold our constitutional
rights. As a prosecutor entrusted local attorney,
I've provided victims of crime with a strong voice and put criminals behind
bars. My pledge to you as judge is to follow the law,
always maintain the highest ethical standards,
and to run a courtroom that's respectful of your time and tax dollars.
I'm Melinda de LaRose asking for your vote for Judge.
Paid for by Friends of Melinda de LaRose.
You're listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon Conversations.
Well, thank you for sticking with us. I'm your host Matt Dowling,
and my guest today is Mary Samy. We're talking, uh,
a little bit about religion as well as her new podcast that is
going to be starting on, uh, the 6th of March,
uh, where she will be, uh, co-hosting with, uh,
with the priest from the Christ, the Divine Shepherd, uh,
parish in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. And, uh, Mary,
before we get too far into, um,
into anything else about, uh,
our faith backgrounds or our religion or your podcast,
I want to take a moment to, uh, invite you and your family out to an event,
um, that my wife Rebecca and I are putting on. And, uh,
it is the the first annual Union town Pierogi party. Um,
and, uh, it's gonna be a lot of fun. Uh, it's,
we just put out a press release yesterday that, uh,
that we're going to be doing this on Saturday,
March 25th from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM In addition to
inviting your family, we invite the community as well. Uh,
we will be at the Uniontown Senior Center that's on North Beon Avenue in
Uniontown,
making Pierogis to feed 200 local senior citizens.
Uh, over the,
that week following that are at the Community Action Senior Centers in
Fair Chance Bull Skin, the Mountain Area, and Uniontown. We did this,
uh, back, uh, my wife and I, uh, with my parents and one other couple, couple.
We did this during the vaccination stage of the pandemic,
and we fed some of the, uh,
the healthcare workers that were vol volunteering their time. Uh,
at that point in time, I think we made a 23 dozen or so pierogis.
But this time around,
our goal is to produce a thousand pierogis in six hours,
and we hope to have Wow. At least 30 volunteers.
So if you and your kids or your husband, if you're, if you're available,
please join us for that. And, uh, the general public,
if you want some more information about that, you can visit, uh,
http uh slash slash polish
dot matthew d dowling.com or just visit my site,
matthew d dowling.com. So Mary, I, I wanted love,
wanted to, uh,
wanted to get back to talking a little bit about our faith
backgrounds and, uh mm-hmm. , you know, you, you mentioned that,
uh, that you were a student at Franciscan University for your masters. Uh,
while we weren't there together, uh,
I was a theology and philosophy major at Franciscan University,
uh, during my undergrad, so mm-hmm. , so I know the place well. Uh,
you and I both grew up, uh, Catholic. We are, we're, yeah. You know,
what would we would refer to as cradle Catholics? Yeah. Um, so we,
we don't know, uh, really anything else. Although, you know,
over my years I've had, uh,
exposure to other faith backgrounds and mm-hmm. And have enjoyed,
uh, worshiping and celebrating with, uh, people who are United, Methodist,
and Baptist mm-hmm. and so forth. What I wanted to, you know,
give you a chance to kind of expand upon is, you know, how can we,
as Catholics, and in southwestern Pennsylvania,
especially if you eat Pierogis on Friday, you're probably Catholic . Um,
you know, you,
you can't throw a stone without hitting a Catholic in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Uh, not, not that you'd wanna do that, but, uh, but that being said,
you know,
how are Catholics called to interface with our
brothers and sisters in Christ who are of other denominations? And Yeah.
And, you know, how do we go about, you know, as, as Catholics,
I think sometimes we throw this immediate shield up, uh, yeah. To say,
you know, we're right and, and, you know mm-hmm. ,
we wanna be defensive about, um, you know,
the accusations that are sometimes made that, you know,
we have statues in our churches, or we worship Mary, or things of that nature.
Yeah. So, what's your advice to, to a Catholic who, uh,
you know, may have friends of other denominations mm-hmm. ,
how can we still share our common faith, uh, yeah.
With them?
Great question. I'm so glad you wanna talk about this, because, you know,
number one, we live in a world that is very anti-Christian in general,
in our culture. And so, to me,
the fact that Christians are spending any amount of time
arguing with each other is such a colossal waste of time,
because we need to be united like never before .
Um, there's just, there's no time to lose, you know,
we should be spending time concentrating on the things that
unite us. And there are misconceptions on both sides. You know,
I'm not gonna say that I haven't heard Catholics, you know,
say things like they're gonna pray for people that aren't Catholic, because,
you know,
they're of that generation where they truly believe if you are not Catholic,
you are not gonna be in heaven.
Which is not what the catechism of the Catholic Church says,
but that's kind of what they grew up to believe.
And then on the other side,
you have misconceptions in the Protestant church of them saying that we're not
really Christian, or that we believe that we have to work our way into heaven.
And something that really helped me was actually when I started dating my
husband, who grew up in the Protestant faith, and as a cradle Catholic,
I had never really been exposed to any other form of worship outside of mass.
So he took me to my first service,
Christian service at the church that he had been going to.
And I got to meet a lot of people that were Christian, um,
in non-denominational church. And they knew that I was Catholic.
And thankfully they realized through my witness,
through my life, that I did in fact believe that Jesus Christ died for me,
that he rose again, and that he's my savior, and that I want,
I have a relationship with him. And because of that, it really, bro,
started breaking down a lot of those walls. So what I would say is,
you know, don't not have that conversation,
because a lot of times we just don't wanna talk about it because it can be
awkward. We should be concentrating on the things that unite us,
not the things that separate us. So, for a long time in my marriage,
for the first 10 years, my husband and I concentrated on the fact that,
number one, we believe in God, we believe in Jesus Christ,
and we believe in the Holy Spirit, and we believe in the power of the church,
and that we wanna follow Christ,
those other things that separate us. Yes,
they do divide us in certain ways. I don't want to minimize that fact.
However, once you have a solid foundation, you know that you're,
you're both we're playing on the same side. We are on the same team. ,
how can we work together?
And how can we get to understand each other a little bit more,
the more my husband
experienced the Catholic church and realize that, no,
we do not worship Mary. We do not wor, you know, we have statues in our home.
He asked me one time, why do you pray to Mary when you have Jesus? And I said,
well, you ask me to pray for you all the time. And he said, well,
of course I do. I said, well, Mary is a lot closer to Jesus than I am.
So it's the exact same thing. I'm asking her to pray for me.
I don't think she can do anything on her own, her power. Um,
she doesn't have any power outside of Christ. So, um,
once I started explaining it to him on, in that way, um,
it led to a lot of really great conversation. Um,
and I will tell you now, my husband is a Catholic.
He converted to the Catholic faith two years ago. Um,
and you know, still to this day,
we have many close friends who are of other denominations. Um,
I have many close friends who are not even Christian, um,
that they just see the love of God in me. I don't need to say anything.
I think just being an effective witness and loving people wherever they are,
people are gonna notice something's different about that person,
and they're gonna be attracted to it.
You know? And,
and that reminds me of the quote that I believe is attributed to St.
Francis of Assisi Speak the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words,
you know, exactly. When we were, uh, while we were talking,
I pulled up on my laptop, um, the Webster's Dictionary, and as, uh,
someone who studied theology, uh, you know, I I know that, you know, that, uh,
that Catholic means universal and Yeah. Um, that's why some of our,
uh, non, uh, big Sea Catholic, uh,
brothers and sisters in Christ will pray the creed that, uh,
that uses the word Catholic in it. Yeah. But what I was interested in was,
uh, the second de definition that it shows, uh,
as an adjective is, um, broad in sympathies tastes,
or interest mm-hmm. . And then it gives a, a sentence that says,
she is Catholic in her taste of music.
Mm.
And, uh, that interesting, that was interesting to me that, uh, that, you know,
really, it, it doesn't have to, you know,
just describe a faith background or a denomination,
but it, it really means, um, universal, broaden those sympathies Yeah.
Tastes or interests. Mary, we have to get, I don't wanna cut you off,
so I'm gonna give you a second to finish,
but we do have to get to one more break,
and then we'll come back to wrap up the show.
You are listening to commonalities where guests find common ground through
uncommon conversations.
We'll be back after this brief break to recognize our sponsors.
When it comes to buying a home,
what you see isn't exactly what you get.
That's why home buyers should call Dave Dowling at Grandview
Inspections at 7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
You'll see colorful flowers, freshly painted walls,
granite countertops, blaming hardwood floors and other touches.
What you can't see is the cracks, ancient plumbing,
dangerous wiring,
or broken appliances that might be revealed when you hire
a home inspector. And when it comes to home inspectors,
knowing yours has the qualifications and experience needed,
should be your number one concern.
Dave Dowling with Grandview Inspections is an architectural engineer
with over 30 years of commercial construction experience and
hundreds of inspections under his belt.
A home inspection is an opportunity for you to hire an expert to walk
through the home and prepare a report outlining the home's major components.
What needs immediate attention and what will require maintenance after you
move in your home is one of your biggest investments.
So make sure your investment is everything you hoped it to be.
Call Dave Dowling at Grandview Inspections at
7 2 4 2 0 8 4 1 0 8.
Is your business using analog strategies in a digital marketing world?
If so,
then contact Matthew or Rebecca Dowling at Coordinated 360 for a
professional consultation where we bring in-depth knowledge and functional
expertise with a holistic perspective.
Coordinated 360 provides digital marketing, paid ad and media buying services,
web design, social media management, video production, and more for businesses,
organizations, and political campaigns with decades of experience.
Matt and Becky at Coordinated 360 can help you craft your unique message
and share it with the world.
For a no risk media evaluation and recommendations,
call 7 2 4 3 2 0 22 12,
or visit us online at
www.coordinatedthreesixty.com. Find us also on Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter,
or email info coordinated three sixty.com.
Hello, Uniontown Mayor, bill Gerkey. Here.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of home, that sense of belonging,
those fall Friday nights under the lights, those winter nights in the gym,
watching our red Raiders, those refreshing spring afternoons at Bailey Park,
rooting on our Red Raider, softball and baseball teams.
I am grateful for those memories and hope our community's children and
grandchildren can enjoy those memories too. But to do that,
we have to plan for the future. During my first term in office,
the city has got Bailey Park back to a place where we can be proud of
our city's first comprehensive plan. In over 20 years,
started work on the city's section of the Sheep Skin Trail,
worked on eliminating blighted properties and are rebuilding the city's
neighborhoods. We've updated the faulty equipment in the parking garages,
and we're bringing a more competitive, reliable, faster,
and less expensive internet service to our city residents.
We have done a lot, but there's still more to do. So, I Bill Gerkey.
I'm running for a second term. We're Uniontown proud, we're Uniontown strong,
and together we can continue to rebuild Uniontown for the next generation.
Paid.
For by Mayor Belkey.
Are you enjoying the program?
You're listening to support commonalities and help keep us on the air by making
a donation of five, 10, or $25, or any amount you feel comfortable sharing
online@donate.commonalities.online. Again,
that is donate.commonalities.online on the worldwide web.
Buy our host a cup of coffee or help pay for airtime at donate dot commonalities
online.
I'm Melinda de LaRose. As an Assistant District Attorney,
I've protected Fayette County families and fought to uphold our constitutional
rights. As a prosecutor and trusted local attorney,
I've provided victims of crime with a strong voice and put criminals behind
bars. My pledge to you as judge is to follow the law,
always maintain the highest ethical standards,
and to run a courtroom that's respectful of your time and tax dollars.
I'm Melinda de LaRose asking for your vote for Judge.
Paid for by Friends of Melinda de LaRose.
You are listening to commonalities or guests find common ground through
Uncommon Conversations.
Well, thanks for sticking with us. I'm your host Matt Dowling,
and my guest today is Mary Samy. Mary works at, uh,
Christ the Divine Shepherd Parish in the diocese of Pittsburgh.
She's been working in youth and young adult ministry, uh,
for quite some time. Many of you from Connellsville may know her from your work,
uh, or for her from her work out there. Uh, and she's a union town native. Uh,
and like I said, at the top of the show,
her and I have known each other probably for 30 plus years, and, uh,
and have remained friends. So, uh, much credit to her on that part, uh,
cuz she's put up with me for that log. You know, uh, Mary, I I,
I find it hard to have a show, uh,
regardless of what topic that we're on, where I don't mention politics,
because since the early two thousands mm-hmm. , Uh,
I've either been on the sideline or directly involved in politics, uh,
for, for Yeah. You know, in one way or another. Uh, and I have a,
a recent editorial that was run in, uh, some of the local papers,
uh, that was titled Why We Must Work Together on Common Goals. Mm-hmm.
. And, uh, I really, I, I don't know if you know Dolly Parton's,
uh, new song that she released, um, where she in,
in all of her Dolly Parton sass , um, you know, talks about,
um, why we should, uh, be faithful,
faithful individuals in our everyday life. Um,
but the question that I have for you is one that, that I address in,
uh, in that piece that ran, and that is, you know,
how much should we as American citizens, uh,
expect our politicians to mm-hmm.
talk about their faith background or faith in general.
And I have a statistic I wanted to share, uh, and then,
then I'll turn it over to you for your opinion. But in the past decade,
more Americans said, political leaders, uh,
express religious faith too little.
That was 37% rather than too much at
29%. And that was according to the Pew Institute. So what's your opinion, Mary,
are, you know, are are leaders in government and in politics?
Should they express their faith and as voters, should we Absolutely.
Should we expect them to.
? I think absolutely. Um, I,
we live in a quote unquote cancel culture,
and I feel terrible that people are terrified,
absolutely terrified to talk about their faith.
Whatever faith it is does not need to be a Christian faith. You know,
as human beings in general, we should,
because we're all created in the image and likeness of God, we should love
everyone and seek to understand them.
And how can we understand them truly if we don't even know what their faith
background is?
And they're absolutely terrified to talk about it because they're afraid of
being canceled. And what's more, especially as a Christian,
if you are given a platform,
you are obligated to use that for the good of the church.
It goes beyond your reputation, your ego, your career, whatever you want.
If,
if God does not come first and you are afraid to say His name
out of fear of your reputation or what, it's,
then I would not vote for that person. That's just my opinion.
And, and I, I would completely agree with you. You know, I,
I kind of believe that if we are given any soapbox to stand on,
um, mm-hmm. , that we have to use our voice in, in positive ways,
and, and I think talking about our faith, uh,
is one of the ways that we can do that. Or,
or just simple expressions of our faith, um mm-hmm. , you know, I,
I remember as, you know, someone in my early twenties, uh,
thinking when I was out to a restaurant that it would be odd to make the
sign of the cross as I silently prayed before a meal. Um, you know,
n now pushing 40 and not being, uh,
I guess as young as I once was, , um, you know,
those things don't bother me quite the same way. Right. But, um, you know,
but I think everyone's called to, uh, to do what they can and,
and to speak the truth. Um, and,
and not only in your faith background, but, um, you know, as,
as you probably know, because it's been widely covered as,
and as a lot of other people know,
and I've been trying to be transparent about it. Mm-hmm. ,
you know, during my time in office, I, uh,
I developed an addiction with alcohol and, uh mm-hmm. , and I was,
um, not lucky to have had an, an accident, but I had a, a minor accident.
No one was hurt. Uh, and I was under the influence and, and, uh,
decided to seek treatment and, uh mm-hmm. .
And now it's been since June, since I have, uh, I've, uh,
been on that road to recovery. And I, you know,
I feel very called to share that story and that message Yeah. With, uh,
with people because it's not just, um, you know,
it's not just normal people that have those problems,
politicians have them as well. In fact, uh, you know, I,
I was just in the Connellsville paper yesterday, uh,
piece I wrote about John Federman, uh, Senator Federman,
and I would not ever agree politically , uh, in fact,
uh, we battled it out while I was in the State House and while he was Lieutenant
Governor mm-hmm. . Um, but I, I see an extreme, uh,
strength in him. And I think he took a courageous act to get the psychological,
uh, you know, uh,
the psychological help that he needed and the treatment that he needed. And,
and I just, I think that that's fantastic. So I think we are calling to, uh,
to speak the truth kind of, uh, at all times no matter what it is. Right.
You know, we only have a few minutes left, Mary, but what I wanted to,
to talk to you about, and, and I know, um, you know,
if we were having tea this afternoon with, uh,
a bunch of Catholic ladies in their, you know, late sixties, early seventies,
one of the things that we'd probably hear is that young people today just aren't
engaged in the faith like we used to be. And, uh, you know, I,
I know you've probably heard that around the dinner table,
and truth be told Yes. Um, I, I probably would agree with them.
Um, yep. But, you know, as people that, uh,
that are the faithful working in ministry, how do we, uh,
how do we engage those young people mm-hmm.
that may not have faith beliefs or a background. Right.
And that's what I wanna close out the show with is,
is a conversation about how we get our young people back in the pews.
Yeah. So I have not, I have been popular talking about this,
and I haven't been popular talking about this because, um,
it's looking at it from a little bit of a different angle. Um, I am,
I am not even 40 yet, and I have been in ministry almost 15 years.
I see people leaving the church. I don't see a lot of young families like me.
And, you know,
I have been dedicated for the last almost 15 years of my full-time ministry
in being a missionary disciple.
And that means going outside of your church building
and being Christ engaging the community.
And we don't do this a lot as Catholics.
What has worked in the past is that we are Catholic in name,
we go to church and we just assume people are going to show up
for our meetings, for our social events, for our pancake, breakfast,
coffee and donuts. And when they don't, we blame them. Now,
would the disciples do this? I mean,
they were in the upper room with the doors locked,
and imagine if they would've just stayed there and assumed everyone should just
come to them and they blame everyone if they don't show up. Absolutely not.
You know, we need to be looking at ourselves,
the things that used to work aren't working.
And so the first thing I do when I go into a church community is say,
how actively are you engaged outside of the four walls of your church in
your local community? Do people even know you exist? And if they don't,
that's the very first thing that we need to be working on.
How are we bringing other people in? And once we get them,
what kind of church are we bringing them to? Is it a welcomed parish?
Is it a place where we're actually going to give them the empowerment to do the
things that they wanna do and cultivate a relationship with the Lord? You know,
a lot of times we finally get them in the building and no one even says hello to
them, you know?
So it's looking at it from a different point of view and really
just honing into who we are created to be as disciples going
out into the community in order to bring other people into us.
And this has been highly effective.
People don't wanna invest in it because it's a scary thing. , you know,
it's something different. It's not something that Catholics are used to doing.
Um, but we had great success in Connellsville.
We had the highest R C I A,
those are people coming into the church in the diocese of Greensburg, um,
consistently year round, because we were very, very engaged in the community.
I see. The Uniontown Church is doing this.
People know that they care and they wanna be a part of that.
Young people will get behind it.
Absolutely. And I, you know, I,
I know that the Roman Catholic churches of Uniontown, uh,
have been doing a lot to,
to deal with food inadequacies and with hunger. Um, you know, and,
and kind of those ministries where they're not preaching at all,
they're just trying to take care of someone's basic human needs. Um, yeah.
You know, being a church.
Just.
Be it, and being priced to others has been extremely important. You know,
in education, um, there is,
there's been an argument that's been made, uh,
for free and reduced lunches and breakfasts.
And the thought process is that if a student's basic human
needs, like having a full mm-hmm.
belly when they go to class have not been met,
then it's very hard for them to be engaged in their class
and to learn and to do well. You know,
I think everyday life is very much like that, where, you know,
if basic human needs aren't being met,
then maybe going to church and participating on Sunday isn't
at the top of your list, you know, if you can't afford groceries that week. So.
Right. You know, we as the faithful and people that have been blessed, uh,
to have things, uh, you know, things like, uh,
like money and or, or time, we should be blessing others, uh,
with those, um, you know, so I, I,
I completely agree with you, Mary. We're down to, uh, just a couple moments.
I want to give you a chance to, uh,
to give any final thoughts and one more promo for your new, uh,
podcast that's gonna be starting if people want to, uh,
want to listen and learn more.
Yes. So, thank you so much for having me on today.
I thank the Uniontown community and the Collinsville community for always
supporting every single thing, every missionary, every nonprofit,
everything that I've ever done.
Uniontown and Conwell has always stepped up in a huge way, um,
for those initiatives. So thank you so much for your support, your prayers, um,
your financial giving. Um, in those missions that I have done over the past,
my podcast starts on Monday, March the sixth, live on our Facebook page,
Christ the Divine Shepherd Parish. It'll be on YouTube,
and it'll also be on Spotify, and you can find it from Sheep to Shepherd.
And, uh, my guest today has been Mary Samy. Um, you know,
we've talked a little bit about some of the, the writings that I've put out. Uh,
if you wanna read any of those,
visit matthew d dowling.com and click on news.
You'll see all of, uh, my letters to the editor and news releases. And, uh,
because I mentioned, uh, Ms. Dolly Parton, who is one of my favorite, uh,
singer songwriters of all times. Um, you know, I,
I mentioned that she just released on her 77th birthday.
The song Don't Make Me Have to Come Down There. And, uh,
the lyrics that really stand out to me, uh, are I gave you a book.
You didn't read it. I gave you my word. You didn't read it, gave you a map.
You said you didn't need it, and now you've lost directions. You're,
you're wandering aimlessly. Don't make me have to come down you.
This is down there. It's not a game of truth or dare.
So those are the words of Dolly Parton, which we'll close it out with today.
Uh, I'm your host, Matthew Dowling,
and this has been commonalities on w Nmb S five 90 am
1 0 1 0.1. That's up.
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a show where guests find common ground through uncommon conversations.
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