Father Steve Pullis: Welcome to another episode of Open Door Policy. Today we are blessed to meet with another missionary disciple, who is unleashing the gospel in a unique way in the Archdiocese of Detroit. We are blessed to have Teresa Tomeo, the host of Catholic Connection on our show today. Teresa, thank you so much for being here. Teresa Tomeo: Hey father, this is weird. Usually I'm interviewing you. Father Steve Pullis: It's kind of the other way around now. Let's see how you like it. No, I'm kidding. Teresa Tomeo: Okay. Danielle Center: Wow. Father Steve Pullis: It's going to be great. And Danielle, how are you doing? Danielle Center: I'm doing well. It's good to be here. I'm glad to be here with you guys. Father Steve Pullis: That's awesome. That's great. Danielle, what is God doing in your life? Tell me a grace. Danielle Center: Well, of course everything is a little bit slow with quarantine, but I planted tulips years ago and of course they come up first, right? Bold flowers come up first. So my mom's daffodils came up and my tulips came up, and that just brings me a lot of joy. What about you? Father Steve Pullis: That's awesome. I am quarantined with six other priests here at Sacred Heart Seminary. And we have been doing a little movie night a couple of times a week. And- Danielle Center: That is the cutest thing. Father Steve Pullis: It's not cute, okay? We're watching real guy movies, nothing cute about it, but we watched some kind of classics that I've never seen. And one of them was Rio Bravo, an old John Wayne Western, which was just a ton of fun. Speaker 4: You want that gun? Pick it up. Danielle Center: That's super cool. Teresa, how are you doing? Teresa Tomeo: I'm doing great. Great. Great to hear your voices. Danielle Center: Are you quarantined in Michigan or are you somewhere else? Teresa Tomeo: Oh, yeah. No, no. I live in Southeastern Michigan. East side, member of the wonderful St. Joan of Arc Parish. And it's been funny because my husband, Deacon Dom, is one of the two deacons here at the parish. And of course, Monsignor Bugarin has been doing the live stream masses. And so, Dom either has the 4:00PM on Saturday or the 8:00AM. And so I pick which mass I'm going to watch. And what's kind of neat is that we've been married for, gosh, 36 years going on 37 in September. And I've been on the air in Detroit since dirt. And so, I'm used to being recognized. And now what I'm finding is... We walk every day. Go out and get fresh air and we walk. And people are recognizing him on the street and I'm like, "Welcome to my world." Danielle Center: What a sweet story. Oh, he's such a nice guy. Okay. Let's jump into rapid fire questions and I'll start us out. And then Father Steve will take the last few. First question, what was your first job? Teresa Tomeo: My very first job was in my high school gift shop, which I totally failed at and was giving stuff away because I was so bad at math. Danielle Center: What is the most- Teresa Tomeo: At South Lake High School in St. Clair Shores. Danielle Center: Perfect. What was the most beautiful church you have ever visited? Teresa Tomeo: Oh my goodness. That is a tough question, Danielle. Well, my favorite church in the Holy Land is the Primacy of Peter on the Sea of Galilee, along with Holy Sepulchre in Gallicantu. But I have to say probably St. Peter's and then [inaudible 00:03:09] in Rome. Danielle Center: Super beautiful. And what is the most recent song that was stuck in your head? Teresa Tomeo: The most recent song that was stuck in my head? Volare, because I miss Italy so much. Danielle Center: And in which fictional world would you like to live? Teresa Tomeo: Under the Tuscan Sun. Danielle Center: Okay. Teresa Tomeo: By Frances Mayes, because I'm all about Italy. Of course it's really based on her life story, so [inaudible 00:03:37] half fiction, half true, but anything having to do with- Father Steve Pullis: Quasi-fictional, right? Danielle Center: Yeah, that's fine. Teresa Tomeo: Yeah. Danielle Center: There's no rapid fire police. What is your favorite breakfast food? Teresa Tomeo: Frittata. Everything's Italian, sorry. Danielle Center: It's okay. Father Steve Pullis: I'm getting a theme here, yeah. Danielle Center: Got it. Father Steve Pullis: Teresa, what's a location where you had a powerful encounter with God? Teresa Tomeo: Oh my gosh. There's so many, but I have to say a lot of my experiences have been based in my home parish of St. Joan of Arc. That's where I found my vocation. That's a parish I was raised in. And right before Christmas again, I had another powerful moment right after communion. So that's just a very powerful place for me. And it's really difficult not to be able to go into St. Joan since the church means so much to me. Father Steve Pullis: We'll circle back to that in a minute, but a few more questions for you. Do you have a favorite Bible verse? Teresa Tomeo: Yes I do. John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man stays in me, he will do much good. If not, apart from me, you will do nothing." Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good, for those who love the Lord and they're called according to his purpose." Let's see, gosh, Old Testament [crosstalk 00:04:45]. Father Steve Pullis: So that's two already. You've already named two. We just wanted one. Teresa Tomeo: Well, the John 15:5 is my favorite verse. Father Steve Pullis: All right, Awesome. Other than Danielle Center, who is the most famous person you've met? Teresa Tomeo: Wow. Gosh, I've met all kinds of famous people because of my work as a television reporter. Most famous, it's kind of hard to narrow it down because I've met a lot of movie stars and actors and actresses, bishops, cardinals. I've never met the popes though. I've gotten very close to them. Pope John Paul II, Benedict, and Francis, but never met them. But I would say probably Hollywood celebrities that I've gotten close to because of my work in the secular media. Father Steve Pullis: Who is your hero? Who would you say your hero is? Teresa Tomeo: Alive or in [crosstalk 00:05:29]? Father Steve Pullis: Anyone, other than Jesus. You can't choose Jesus. But anyone else. Teresa Tomeo: Other than Jesus, right. Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Catherine of Siena. Father Steve Pullis: Awesome. And last question, what is the favorite book that you have ever read? Your favorite book? Teresa Tomeo: Probably Lay Siege to Heaven, by Louis de Wohl, which is about Saint Catherine of Siena. Father Steve Pullis: Okay, awesome. Danielle Center: All right. Father Steve Pullis: Thank you. Danielle Center: Thank you. That was great work. I think I'm going to ask the obvious question, even though I know the answer, but of course it's for listeners who might not. Are you Italian or where does this love of Italy come from? Teresa Tomeo: Am I Italian? Is the Pope Catholic, as the question goes. Yes, I am, Danielle. I am a 100% Italian. And all the way back I've researched my family history. I've been to all the towns in Italy of my family heritage and even spent the night in a little town in Basilicata, where my mother's mother is from. My mother's mother from Basilicata, little town of Anzi. Her father from Campania, not too far away in the mountains, South of Naples from a little town called [inaudible 00:06:30]. And my father, both his parents hail from Reggio di Calabria. So everybody is South, but all the way back, both sides of the family. Danielle Center: And this family came to Michigan or did they come to New York [crosstalk 00:06:42]- Teresa Tomeo: I was actually born on the East coast. Yeah, they immigrated the whole family, all my relatives. They either came to United States or went down to Argentina. A lot of Italians after the war or even before the war, World War II, did go down to Argentina, which is what happened to Pope Francis' family because his family is from the North. But my family is from the South, but they immigrated. Some of them immigrated through Messina, straight to Messina and Sicily. Others came through Naples and went to the East coast. So my mother's whole family and my father's whole family were... My dad and my mom were born in New Jersey. They're first-generation, I'm second-generation. And I was actually born in Jersey City, but raised in Michigan. We moved to Michigan when I was five. Danielle Center: Got it. Father Steve Pullis: And even though you had this great love of Italy, you chose a Spanish saint for your hero, Teresa of Avila. What do you love about Teresa of Avila? Teresa Tomeo: She's very shy like me, very quiet like me. Well I was named after her actually, and I didn't know that much about her until I started going to Catholic school at St. Joan. And then I started to do some research. And what I liked about her was her directness with the Lord and how she had a real sense of humor. And she was very feisty and she told the Lord exactly how she felt. And she had quite a dry sense of humor. And I also think her love of just life because she played the tambourine, she loved to dance. One of her famous saying is, "Lord, preserve us from sour-faced saints." So, I just really enjoyed reading about her and her spunkiness, her feistiness, but also just her love of Jesus. Father Steve Pullis: That's awesome. In The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis uses the term sourpusses. And so, when I was reading it and I thought, "I have to go look this up in Latin and see what this term is in Latin." Danielle Center: Oh, gosh. What is it? Father Steve Pullis: And I wish I remembered it. I don't know it off the top of my head, but I was reading it and he said something very much like this, "We don't need sourpuss saints." Right? We don't need people who look like they're coming from a funeral all the time. And I thought, "What does sourpuss translate into in Latin?" So- Danielle Center: Is it stronger or is it lighter? Yeah. Teresa Tomeo: Well I can tell you what it means and how you say it in Italian. And Italian for sourpuss, my father used to say growing up, "No funga face," which is actually mushroom. Danielle Center: Oh, golly. Teresa Tomeo: So, the Italians would say, "Funga." So like, "No frowning," right? Danielle Center: Oh, well there you go. Father Steve Pullis: Awesome. Well, Teresa, thanks for sharing these little answers so we can get to know you a little better. Teresa Tomeo: That was fun. Danielle Center: Teresa, I'm a bit curious about this story that happened late last year at St. Joan of Arc. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Teresa Tomeo: Yes. Okay, so it goes all the way back, Danielle, to when I was in grade school at St. Joan and I made my first Holy Communion. And my mom, before the actual communion event, before the whole class... This was when classes used to make communion as a whole, so it was really quite a big deal. They had a store at the Catholic bookstore came in and set up shop in a couple of classrooms. And my mom said, "Well, let's go in and you can pick out anything as a little present for your communion." And if anybody knows me, I'm a super girly girl. I love accessories. I love gloves. I love hats. I love purses. I love to accessorize. Teresa Tomeo: Okay. I'm very much a girly girl. So we go into this room that's beautifully set up with the little fake mother of pearl covers on the communion books, the little purses, the little white rosaries, lace gloves, handkerchiefs, all these things, very girly. But for whatever reason, I go and make a beeline for this statue of Jesus. And it's Jesus, at the bottom it says... He's holding a chalise. At the bottom there are two little cherubs on either side of his feet and at the bottom of it, it says, "Panis angelicus," the bread of angels. And so, fast forward now to 2019. And I'm at, I think it was 6:00 mass and Tom was serving as a deacon. So I'm sitting there in St. Joan and I'm staring at the risen Lord that we have hanging above the altar on the cross. And I'm just thinking about, for whatever reason, that statue, which I still have by the way and never lost. And I was just kind of pondering after I received the Lord in Holy Eucharist. Teresa Tomeo: And in my prayer time, I was just pondering and saying, "You know, Lord, it's so amazing. I made my communion here so many years ago. I got that statue and I still have it. And I have it under my pillow to this day. Never lost it through all the college dorms, all the apartments, all the places where Deacon Dom and I have lived. It's still with me." And I'm like, "That is so amazing. And thank you so much." And all of a sudden I hear the song Panis Angelicus being played by the vocalist. Now, panis angelicus, as we know is not something you hear... And this was still ordinary time. This was before Christmas. It's not something you normally hear in ordinary time. It's usually associated with a church holiday, especially Easter. And I was thinking about the words on the statue and all of a sudden the song starts to play. And I started to cry and of course, Dominic's looking at me from the alter like, "What in the world is going on?" Danielle Center: Good, good. Good. Teresa Tomeo: Not that he was very surprised because I'm a very emotional person, but it was so powerful to me that God was acknowledging the experience that I had. It was a very powerful experience when I received my Holy Communion as well because I just connected. I didn't have a head knowledge of the Eucharist, but I had a heart knowledge. And I was so moved by it that I actually wrote about the experience for my column in Our Sunday Visitor. So, that's my Eucharist story, my panis angelicus story. Danielle Center: Thank you. Father Steve Pullis: Yeah, and you've mentioned a few times, or you mentioned that that's been a place where God speaks to you pretty powerfully in your home church there. Is there something just kind of like the time of being there? Is there a particular place, or you talked about the image above the altar. Is there anything in the church that kind of leads you into prayer most especially? Teresa Tomeo: I think it's the whole experience and the fact that I found my vocation at St. Joan of Arc grade school. I graduated from grade school in 1973 and I had great lay teachers and great religious teachers, father. And the sisters at an early age recognized, I know this is a shock, my gift for gab. And they're the ones who encouraged me to pursue communications along with some very, very good lay teachers who recognized that I had a gift for writing. Danielle Center: That's amazing. Teresa Tomeo: And they're the ones who encouraged me, and that means a lot to me. Plus the powerful experience I had when I made my first Holy Communion, where I just knew that that was Jesus in the Eucharist. And that's what kept me rooted. Even though I fell away from the faith, I never ever considered joining another church when I was making my way back to Christ because I just knew that the church was... And again, it was more of a heart knowledge that Catholic church had the fullness of truth. Danielle Center: Did you and Deacon Dom get married there? Teresa Tomeo: Yes, we did. Yep. We got married there. I made my Holy Communion there. I made my confirmation there. I was baptized in New Jersey where I was born. But everything else, St. Joan of Arc. Danielle Center: Man, you're a lifer. That's amazing. Not everyone has that grace to build a full life of faith at a parish. My childhood parish was sold and was taken apart. So it doesn't exist anymore. So there's something really cool that you're able to return to this place where you had these sacraments and renew these memories in your mind. That's amazing. Teresa Tomeo: Yeah, it is. And it's neat, Danielle, because when Dom was ordained back in 2012, we were assigned to St. Angela's, which is now closed in [inaudible 00:00:14:22]. Great parish. We were there for almost seven years. We really were hoping that we could go to St. Joan, but oftentimes, and I think this is really good, they don't necessarily send you to your home parish. Danielle Center: Sure. Teresa Tomeo: I think having a different experiences is very wise. So you can meet new people and you can just experience a different parish and what other people are going through in that particular situation. And then kind of hone your homiletic skills and other things in terms reaching out to the parishioners. So we had seven and a half really good years there. And Monsignor Bugarin [inaudible 00:14:58] my spiritual director, said, "Dom, we'd love to have you and T join us. If anything ever opens up, let me know and we'll apply for it." And so we did have one of the deacons leave St. Joan, the opening came up, and we put in, took about a year for the process to go through, but Dom was reassigned last summer. So it's been great. Father Steve Pullis: Teresa, I know you've talked a lot about your conversion in other places, other times. Maybe could you share with us one or two things when you came back to your faith, one or two of maybe the most challenging parts to overcome, whether it was career, or the humility, or returning to the regular practice of the routine of the faith, or something that was consoling. So, anything that was particularly challenging or consoling as you came back to the faith? Teresa Tomeo: I think there is... A lot of what I experienced. I think the humility factor is really big because I had to let go of a very successful secular media career where I was on the air every night, coming into people's homes on channel seven, channel 50, on top radio stations here in the Detroit area at my last job. After I had my reversion to the faith, profound experience when I was fired from one position. And then made my way slowly back to God when my last job was as a news director at a big station here in Detroit and it was making a lot of money. But at that time, even though I was back in the faith and Dominic and I were growing really quickly doing Bible studies and getting really active at the parish, I was miserable in the business, but I didn't know what else to do. And to be perfectly honest, I didn't want to give away the money, nor did I want to give away, especially the limelight. Teresa Tomeo: I mean, I really enjoyed going into the local Italian market and getting free salamis and watermelons. I mean, that's really nice. I mean, there's certain advantage that comes along with being a celebrity, let's be honest. But at the same time, it's like, "Well, God would never want me to leave the media. What would I do? What does he want me to do?" But I realized that I was still not letting go and letting God. And I really felt God saying, "Okay, can you give this up for me? Can you give up the media?" And I thought, "You know what? Yeah, I think I can," because God had saved our marriage. We came very close to divorce. He had turned our lives around. He had done everything for us. And I said, "You know what, Lord? You've saved my marriage. You've saved basically my soul, my life, to be quite honest. Whatever you want me to do. I don't understand it. I don't know what's going to happen, but Jesus, I trust in you." Teresa Tomeo: And things didn't happen overnight. But at the same time, when I left that job, I had my station manager buy my contract out. And I took the money and started my own company, which I still have today, a communications company. I didn't exactly know what I was going to do with that company. I knew I could do public relations, media relations, crisis media management. But other than that, I didn't know if I'd ever be on the air again. And I said, "You know what? Okay." It was 20 years at that point in the media. I had a great run, hit every goal I wanted to do in terms of being a broadcaster. I said, "Whatever, Lord." And then I just really never looked back. But the humility factor of walking away from a prominent position was a big deal. But when I finally let it go, a great peace came and eventually God showed me how He wanted to use my communication skills differently. Danielle Center: It's so beautiful. And I think there's one thing to be where you are now and look back and be like, "Oh, look. God took care of it." But it's another thing when you're in that position and wondering, "Can I really let go and will God really catch me?" And that takes so much faith and so much trust and you don't even know a timeline, right? It's one thing for us to look back and be like... I don't know how long it was until you got the next job, but say it's a year. Well, to look back and be like, "Oh, it was a year." It seems like nothing. But when you're in that year, it seems a lot longer. So, it's just really beautiful that you can look back now and say, "Oh, God was there the whole time." Teresa Tomeo: I think because we had such a profound reversion. Deacon Dom came back to the church about a year before I did. And the miracles that occurred in our marriage being saved when we became... We actually separated twice. And the fact that God not only healed our marriage, but led us to a point where he would discern and eventually go into the diaconate. And then I would be working primarily for the church in terms of evangelization. But thinking back at that particular time, our marriage had been healed. We had gone to a marriage encounter. We're involved in the engaged encounter at our parish. We were thriving and I'm thinking, "And I'm not willing to take a step for God and not trust him enough when he's done all this for me?" So I think because we had so many profound experiences, it was like, "Okay. You know what? God keeps his word and you let go when you let go." Father Steve Pullis: And the beautiful thing is God does this for you and in your life, but obviously through all of your ministry, he is doing this so that you can share this experience and share God's love with other people. So, thanks for sharing your testimony with us. Teresa Tomeo: You're welcome. Father Steve Pullis: So Teresa, we get to live in, I mean, not to be bragging here, but the best archdiocese in the country, I think. With the way, I think God is doing some incredible things and it's not a contest about what he's doing in other places, but he's doing things in Detroit that I think we just need to be grateful for all that God is doing and wants to do. And I know you've had a front row seat to all of this with being in the archdiocese, your husband being a deacon, and seeing how the Lord is using all of the graces in the archdiocese of Detroit to prepare us to unleash the gospel. Not just in good times, not just when the economy's rolling and we can do everything we want, but to be his joyful missionary disciples, even when we're in the midst of a pandemic. And I know you've written a book recently about how to do this. Can you tell us a little bit about how you talk about how faith can put your fears to rest? Teresa Tomeo: Yeah. First I want to brag on the archdiocese because no brag, just fact. It's true. It's pretty incredible because I do have a really unique view as a deacon's wife here in the archdiocese, but also as a Catholic talk show host. It's a two-hour show, as you know, father because you've been a regular guest in both the local and the national hours. And so the first hour is primarily Archdiocese of Detroit and then the Diocese of Lansing in Western Michigan and parts of Indiana and Ohio that pick up that first hour, not to mention the fact that we have thousands of people that listen on the app for the whole two hours on the Ave Maria Radio app. And the second hour is a national hour. But because of wanting to put an emphasis for our Michigan and Midwest listeners, invariably there's always something that's happening in the archdiocese. And I'm so proud because I cannot keep up with everything you guys are doing. Teresa Tomeo: It's crazy. It's great. I look at all the great stories around Detroit Catholic and every once in a while, I'm emailing Dan and saying, "Hey, Dan Malloy, give me this information. I want to do this story." And it's really, really a great resource for me as a talk show host. And then I have to say this. Again, no brag, just fact, but I travel all the time. Obviously none of us is traveling right now because of this pandemic. But everywhere I go, and I'm usually speaking out at least three or four times a month, I get the questions. The first one is always, "Do you know Father John Riccardo." And I told Riccardo that I'm getting a sandwich board that says, "Yes," on the front and the question on the back. Yes, I know Father John Riccardo. Teresa Tomeo: But I also get questions about Archbishop Vigneron. I always say, "Your archbishop, is he for real?" Because I don't know if people think he's fake or something or that he's one of those stand-up... He just looks too good to be true and sounds too good to be true. I said, "Oh, no. He's the real thing." And then of course, Sacred Heart Major Seminary and all the stuff that's going on there. And then another big question that comes up in the conversation is Unleash the Gospel because so many people have either heard about it or using it or both. So I just wanted to put that out there because I'm very proud of what we're doing in the archdiocese. Danielle Center: That's so beautiful. Is the- Teresa Tomeo: It is. I mean, I hear this from people all the time. I mean, I had people come up to me and say, "You are so blessed to be in the Archdiocese of Detroit. There's so much going on." And it's true. Danielle Center: And there's been something going on in your life too. You were sharing with us on break a little bit. Of course, a very sad thing, you had a loss in your family. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Teresa Tomeo: Yes, my beautiful 93-year-old mom. She would've been 94 this month on May 29th. And she passed away, not from COVID, but from congestive heart failure. And we knew that she was starting to fade and we expected it to happen. Didn't expect it to happen in March, but it was God's timing. And you think about when someone passes and you think, "Well, what good could come out of losing a loved one?" But if you look at it through the lenses, as Al always says, Al Kresta, "The lens of scripture and teachings of the church, you can see God's hand over it." And I'm grateful that my mom didn't suffer. She died on the Feast of Saint Joseph, the, of course, patron of a happy death. And she died very peacefully. Her heart was slowing down and she just went to sleep and never woke up. Took a few days, but it was very peaceful. Teresa Tomeo: And the other thing I really thought about in God's timing is that my mother and I are both very, very social people, very outgoing, very affectionate. Everybody loved my mom. She had this crazy adorable Jersey accent. And the older she got, the stronger the accident was. And so people knew her for saying, "Oh, how are you? How are you? So good to see you. Oh my God, you look wonderful." I mean, she just sounded like right off the boat in Brooklyn or something, but she never lost that accent. And she was very charming. And I could not imagine her having to go through, or me, two months of that isolation. So God's grace there. Teresa Tomeo: It was painful, but at the same time it taught me so much about God's grace. Even though we could not have a funeral liturgy for her and my wonderful pastor, Monsignor Bugarin walked us through all the steps and what we could and couldn't do. And he wanted to have a mass because he celebrated the funeral mass for my father 10 years ago and it was so beautiful with the choir and, Oh, it was just great. But his support that was there and I felt the need to put that in writing, to explain to people that look... And that's what the title you mentioned earlier, father, the title of the book is Conquering Coronavirus; how faith can put our fears to rest. That through all of this craziness that we're experiencing now, whatever the situation is, God forbid, if you lose a loved one, whether it be from COVID or something else, that God is with us in the good times and the bad. Teresa Tomeo: And if we say, "Jesus, I trust in you." Even if we're going through a stubborn moment as I was because at one point I was very frustrated the day we were burying my mom. It was pouring rain and I'm thinking, "How is this going to work?" And I was just having all these Saint Teresa of Avila moments. This is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few. But God showed up right then and there, when she was being buried, through two of my friends. It's an experience I'm putting in the book. But I wanted to write this book to have people look at this from a bigger perspective. Everybody is thinking about pandemic, pandemic. When are we going to get out of this? When is everything going to be re-opened? What's going to go on? Blah, blah, blah. When are we going to get back to mass? Teresa Tomeo: But this is not the only crisis that we're ever going to face. And so what are we learning right now? I don't want people to forget because I remember 9/11 and I remember being... I was working, I think it was my first job in the Christian world. I was working at the local FM evangelical station, the only Catholic at that station, which was a very powerful experience for me. But I can remember covering that back then and how the churches literally overnight were filled up. And they stayed that way for a few months. But if you look at the surveys that I mention in the book, a year after September 11th, they went back to where they were before. Teresa Tomeo: And so all these people, many of whom showed up anonymously, came to the churches, whether they be Protestant or Catholic, and filled the pews. Then they went away. They went back to basically their old normal. I'm hoping that we can step back. And as Archbishop Vigneron said during Holy Week that it's still about evangelization. And especially now that we need to reach out because the surveys and the research shows that people, once again, as they were during 9/11 are looking, are searching, are questioning. Bible sales are through the roof, the masses, and father, you know this, the viewing, the numbers are very high. Monsignor Bugarin just said recently that our mass is online at St. Joan. People in Portugal, Poland, Brazil, Guam. I mean, come on, in addition to right here in Southeastern Michigan. Teresa Tomeo: So the book is about, okay, what happened here? God did not cause this. I don't believe that. Some people may, I don't. I think we serve a loving God, a merciful God, but He allows things to happen in His providence and wisdom. What is he doing? Why is he allowing this? I think he's doing it to get our attention. Father John Riccardo said something beautiful in an interview we did that he believes that God is allowing us to reboot and to look at the crowns because the word corona means crown in Latin and Italian. What crowns have we placed on the shelves of our lives, do we worship that need to be taken down and replaced by our relationship with God and our family? I think this is much bigger than this pandemic. Teresa Tomeo: And I think it's a huge opportunity for evangelization, for rebooting the domestic church. There's so much that God is allowing us to do at this time and I don't want us to lose it. That's why I put this in the book and there's great resources and prayers and positive uplifting stories, many of which are based on some of the great things we've been doing here in the Archdiocese of Detroit. I'm proud to say the AOD is all over this book because it's where I live, it's where I worship, and I'm very proud of what we do. But I think people will find it really hopeful and really encouraging. And because I'm a journalist, I'm all about the resources. So at the end of the book, I have just tons of resources in there for all kinds of situations, in addition to what we're going through right now. Father Steve Pullis: You have a chapter on creativity too. And I think that's one of the graces that's coming out of this, is there is, and Teresa, we talked about it soon after the suspension of public masses came out, that this is a real challenge for lots of people. And it's not to downplay the difficulty that it is. But I think it is an opportunity for us to think about creative ways to share the gospel and to say, "How are we helping people to know Jesus, who maybe are not in the habit of coming on Sunday morning or Saturday evening?" And what are some different ways that we can find to share the good news of what our parishes are doing, whether it's the beauty of our churches or the beauty of the richness of Catholicism, whether it's the truth of what we know, the truth of, especially in the season of Easter, how we can point to Jesus as definitive victory over sin and death in his resurrection. Father Steve Pullis: But especially I think in these days, it's the goodness of Christians and the way we're called to be creative in the way we love each other, being creative and looking for ways to build each other up. I'm here at Sacred Heart Seminary and usually go for a walk every day through the neighborhood, across the street. And it's just kind of cool to see sidewalk chalk, positive messages out there, to see people smiling and being a little bit more friendly. And I think even though we are physically distant from each other, I feel like God wants to do something to open our hearts so that we can just be a little bit more outside of our own personal bubble and desiring to connect with other people and to bring the goodness of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus out from our churches into the world. Teresa Tomeo: I think there's a great appreciation of the mass when people are watching it now on the internet and they're really focusing in on the parts of the mass and looking at it much differently and much more intimately when they're seeing it on the screen. And I know that every weekend when I watch mass at my parish at St. Joan, I'm sharing that experience again in my mind, Danielle, that I just shared with you earlier. And I look at that beautiful image of our Lord with his arms open and the beautiful mosaic of St. Joan on the back of the altar and looking at all the different churches, so beautiful. And just saying to myself, "I never want to take that building for granted again." As a matter of fact, I was doing an interview last week with Brian Patrick on his weekend show on EWTN Radio. And he said, "What are you going to do when your parish opens his doors?" And I just burst into tears. And I said, "I probably will be like Pope John Paul II, kiss the ground because I miss it so much." Teresa Tomeo: That structure is so familiar with me, but there's so many great things going on. And so many of our priests were right in the middle of that right here in the archdiocese, and so I share a lot of the stories in the book. And what I also say too, is that it's really the corporal and spiritual works of mercy that are being performed. And many people don't even know they're performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Even if they have no faith at all, if the law of the Lord, as St. Paul says, "Is written on their hearts," they're acting out on it. And there's a beautiful appreciation for the dignity of the human person, even by people that we might not expect to see engaging in this. And I think that's the human spirit and the beauty of who we are, made in the image and likeness of God, it's enabling us to see this and to see a lot of things differently, I hope. Danielle Center: I was talking to a friend today and he works in the medical field. And we were talking about physical health, of course, with coronavirus because he works in the hospital system, but then he jumped to mental health as well. And even people who aren't going through the physical end of coronavirus, a lot of them have a hard time during quarantine with their mental health. And he and I both said, "We're really fortunate to have a good toolbox, good support systems, a life of prayer, healthy habits," right? These things that we can rely on. Danielle Center: But I think that that's something that I'm thinking about a lot too in this time is what about the people in our lives, on our social media feed, who don't have that same kind of structure and support, and how do we reach them too, right? So that's not just parish level, but that's also the individual level, right? Because I mean, a church can't reach that person in the same way that I, Danielle Center, can by calling, by private messaging, that kind of thing. So I think that that's something really unique to this... I mean, you can always do that, but this kind of gives it a nice little excuse, like, "Oh, just wanted to check in." Teresa Tomeo: Well I think Archbishop Vigneron has been talking a lot about this too, talking about we have to continue to evangelize and we have to obviously evangelize ourselves and re-evangelize ourselves and our families. But I think this is a great opportunity to reach out to some of those people and maybe invite them into all these different great zoom meetings that are going on. I just got a call the other night from my friend Damon Owens who's with the Joytob, the Theology of the Body group that he does. And they're doing an online marriage retreat that's going to be coming up at the end of the month. You've got Ken and Signe Castel that are doing couple prayer. That's being sponsored by the archdiocese. I think it's a three-week series that they're doing and they're coming in. And so these are the types of things where it's very noninvasive. Teresa Tomeo: We can just invite someone, say, "Hey, I'm doing this thing online tonight. It's really cool. I think it might give you some hope or maybe we can listen to this together. Maybe you can watch this." I think it's really, really important because you're right. I mean, it's hard enough for us to be away from family and friends physically, but we have these tools and we know what's available to us. And if it's tough for us, imagine the person who doesn't have that, but right now is this perfect time, God's timing to reach out to those people and to truly... I mean, what an opportunity to Unleash the Gospel. Father Steve Pullis: Amen, Teresa. Danielle Center: For sure. Father Steve Pullis: That's beautiful. God is doing awesome things in Detroit. He's doing awesome things through you in the archdiocese and beyond. And so grateful for the way you're using your gifts, especially in your new book, Conquering Coronavirus, to bring people closer to Christ. As we finish up each episode, we give our guest the last word. Do you have any kind of prayer or final word you want to leave with us for those who listen here? Teresa Tomeo: I would just say that I hope that those listening will really take advantage of all the great tools we have in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Maybe I'm a little bit biased because my husband's a deacon in the archdiocese, but I can't tell you how many people, I just want to emphasize when I travel, what I hear. And people come up to me. I don't go up to people and say, "Hey, what do you think of what we're doing in the Archdiocese of Detroit? I'm very proud of it." And I often refer to it in my talks, but people come up to me unmotivated... I mean, I don't ask for it. They come up and it's spontaneity and they say, "You're really blessed to be in the archdiocese." So I hope we appreciate it. I know I do. I grew up here. Teresa Tomeo: I'm blessed to be able to work with people like you and just promote what you're doing. And I do hope people get a copy of the book because I wrote it for the longterm, although it picks up on what we're experiencing now, Conquering Coronavirus has a ton of resources, a ton of uplifting sources. And I just hope they like it, including all the resources I have from the Archdiocese of Detroit. I think it will help them. You can use it as a Bible study. There's questions after each chapter, reflection questions. It's just very uplifting with stories of hope and great ideas and how to evangelize. So, they can just go to my website, teresatomeo.com and check it out. But we are blessed and I'm so honored and it was fun to be on the other side of [crosstalk 00:37:18] for a change. Danielle Center: Thank you so much. Father Steve Pullis: Well, thank you so much for coming. Teresa Tomeo: You're welcome. Thank you. Father Steve Pullis: It was a great blessing to have Teresa Tomeo join us in the Open Door Policy studio today to hear the way that she is building up the Archdiocese of Detroit around the country and sharing her gifts to help us conquer the Coronavirus. Danielle Center: If you liked this episode, please share it with your friends, your neighbors, your relatives, your Trader Joe cashier. You can also leave us a review on iTunes. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Our handle is @opendoordetroit. Help us Unleash the Gospel. Open Door Policy was produced by Ron Pangborn and the creative team of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Teresa Tomeo: Oh my God, you look wonderful. Father Steve Pullis: I'm Father Steve Pullis with Danielle Center. Danielle Center: And this has been another episode of Open Door Policy.