Discerning Marriage Episode 5: Humility with Jeanette Clark, MTS
One of the most powerful things you can do to discern marriage well is hone in on the virtues used most in marriage and work to grow in them. While all virtues are really necessary for the Christian life, one of the things we want to do is highlight a few of the biggies for marriage and give you tips for perfecting those virtues in your life. We start that journey today with the virtue of humility! We are joined by Jeanette Clark, a graduate of the Pontifical St. John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family and wife of Jason Clark, executive director of Theology of the Body Institute, to dive deeply into this virtue and why it matters so much for your life and your discernment.
On The Discerning Marriage Podcast, we accompany you on the journey to discover if marriage is God’s will for you, and if you already know that you’re called to marriage, we want to help you bring glory to God in your vocation.
Show Notes
Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary Prayers
St. Louis de Montfort and 33 Days to Morning Glory
1 Corinthians 13:
If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Born to a military family, Jeanette Clark lived most of her life in the Washington, DC area. She received her Master's in Theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in 1997 and that same year moved to Denver, Colorado (which she actually considers her home town) where she was hired by the brand new Archbishop, Charles Chaput. She directed the Office of Christian Initiation for the Archdiocese for four years, giving frequent talks and retreats to the community. Jeanette married Jason Clark in 2001 at a little mountain Church in Evergreen, Colorado where their family adventure began. In June they will celebrate 19 years as husband and wife. They have 5 children ages 8-17, 4 of whom are boys and they currently live in rural southern Pennsylvania surrounded by Amish neighbors. She is delving deeper and deeper into what it means to be a human being - a woman - who has encountered Christ and what that means on every level of existence. Deep ponderings at the kitchen sink.
A huge thank you to Catholic record label NOVUM Records and artist John Finch for our theme song "Send Down Your Spirit"!
Learn more about Discerning Marriage Ministries here.
Learn more about Theology of the Body Institute here.
Send a question to host Elizabeth Busby here.