TOP CHAT

Dr Theresa Burke (psychologist) chats to Ruth about her work with Rachel's Vineyard and From Grief to Grace, and their treatment models for trauma: "It's a wonderful process that removes the barriers and lifts the veil of all the lies and restores truth to who we are before God and restores the truth of our love for our children, for ourselves even. Because people who've been abused and hurt so badly end up hating themselves and then they end up in very self-destructive, self-punishment cycles, and all this is just not what God wants for us. He wants us to live. He came that we might have life and have it to the full. I think a lot of people learn to just tolerate how it is, they learn to live with it, 'Alright, this isn't what I wanted for my life but I can kind of get by.' And they settle. And the Lord doesn't want us to settle, He wants us to seek. So all theses opportunities for healing, even if you think 'Oh, I've learned to live with this abortion' or 'My abuse sucked but I can carry on'. That's not what He wants, He wants us to be better than we were before the injury. Can you imagine that? Better than we were before that happened! And that is what healing does - not only does it strengthen you in the places of weaknesses but then you can use all that horror to help others. Which is why this program has spread all over the world, because it has been spread by people whose lives have been changed. It hasn't been spread by the top-down authorities, it's the grass roots in the trenches, those who are suffering, who have so much to teach us and who in their humility and in their brokenness really reveal the power of God. That's the blessing and that's the grace." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more - dedicated to Our Lady, it has been inspired by our holy Papas - Blessed John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Stephen B Whatley, chats to Erin about his work as an artist and his most recent exhibition in Westminster Cathedral: "Even many, many years ago, at the beginning of this evolvement of my work into much more expressive work, I would stand back from those early paintings and think, even though I was in pain and was depressed a lot of the time, my work is not reflecting that. And now I realise what it is reflecting is that, even though it was a terrible tragedy, it didn't block the love that's in my heart. So I think that my work comes predominantly from prayer but it comes from the love in my heart, the colours, and, I mean, humbly I think they must as well have come from God because I literally, as I say, feel rendered hopeless and helpless at the beginning, and depend on God for direction. So, yes, I think ultimately love is the thing, the great thing." Music by Mike Mangione. Visit Totus2us.com for much more - dedicated to Our Lady, it has been inspired by our holy Papas - Blessed John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Collette, from England: "Nightfever started in 2005 with World Youth Day in Cologne. It was a response to the Holy Father’s visit and it has since spread across cities across all of Europe. It came to England last year, firstly to London and we brought it to Birmingham. It was Frankie Mulgrew who encouraged me to go and talk to my parish priest and get it running. It's a very simple concept. So, on a Saturday evening we go into a busy church, maybe by a high street or where there are a lot of nightclubs and pubs, a priest will expose the Blessed Sacrament for us, the church is lit by candles, there's gentle music in the background, there'll be priests available for confession, and then we send the young people out into the streets with a candle simply to ask people to come into the church and light a candle. And then we let Jesus, present in the Blessed Sacrament, do the rest of the work." Visit Totus2us.com for much more - dedicated to Our Lady, it has been inspired by our holy Papas - Blessed John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

Norman Servais from South Africa chats to Ruth about his background as a film maker and his present project working on Awestruck Global, a new Catholic hub / network / space, which has loads of potential with it's RSS streaming. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus - All Yours - was the motto of Blessed Pope John Paul II to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

This 'chat' was not originally intended to be heard other than by Erin-Thérèse (from the Totus2us team) to help with the article she was writing about Totus2us. She pulled the trick of an article out of her hat with such charm and aplomb (and a determination that wasn't to be dodged) that Ruth (also from the Totus2us team) couldn't fail but cave in! Once recorded (over skype with a deep-breathing computer), Erin and her darling husband and mother then gave the shpeel that others might like to hear something about the story of Totus2us. So here it is, in great thanksgiving for 1000 somethings about Mary and 3 years of Totus2us. Happy Birthday, beloved Mother Mary, and THANK YOU for being Totus 2 us. Totus Tuus! Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus - All Yours - was the motto of Blessed Pope John Paul II to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Hal St John (musician) chats to Ruth about the band Ooberfuse, playing at the opening ceremony of World Youth Day Madrid with Cherrie Anderson, having been chosen through the song competition Madrid Me Encanta, the all night vigil at JMJ 2011 and World Youth Days past and future - in the Philippines and Brazil. Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus - All Yours - was the motto of Blessed John Paul II to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Christoph Warrack (director) chats to Ruth about OPEN CINEMA, a network of film clubs programmed by and for homeless and socially excluded people which Christoph founded in 2005: " I was working on a soup kitchen at the church in Soho Square and the homeless started to ask if they could have something more than a weekly meal, and so I started showing films, in a hall with a bunch of friends. We handmade the blinds and we painted the wall and we borrowed a projecture and we started showing films and then inviting film makers to come in and talk about those films.. So this space once a week became a place where famous film makers would drop by and introduce a film to a collection of people who wouldn't ordinarily have access to a cinema, and it was really exciting and fabulous for everyone who was involved." Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus - All Yours - was the motto of Pope John Paul II to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Speakers and young people at Invocation 2010 chat to Frankie. Archbishop Vincent Nichols: "The gift that Christ gives us in His permanent presence in the Eucharist is the fullest possible expression of self-forgetful love. What we see in the Eucharist is the Lord giving us Himself totally, permanently, and in that very act of self-sacrifice. And so for those of us who seek a way of life which is centred on self-gift, on giving oneself, then the Eucharist is absolutely irresistible, because what we see in Him, in His presence, is what inspires us and constantly feeds the desire to be generous, which is so often obstructed by all sorts of our own short-comings. So we come to Him in the Eucharist because that's the source of self-giving love which we want to try to the best of ability to express in our own lives... As far as I'm concerned, the quote of the week-end is one young man here who has just said 'Well, you know, the Catholic Church, it's so young and so very modern.'" Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus - All Yours - was the motto of Pope John Paul II to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

James Burke-Dunsmore (actor, artist) chats to Ruth about playing the part of Jesus over the last 12 years, particularly in the Wintershall Life of Christ, his relationship with the cast and the audience and how, as an actor, this role is so very different to all others: "Anyone who has played Christ would know this; it sets you apart from every other role.. By trying to portray Christ, you get to understand something really of the potential of an actor, it stretches you in places you just can't imagine, even in the most demanding of roles in Shakespeare or any of the greats." Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus - All Yours - was the motto of Pope John Paul II to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Peter Hutley (writer, producer) chats to Ruth about the plays he has written and produces at Wintershall: the Nativity Play, the Passion of Jesus, the Life of Christ and the Acts of the Apostles; how they have been taken further afield eg Trafalgar Square and are being performed around the world, particularly in prisons: "Once you get going it is infectious.. and it gathers momentum because Jesus is behind it. That is the great advantage: when you are portraying his life, He is there." Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus - All Yours - was the motto of Pope John Paul II to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.

Anne Brawley (director, Youth 2000 USA) chats to Ruth about how she got involved with Youth 2000 and its beginnings in the USA, the way Eucharistic adoration has been transforming young people's lives and the participation of Youth 2000 at World Youth Days since WYD 1993 in Denver: "The whole Youth 2000 programme is based on bringing young people to know the true presence, and I find that that is the great grace that God has given us to do this work." For more, visit www.totus2us.com

Marino Restrepo (missionary) chats to Frankie about how his life as a musician (with his band Santa Fe) and an actor changed dramatically when he was kidnapped by the Colombian rebels of the FARC (Revolutionary Arm Forces of Colombia) and taken to the jungle as a hostage for 6 months: "After I found the incredible reality of the spiritual life that I was missing, I embraced it in a way that I realise now it is not only about the material world, it is also about the sense of eternal life." Visit Totus2us.com for much more. Totus Tuus - All Yours - was the motto of Pope John Paul II to Mary. Our Lady is also everything to us - Totus2us.