S17 E6 - Return to the Heart with Dr. Shane Owens
Abiding Together
Abiding Together
4.9 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 20 October 2025
⏱️ 53 minutes
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Summary
In this episode, Dr. Shane Owens, a scholar of St. Augustine, joins us to discuss the power of memory. Together, we explore how memory is a place to where we withdraw to understand our identity, shape our whole self, and begin to see God working in our lives. Memory exists for the purpose of hope and we not only talk about how the Scriptures and Eucharist bear the memories of the Church, but also how our sorrowful memories can become sources of hope.
Heather’s One Thing - Pope Leo XIV: Son of St. Augustine (A conversation with Fr. Dave Pivonka and Dr. Shane Owens)
Heather’s Other One Thing - Franciscan University’s Festival of Praise
Sister Miriam’s One Thing - The Archdiocese of Sydney, Australia
Michelle’s One Thing - Return to the Heart: The Biblical Spirituality of St. Augustine’s Confessions by Dr. Shane Owens
Michelle’s Other One Thing - Heaven for Me! by St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Dr. Shane Owens’ One Thing - Bible Across America from the St. Paul Center
Other Resources Mentioned:
- Return to the Heart: The Biblical Spirituality of St. Augustine’s Confessions by Dr. Shane Owens
- Bible Across America
Journal Questions:
- Am I savoring or swallowing the gifts God has given me?
- What core memories of my life have been rewritten by God?
- What sorrowful mysteries of my life feel too complicated to ponder?
- Where in your memory do you need to ask Jesus where He was present in it?
Discussion Questions:
- How can you hone your spiritual palate to be present to the good that God is doing in your life?
- When have you experienced the living power of memories?
- How have your memories been a source of hope?
- How are you being invited to slow down and ponder?
Quote to Ponder:
“The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place "to which I withdraw." The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.” (CCC 2563)
Scripture for Lectio:
“But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)
Sponsor - Hallow:
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Chapters:
00:00 Hallow
01:00 Intro
01:50 Welcome
05:35 Scripture Verse and Guiding Quote
07:07 Who is St. Augustine?
09:30 What Inspired this Book?
11:18 Entering into Our Memories
13:20 How We Write Our Own Stories
15:34 Scripture and the Eucharist Help Us Understand Our Own Story
17:37 Chewing the Cud
20:47 Wondering vs Pondering
24:30 Hope in Our Sorrowful Mysteries
30:30 Finding Jesus in Painful Memories
38:59 Setting Aside Time to Hope
43:46 One Things
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, friends, this episode is sponsored by Hallow, the number one prayer app in the world. |
| 0:05.6 | Guys, we all just love Hallow. It is such a great tool for daily prayer. They literally have |
| 0:10.0 | thousands of audio guided prayers, meditations, and music. I recently recorded a great |
| 0:14.9 | session as a part of Hallow's St. Michael's Lent Challenge with Shane Smith and Sister Miriam, as you |
| 0:20.3 | know, has many prayers on |
| 0:21.4 | Hallow as well. Starting today, actually, Hallow has a great new prayer challenge going through the |
| 0:26.0 | screw tape letters, which is such a powerful book. The challenge is being guided by one of my good |
| 0:31.0 | friends, Father John Ricardo and Jim Caviesel voicing the words of screw tape. In the coming months, |
| 0:36.5 | Hallow's going to have amazing prayer content |
| 0:38.3 | for the whole family, |
| 0:39.8 | including their Advent Prayer Challenge in December. |
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| 0:53.3 | That's H-A-L-O-W-com slash abide to get three months free of hallow. That's h-a-l-l-O-W.com slash abide. We hope you enjoy this episode. |
| 0:59.9 | Hello and welcome to season 17 of the Abiding Together podcast. It is incredible to be with you after all of |
| 1:06.0 | these seasons and we think you're going to really enjoy all that God is going to have for you during this 17th season of our podcast. |
| 1:14.3 | The Abiding Together podcast is a place where you can find connection, rest, and encouragement in your journey with Jesus Christ. |
| 1:20.6 | My name is Sister Miriam James Heidland, and every week I'm joined by two of my very dearest friends, Michelle Benzinger, and Heather Kim, |
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