50. From Suffering to Surrender: Discovering Mary's Heart - A conversation with two atheists who converted to Catholicism

A Remarkable Friendship of Faith: Cancer survivor Tammy Peterson and Catholic convert Queenie Yu 

A blessed Rosary and daily prayers in a hospital atrium sparked an extraordinary spiritual journey for Tammy Peterson. Recorded just five days before her confirmation into the Catholic Church, this intimate conversation reveals how suffering became the doorway to profound transformation.

Tammy's story begins with her daughter Mikhaela's childhood battle with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis—38 painful joints that left a young mother feeling helpless and questioning faith. Yet through this suffering, she found an unexpected connection with Mother Mary, who watched her own Son die on the Cross. This maternal bond became the foundation for a spiritual awakening years later when facing her own mortality.

When Queenie Yu brought a Rosary blessed by Pope Francis to Tammy's hospital room during her battle of a debilitating mystery illness post-cancer surgery, neither woman expected it would become a daily ritual spanning five weeks. Through these morning prayer sessions, Tammy not only learned the mysteries of the Rosary but began a deep process of reflection, grief, and spiritual growth. "It was the one orderly thing," Tammy recalls, "very deep because I was also going through my life."

The fruits of this transformation are evident throughout the conversation. Family members marvel at the dramatic changes in Tammy, with her husband noting how unusual it is to see someone of her age transform so completely. What emerges is a woman who remains deeply concerned for her loved ones but is no longer attached to controlling outcomes—a freedom born of surrender.

As Tammy prepared to take "Mary" as her Confirmation name before her Confirmation a year ago, she reflects on how she's "been looking for Mother Mary since I was a little kid." Her journey reminds us that conversion can be the sudden conversion like that of St. Paul or a result of the culmination of a lifetime of seeking truth, persevering in suffering, and ultimately, finding peace in surrender.

Have you experienced profound transformation through friendship or suffering? We'd love to hear your story. Share your thoughts and join our community of women seeking to live out their faith with courage and grace.

The Tammy Peterson Podcast can be found on all podcasting platforms, including YouTube and Apple Podcasts
https://youtube.com/@UCUwUe0mLO6vOob4NmBL4cpw 
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-tammy-peterson-podcast/id1624988035

Queenie Yu is the Director of Character Education at Hawthorn School for Girls in North York, Ontario
https://hawthornschool.com

To reach Veil + Armour (available on all podcasting platforms)
https://veilandarmour.com
https://www.instagram.com/@veilandarmour
https://www.x.com/@sheilanonato
https://veilandarmour.buzzsprout.com

To hear the conclusion of the story about Dr. Peterson's medical distress a few years ago, as told by his wife, Tammy, please watch or listen to this episode:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/39-tammy-peterson-prays-for-pope-francis-and-the/id1739137478?i=1000706745492

https://youtu.be/O8bGcrRl

Chapters

• 0:00 Tammy recalls her daugther's Illness
• 1:45 Welcome to Veil and Armour Podcast
• 3:17 Friendship Founded on Prayer
• 9:15 Mikhaila's Painful Journey and a Mother's Love
• 15:14 Preparing for Confession
• 21:12 The Meaning of the Eucharist
• 27:21 Women's Faith and Vocation
• 36:48 Prayer for Dr. Jordan B. Peterson
• 40:58 Closing Remarks

Transcript

Queenie Yu: 0:01

And I was mentioning that one of the hardest things is for a mom to watch her child suffer, and I remember you talking about Mikhaela as a child suffering a lot and I saw you kind of like bonding with Our Lady then because she, like you, watched. You know your child suffer.

Tammy Peterson: 0:25

Yeah, yeah, it was a lot of suffering 38 affected joints. When she was diagnosed 38 painful joints, I thought, oh my goodness, that's too much pain for a little 17. Yeah, still makes me cry.

Sheila Nonato: 0:42

How did you get here?

Tammy Peterson: 0:44

Oh, it was hard. It was hard, you know. One thing that happened was my Dad came to visit. I don't know how old Mikhaela was. She even might have been doing better by then. She might have been in Junior High, because we got her on medication and she went into remission for a while and had some really good years. Actually, my Dad came to visit.

Tammy Peterson: 1:03

I was more hopeful and having more faith that things would and I also began to pray to my mother when she passed away.

Tammy Peterson: 1:13

I brought that up with Father Peter. I said you know, I prayed to my mother for a long time. He said I've heard of that.

Tammy Peterson: 1:19

He said, "eah, people do pray to their mother and I realized well, really, what I was doing. I was praying to what was best in my mom, which is Mother.

Tammy Peterson: 1:26

Mary. That's, Mother Mary, what's best in a mother, and I used to pray to my Mom to help Mikhaela and Mikhaela got better.

Sheila Nonato: 1:43

Hello and Welcome to the Veil and Armour Podcast. This is your host, Sheila Nonato. I'm a stay-at-home mom and a freelance Catholic journalist, Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of Our Lady. I strive to tell stories that inspire, illuminate and enrich the lives of Catholic women, to help them in living out our vocation of raising the next generation of leaders and saints.

Co-Host: 2:06

Please join us every week on the Veil and Armour podcast, where stories come alive through a journalist's lens and mother's heart.

Tammy Peterson: 2:14

On this Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary we celebrate the Feminine Genius of Our Lady, her courage to say, "yes to God's will, despite the cost and the sacrifice, all for her great love for god. We also celebrate the sixth anniversary this month of the beginning of a beautiful friendship between canadian podcaster tammy peterson and fellow convert Queenie Yu, who brought a rosary blessed by the late Pope Francis to Tammy when she was suffering from a debilitating illness in the hospital, recovering from post-cancer surgery and facing 10 months to live. In this never-before-seen interview, recorded a week before Tammy's confirmation at Holy Rosary Church in Toronto, canada, we hear how their friendship began with the rosary and sparked an incredible journey towards prayer, self-reflection and a surrender to Jesus.

Tammy Peterson: 3:23

Good morning, Queenie, Mrs Peterson, Thank You for joining me today. So it's been quite the friendship between the two of you, quite the spiritual journey. How are you both feeling about the upcoming confirmation? Whoever wants to start first?

Tammy Peterson: 3:39

I'll let you start first. How do I feel about it? It feels good, it feels right. I don't have any hesitation. I feel like I'm getting involved in something that I have more to learn about, but that's also good.

Queenie Yu: 4:03

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I think it's a beautiful moment. I was thinking that, well, I know a number of people who have entered the Church and some have unfortunately left afterwards and I think maybe they think that getting confirmed or entering the Church is like training for an Olympic medal. They take it seriously. For a while they go to the classes, they go for spiritual direction. You know, do the R. C. I. A. spiritual direction, but as soon as Confirmation arrives, okay, they think that that's it. But no, that's really the beginning, and you know, the beginning of a new way of living. So some people forget that and they forget that after confirmation, they need to continue learning about the faith, they need to continue praying, continue going to spiritual direction. Yeah, and it really is a new beginning.

Tammy Peterson: 5:05

So I guess I was fortunate because you taught me to pray the Rosary long before this 2019. Yeah, so that's long before this, and I continued to pray it, so I have a practice of prayer that will sustain me.

Queenie Yu: 5:25

Yeah, and that's really amazing, because when you learned to pray the Rosary and you went to the hospital, we didn't see each other for a while, but you continued praying the Rosary every day. I thought that was pretty amazing.

Tammy Peterson: 5:34

It was, and you know my history of doing yoga and meditating every day and for some reason you know, 13 years old I decided that that was something to do. It may have been suggested in the book, or maybe my aunt told me. Well, when we were at her house, when she gave us the book, we did yoga for five days every day and then I went home with it. So I just continued to do it every day and I did yoga every day until I was well into my 50s. So, a very long practice. And most recently I've been praying the rosary, but instead of doing the Mysteries, I've been reading. I've been reading Scripture, and so this will get me through the Bible. So what a great way I slotted the Bible into this tried and true time of prayer. Oh, I thought right on, it's working anyway.

Queenie Yu: 6:33

You know. Speaking of yoga, I remember when I went to visit you in the hospital and we were praying the rosary for some time and I realized that something was happening with you, like you were changing, you were getting peace. And at one point in time I asked you there are many people who are sick, who rebel against God, but you were getting closer to him. And I asked you why. And you mentioned that before you used to do yoga, but then afterwards you realized it wasn't enough. You were looking for more, which was why you turned to God, yoga, but then afterwards you realized it wasn't enough. You were looking for more, which was why you turned to God.

Queenie Yu: 7:07

And afterwards I was reflecting on that, trying to understand it, and I realized that yoga or chocolate chip cookies, or whatever consolation we can get in times of difficulties, those are human made, and anything that's made by us, who are limited human beings, is ultimately imperfect and limited, whereas God is perfect. He's all wisdom, he's all goodness. So when you said it wasn't enough for you to go to yoga, yeah, and it's westernized too Westernized yoga so it's definitely man-made right.

Tammy Peterson: 7:43

Yeah.

Tammy Peterson: 7:43

Because it's not. I'm not a Hindu, I don't live in India, I don't understand the deep spirituality of the yogic practice and, as I've learned through going to yoga classes since then and I've hardly ever gone to any but they are not. That's not what they're about. They're really's not what they're about. They're really about, you know, they're about staying present, but they're about fitness as well, and they might also be about there's some meditation in them, there's some visualization, but it's not scripture. And I look back at something I was reading I don't remember what, and I read that the whole idea of meditation was supposed to be based on scripture and lots of people don't know that. But that's really something people need to know. Is that? That's the deepness of it.

Tammy Peterson: 8:52

So, what would you say is the glue of your friendship, the foundation of your friendship? Well, it became a practice, didn't it? Because you came every day for five weeks. So it became a practice, same time every day. I respond to practice I definitely do. It was. It was the one orderly thing, I think. You know I that's not true. My, my husband came to the hospital, my relatives came to the hospital and we'd play cards.

Tammy Peterson: 9:18

Like so we did. We did things regular, but this was 10 in the morning every day for five weeks and I was learning. I was learning how to do this and it was very deep because I was also going through my life, right. So it was a very deep time for me to learn what I was going through and take the time to meditate on that and to grieve. So it was very wholesome too, right. It was very well-rounded, it was deep.

Queenie Yu: 9:57

And I was thinking initially, when I went to visit you, I wasn't thinking, oh, I'm going to go every single day, and I was just thinking okay, well, I'll visit. I brought you the rosary, gave you the little pamphlet. I was amazed that you wanted to learn, but I realized I couldn't teach you, right then and there. So I thought okay, I'll teach you tomorrow. And I remember the next day was a Thursday, so we went over the Luminous Mysteries and then I was amazed that you enjoyed praying the rosary and I thought, okay, well, let's do it again, but tomorrow it's the Sorrowful, so I need to teach you how to do that. That's why I came back, right, right. And then the next day it was Saturday, so, oh, that's the Joyful, so I'll come back and teach you. And then the next day was Sunday, I got to teach you the gloss, and the next day was Monday Okay, I have to teach you the Joyful. So it just happened day after day.

Tammy Peterson: 10:50

Yeah, it was like one day at a time, I guess, was it oh?

Queenie Yu: 10:53

Yeah, and then one thing that really amazed me was how much you were getting out of it. And then I remember when we were going over the Sorrowful Mysteries, the fifth Sorrowful Mystery, with Our Lady watching her son die, and I was mentioning that one of the hardest things is for a mom to watch her child suffer, and I remember you talking about bonding with Our Lady then because she, like you, watched, you know, your child suffer.

Tammy Peterson: 11:36

Yeah, yeah, it was a lot of suffering 38 affected joints. When she was diagnosed 38 painful joints I thought, oh my goodness, that's too much pain for a little seven-year-old.

Tammy Peterson: 11:50

Yeah, it makes me cry.

Sheila Nonato: 11:55

Wow, how did you get through that?

Tammy Peterson: 11:57

Oh, it was hard. It was hard, you know. One thing that happened was my dad came to visit I don't know how old Mikhaela was she even might have been doing better by then. She might have been in Junior High, because we got her on medication and she went into remission for a while and had some really good years actually and my Dad came to visit with my Mom and I was in the basement with them. Everybody was together, or we were maybe on the main floor together. My Dad's a very jovial and big laugh kind of guy, always teasing, always making fun of things.

Tammy Peterson: 12:31

I went up to the bathroom and I looked at myself in the mirror and I realized I wasn't smiling and that as a child I had been a very smiley child. And I thought, oh, oh, I didn't realize. And that as a child I had been a very smiley child. And I thought, oh, oh, I didn't realize I'd lost my smile. Oh, so I thought, well, I better start smiling then. So I kind of looked in the mirror and smiled and then I started walking down the streets and I'd smile at the people that I met, and people sometimes they'd look at me and they kind of wanted their eyebrows and go up like what do you want and what do you want, you know, kind of thing, and but other people would smile back, it's like, "oh yes, you know, it's a lovely day and it's nice to meet you, kind of thing. But it's just a smile and after it, first it felt forced, but eventually it became normal again and then my whole life started to turn around.

Tammy Peterson: 13:18

Instead of being someone who was hopeless and lost, I was more hopeful and having more faith that things would, and I also began to pray to my mother when she passed away. I brought that up with Father Peter. I said you know, I prayed to my mother for a long time. He said, " I've heard of that. He said you know, I prayed to my mother for a long time. He said I've heard of that. He said, yeah, people do pray to their mother.

Tammy Peterson: 13:43

And I realized well, really, what I was doing. I was praying to what was best in my Mom, which is Mother Mary. That's, Mother Mary, what's best in a mother. And I used to pray to my Mom to help Mikhaela. And Mikhaela got better, so and now she's baptized, so blessed again. Yeah, so Mikhaela's come a long ways Because she was. Her faith was dashed, when she was young, her faith. She thought what God would put me in this much pain, you know. So her faith was dashed. But she's married to a man of faith now and I used to call her and say, " hey, makayla, guess what happened? I'd tell her a miracle. Oh, she'd say Mom, I'm not there yet. And I'd say, "ou

Tammy Peterson: 14:30

know, it doesn't matter, I'm just telling you, you know what I'm celebrating." And then one day she called me. She said Mom, something happened, and that was three years ago. But then in the last month something more profound happened, and so she got baptized.

Sheila Nonato: 14:52

So I wanted to talk about confession, I guess before you have your First Confession.

Tammy Peterson: 14:55

Oh yeah, okay, I've been thinking about it, (Sheila: Have you had your First Confession yet?) Tammy: "o, no.

Sheila Nonato: 15:00

What are your thoughts?

Tammy Peterson: 15:01

What are my thoughts? What do you mean? What are my thoughts?

Queenie Yu: 15:07

No need to do the public confession here, do you?

Sheila Nonato: 15:09

Do you have any hesitations? Do you have any questions?

Tammy Peterson: 15:12

I don't have any hesitations. I've been reading the Catechism just to familiarized myself in the Catholic way of figuring out what your sins are and what the right way forward is. So I've been familiarizing myself with that which I need to do for today, tomorrow and whatever day comes after that. And I'm curious to know, because it said that you're supposed to think of the cardinal sin, really the sin that you identify with most. And I have a couple that I identify with, so it's not that I only have one, so I'm going to have to bring up a couple.

Tammy Peterson: 15:56

You know, when you go to the doctor they say one thing at a time, the priest just one, or can I add in another one? Yeah, so two. I have two issues that I but I've been working on those issues for a very long time. The second one, probably more seriously and more consciously, really, since I've been going through the catechism. The other one, I've been thinking about that one and working through it continually for, you know, five years or so, but that is still. The probably outstanding feature of my tendency to fall away is in that way.

Queenie Yu: 16:42

I have a handbook of prayers that has an examination of conscience for all the Commandments.

Tammy Peterson: 16:46

Yeah.

Queenie Yu: 16:46

So I can lend it to you. You can read through all the questions and it helps you examine.

Tammy Peterson: 16:51

Oh, okay.

Tammy Peterson: 16:52

Oh, that'd be good.

Queenie Yu: 16:52

In all areas. And then so.

Queenie Yu: 16:55

, yeah and then. But I was thinking that, well, my mom recently had knee surgery. She both knees plus hip surgery. But no matter how many surgeries you have, you can't walk the same as you did before. You will never be. She will never walk like her 20 20- year- self or her five five- year- self. But when it comes to the spiritual life, no matter how much we have fallen in the past, even grave sins, no matter how much baggage we have, we can be more beautiful than before. Our soul can be more pure than it was before with confession.

Tammy Peterson: 17:36

Yeah, there's no limit to the depth that can go right, and there's no limit to the height you can go, so, which makes it an adventure beyond all adventures.

Sheila Nonato: 17:51

Do you remember your First Confession, Queenie?

Queenie Yu: 17:54

Yeah, well, the thing is I was baptized as an adult, because I'm a convert as well, and then with baptism it wipes away all your sins, right? So I didn't have to go to Confession before being received into the or before getting baptized, but afterwards I was told that it would be good to confess everything, and it was scary, yeah, and I remember walking out. Well, even in the confessional I was crying.

Tammy Peterson: 18:32

How much had you thought it through before you went in there?

Queenie Yu: 18:36

I think I was praying for weeks, yeah and yeah. So I went to Confession and I was crying in the confessional and I remember the priest saying that God literally forgets everything that we've confessed. So after we've made our, he literally forgets. He doesn't go back and say, "hey, remember the time you know when you did this and you did it again. Yeah, right, he doesn't do that. No, so there's a clean slate and you can really begin anew again.

Queenie Yu: 19:14

So it was extremely liberating it was extremely liberating,

Sheila Nonato: 19:20

Mrs. Peterson, the last time I saw you in Detroit. I'd ask you if you had taken a Confirmation name.

Tammy Peterson: 19:25

Oh yeah, I've thought about it.

Sheila Nonato: 19:26

Will you keep your name?

Tammy Peterson: 19:27

No, actually Maureen is my second name, which I've never really bonded with, I guess, and I think Mary. I mean I was looking at all the states and states and then I thought, oh, I don't know why I'm bothering doing that. It's really I know. I know what brought me here I was. I've been looking for Mother Mary since I was a little kid. So, yes, it's Mother Mary, so Mary Mary and that sounds, that sounds right.

Sheila Nonato: 20:03

Do you feel like a new woman since all this happened to you?

Tammy Peterson: 20:08

Yeah, yeah, and I would say my I was talking to my daughter-in-law yesterday. She was with me when we were watching the Baptism (of my daughter, Mikhaila). We were watching together on the phone. It was nice that she was there, it was good, and she told me that I've changed a lot Because actually, when she arrived was 2016, right before Jordan became public, so she came into our family just as it just scattered really, and then has slowly been coming back together ever since and, um, at that time was still three years before I was very sick and I was still, I was still operating from place of self-will mostly, you know, and so that has changed a lot and she said it has. And my kids, all my kids, my husband, they all say I've changed a lot.

Queenie Yu: 21:11

Did they give you concrete?

Queenie Yu: 21:12

examples

Tammy Peterson: 21:16

Um, I think that my ... you can tell, just to be with me, that I'm not. I'm not concerned with their troubles so much. I mean, it's not that I'm not concerned, but I'm not attached to them. You know I'm joyous for them when they figure something out. I'm sad for them when they experience something that's hard on them. You know I'm joyous for them when they figure something out. I'm sad for them when they experience something that's hard on them. But it's not up to me to get involved in it any really any more than that. You know I can take them cough syrup if they're sick and things. I can do things like that, but you know it's not up to me. They know, they know they're they, they know what they're doing, and so I have.

Tammy Peterson: 22:03

I think I have more trust in them. And I think they noticed that my husband feels. What does my husband feel? He says that I, that he has no idea what I'm capable of because I've changed so much. He said he's very surprised. He said it's very odd to see someone of your age change so dramatically. Doesn't that sound like something you would say?

Tammy Peterson: 22:31

And that he's very excited to see what's next. Yeah.

Sheila Nonato: 22:39

So the next Sacrament I wanted to touch upon is the Holy Eucharist. So your First Holy Communion. Again, do you have any thoughts, um, preparation?

Tammy Peterson: 22:49

I've talked to Father Peter about it. Uh, I'm just gonna have a teeny little bit of gluten-free (Host), and he said that that was fine, and that I do it once a year on Easter and that's good. So yeah, so we have that organized, yep.

Sheila Nonato: 23:07

And how about for you, Queenie? What does the Eucharist mean for you?

Tammy Peterson: 23:10

Yeah, I won't know.

Queenie Yu: 23:13

It's our daily bread, yes, and it's the source of our transformation in Christ. I remember well when I decided to become a Catholic. There were many truths of the faith that I had to learn and some were more difficult for me to accept, and the Eucharist was one of them. But I went to the chapel at the university every single day to do a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. And I remember one day I was praying for something that I thought was very important Now I don't remember what it was and then later on my prayer was answered. So I was so delighted I went back to the chapel to thank our Lord and I said I wish I could give you a hug to thank you. And then I remembered wait a minute: Communion. That is a spiritual hug to God. That's the way we can become physically close with God, receiving Communion. So that's when I understood the Eucharist, and it just so happens that Eucharist means Thanksgiving.

Tammy Peterson: 24:17

Do you feel that way when you go to Church, though, also that that's what you're doing, is you're you know, when you get on your knees, you go there because you're, um, you're becoming, you're becoming, uh, humble in the sight of God.

Queenie Yu: 24:33

Yeah, yeah, I find that I need to go to Mass uh. Every Otherwise I'm a wreck. And also it's a reminder that I need to be humble and to accept the fact that things aren't in my control.

Tammy Peterson: 24:54

Right.

Queenie Yu: 24:55

That, even though I want to plan things out, and there's sometimes when I have good ideas, but really God has the best ideas and he has the best solutions to all our problems.

Tammy Peterson: 25:08

Right.

Queenie Yu: 25:09

So if I go to Mass I can pray, abandon those problems in him and things will work out better than if I had tried to solve them myself.

Tammy Peterson: 25:19

Yeah.

Tammy Peterson: 25:21

Yeah, well, that's what I have done, you know, maybe imperfectly, by praying the Rosary every morning. But I have read. I've been reading a book by David Calloway, the History and Heroes of the Rosary. It's a very good book that it came from the 13th century in France and then during the bubonic plague it got brought to England. So it survived the bubonic plague and it was the Dominicans who brought it and they're now the Black Friars in England and they call themselves the Dogs of God and they have the Rosary here and a sword here.

Tammy Peterson: 26:01

Yeah, it's very cool, and just the whole idea of it going from 150 down to 50. And the whole idea of there was a monk, a young monk, who before he went into the seminary he used to pick roses to put around Mary and then when he got into the monastery they wouldn't allow him his roses and so he used to imagine with every prayer he would put a rose around Mary and they ended up calling it the Rosary because of that. Yeah, I've only read a little bit of the book, but I've already got all of that out of it.

Queenie Yu: 26:36

So the other thing about the Mass is the entire church is there. You know, Heaven, all the angels, everybody who has passed away, who has gone to heaven, people who are in purgatory or souls in purgatory. My friends in other countries and I remember when some of my friends were leaving Rome they were studying there and they were talking with Bishop Javier Echavarria, who was the prelate of Opus Dei at the time, and they were telling Bishop Javier, you know what? We don't want to leave Rome, we don't want to leave you because you're a spiritual father. And then he said we'll meet in the mass. And I was thinking this is this is so profound and but true that if we have parents, relatives, friends who are far away, we can be close with them in the Mass yeah, that's good.

Sheila Nonato: 27:40

So my next question is and so this past weekend you were in a room of more than 500 women.

Tammy Peterson: 27:46

I was yeah, Wow.

Sheila Nonato: 27:48

The theme seems to be a call to action for women of faith to live out their vocation. What does this mean for both of you?

Tammy Peterson: 28:01

Well, for me it means really being being present, paying attention and really doing the next right thing. But for me, that next right thing is to interview people. Interview people who have something to share with me that might be helpful to the young people. That's what seems to be calling me, and Jordan told me. He said Abraham was an old man when he was told to leave his father's tent, and what were the gifts he got when he did leave and went out on his adventure? He had gifts. The gifts to himself was that he became more rounded, more amorphous, fully alive, and he had gifts of sharing with his family and his community and also being a father of nations, and so his scope of influence widened. And he said those are the gifts of God that you can. If you take on this challenge, then you can have these gifts come to you if you're fully involved.

Queenie Yu: 29:27

When I was at the conference I was thinking, wow, all these women who are on fire for love of God. It's beautiful to see. And I was thinking I want to help more people get to know God. I want to help more people get to know God. I want to help more people get closer to God. And the action-oriented person in me wants to just go and talk to people and send emails or whatever it is right.

Queenie Yu: 29:51

But then the other, more formed individual, says I have to pray. If I want to reach more people, I need to pray more. So I have to work on my prayer life. I have to be like Our Lady, who was an incredible contemplative but also an action-oriented person. And you see that at the Annunciation where the angel Gabriel appears to her, she's praying about what God's will is. She's able to say yes, immediately. But because she knew that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant from the angel Gabriel, immediately she goes and takes care of Elizabeth. She doesn't think, oh my gosh, I have this big mission. I got to get my life sorted, I got to organize my things, I've got so much to do, Me, me, me, no. She thinks about Elizabeth. So I, after attending that conference, my resolution is if I want to do more, I need to pray more.

Sheila Nonato: 30:57

Just on this topic of women in society, there seems to be a movement to redefine what is a woman. So what is a woman? How would you define a woman and what is her role in society?

Tammy Peterson: 31:11

Well, the thing that I think that something that we've lost is community. The Church was the center of every community. The Church was the center of every community and it isn't the center of everyone's community now. It's still a central, it's still a center, but who is taking part in that center? Not as many people. So that means that the community is fractured. Women have gone out to work, so they've left their communities, so that means that they've left that center. That would. If someone is feeling lost within the community, there's usually other people around who can, who can notice and pay attention, and now that's been fractured. So then you know, you can live in a neighborhood nowadays and maybe your community gets together once a year and you find out who's moved to town, who's died, you know who's graduated. You don't even know that, except for that one day a year, whereas he used to know everything because all the women were connected on the street or in the neighbouirhoods.

Tammy Peterson: 32:23

That's gone, and so that means the children. Now they don't have that mooring anymore and we're seeing what's happening to children because of that. So I think we really, and it does come back to the Church, but as it comes back to the Church then it goes into your community and into your families and so then the families aren't being held together like they were and the communities aren't being held together like they were and the whole community around the church isn't being held as tightly as it was. So having all those women, those 513 women or something, all together in one room, that was very powerful. To see Women, it was good. Women, women trying, women trying to really trying to do the next right thing, just there present, seeing what they could do, that's good.

Queenie Yu: 33:26

Yeah, it was good. So it's, you know, how do you say what a woman is. But I work in. Well, I work at Hawthorn School for Girls (Toronto) and I work with girls of all ages and I have been working, or I've been living, at Kintore College with university students for a number of years and when I started working at Hawthorne I thought, oh well, you know, the girls should be similar to the university students that I work with.

Queenie Yu: 33:55

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Queenie Yu: 33:57

Because as soon as I was exposed to the high school girls, I realized, "oh my goodness, they're so emotional. Their perception of reality is a little bit off. Sometimes they cry so much or they care so much about what others think of them. Their sense of belonging or desire for belonging is so great. Anyway, they have a lot to mature, a lot to grow. So there's a lot of emotion there and when you're a woman you can understand that, Because I remember wait, look at that.

Queenie Yu: 34:38

And then women can give younger women a lot of security, saying I understand how you feel this is going to pass. I felt that too. Exactly Right. I know you feel that your world is falling because your friend seems like she doesn't love you anymore, but that's not the case. You know, we can understand other women better in a way that men can't. The other thing is, if we use our gifts of intuition and empathy, we could really encourage people to be the best. For example, Our Lady. When the apostles fled from the Cross, they saw that Our Lord died. I'm sure they were very discouraged, sad. They were ashamed that they had abandoned him, but she was the one who encouraged them and said you know what Keep going. There's forgiveness, you can do it. So I think, women, through our empathy, our intuition, we could really bring out the best in individuals.

Sheila Nonato: 35:58

So the last question. So when we're talking, we were talking about the stories of the scene. Your husband had been injured and he's in the bathroom. What was going through your mind? I'm thinking about the cross and the suffering, and what was going through your mind, what was happening at that point?

Tammy Peterson: 36:16

Well, I think, you know, I felt an urge to go upstairs and then I felt an urge to check in the room, in the bathroom, I heard the shower going. I knew he was in the shower, um, and when I opened the door and he was, uh, laying on the floor, my first thought was, um, that he, that I should check on him, right, that I should check on him, right, that I should check on him. And when I leaned over him, he said you know, what'd he say? "Don't bother me, or don't touch me, or something like that.

Tammy Peterson: 36:50

and I was like, "a ha, you're not as sick as you thought you were

Sheila Nonato: 36:57

To listen to the conclusion of the story about Dr. Peterson's medical distress a few years ago. You can listen to the episode 39, when Tammy Peterson prays for Pope Francis in the conclave, talks about faith, family and motherhood and finding courage to answer God's call, or you can also watch it on YouTube, where she talks about the role of women in faith and family, and it is a conversation on the one-year anniversary of her confirmation in Toronto at Holy Rosary Parish. I will also include it in the show notes. Thank you to Queenie Yu and Tammy Peterson for sharing the story of their friendship and conversion. May we have the boldness to follow Queenie's lead by inviting others to come to know the Feminine Genius of Mary, and the beauty of faith in God. May we emulate the courage of Tammy Peterson to say, Yes" to God in carrying our cross with grace, humility and gratitude. That we can say in confidence and live by the words: "Jesus, I trust in you.

Sheila Nonato: 38:05

The story told by Tammy about her health struggles and her husband's health struggles years ago reminds us how fragile life can be and how powerful prayers can be. Recently, Tammy and Jordan's daughter, Mikhaela, shared how her father is battling a new health crisis: Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome.

Sheila Nonato: 38:28

Please join me in praying the St. Josemaria Novena prayer for Dr. Jordan B .Peterson. It was this very same prayer where Tammy was healed of a mystery illness after post-cancer surgery. It was on the fifth day of praying the Novena. And when Tammy was healed on their wedding, on her wedding anniversary, and it was promised that she had made to her husband that she would be healed by then. And it miraculously, happened.

Sheila Nonato: 38:59

In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Oh God, through the mediation of Mary, our Mother, you granted your priest, Saint Jose maria, countless graces, choosing him as the most faithful instrument, the founder Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfillment of a Christian's ordinary duties. Grant that I, too, may learn to turn all the circumstances and events of my life into occasions of loving you and serving the Church, the Pope and all souls with joy and simplicity, lighting up the pathways of this earth with faith and love. Deign to grant me, through the intercession of St Josemaria, the favour we ask today for the healing of Dr. Jordan B .Peterson and for his granddaughter, Audrey.

Sheila Nonato: 39:51

Amen.

Sheila Nonato: 39:52

our Father, who art in Heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread ,and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Sheila Nonato: 40:08

Hail hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus jesus. Holy Mary, Mother mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. .,

Sheila Nonato: 40:20

Glory glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, as now, it ever shall be world without end. Amen, In in the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit, Amen. Thank thank you very much for joining us, us and we look forward to speaking with you again and bringing more stories of the Feminine feminine Genius, genius and God's amazing, awesome love God

Sheila Nonato: 40:44

bless

Sheila Nonato: 40:44

.

Sheila Nonato: 40:58

Thank you for listening to the Veil and Armor podcast.

Co-Host: 41:01

I invite you to share this with another Catholic mom today. Please subscribe to our podcast and YouTube channel and please spread the word. Let's be brave, let's be bold and be blessed together.