“The only place I could go where I fully felt seen and understood was with the blessed sacrament” | Anna Picasso

Despite growing up in a faithfully Catholic family, Anna grew away from the faith of her childhood by the time she was a junior in high school. It wasn’t until she was providentially studying at a Catholic college and had the opportunity to study in Rome that she encountered a divine intimacy that finally helped her know that she was seen and known in an authentic way. In this episode, she shares about the impact of beauty, the sacrament of Confession, and Jesus’ presence in the Blessed sacrament have had on her, and what that impact has led her to today. 

(00:31) Fr. Mario and Leah welcome guest, Anna Picasso, Outreach Coordinator at Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry and parishioner at St. Aloysius in Detroit. The three discuss how Anna first came to Detroit as a FOCUS missionary and some of the fruits of the Archdiocesan campus ministry program she is now on staff with.

(03:41) Anna talks about her faith growing up and how she fell away from it in high school. She shares about going to college at University of Mary in Bismarck, ND and the opportunity she had to study abroad in Rome, and begins to unpack the impact that experience had on her faith in Jesus. 

(07:42) Anna shares about a particularly impactful experience when she received the Sacrament of Reconciliation during her time abroad and describes how that stirred up in her heart a childlike hunger to know Jesus and seek him out more fervently in the Eucharist. 

(11:56) She goes on to discuss how her relationship with Jesus that began to develop in Rome led her to seek out new relationships upon her return and shares how participating in a women’s Bible study helped her to continue to grow in her relationship with him. She talks about how that ultimately led her to consider applying to FOCUS as a Catholic missionary to college students. 

(16:24) Anna shares some of her discernment process regarding FOCUS missions and how it has led her to the work that she does now in Detroit Catholic Campus Ministry. She shares about the privilege it is to serve in this way and how her work has affected her own relationship with Jesus and God the Father. 

(23:08) Anna talks about how she spends time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in her day-to-day life and how she depends on him to remain faithful to her ministry and Fr. Mario offers her encouragement in the work that she does in campus ministry.