Ellie Hidalgo: Listening to Learn

Episode 64 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe:  Stitcher | Email | RSS | More "Sometimes it is at the prophetic edge you can see the Holy Spirit breaking through and allowing a new thing to happen” - Ellie Hidalgo IN THIS EPISODE In this episode of the Messy Jesus Business Podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Ellie Hidalgo, co-director of Discerning Deacons. They discuss Ellie’s journey into ministry and how she discovered the relevance of listening and storytelling in building the reign of God. They explore the relevance of the Catholic Church today and what it means to be an active member: "Being Catholic is not a passive thing."Ellie also shared about her journey to the Amazon and Bolivia to witness the leadership of Catholic women in remote places. Together she and Sister Julia explore how vital and relevant good listening is in building up the reign of God and fostering the strength of the Church, narrowing in on their shared enthusiasm about the upcoming synod and the power that listening to the people of God ought to have for all. Ellie notes that Christians are called to "Understand the power that listening has and what it does to unleash people’s gifts for ministry … unleash people’s hope, it helps stitch people’s lives back together, it helps us to not be afraid of entering into the messiness of people’s lives.” ABOUT THE GUEST Ellie Hidalgo is co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project that engages Catholics in the active discernment of our Church about women and the diaconate. Ellie is active in the global synod process, helping to animate 350 sessions that reached 9,000 people in the listening phase. She has traveled to the Amazon region of Latin America to accompany women engaged in prophetic ministry. Ellie has a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to St. Phoebe, who served as a deacon in our early Church, alongside St. Paul. She served for 12 years as the pastoral associate at Dolores Mission Church in East Los Angeles, a Jesuit parish known for its advocacy of immigrants, restorative justice ministries, faith-based community organizing, and for being the home parish of Homeboy Industries. Ellie graduated with a Masters in Pastoral Theology from Loyola Marymount University and received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2020 she returned to Miami to live closer to her Cuban American family. In 2023 Ellie received the Robert M. Holstein Faith Doing Justice Award from the Ignatian Solidarity Network and the St. John XXIII Award for keeping alive the vision of Vatican II from the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests. Learn more about Discerning Deacons here: https://discerningdeacons.org/ MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.  Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans. Email us at [email protected]