Our former Woman of the Week, Dr. Ioana Popa, was featured at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown in March 2020 (you see her here on Holy Cross Seminary's graduation day in 2022 with GOA Archbishop Elpidoforos). Here’s the start of what she wrote then:
"Born and baptized in the church during the Romanian communist era, I did not encounter or know God until my early 20s. After communism fell in Romania, inspired by a young priest on TV, I went into my room, closed the door, and prayed authentically towards an unknown God: "Our Father who are in Heaven, if you are in heaven. I don't believe you or heaven exist, but if you do, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. If there is a Kingdom. I don't believe there is one, but if there is one, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...". Within three days from my prayer, the living God responded to me and I became aware of the infinite, divine and loving God and Christ. Since that profound encounter, my entire life unfolded toward fleshing out this mystery.
"On my life's journey, I experienced many roles, professions and trainings: from being a physician and psychiatrist, a mother and wife, church school director, middle school and high school teacher, science department chair, high school academic dean, adjunct professor and counselor at Hellenic College Holy Cross, a chanter in my church, to being a graduate student (currently doing an MTS at Holy Cross), presenter and writer, artist, program developer, Internal Family Systems therapist, a life and leadership coach and community Chaplain. As the psychological world tells us, there are many prototypes for being, and if there is a Leonardo DaVinci pattern for human life, then from the outside I can see that I am following that thread. Nonetheless this does not capture the deeper meaning of the driving force in my life.”
Here are four updates from what’s happening today with Ioana, who’s no stranger to finding God in unlikely times and places:
“I am excited, first of all, about the Team for the Soul® which my husband Sebastien Falardeau and I co-founded in 2019 with the vision to support compassionate Christian professionals and caregivers. It has been growing steadily by the grace of God, and we’ve developed and implemented several programs and online courses to help Christians regenerate while leading and serving others, complete grief, and transform toward their highest potential in Christ.
"One of my favorite programs is ‘Growing in Christ’ - Team For Our Soul life coaching and spiritual care, which is a unique program for Christian givers and servant leaders to support their holistic physical, spiritual, and psychological growth toward being one with God. We can be ‘in the world but not of the world’, and this unique process, with monthly group coaching and online asynchronous courses supports them to move toward hope, renewal, and transformation.
“My second update is that, at Holy Cross School of Theology, in collaboration with the Dean of Students Office, we’ve piloted a new program, the Faith and Character seminar for first-year graduate students. In this year-long seminar I support our graduate students to regenerate, ‘descend the mind into the heart’ and build lifelong rituals on a daily basis, while integrating body, mind, heart, and soul, so they can keep on giving and fulfill their vocation, with resilience, integrated faith, joy, and energy.
“My third update is that, within the Antiochian Diocese of Worcester & New England, under the direction of Bishop John Abdullah, we piloted and completed two cycles of the “Witness to Christ - a Spiritual Journey” program. This is a two-year program led by our interdisciplinary team, designed to support leaders, lay leaders, priests, seminarians, and educators in becoming ‘fluent’ in the languages of the Sacraments, the Scripture, the Church, and how the Holy Spirit is moving in our lives, from multidisciplinary perspectives. After the COVID pandemic - we were able to finally come all together and celebrate our graduates at the Parish Life Conference in 2022.
“And lastly, I graduated with my Master’s in Theological Studies from Holy Cross in 2022! I completed the degree part-time over seven years, and the entire process has brought my faith and my ability to integrate science, psychology, and spiritual care and practice to another level.”
Congratulations, Ioana, and blessings on all your endeavors!
