What’s your relationship to the Catholic Church? Are you devoted? Dedicated but doing the minimum required? Dabbling? Discouraged or done with the Church? Unsure? In All In (Ave Maria Press, 2017), Pat Gohn invites readers to reconsider their relationship with the Church, whatever that relationship might currently be. Gohn is a cradle Catholic, but truly […]
During his now-famous impromptu interview while returning to Rome from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis declared the ordination of women a question settled definitively by Blessed Pope John Paul II, but suggested that women’s gifts might be used in other ways. His suggestion that a deeper “theology of women” might have […]
We still buy the lie. Women are told that if they want to be successful in the world, they have to be more like men, or like a how-to-succeed-in-business stereotype: aggressive; detached from commitments; and self serving. No softness, no vulnerability, and certainly no thinking of others. We have to put ourselves first or we […]
Our present culture does not value and esteem womanhood very much. Catholic writer, speaker, and podcaster Pat Gohn is working to change that. With Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood (Ave Maria Press, 2013) , Gohn “seeks to celebrate womanhood by exploring a woman’s dignity, gifts, and mission.” As one might […]
(Okay, so that’s really an 8-book list.) If you listen my podcast, Among Women, you know I have a passion for three things: first, to encourage women to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and their Catholic faith; second, to celebrate the beauty and genius of their womanhood; and third, to call women to […]
Got prayer? We don’t always make time for it as we should, but as with all good habits, real change and real growth in the spiritual life comes with practice. Here are six simple practices that will increase your prayer time. Don’t attempt them all. Do the one or two that appeal to you, and […]
O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! (Psalm 95: 6) To kneel before God is a blessed thing. We are the only creatures who roam the earth with a free will, and the only ones with the freedom to give homage by kneeling to the One […]
I celebrated my birthday recently. My biggest wish was to celebrate with my five sons ages 13-24. A few of them are no longer living at home so I was thrilled that they were all able to be with me. Never far from my thoughts, however, were those seven precious babies I never got to […]
There’s an old joke that talks about the angels questioning Jesus about the worldwide evangelization plan after his return to heaven following the Ascension: Angel: So, Jesus, you’ve just returned to heaven as the victorious Lord of Glory, King of Heaven and Earth, what’s your plan for spreading the news of salvation to the whole […]
Generosity is dramatically exemplified by the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem. I’m guessing their arrival on the scene was a surprise to Mary and Joseph, an unscheduled blessing. Nothing announced the Magi’s coming. They read the signs of their times—and the stars in the sky—and took it upon themselves to visit and offer gifts […]
I do a weekly adoration hour. If you are familiar with the devotion of Eucharistic Adoration, skip the next paragraph. If not, allow me to explain. In formal settings, when a Catholic church sets up a weekly or daily schedule of Adoration or “Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament,” volunteers (like me) sign up to pray […]
