Catholic Momcast

Lisa Hendey and Barb Szyszkiewicz enjoy a conversation on the “spirituality of messiness” at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Religious Education Congress with Sr. Julia Walsh, FSPA, author of the forthcoming spiritual biography For Love of the Broken Body: A Spiritual Memoir (April 2024). 

Julia Walsh is a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and part of her congregation’s formation team, serving women who are discerning their vocation. She co-founded The Fireplace, an intentional community and house of hospitality on Chicago’s southside that offers spiritual support to seekers, artists, and activists. She has a MA in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union and is a spiritual director and secondary teacher. As a creative writer, educator, and retreat presenter she is passionate about exploring the intersection of creativity, spirituality, activism, and community life. Sister Julia’s work can be found in publications such as America, Living Faith Catholic Devotional, National Catholic Reporter, Living City, The Christian Century, Chicago Sun-Times, and St. Anthony Messenger. She hosts the Messy Jesus Business blog and podcast and is on Twitter and Instagram as @JuliaFSPA. A lover of the outdoors, she sometimes can be found studying wildflowers near Elgin, Iowa, her hometown. 

• Messy Jesus Business  
• Instagram and Twitter - @JuliaFSPA 
• For Love of the Broken Body: A Spiritual Memoir 

Lisa Hendey and Maria Morera Johnson welcome Catholic Mom Contributor Rebecca W. Martin for a conversation about her adorable new children’s book Meet Sister Mary Margaret. 

Meet Sister Mary Margaret is a colorful, engaging children's picture book that introduces kids and families to the beautiful lives and vocations of women religious! 

Rebecca W. Martin is a Lay Dominican, editor, and author. She serves as acquisitions editor for Our Sunday Visitor, and freelances with Chrism Press. Rebecca lives in Michigan with her husband and too many cats. 

Show Notes Links: 

Instagram @rebecca.w.martin  

Rebeccawmartin.com  

Lisa Hendey hosts special guest and foster mother Kathleen Paydo for a conversation about family life and her book Fostering Love: A Glimpse into Foster Care. 

Fostering Love: A Glimpse into Foster Care focused is on helping foster children see the experience of foster care as a chapter in their lives where they begin to heal from trauma and losses, grow surrounded by a loving family, find their God-given talents, and gain positive momentum. 

Kathleen Paydo is a registered nurse, a member of the Catholic Writers Guild, and a member of the National Foster Parent Association. Paydo and her husband Ron along with their four biological children have welcomed 170 foster children into their home for most of their thirty-five year marriage. 

• Facebook/Instagram: kathleenpaydollc 
• Twitter/X: @paydokathleen 
• kathleenpaydo.com 

Hosts Maria Johnson and Heidi Saxton welcome Sarah Christmyer, general editor of the Living the Word Catholic Women’s Bible from Ave Maria Press.

Sarah Christmyer is a Catholic author, Bible teacher, and speaker with a special love for lectio divina and journaling as ways to draw close to Christ in Scripture. She is general editor of the Living the Word Catholic Women’s Bible from Ave Maria Press, as well as the co-developer and founding editor of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible study program and author or co-author of more than a dozen books and Bible studies. Her book Becoming Women of the Word pairs lessons from women of the Old Testament with women she has known to explore “How to Answer God’s Call with Purpose and Joy.”  Sarah serves as an adjunct faculty member at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia and as a board member of the Malvern Retreat House in Malvern, PA. She blogs at ComeIntoTheWord.com.

• NEW Podcast How to Love and Live the Word of God!
• Blog 
• Books
• Instagram 

Lisa Hendey and Bayleigh Marquis are joined by Catholic Mom contributor Susan Ciancio for a conversation about how we can embrace and teach a culture of life in our homes and in society. 

The Culture of Life Studies Program is a pre-K-12 Catholic, pro-life education program that supplements regular school curricula and that teaches students the value and dignity of all people—born and preborn. We offer standalone lessons on topics such as the sanctity of life, marriage, euthanasia, the preborn baby, caring for others, and many lessons on saints that range from one day to four weeks and that are easily integrated into a school, a homeschool, or a CCE lesson plan. 

Susan Ciancio is a freelance editor who serves as the director and executive editor of American Life League’s Culture of Life Studies Program and is executive editor of ALL’s Celebrate Life Magazine. 

• Susan Ciancio at Catholic Mom: https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/author/susan-ciancio  
• CLSP website: all.org/clsp  
• CLSP essay contest page: prolifeessay.com 

Maria Johnson, Barb Szyszkiewicz, and Lisa Hendey chat about all things food in this fun episode about cooking as a chore, a hobby, a health tool, and a lifelong learning project.

CatholicMom team members Maria Johnson, Barb Szyszkiewicz, and Lisa Hendey share their adventures in the kitchen in this lively chat about all things food.  Listen to this fun episode about cooking as a chore, a hobby, a health tool, and a lifelong learning project. 

• Meatless Fridays at Catholic Mom  
• Plan to Eat
• Barb’s recipe website: CookAndCount

Maria Johnson and Heidi Saxton welcome Peter Le, author of My Life of Grace.

Peter Le has indeed lived a life of grace. He suffered polio as a child in the midst of warn torn Vietnam. As an immigrant to the United States in the 1980s, suffered again the trails of emigrating from his home and finding his way in a new country. Then in 2018 he discovered he had thyroid cancer, and thus began a new wave of great physical suffering. In his book, My Life of Grace, he shares the consolation he found despite his pain.

• My Life of Grace (the Ave Maria Press cite includes the download to the Our Lady of Lavang Novena and a prayer card)

Lisa Hendey sits down with Fr. Tom Gibbons, CSP, at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Religious Education Congress to chat about his work with Paulist Productions. 

In addition to his work as Vice President of Paulist Productions, Fr. Tom serves at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Los Angeles, California. 

Paulist Productions was founded over 50 years ago to create thought provoking entertainment that explores the human condition, and has produced award-winning documentaries, feature films, television, and TV movies addressing pressing social issues and important moral questions. Paulist has provided programming for Paramount, Warner Bros., CBS, ABC, A&E, the History Channel, Hallmark Hall of Fame, and UPtv. In a time of rapid change and declining options for family viewing, Paulist is dedicated to developing positive programming with meaningful content. The HUMANITAS Prize, one of screenwriting's most prestigious awards, was founded by Paulist Productions. 

Paulist Productions - https://www.paulistproductions.org/  

hollywoodpriest.com

serrastatues.com

Lisa Hendey and Maria Johnson chat with longtime friends of Catholic Mom Lisa Henley Jones and Shelly Henley Kelly from Of Sound Mind and Spirit podcast.

Lisa Hendey and Maria Johnson chat with longtime friends of Catholic Mom Lisa Henley Jones and Shelly Henley Kelly. Shelly and Lisa are two sisters on a journey of faith.  On their podcast, Of Sound Mind and Spirit, they discuss why faith is important and how they can live it in areas of parenting, community, mid-life, service, and marriage.  They’re not perfect, and don’t have all the answers.  But they invite you to walk with them as they explore ways to better know and grow in their faith – together. 

Lisa Henley Jones is a wife, mom, and native Texan. Together with her sister Shelly, Lisa shared about her life as influenced by her faith at their website and on their podcast, Of Sound Mind and Spirit.  For fun, Lisa enjoys reading, walking, cheering on her teen daughter at soccer games and wearing the college colors of her young adult kids.  

Shelly Henley Kelly is a wife, mother of three, and native Texan who writes and records with her sister on "Of Sound Mind and Spirit. When not writing or recording, Shelly can be found keeping the scorebook at her son’s baseball games, diving deep into historical research, or hiding with a good book in between games. 

• https://soundmindandspirit.com/ 
• https://www.podpage.com/soundmindandspirit/
• Instagram @SoundMindandSpirit 
• Facebook.com/SoundMindandSpirit 
• Twitter @SoundMindSpirit 
• Pinterest   pinterest.com/soundmindspirit/ 
• Young Adult podcast mentioned: Holy Spontaneity 

Maria Johnson and Heidi Saxton welcome Rebecca Frech, author of Teaching in Your Tiara.

Rebecca Frech is a contributing writer to The Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers and the author of the homeschool classic Teaching in Your Tiara.

• Teaching in Your Tiara
• Can We Friends
• The Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers