Catholic Momcast

Our guests this week are Annie Tarr and Sarah O'Brien, hosts of Laughs and Littles, a podcast for mothers looking for friendship, parenting encouragement, and a lot of laughs! They are both mothers (all together they have 7 children) and converts to the Catholic faith, both from California, and they first met in the midwest while our husbands were graduate students studying Theology at Notre Dame. 

These two joy-filled friends sit down with Danielle Bean to discuss the importance of friendships for moms, some of the challenges to modern day friendships, and how we can go about finding and keeping the friends we need.

Join us for an enlightening and inspiring discussion, and then share  your thoughts and questions in the comments, by email or connect with us on social media. You can contact us at [email protected]

Do you make New Year resolutions? In this week's episode, Danielle Bean and Allison Gingras discuss the start of a new year and some goals they have for 2022 in their work, family, friendships, and personal lives.

How about you? What are your new plans for a new year? We would love to hear from you. Send us an email at [email protected] or connect with us on social media.

We are taking a couple of weeks off as we celebrate Christmas and the New Year. We'll be back with a new episode next week. God bless you and Happy New Year!

We are taking a couple of weeks off as we celebrate Christmas and the New Year. We'll be back with a new episode in January. God bless you and Merry Christmas!

Lisa Hendey and Danielle Bean discuss some of the ways that the holiday season can be stressful and even sorrowful for many people. Those who are grieving, suffering in the family relationships, or dealing with financial difficulty can find this time of year especially challenging. It doesn't help when every media message seems to be telling us to rejoice and be glad this time of year.

Lisa shares some of the ways she is dealing with complicated feelings this first season after losing her mom, and Danielle shares some of the ways she is working through some big changes in her family right now. 

Join us for an encouraging look at a tricky topic. And then share your feedback! Connect with us on social media or send us an email at editor!catholicmom.com. We love hearing from you!

This week Danielle Bean and Lisa Hendey share about all the saint feast days we can celebrate during Advent. Which ones do you and your family enjoy celebrating?

Here is the Saint Lucy Bread recipe from Karen Edmisten

Here is the link to Lisa's Advent book, O Radiant Dawn

We also mention Catholic Icing as a great resource for Advent celebrations.

How about you? What kinds of feasts, big and small, will you and your family enjoy this Advent season? Send us your feedback at [email protected]

This week Danielle Bean and Allison Gingras discuss the newly-launched season of Advent. In what simple ways does your family observe this season? 

We share ideas for simple ways to add more prayer, quiet, and sacrifice to the days leading up to Christmas. In our secular culture of noise and busyness, this can be a challenging task!

One way to add more Advent (not Christmas!) music to your driving, chores, and daily routines is with the Catholic Mom Advent playlist. It's free to download and we hope you will enjoy it. Also, check out our Instagram (Instagram.com/catholicmomcommunity) for our #CMsnapAdvent photo challenge.

We are taking a break from the podcast this week as we celebrate with family, but we will be back next week with an all new episode for you. In the meantime, know that we are praying for you and wishing you a Blessed Thanksgiving with your family. God bless you!

This week we sit down with fiction author Antony Kolenc to talk about the importance of fiction for Catholic teens and tweens. Antony is a law professor, podcaster, speaker, and author of the award-winning series, The Harwood Mysteries, a medieval historical fiction series for teens from Loyola Press.

Learn more about Antony Kolenc's work at his website.

Listen to Antony's podcast, The Shepherd's Pie.

Thanks so much for listening to this week's episode of the Catholic Momcast! Send any questions or feedback to us at [email protected]

This week, Lisa Hendey and Danielle Bean talk about the recent time change and how changes in daylight can affect your mood and energy levels this time of year.

Are you feeling tired and low energy? Are you struggling to set goals and follow through on commitments? Danielle and Lisa discuss how this kind of feeling, especially after a busy time, can be normal, but it's important to not get "stuck" in those feelings of no motivation.

One book Lisa recommends is Stop Self-Sabotage by Judy Ho.

How about you? How do you find your motivation when life has you feeling tired or discouraged? Share in the comments or send us an email at [email protected]