Catholic Momcast

Our guest this week is Barbara Lee, author of God Isn't Finished With Me Yet and the newly-released Answering God's Call: a Scripture-Based Journey for Older Adults.

Danielle Bean chats with Barbara about how she came to focus on ministry with older adults and the inspiration for her newest book. Barbara shares stories from the Bible that encourage us all to know that God has a plan for every one of us, even as we grow older and may be "counted out" by society. Her book contains so many Scriptural examples of older people answering God's call, from all walks of life and all kinds of circumstances. 

We would love to hear from you! Let us know what questions you have or what topics you would like to see covered here on the podcast. Leave a comment, send us an email at [email protected] or connect with us on social media.

Do you have a spiritual director? This week, Allison Gingras and Danielle Bean discuss the basics about spiritual direction? What is it? How do you do it? How do you find a spiritual director? And why should you consider it?

Allison shares her varied experiences of spiritual direction and Danielle shares about some of the ways that friends and spouses and even the teachings of the saints can offer us a form of spiritual direction as well.

Join us for an interesting discussions, and then be sure to share your thoughts in the comments. Or send us an email at [email protected].

This week Danielle Bean and Lisa Hendey discuss ways we can encourage our kids. As parents, we have so many opportunities to help our kids discover their gifts and strengths and learn how best to use them in the world.

Lisa shares lessons she learned from her own mom and the ways her mother supported her work at Catholic Mom through the years. Danielle discusses large family dynamics and the powerful role parental support and expectations can play in helping our kids thrive.

Join us for an enlightening discussion, and then share your thoughts with us! You can comment here or on social media, or send us an email at [email protected]

This week's guest is Shannon Wendt, founder and CEO of Chews Life, a small business that creates Rosaries, jewelry, and other prayer aids for moms and their babies.

Shannon share about how she came to found this business, why moms need the Rosary, and what can make it easier to pray throughout our busy days. Join us for an encouraging conversation!

This week our guest is Joellyn Ciciarelli, president of Loyola Press. Joellyn shares about two books she has written for children, Leo's Gift and Meredith's Gift.

Joellyn chats with Danielle Bean about how to help kids discover their gifts and learn to adapt when life changes and things do not go as we originally planned. These charming books for grade school children will make great gifts for nieces, nephews, grandchildren and Godchildren this Advent and Christmas season.

Joellyn also shares about Wanderlight, an adventure-driven, faith-filled Catholic video game that helps kids grow in their faith.

Join us for an enlightening and inspiring conversation!

Join Allison Gingras and Danielle Bean for fun discussion about homemaking. What does homemaking mean to you? What parts of cleaning, organizing, de-cluttering, meal planning or decorating do you enjoy? What parts would you -- or do you-- outsource to others?

We discuss ways to share the load in splitting up chores in a family as well as ways to manage those tasks that sometimes overwhelm us. Finally, we talk about the idea of "entertaining" and what it means to be a good host. In what ways might we practice "Scruffy Hospitality" and be better at welcoming others into our homes?

In this reprised episode of the Catholic Momcast, Danielle Bean and Lisa Hendey sit down with Sarah Christmyer, author of Becoming Women of the Word: How to Answer God's Call With Purpose and Joy. In her book, Sarah looks at women of the Bible  and shares their stories, interwoven with stories of the women in her family history. A beautiful and inspiring read! 

Share your thoughts and questions with us, right here in the comments or by email. You can contact us at [email protected]

Allison Gingras and Danielle Bean have an enlightening and encouraging conversation about how we can better empower ourselves as parents keep videos, movies, computers, and smart phones from controlling our lives.

It's not easy, but there are some tricks they share, and they also offer some solutions for parents worried about how their kids are spending time online. Danielle discusses Canopy, a new tool that can block explicit content in real time.

Allison shares about curating her feeds on social media to protect herself from negativity and they both talk about monitoring use and having important conversations with teens with regard to their use of cell phones and social media.

Join us for an enlightening conversation! Then share your comments or questions here in the comments or email us [email protected]

Danielle Bean and Lisa Hendey discuss making plans for the future, as inspired by Lisa'a recent experience in losing her mother and visiting with her father.

This may not be a topic we love to talk about, but making sure our families are prepared to make decisions for us as we age and to make choices about our burial arrangements and other personal affairs after we die, is an act of great love.

Lisa explains how this topic is actually one that inspires her with a great deal of hope and joy and a loving way to take care of our families even after we are gone from this world. 

How about you? In what ways do you discuss these topics with  your loved ones and what are you doing to prepare for the future?

This week, Danielle Bean and Allison Gingras chat about the back-to-school season. This is a time of year that can be extra stressful, as many families are going through changes. 

Whether you have little kids starting kindergarten for the first time, or big kids leaving home for college, there are many ways we as moms need to adapt and care for our children in new ways.

Many of us have mixed feelings as we watch our children grow and change. It helps to talk with one another about it and to look for the positive parts of parenting newly-independent children and young adults.

How about you? What has the back-to-school season been like for you this year? Send us an email at [email protected] or connect with us on social media.