I’ve just written a book on hope.I don’t say that expecting you to nod in understanding; I realize hope is a forgotten virtue. Many people equate hope either with optimism or with wishful thinking. I wanted to get back to the theological virtue of hope, which described when our happiness, all of our desires, are directed toward eternity and heaven.But I also didn’t want to write a dissertation about hope; there are a lot of great books that do that already. I wanted t...

Author of The Perfect Blindside and Extreme Blindside, Leslea Wahl kindly took some time away from writing this week to chat with Pauline Books & Media.First, let’s talk a little about your life.I live in Colorado. In fact, I’m a Colorado native, even though my husband and I moved away for eight years… our families were here, though, and we were happy to be able to come back and live near them. I have three children, the youngest is in college now!  I’m a writer...

Tommy and Karen Tighe are the authors of Catholic Funny Fill-Ins and the new Catholic Funny Fill-Ins: Saints Spectacular, both of which are published by Pauline Books & Media. We caught up with them to ask about how families can share laughter and fun while learning about the Church and the faith. How did you ever come up with the idea for Catholic Funny Fill-ins?We were on a road trip to Yosemite National Park. Karen had an app on her phone and we were playing it with the kids as ...

from the interview with Patricia Marie Barnette, RGS, author of the new book: God's Mercy Awaits You: Find Healing After AbortionSister Patricia Marie Barnette was already a Sister of the Good Shepherd when she heard a call within her call. “As Sisters of the Good Shepherd, we take a fourth vow,” she explains. “We vow to labor with zeal for the salvation of souls. And zeal is from the heart of Jesus, the spiritual energy that keeps all our sisters praying and work...

Explaining faith is a difficult task, because faith is separate from intellect. Or... is it? Certainly some of the greatest "apologists"—explainers of the faith—have managed to incorporate the two, and one of those people lived in a time both entirely unlike and entirely like ours—barely a century away from us. His writing hovers over that liminal valley between past and present. He wrote unequivocally about his own time... and just as unequivocally abo...

I have a skull on my desk. It’s not a Halloween decoration. The skull sits on my desk all year round. I decided to acquire the little ceramic skull to help me meditate regularly on my death. By now, I’ve been meditating daily on my inevitable and unpredictable death for over two years.You might be thinking, “Well, that sounds unpleasant.” And you would be partly right. At first it was unpleasant. I hated thinking about my death. Like most people, I had put a lot of energy...

St. Gianna Beretta Molla was a devoted pediatrician, wife, and mother. She loved and served God in the simplest, humblest gestures of her family and professional life, juggling—as do many women today—the demands of both worlds.Her example shows how keeping our relationship with God at the center of our lives allows grace to affect all our decisions, especially difficult ones. St. Gianna exemplifies how ordinary, daily experiences are important opportunities for evangelization. As a c...

We’re all excited about Ryan Marr’s new book in the Ex Libris series, John Henry Newman, about one of our newest saints! He graciously agreed to share some of his thoughts with us today. Ryan is the director of the National Institute for Newman Studies and the associate editor of the Newman Studies Journal. In what ways can reading John Henry Newman assist those who wish to develop their own prayer lives?Ryan Marr: Based on the testimony of his closest friends, we know that Newm...

Maybe you haven’t done it yet, or maybe you’ve done it a dozen times. Either way, the day you send your child off to school can be terrifying. Are they ready? Will they be safe? Will they be kind? Will they be loved?In stepping out on their own, a child enters a new space in their life in which their mother cannot participate. And that’s scary. The only way a mom can enter into that piece of her child’s life is if, in some way, her child is brave enough to trust her with ...

Maybe you’re a mom.Biological, adoptive, foster, spiritual, school-mom, hospital-mom, mother-figure… however your motherhood is expressed.Maybe you’re a mom.And maybe you remember taking your mom for granted.I know I did. I saw my mom work for me, care for me, fight for me, and love me every day. And sure, I was grateful, but I didn’t realize just how much it all cost her… or how much joy I brought her.And that’s the heart of a mother.We tend to think o...