What do you do when you are suffering and want nothing more than to avoid it?
The holy mystery of “Jesus is the Garden” is the sacred blueprint to follow when what we are facing seems too much to bear.
Learn how to go to God, even in the times you want to run away.
This Lent, allow the Divine Physician to hold and propel you forward to new life.
Read More"Quitting the Christian Life. It's Too Hard...."
This is the title of a YouTube video Roxie Beckles, "That Black Catholic Chick" filmed a year ago. Roxie awakened in the very early morning hours and was having a "dark night of the soul."
Roxie's depth of vulnerability about her personal struggle with the demands of an authentic Christian life was untouched before Roxie pushed "publish." The video has over 30K views.
There is no mistaking that Roxie knows suffering.
In this Lenten podcast, Roxie revisits where she was at a year ago when she filmed this video. She then takes a deep dive into what she has learned from God ever since.
We can't be lukewarm in our Catholic faith--we must make a complete surrender and be "all in." This includes sharing barrenly about our struggles with our faith and wrestling close to Christ.
Roxie encourages listeners with this: If you aren’t wrestling in some way with your faith, you need to go deeper this Lent.
You can find Roxie on YouTube @thatblackcatholicchick or @TheologyOfFitness, as well as at https://www.roxiebeckles.com.
Read More“You’re going to stay in this marriage.” This was the message Nicole Berlucchi heard from God.
Before this, Nicole was convinced she was doing most of the work at home and in her marriage. Her friends told her she was a “saint” for putting up with her husband. To top it off, Nicole’s husband was unwilling to go to therapy.
Nicole was sure God was on her side.
Nicole left her husband for four days to discern if she was going to leave him. While Nicole entered this time of discernment relatively certain she was headed for divorce, God made it clear that Nicole needed to change and give her marriage a chance.
Nicole engaged in a very difficult season of healing that resulted in the transformation of her heart and marriage.
Listen to this mini-retreat in a podcast in Mamas in Spirit’s Lenten Series: HEAL. Allow God to help you remove barriers to love and be loved.
Nicole Berlucchi is the author of “Magnify Love: Unlocking the Heart of Jesus in Your Marriage and Your Life.”
Read More“Healing happens organically as love is being expressed,” says Dr. Bob Schuchts of the John Paul II Healing Center
In this mini-retreat in a podcast, Dr. Bob shares how important it is to listen and be attentive to what spiritual practices the Holy Spirit is drawing you to this Lent--so the Divine Physician can bless you with healing.
As we look at our patterns of sin and chronic wounds we have carried with us for a long time, we must remember God sees us in our wholeness. And remember that we cannot fix our own brokenness; however, we can name it and bring it to Jesus for healing.
Dr. Bob shares stories, including when he had a panic attack and realized his own need for healing. As Dr. Bob engaged in the healing process, he learned that beneath his anxiety was abandonment from his parents’ divorce. The pain in his heart began to heal through the love of God and he forgave his parents. Healing is a life-long journey that we all need to engage in.
Pope Benedict XVI said, “Whoever truly wishes to heal man must see him in his wholeness and must know that his ultimate healing can only be God’s love.”
May we bring all of ourselves to God this Lent, to discover the healing touch of The One who loves us completely.
Learn more about Dr. Bob Schuchts, the John Paul II Healing Center and additional opportunities for healing at https://jpiihealingcenter.org.
Read MoreWishing you and your family a blessed Christmas!
Mamas in Spirit will return on March 6th, 2025 for Season 7.
Subscribe now!
May God bless you and yours, always.
Read MoreHas a friend hurt you or left you out?
Dr. Mary Ruth Hackett was just about to leave for a party hosted by a dear friend when she received a text—Mary Ruth’s friend asked her to come a little later, because she was running behind.
Mary Ruth pulled up social media to pass time and was surprised to see a live photo posted by her friend. The image showed the host and many of Mary Ruth’s friends gathered around her friend’s table eating dinner. It turned out that the party was already in full swing.
In reality, Mary Ruth realized she was on the B List and was the only one of all her friends to be invited to the “after party.”
Mary Ruth was crushed.
Yet, while incredibly difficult, Mary Ruth chose to dig deep into this experience to better understand herself, her friendships and God’s hopes for her.
In this Advent Podcast Mary Ruth shares the wisdom she learned about sisterhood in Christ and the healing grace of God.
Learn how God blessed Mary Ruth with a new heart to love and friendships deeply rooted in Christ.
Discover how you can receive the beautiful gift of sisterhood in Christ, too!
Read MoreMegan Lynch couldn’t believe it when she felt a lump in her breast. With four young children and no risk factors, Megan was sure it wasn’t cancer.
Yet it was.
Then the doctor told Megan the cancer may have spread into her bones. If it did, she would have a year to live.
Megan waited three weeks for test results to see if she would survive the year. During that time, Megan prayed:
Lord, if this is the last year of my life please keep me open to you. Please keep the door of my heart open so your love shines through me.
In this Thanksgiving podcast, hear how Megan surrendered to God’s will and practiced gratitude while facing the unknown.
Listen and learn how to live in gratitude and God’s will, too!
Read MoreLisa Martinez was incredibly anxious and fearful as a child, but neither Lisa nor her parents understood why.
When Lisa attended her freshman year of college at Franciscan University—a place Lisa and many others refer to as a "field hospital” for souls—Lisa discovered why she had been consumed by such angst and fear.
Lisa experienced flashbacks of sexual abuse as a young child. She finally knew what she had been carrying.
Listen as Lisa takes us on a sensitive journey of the soul, culminating in Christ’s miraculous healing through prayer, contemplation, EMDR therapy, Catholic retreats and more.
If you or someone you love is the victim of abuse, know that healing is possible! Learn more about Lisa at www.littlewithgreatlove.com (http://www.littlewithgreatlove.com). Reach out to get connected to resources at mamasinspirit@gmail.com.
Abby Davis received a call. Within thirty minutes of hanging up the phone, there was a social worker on her front porch holding a baby girl.
Abby and her husband would care for this little girl for many months to follow, not knowing if they would adopt her or just care for her for a little while.
Abby’s heart was filled with love for this precious child, yet was also breaking at the possibility of being separated from her.
Abby would rock the baby and pray:
“Whether you stay or whether you go, let it be for Christ.“
This little girl, as well as two boys, are now the adopted children of Abby and her husband Cameron.
Listen to this mini-retreat in a podcast and imagine how your life can be more fully for Christ, too.
Read MoreStill reverberating in Colleen Carroll Campbell’s heart are an older mom’s words of wisdom from 15 years ago: “I don’t know if there is room for perfectionism in any other part of life, but I know this: there is no room for it in motherhood.”
Colleen had done her best to achieve flawlessness during her ambitious career, including a job as the American president’s speech writer. But it wasn’t until hearing the wise mom’s words about motherhood that Colleen realized her own struggle with perfectionism.
God began changing Colleen that morning and continues to transform her to this day. While she strives to do her best for the greater glory of God, Colleen has learned to let go and trust she is in God’s hands.
And she has discovered that there is no better place to be.
Listen to this inspiring “mini-retreat in a podcast” and allow yourself to surrender into the arms of Merciful Jesus, too.
Read MoreJennifer Calabretta’s childhood and early marriage were perfect in so many ways. But Jennifer never could have imagined what was to come.
Jennifer lost her second baby weeks after delivery to a rare muscle disorder. Doctors told her this would never happen again.
However, during one of Jennifer’s subsequent pregnancies, she learned that her daughter wouldn’t survive the very same disease.
Jennifer carried her baby throughout the remaining months of her pregnancy—and she and her husband were blessed with ten minutes with their daughter.
Jennifer experienced God deep within her throughout it all. God’s love was like holy balm to her injured heart.
In this vulnerable and joy-filled podcast, learn that God’s grace is sufficient. You will be blessed with God’s holy balm of the heart, too!
Read MoreLisa was in a hole she never thought she'd get out of.
Lisa struggled with insecurity since her childhood. As an adopted child, Lisa felt like she was given up. Even though her adoptive parents lavished her in love, Lisa worried that if she wasn't good enough that they might give her up, too.
Lisa turned to drinking. When Lisa hit the depths of the hole she was in, God reached in and helped Lisa climb out. Lisa learned a life-changing lesson through this.
“You have to bring God into your life to heal that hole in your soul.”
Listen to this vulnerable story of how a beautiful woman grew to greater confidence and love as she was touched by the mercy of God.
Read MoreAs Tammi McCarthy sat at Mass and listened to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, God revealed to her that she was the person in the story she didn’t want to be: the older brother.
God whispered into Tammi's heart:
“You have sat at my banquet table for years and you have dined on my abundance, but you have never invited anyone to dine with you.”
Tammi made a commitment that day to invite others to prayer and relationship with Christ. Yet Tammi didn't know that even when her life became difficult, she would still be called to share the love of Christ with others.
Tammi would learn to "stand in the rain and profess God's faithfulness soaking wet."
Listen to this podcast and be inspired as you hear this story of God as the Way Maker!
Read MoreDo you struggle with your body?
“The Catholic Fasting Coach” Beth Bubik understands and can help you.
As a child, Beth thought that her worthiness was tied to her weight. By the time she was in fifth grade she was dieting.
It wasn’t until Beth discovered spiritual fasting—fasting that incorporates both the body and soul—that she was transformed.
Beth knows we have to fast for a deep spiritual purpose in order for it to be life-changing.
Listen and discover how to care for both your body and soul.
Read More“Stay alert and sober”
As Amy Cara heard these words while in church, she knew God was speaking directly to her.
Soon thereafter, Amy fell asleep early one evening after drinking and heard the distant cries of her toddler.
The next morning Amy flipped through the phone book and found Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
After nineteen years of sobriety, Amy has learned:
“We don’t need to live with these particular inclinations we may have that are outside of God’s will. There is help. God is the Restorer. He’s the Healer.”
Listen as Amy shares about addictions, stigmas, masks and ultimately the miraculous healing work of God. And learn about a whole new level of restoration God may just have in store for you.
Read MoreWhile Ellie Hiller was raised in a beautiful home of faith and memorized Scripture, she wondered if her faith should be so much in her head. Something was missing.
Until God converted her heart.
When Ellie’s husband became Catholic and they lost their shared non-denominational practice, Ellie struggled. She armored herself in defensiveness and even listened to Matt Fradd’s podcast “Pints with Aquinas,” just so she could gain intellectual ammunition to defend her non-denominational viewpoints.
Only God changed her.
Ellie was touched by Saint Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body, the Sacraments and physicality of the Catholic faith.
Listen to this joy-filled podcast and allow God to help you move out of your head and into your heart, too.
Read MoreAnne Trufant was sixteen and only went to Catholic summer camp to find the “cute boy in the room.”
However, when Anne finally got the chance to dance with the cutest boy at camp, she looked up and didn’t see the boy—she saw Jesus. This moment changed her life forever.
Anne went home and couldn’t get enough of what a seminarian referred to at camp as “Jesus’ Love Letter.” She soaked Scripture in daily and, about 50 years later, continues to do so.
Anne’s personal relationship with Christ has led her to create a home for women who are pregnant and in crisis, do missionary work in Kenya, establish a Catholic summer camp in North Carolina and develop an online ministry centered in the Bible.
Anne pours out Scripture passages embedded in her heart, personal stories of God’s supernatural blessing of peace and phenomenal mama wisdom in this inspiring podcast.
Learn all about Anne’s summer camp and ministry at themissiononthemountain.com.
Read MoreWhen Kathy Schmugge found out her baby didn’t have a heartbeat at about twelve weeks, she went out to her car and cried “The Great Cry.” In that moment Kathy mourned her baby in her womb, as well as previous babies lost.
Kathy felt held--she knew she was in the arms of God.
Kathy offers grief support through the Office of Family Life in the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina. Yet what makes her work so effective is that Kathy is a living witness to how to navigate grief close to God.
Kathy says, "A lot of people run from grief. Do it the way you need to do it. But don’t run away from it."
In this joy-filled and inspiring podcast, Kathy shares specific pieces of advice to help you grieve in the way you most need to with God. From stories of pregnancy loss to elder care to the death of her parents, Kathy will bless you with understanding, healing and hope.
Learn more about Kathy's work at charlestondiocese.org.
Read More
Heidi Hess Saxton taught her children that their guardian angels only leave them once each week--it is during the Eucharist that they gather around the throne of Heaven and make their offerings of prayer.
Like our guardian angles, our lives are meant to be beautiful offerings to God.
In this podcast, listen to Heidi as she shares stories of her conversion and from her experience of motherhood, as well as wisdom that she has learned throughout her lifetime. (Heidi's children are all adopted and now adults!)
Learn how to open your heart to the merciful touch of Christ and make your life a beautiful offering.
Heidi’s newest book “Stories of the Eucharist: A Family Treasury of Saints and Seekers" is available now!
Read MoreAt 36 years old, Karen Gambino was surprised she felt like an orphan when she lost her mom--it was like she was missing a significant force in her life.
As Karen grieved, she sensed the importance of remembering and choosing to share the goodness of her mom with her family.
At first, Karen and her five sisters visited their mom's graveside. Soon all the family wanted to join in their annual ritual of remembrance.
In this moving podcast, hear how many generations gathered around Karen's mother's graveside on blankets, shared stories and sang songs to remember Karen's mother. As they raised their voices they discovered they were knit together eternally as family.
Listen and create a legacy of God's love in your family, too.
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