Catholic Mom — Episodes — Mamas in Spirit Catholic Podcast and Ministry for Women

A Mini-Retreat in a Podcast

Heartfelt conversations with guests about how god has transformed their LIVES

Posts tagged Catholic Mom

Surrendering My Perfectionism with Colleen Carroll Campbell

Surrendering My Perfectionism with Colleen Carroll Campbell

Still 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.

Love in Action with Caroline Graham

Love in Action with Caroline Graham

After raising four boys, Caroline Graham’s husband shared that he felt called to adopt a daughter.

Soon thereafter, Caroline received a call from a dear friend about a toddler girl needing a home.

Caroline figured that she and her husband knew how to love children and said “yes.”

Caroline realized that the call to love her precious daughter would demand more of her than she ever could have imagined. Loving her daughter would require her entire self and more—it would require daily and full dependency on Christ.

Caroline’s daughter suffers from Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD).

Hear Caroline share about how she has learned that while we come to the end of our own ability to love, God’s love is endless. Be inspired by how Caroline has opened herself to the supernatural love of God to care for her daughter and family—just as she is called.

Lord, Teach Us How to Think with Fr. Jon Meyer, Mamas in Spirit Chaplain

Lord, Teach Us How to Think with Fr. Jon Meyer, Mamas in Spirit Chaplain

Chaplain Father Jon Meyer was in his early twenties when his mother passed away.

In his grief, Father Jon faced the dark thought of needing to earn love, as well as the fear of being unloveable.

Father Jon was in the seminary at the time and chose to be honest about the thoughts he struggled with. He shared with his Spiritual Director and Formation Advisor, as well as some family and close friends. Over time, Father Jon was blessed with the transformation of his mind by God.

This podcast will help you explore your own thoughts and how they may be separating you from self, God and others. Learn tools of transparency and vulnerability to open yourself to the glorious “renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2).

My Heart was Broken and Put Back Together with Stacey Sumereau

My Heart was Broken and Put Back Together with Stacey Sumereau

Stacey Sumereau is on a healing journey.

Stacey was pregnant with her third child when she had a placental abruption--Baby Honora (Nora) was born early by emergency C-section.

Stacey's heart broke into pieces as she watched her baby go through what seemed like endless life-saving procedures. The final breaking point was when Stacey and her husband were told they needed to say goodbye.

Miraculously, Nora survived.

Over time, Stacey moved beyond her trauma and into prayerful silence. God created a much stronger heart in Stacey as He put the pieces of her heart back together.

Listen to this inspiring story of surrender and let God heal any broken pieces of your heart, too.

Holy Balm on My Injured Heart with Jennifer Calabretta

Holy Balm on My Injured Heart with Jennifer Calabretta

Jennifer 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!

Mass and Meals with Shana Blayney

Mass and Meals with Shana Blayney

Throughout her entire life Shana has gone to Sunday Mass and shared Sunday meals with her family.

So simple, yet so powerful.

From the time Shana was small she's experienced the living witness of her parents, who have religiously attended Mass and hosted family dinners on Sundays.

Shana now has a family of her own and they, along with her siblings and their families, spend Sundays at Mass and at Shana's parents' home sharing meals.

In this encouraging podcast, Shana shares how she has experienced the fruit of obedience: love. Her family has gathered throughout all seasons of life, both the joyful and sorrowful, just to be together.

Listen to Shana share and be inspired to root your own life in the Eucharist and family meals (even if this means friends who become family!).

My Divine Purpose with Molly Verdier of Morgan's Place

My Divine Purpose with Molly Verdier of Morgan's Place

On her birthday in 2018, Mollie Verdier wrote a letter asking God to reveal her divine purpose to her.

Soon thereafter, Mollie and her husband Nathan experienced infant loss. Mollie went into a dark place. Compounding her loss, Mollie and Nathan didn't know how to grieve together and were distant from one another.

One night, as Mollie watched Nathan pray at the foot of her bed, she asked God to soften her heart.

Mollie awoke at 3am the next morning and knew what God was calling them to—Mollie and Nathan created Morgan's Place.

"Morgan's Place was established to assist families through the grieving process when experiencing the loss of a baby. We aid this process by memory-making, birth planning, funeral and burial services, and post-partum support groups for parents."

Listen to this healing podcast and be inspired to discover your divine purpose, too!

I Shouldn't Feel Like This with Jeannie Ewing

I Shouldn't Feel Like This with Jeannie Ewing

“I’m not supposed to feel like this, because I’m Catholic.”

Jeannie Ewing felt inept in her motherhood when she found out she was pregnant with her fifth child--she wondered why God didn’t just take her in her sleep.

Self-loathing consumed Jeannie as her thoughts intensified.

Then Jeannie was asked to speak to a group of cloistered nuns.

After the retreat, a couple of the nuns invited Jeannie to go with them to The Shrine of the Holy Innocents.

In this wisdom-packed podcast, hear how God transformed Jeannie's heart as she stood in the shrine.

Open your heart to God's invisible grace--let Him change you, too!

Proclaiming God's Love in the Rain with Tammi McCarthy of Whispers of Love and Faith

Proclaiming God's Love in the Rain with Tammi McCarthy of Whispers of Love and Faith

As 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!

Good for the Body, Good for the Soul with Beth Bubik, Catholic Fasting Coach

Good for the Body, Good for the Soul with Beth Bubik, Catholic Fasting Coach

Do 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.

Stay Alert and Sober with Amy Cara

Stay Alert and Sober with Amy Cara

“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.

Living According to God's Will with Ester Munt-Brooks

Living According to God's Will with Ester Munt-Brooks

Have you ever been blessed with a sense of peace that “was not of this world?”

This is what Ester Munt-Brooks experienced while in a Croatian hospital just miles from Bosnia. It was a Sunday, there was no doctor to be found and no one in Ester's family spoke the local language.

Yet Ester had a very sick child in need of emergency surgery.

In this moment of maternal desperation, hear how Ester accepted God's will with love.

Ester will never forget the following week with her family, as they divided their time between the hospital in Croatia and our Blessed Mother in Medjugorje.

Listen to this podcast and learn how to live according to God’s will.

From Employee to Enemy of the Year with Mayra Rodriguez

From Employee to Enemy of the Year with Mayra Rodriguez

How does a Catholic woman become Planned Parenthood's "Employee of the Year?" And then later become what she termed its "Enemy of the Year?"

This is the life-story of Mayra Rodriguez, a teen immigrant groomed to believe she was helping women, even encouraging them to receive abortions without their husbands knowing.

From becoming director of an abortion facility to witnessing the horrific reality of abortion firsthand, Mayra faced the truth. Her heart changed.

But not before a bitter lawsuit with Planned Parenthood.

Listen to this inspiring podcast and pray for the gift of every human life!

Jesus' Love Letter with Anne Trufant of Mission on the Mountain

Jesus' Love Letter with Anne Trufant of Mission on the Mountain

Anne 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.

Creating a Legacy of God's Love with Karen Gambino

Creating a Legacy of God's Love with Karen Gambino

At 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.

A Holy Prescription with April Mascola

A Holy Prescription with April Mascola

As twelve-year-old April Mascola sat in her school desk she wondered what things would be like when she got home. Her mom had gone away for psychiatric care—April was doing her very best to fill her mom’s shoes and care for her three younger siblings while her mom was gone.

While April’s family wasn’t praying or attending church during this time—or any of the first twelve years of April’s life—April was graced with a supernatural peace to persevere though this difficult season.

Hear how April’s mom was not only reunited with her husband and children months later, but also her Catholic faith. And how April’s mother began to share the gift of Our Blessed Mother with April.

In this podcast, learn how Mother Mary has continued to draw April close. On a trip to Medjugorje in 2011, April discovered A Holy Prescription of The Five Stones of Medjugorje. April prays the Rosary daily, fasts two times per week, attends Confession monthly, reads Holy Scripture daily and attends Mass weekly.

Listen and be inspired to make your own promises to Mary!

Extraordinary Hope with Sue Simms

Extraordinary Hope with Sue Simms

Sue Simms got down on her knees and prayed in her hospital room. She awaited the test results revealing if her second daughter would have the same fatal birth defect she lost her first daughter to.

Sue told God that she trusted His plan and would follow—she just asked to know if her baby would live or die.

As soon as Sue stood from her time of prayer, the doctor returned to tell Sue that her baby girl was healthy and would go home with Sue and her husband.

Many years later, this baby would become a mama and experience the same heart-wrenching loss with her first baby as Sue did.

Grace-filled lessons abound in this story that captures the power of surrender, the gift of steadfast faith and the blessings of holy motherhood.

Listen and be filled with the extraordinary hope that only God can provide!

A New Heart: Imagine the Impossible with Don and Barb Weller

A New Heart: Imagine the Impossible with Don and Barb Weller

“I’m here for a change of heart.”

Don Weller spoke these words as he began the intake process for his heart transplant surgery.

When Don woke up from the surgery, the doctor handed him a stethoscope and Don listened to his replacement heart's beat for the first time. A little while later, his wife Barb, their son and two daughters were able to do the same.

But Don wasn't the only one in the hospital room receiving the miraculous gift of new life that day. As Don and Barb’s daughters listened to Don’s new heart, two tiny hearts were beating within them—they were both pregnant.

Don and Barb never could have imagined the gift of new life for Don and their new grandchildren. Listen to this Easter podcast and imagine what may seem impossible for your life, too!

The Gift of Love with Kathy Tankersley

The Gift of Love with Kathy Tankersley

By the time Kathy Tankersley was 23 years old, she was a single mom of five children.

Kathy vividly remembers being in church and praying on her knees for a someone she could truly trust and confide in. Then she met Rex Tankersley.

The day after their weekend honeymoon, Rex sat her five children down and asked them if they wanted him to be their dad. The children responded with a resounding "Yes!"

The children are now grown and have children of their own. Rex has also passed and Kathy reflects on why she says:

Don't feel sorry for me, because I have been so loved.

Listen to this Advent podcast and allow Kathy's gift of storytelling open your heart to the wondrous gift of God's love.

The Kiss of God with Kristi Bentley

The Kiss of God with Kristi Bentley

After Kristi Bentley experienced pregnancy loss with her first baby, she wondered how something so beautiful could be given and then taken away from her.

Kristi now sees how the hand of God was at work in her life all those years ago.

Kristi’s loss led to a deep understanding of the precious gift of life. While mourning her first child she promised to be open to all the children God might bless her and her husband Patrick with. Seven children and countless prayers later, Kristi shares personal stories about Our Lady of Fatima, many Saints and the “kiss of God.”

Be inspired by Kristi’s openness to life even when others don’t understand—Kristi’s pure heart encourages us to notice all the ways we may experience the kiss of God, too.