Catholic Momcast

Maria Morera Johnson and CatholicMom.com contributor Samantha Stephenson have a discuss habits that help us be present to our children in the midst of demanding chores and duties. Samantha Stephenson is a Catholic convert, bioethicist, and author of Reclaiming Motherhood from a Culture Gone Mad, the Mama Prays devotional, and the forthcoming books The Bellbind Letters and Grow Where You’re Planted. Samantha homeschools her four children and homesteads with her family on a third of an acre nestled in the heart of Idaho's Snake River Valley. You can find her at www.snstephenson.com.    Links for this Episode:  Website: www.snstephenson.com Podcast: Brave New Us Read all articles by Samantha Stephenson

Maria Morera Johnson and Father Chris Alar, MIC, author of  Understanding the Sacraments: God's Grace Guaranteed! Fr. Chris Alar, MIC is a Marian Father of the Immaculate Conception and a familiar face to many Catholics through his talks, books, and EWTN’s Living Divine Mercy. Known for his down-to-earth way of breaking down big topics, Fr. Chris has a heart for helping people really understand their faith and experience God’s mercy. His latest book, Understanding the Sacraments: God’s Grace Guaranteed, takes us deeper into the seven sacraments—showing how they’re not just rituals we do, but real encounters with God’s grace that can transform our lives.   Links in Show:· Understanding the Sacraments: God's Grace Guaranteed! Explaining the Faith with Father Chris Alar (video) Explaining the Faith with Father Chris Alar (podcast)  

Maria Morera Johnson and Father Charlie McCoy, C.S.C., discuss Bluey, a family-oriented animated series that speaks to the whole family. Born and raised in the greater Chicago area, Father Charlie McCoy, C.S.C., made his final vows in 2008 and was ordained in 2009. For most of his life in Holy Cross, he has served as a professor and a pastoral resident in a men's hall at the University of Portland in Oregon. Since Father Charlie comes from a lively, close-knit family, and since devotion to the Rosary stretches back generations among his relatives, he feels very blessed to be joining the team at Holy Cross Family Ministries to carry on the legacy of Venerable Patrick Peyton.   Links for this Episode:  Official Bluey Website Read all articles by Maria Morera Johnson  

Maria Morera Johnson and Allison Gingras discuss summer serenity and embracing the Rosary. Maria and Allison discuss the winding down of summer and looking forward to a Fall reset while embracing the beauty of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,   Links for this Episode:  Read all articles by Allison Gingras Allison's new book, Jesus Heals Read all articles by Maria Morera Johnson Maria's new book, A Beautiful Second Act

Maria Morera Johnson interviews Tik Tok influencer Sister Lisa Hezmalhalch, author of  A Rome for Restless Hearts. In A Rome for Restless Hearts, Sr. Lisa takes readers through some of the most common questions and concerns about Catholicism, including the veneration of Mary and the role of women in the Church. With her characteristic wit, Sr. Lisa shares with readers her own questions, misunderstandings, and reluctance about Catholicism, and how she discovered that the Catholic faith was already offering her soul what it was seeking: a deeper relationship with Jesus. Links in Show: A Rome for Restless Hearts

  Maria Morera Johnson and Inés Mersch talk about tending to our spiritual and physical needs. Inés Huber Mersch is a faithful Catholic wife, mother, and grandmother residing in Mobile, Alabama. Her strong attraction to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament led to her being invited to participate in the steering committee that brought Perpetual Adoration to the Archdiocese of Mobile and continues as one of the schedulers. She has also been a guest writer at Catholic Mom. Links in Show: Broken By Me by Inés Huber Mersch Read all articles by Maria Morera Johnson

Maria Morera Johnson and contributor Kristina Talbot discuss the joys and challenges of mothering our children through milestones. Kristina Talbot is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and native Floridian who loves that her engineer husband enjoys Karaoke, and her four children enjoy carpool line with the music up. Kristina is the owner and founder of ARISE Mental Health Consulting Services and has a ridiculous amount of knowledge about football. You can follow Kristina on Facebook and Instagram @arisemhc.   Links for this Episode:  Read all articles by Kristina Talbot

Maria Morera Johnson and Heidi Hess Saxton talk about using prayer apps as spiritual aids. Heidi Saxton is co-host of the CatholicMom.com Prayercast, and author of Stories of the Eucharist (OSV) and The Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers (Ave). She is also senior acquisitions editor for Ave Maria Press. She and her husband Craig divide their time between northern Michigan and West Palm Beach, Florida. You can read about her adventures on Life on the Road Less Traveled.  Maria Morera Johnson, author of A Beautiful Second Act:, My Badass Book of Saints, Super Girls and Halo, and Our Lady of Charity: How a Cuban Devotion to Mary Helped Me Grow in Faith and Love writes about all the things that she loves. A cradle Catholic, she struggles with living in the world but not being of it, and blogs about those successes and failures, too.   Link in Show:· Read all articles by Heidi Hess Saxton Read all articles by Maria Morera Johnson

Maria and Allison take a mid-year check0in for the Jubilee Year of Hope, and introduce the new series on Catholic Mom: A Reason for Our Hope   Links for this Episode:  A Reason for Our Hope Read all articles by Allison Gingras Allison's new book, Jesus Heals Read all articles by Maria Morera Johnson Maria's new book, A Beautiful Second Act  

Maria Johnson interviews Liz Lantigua, founder of Good News! Book Fair, and Leslea Wahl, author of A Summer to Treasure. Good News! Book Fair for an Agenda-Free Alternative Good News! Book Fair started in 2014. They are headquartered in Florida with a second distribution center in Ohio and are now a program of Literacy Advocates USA, a nonprofit organization.  Good News! Boof Fair emphasizes how important it is for parents and educators to instill the joy of reading in children and provide fun, wholesome, inspiring books, promoting good entertainment collaborating with Family Theatre Productions and Angel Studios. Good News! Book Fair (GNBF) believes that if we can change the media, we can change the culture. They help parents and educators by curating titles, offering author presentations/book signings, literary programs that make reading fun, fundraising for libraries, and providing a place where anyone can purchase clean reads in an agenda-free environment.   Leslea Wahl Leslea Wahl is an award-winning aut

Maria Morera Johnson is joined by Inés Huber Mersch for a conversation about the Fruits of the Spirit, and how we can cultivate the virtues in our family.   Inés Huber Mersch is a faithful Catholic wife, mother, and grandmother residing in Mobile, Alabama. Her strong attraction to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament led to her being invited to participate in the steering committee that brought Perpetual Adoration to the Archdiocese of Mobile and continues as one of the schedulers. She has also been a guest writer at Catholic Mom. Links in Show: Broken By Me by Inés Huber Mersch Read all articles by Maria Morera Johnson

Maria Morera Johnson and Heidi Hess Saxton talk about the Blessed Mother as a model for our motherhood. Maria Morera Johnson and Heidi Hess Saxton talk about the Blessed Mother as a model for our motherhood. Heidi Saxton is co-host of the CatholicMom.com Prayercast, and author of Stories of the Eucharist (OSV) and The Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers (Ave). She is also senior acquisitions editor for Ave Maria Press. She and her husband Craig divide their time between northern Michigan and West Palm Beach, Florida. You can read about her adventures on Life on the Road Less Traveled.  Maria Morera Johnson, author of A Beautiful Second Act:, My Badass Book of Saints, Super Girls and Halo, and Our Lady of Charity: How a Cuban Devotion to Mary Helped Me Grow in Faith and Love writes about all the things that she loves. A cradle Catholic, she struggles with living in the world but not being of it, and blogs about those successes and failures, too.   Link in Show:· Read all articles by Heidi Hess Saxton Read a

Maria Morera Johnson interviews musician Cristina Bernal in an intimate conversation about faith, sacrifice, values, and surrendering her gifts to God. CONTENT WARNING: In this episode, Cristina Bernal shares briefly about exposure to immoral practices in the music industry that led to her awakening in the faith. Caution is recommended, especially when young listeners may be present. from CristinaBernalMusic.com: Growing up in the music industry Cristina always knew she wanted to do something big with her gifts and talents. After leaving what would have been her second record deal in 2011, Cristina got involved in leading worship for her young adult community. From there she knew she had a calling to serve the Lord with her gifts and talents. Along with writing and releasing pop music she has served in the worship community since. She has traveled around the United States leading worship for conferences, retreats, parish missions, as well as locally at her home parish. Cristina signed with Catholic Christian

Maria and Allison catch up with each other. Life sometimes comes at us in seasons of heavy activity and having strategies for  focus and grounding in the faith are essential.   Links for this Episode:  Read all articles by Allison Gingras Allison's new book, Jesus Heals Read all articles by Maria Morera Johnson Maria's new book, A Beautiful Second Act

Our May 2025 Book Club selection is a book honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary! Kelsey Gillespy, in her new book, Real Life with Mary: Growing in Virtue to Magnify the Lord, encourages moms to grow in friendship with Mary and learn from her how to walk the daily path to holiness. This book is written for all of us! Kelsey observed during this session that the book is a call to discipleship, a call to fellowship, and a call to sainthood. She acknowledged that when we look at the saints we see all the glamor, and it can seem like sainthood is distant — but over time, God can bring us to sainthood too. Kelsey and Allison discuss how Mary is close to us because of the grace of God, and that grace can bring us closer to God. Learn more about Mary as a powerful example and mentor as well as someone who's going to nurture us, love us, and want the best for us in our Week 3 Book Club episode.

Maria Morera Johnson and Barb Szyszkiewicz have a lively conversation about cooking with the family, offering some Mom hacks for encouraging young chefs. Barb Szyszkiewicz, senior editor at CatholicMom.com, is a wife, mom of 3 young adults, and a Secular Franciscan. Barb enjoys writing, cooking, and reading, and is a music minister at her parish. Find her blog at FranciscanMom and her family’s favorite recipes with nutrition information  at Cook and Count. Barb is the author of The Handy Little Guide to Prayer and The Handy Little Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours, available from Our Sunday Visitor. Maria Morera Johnson, author of A Beautiful Second Act: Saints and Soul Sisters who Taught Me to Age with Grace and My Badass Book of Saints. She writes about all the things that she loves. A cradle Catholic, she struggles with living in the world but not being of it, and blogs about those successes and failures, too.   Links for Show: Read all articles by Barb Szyszkiewicz. Read all articles by Maria Morera Joh

Heidi Saxton is co-host of the CatholicMom.com Prayercast, and author of Stories of the Eucharist (OSV) and The Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers (Ave). She is also senior acquisitions editor for Ave Maria Press. She and her husband Craig divide their time between northern Michigan and West Palm Beach, Florida. You can read about her adventures on Life on the Road Less Traveled.  Maria Morera Johnson, author of A Beautiful Second Act:, My Badass Book of Saints, Super Girls and Halo, and Our Lady of Charity: How a Cuban Devotion to Mary Helped Me Grow in Faith and Love writes about all the things that she loves. A cradle Catholic, she struggles with living in the world but not being of it, and blogs about those successes and failures, too.   Link in Show:· Read all articles by Heidi Hess Saxton Read all articles by Maria Morera Johnson

Our May 2025 Book Club selection is a book honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary! Kelsey Gillespy, in her new book, Real Life with Mary: Growing in Virtue to Magnify the Lord, encourages moms to grow in friendship with Mary and learn from her how to walk the daily path to holiness. This book is written for all of us! Kelsey observed during this session that the book is a call to discipleship, a call to fellowship, and a call to sainthood. She acknowledged that when we look at the saints we see all the glamor, and it can seem like sainthood is distant — but over time, God can bring us to sainthood too. Kelsey and Allison discuss how Mary is close to us because of the grace of God, and that grace can bring us closer to God. Learn more about Mary as a powerful example and mentor as well as someone who's going to nurture us, love us, and want the best for us in our Week 2 Book Club episode.

Maria Morera Johnson and Margaret Dwyer Hogan discuss graduations and the transitions in the home.   Maria Morera Johnson and Margaret Dwyer Hogan have a lively and fun conversation about the different seasons of graduation and launching our children.  

Our May 2025 Book Club selection is a book honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary! Kelsey Gillespy, in her new book, Real Life with Mary: Growing in Virtue to Magnify the Lord, encourages moms to grow in friendship with Mary and learn from her how to walk the daily path to holiness. This book is written for all of us! Kelsey observed during this session that the book is a call to discipleship, a call to fellowship, and a call to sainthood. She acknowledged that when we look at the saints we see all the glamor, and it can seem like sainthood is distant — but over time, God can bring us to sainthood too. Kelsey and Allison discuss how Mary is close to us because of the grace of God, and that grace can bring us closer to God. Learn more about Mary as a powerful example and mentor as well as someone who's going to nurture us, love us, and want the best for us in our Week 1 Book Club episode.