Achieving health, well-being and stronger faith one day at a time

June 11, 2025/0 Comments/in Beauty, Book Review, discipleship, non-fiction, Prayer, Uncategorized/by Mary McWilliams

Achieving health, well-being and stronger faith one day at a time

“I promised myself and God that if I found the answers to my struggles with my weight and health, I’d be bold and brave and share what I’ve learned with others. The tribulations that have caused me the most pain in my life – my mess – becomes my message.” — Shemane Nugent

Oftentimes, the promises on book covers are more the crafting of marketing departments than the authors: be the best parent in one hour; 21-days to real health; financial independence and a rich, free life. Anyone looking at them realistically would admit that, while the techniques may be effective, achieving the authors’ intentions would be slower and more gradual.

The cover of Shemane Nugent’s 2025 release, Abundantly Well (Good Books), also makes such a cover claim. Situated within a ribbon vector image, it promises, “40 days to a slimmer, healthier you.” From a sales perspective, it’s a sexier enticement for the writer’s audience, most likely women ages 40 and up. If that’s the grabber, it does a disservice to the book and Mrs. Nugent’s comforting, faith-infused style because the whole intention of this book is more than losing weight. The subtitle, “Bible-based wisdom for weight loss, increased energy, and vibrant health” says more about what’s inside. Rather than a crash course for temporary results, Abundantly Well offers ways for women to sincerely regard themselves as “temples of the Lord,” and not just in body but in mind and spirit. While written in a topic a day, 40-day format, Abundantly Well is unique from other health and fitness books because it is prayer and God-centered with the author’s recurrent reminder of taking “small steps” that work for the reader’s life.

Each day’s topic begins with a Bible verse that fits the chapter contents. After the main content, supported not just with her own opinions and experiences, but other Bible verses and scientific articles, is the “Move Forward” portion, where the author asks, out of the information just presented, what one or two parts could be added to your life today? The day’s readings and motivations are capped with prayer.

Cover of Abundantly Well by Shemane Nugent

She ventures between the days addressing fitness and weight loss, with writings on healing trauma, detoxifying your home, aging, prayer, service to others, and spiritual warfare. While she doesn’t go in-depth on the topics — they are meant to be easy to digest daily, she provides insightful information and resources to learn more later. On Day 12, she begins to demystify cravings and on Day 17 managing “Hormonal Havoc.” Day 14, “Detoxify Your House,” she addresses many small ways we add poisons to our lives through the gasses and chemicals in things as plastic bottles and scented trash bags.

When Mrs. Nugent writes about nutrition and fitness, she differentiates it from typical approaches by grounding them in a Biblical framework and a mindset of moving forward. Day 7, “God Food Verses Man Food” is a realistic reflection of the mass-produced food industry compared to the often-vilified individual hunting practices.

“Some people say they could never kill an animal, but even if you’re a vegan, you are responsible for killing millions of birds, geese, rabbits, possums, and deer. The roads you drive on, the shopping mall you frequent, your house — these were all once wildlife habitat. Your vegetable garden too! By making way for those areas to be habitat-free, you have to kill every squirrel, rabbit, chipmunk, pheasant, dove, turkey, and deer. We are all complicit (pg. 25).”

Within these pages, she speaks of what she knows and lives.

“I promised myself and God that if I found the answers to my struggles with my weight and health, I’d be bold and brave and share what I’ve learned with others. The tribulations that have caused me the most pain in my life – my mess – becomes my message,” she writes (p. X).

Mrs. Nugent is co-author with her husband of more than 30 years, Ted Nugent (yes, that actual rock star, Ted Nugent) of the 2016 release, Kill It and Grill It, about preparing and cooking wild game. She also authored, Killer House, her story of surviving illness from toxic mold found in her home. She has been in the fitness industry for 40 years as an instructor and program developer, and is host of the Sunday morning show, “Faith and Freedom” on Real America’s Voice network. It could be easy to look at Shemane Nugent, who maintains her figure and beauty past the age of 60 and dismiss her as a celebrity author and wife of a mega star who can buy whatever she needs to achieve happiness. But don’t be so quick to judge. She has endured major surgery, forgiven marital infidelity and beaten a life-threatening illness. She regrets spending too much of her life being a “doormat,” stuffing down deep grief, and lacking confidence, without a note of self-pity. She also admits to eyelash extensions, trying botox, and indulging in chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes. She shares with her Christian sisters that she learned to take the difficulties in life and use them to grow stronger and develop her prayer life and reliance on God and she wants the same for them.

How we think, how we feel, how often we move, what we breathe into our bodies and ingest, our perspective of God, prayer, gratitude, and service to others, all play a part in our health. You may not live a rock star life, but Shemane Nugent maintains that you do not need to; you just need to take baby steps every day, accompanied with prayer and gratitude, toward achieving your goals.

Feature Image by Pexels from pixabay.com

Inset by Mary Mcwilliams

Original image: pexels-angel-rkaoz-505465009-20535450.jpg

The Worthy Writer

May 19, 2025/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, discipleship, Home & Lifestyle, Inspirational/by Janet Tamez

“I’m learning that God doesn’t wait on perfection. He works with the writer who is writing through the distraction —the kids fighting, the sticky floors, the dishes piling up.”

I don’t know what it is, but whenever I write for a Catholic audience, I freeze up. I play it safe. I choose a neutral, educational topic. The teacher in me justifies it — after all, don’t readers want useful information? That works in a classroom or with children. But most of the time, I want to speak to women like me.

For years, I felt like I couldn’t write in Catholic spaces because I didn’t have my life in order.

How could a single mom, never married, talk about being Catholic? People wanted to hear from the wholesome Catholic mom blog, where the mom is homeschooling ten kids and has a cute Catholic craft for every feast day. That wasn’t me.

I was a Latina mom living in income-based housing. Eventually, I got married—maybe to prove I had the “credentials” to run a Catholic mom blog. I had a husband, a yard, and a house. Still, my life didn’t magically become blog-worthy. My husband lived abroad with our eldest son to support his soccer dreams, and I was left trying to manage everything alone, including a lawn I couldn’t keep up with. How could I write now?

But God kept calling.

Like Samuel, I didn’t know how to respond. Me? Really? Let me get my life in order first, then I’ll start the blog. But life doesn’t wait to be sorted out. The years passed. My circumstances didn’t improve, and I wasn’t getting any younger. Eventually, I got tired of waiting to become a “worthy” writer.

I’m learning that God doesn’t wait on perfection. He works with the writer who is writing through the distraction —the kids fighting, the sticky floors, the dishes piling up.

What do I have to say to others? I don’t have a perfect marriage, but I still show up. I don’t get my kids to Mass every Sunday, but we make daily prayer a habit. I do novenas even when I’ve done them before. Even when prayers aren’t answered. I’ll reach for God in a phone app, fitting faith in my life however I can.

When my kids were younger, we prayed the rosary together. Now that they’re teens, it’s not so easy—and I don’t want to force them. So we say Grace before meals and thank God for our blessings. We pray for the 14-year-old soccer teammate who lost his mom before Mother’s Day, for my five-year-old who suffers from daily tummy aches, for my sister who lost her job.

Even the things that aren’t too visibly Catholic count too. Like making sacrifices as a family to help one another live out our dreams. The biggest one? Leaving behind American comforts to support my son’s soccer career in Mexico. Still, the small sacrifices are just as good, like the parable of the Widow’s offering. I see this when my 13-year-old takes her younger siblings to the park for two hours so I can write—even though she’d rather be lying in bed, scrolling on TikTok.

Or how my husband puts up with Mexican traffic and crooked cops every time he drives two blocks for Domino’s pizza.

Mexico is broken with corruption, crime, and drugs, but it’s a country that wears its faith like a tattoo sleeve. You can find a statue of Mother Mary drilled on the concrete walls of crumbling homes, makeshift altars on dirt roads, and a cross hanging on the doorway of the 7-Eleven.

Here, you don’t have to be perfect to be Catholic. I used to compare myself to the ideal American Catholic family. It’s what we do in the U.S., asking others: What school do your kids go to? Where do you live? What Mass do you go to? Secretly sizing them up, and almost always falling short. Now, I see things through a global perspective. My two-bedroom apartment could have easily been a dream for someone living in another part of the world—like Mexico. Faith isn’t bigger in bigger homes. It’s in the homes with addresses scratched on with a rock, in churches that have no air conditioning, but are so packed that they have to bring out the baby stools for extra seating. This is Jesus’s story, and I kept missing the message.

Mexico consistently ranks among the world’s happiest countries, despite widespread poverty.

On any Sunday at 10 p.m., families are still out getting ice cream. They make dinnertime a special event by eating outside on their patio. They set up a large table and chairs, bring out their big screen TV, tune in for the soccer match, and grill. It’s not about what you have but what you make out of life.

The same goes for writing.

You don’t have to be perfect to be a Catholic writer. Catholicism can be scary, you can feel judged, and it can be hard to live up to. The good news is that God doesn’t measure your worthiness by worldly success. I used to think I needed a theology degree, too.

God needs you … from … (insert your name and rep your block). Look, he just made a pope out of someone from Chi-town! So if God is calling you to write, trust and believe. Or as my older sister would say, “Did I stutter?” or better yet, “You got something in your ears?” He wants you and your story-worthy story in all its grit and glory.

Feature Photo by Angel Rkaoz: https://www.pexels.com/photo/nun-in-habit-writing-in-book-20535450/

God Speaks to the Self We don’t yet Know

May 9, 2025/0 Comments/in discipleship, Faith, Inspirational, Purification/by Tom Medlar

God Speaks to the Self We don’t yet Know

Who are you?

What is your true identity, and your role in God’s great design?

To start with, you are not who you think you are, at least, you are not only who you think you are.

It is difficult enough to learn to see yourself as other people see you. Others see so many things that we do not see about ourselves, and how much better off would we be if we could know how we are seen by other people?

But can you learn to see yourself as God sees you?

Only quite partially, now, on earth. That awareness will come fully when you meet God face to face for your particular judgment. It won’t happen on a certain day, because you will have slipped beyond time and this life when you arrive at your judgment before God

Some who are skeptical about God might say, “Oh, you don’t really know if there is a life after death. You might not face God for judgment, because there might just be nothing.”

But they partially know that isn’t true. They might notice that the judgment of each of us is already underway – within us. They might know (perhaps subconsciously), because there is something dwelling within each of us that we refer to by the word conscience.

Our conscience speaks to us

There is something inside of us that we did not create or design, and that we can partially ignore, yet, willing or not, it will trouble each one of us. Conscience will speak to us – most strongly when not bidden. It points beyond our subjective understanding and our personal values or judgments, and it speaks objectively to us about who we actually are, when seen in the full light.

God speaks to who we are, not who we think we are, or wish others might think of us. Our inaccurate image of self is usually a catalog of illusions we’d like the world to believe about us. When God speaks to us, He is not simply addressing our inadequate and incomplete image of ourselves. He is speaking to the fullness of our self, to that which may be outside of our conscious awareness yet is essential to our complete being.

God changes us by His communications to us

When God first called young Samuel in the temple (1 Samuel 3:1-10), awakening him from his sleep, or when God spoke to Joseph in his dreams (Matthew 1:20-21), His first direct approach came from beyond the conscious limits of their sense of who or what they were. His messages informed them of who they were called to be.

When God (Jesus) first spoke face to face in this world to Simon (John 1:42), He referred to who Simon knew himself to be – his name and his parentage – but then God pointed to his greater self, to the self who was known to God – Peter, the rock. God changes us by His communications to us. He points us towards the fullness of who He made us to be, and to the purpose of our part in His greater plan.

God knows us in ways we cannot understand or imagine. He seeks now to address us in ways that are, to us, both conscious and unconscious. We might experience His speaking to us in ways deeper than our conscious understanding without our recognizing it. For example, through piercingly pertinent scripture passages, or one might notice patterns in nighttime dreams, or in the events of one’s life, or prompts that come in subtle ways and surprise us. We might reflect on the persons and situations in our past or present, and come to recognize ways God has been at work.

His message, though, might be misperceived, such as when we feel frustrated by an annoying obstacle to a path or goal we pursue, one which He knows is not right for us. Yet His communications can also be most intimate, direct, and personal.

But there’s more that He already does communicate, and that He wants to communicate to us. There’s always more, because He is always More.

God is always actively engaging and communicating Himself to us, and ourselves to us, as well.

He is guiding us towards the fullness of our true self, so we might meet the fullness of Him, and join in His eternal joy.

Emily Henson

Jubilee: A Coming Out of the Wilderness

April 15, 2025/0 Comments/in Blogging, Catholic Theme, discipleship, Inspirational, Pilgrimage, Prayer/by Emily Henson

Jubilee: A Coming Out of the Wilderness

Years ago, when my dad was stationed in Italy, I was blessed to be able to take part in Italy’s jubilee in 2000. I didn’t think I would get the opportunity again. Jubilees only come along every 25 years and I live far away from Italy now. When I stepped through St. Peter’s Holy Door in 2000, I never would have guessed that I would not only get to participate in Rome’s jubilee again, but that I would have a husband and three children in tow!

A jubilee is a time of forgiveness and spiritual renewal. The word jubilee means a time of celebration. We are celebrating God’s merciful love during a jubilee. Everyone is encouraged to participate, whether locally or through a pilgrimage to Rome and to receive the plenary indulgence. https://www.usccb.org/jubilee2025

When my husband first mentioned a possible trip to Italy for the Jubilee, I panicked. I’m a bit of an anxious person to put it lightly. All of the things that could possibly go wrong when bringing a family of five to Italy immediately filled my mind. I put our family on a strict “Don’t talk about the trip to Italy” notice in order to mentally avoid the inevitable. For the next several months, my husband quietly researched, planned, and bought tickets for our pilgrimage. I quietly brushed up on my Italian but stubbornly remained in denial.

In March, we landed in Venice and made our way through cities such as Siena, Assisi, and Florence, visiting many holy sites and preparing ourselves for the final stop in our pilgrimage – Rome. Italy, like America, has grown farther and farther away from God. It is hard to imagine the existence of a world where political – and even church– governance was heavily influenced by faith in the one, true God. This, however, is what the elaborate paintings in their government houses depict. God first, high above mankind, and all those below searching the Heavens and sometimes even pointing above in the realization that true governance comes from God.

That is what jubilees are about. An opportunity for us as individuals and, hopefully, as a society to renew our focus on God, His teachings, and His boundless love for all of us. Now, more than ever, the world needs this awakening. We need this hope.

Without this hope, however, I would never have even made it to Italy. Remember, I was so worried about all that could go wrong on the pilgrimage to Italy that I secretly preferred not to go at all. This was a grievous lack of trust in God on my part. Instead of turning to Him, instead of surrendering to Him, I almost missed out on a beautiful opportunity to allow my family a trip to the Holy City! I needed to surrender my heart to Him and ask Him to enter under my roof before I could enter under His.

This year’s jubilee calls us to be Pilgrims of Hope. Before I could even depart on this pilgrimage – I needed hope. As soon as this realization dawned, I was able to see this huge trip we would be undertaking as a just what it was meant to be – a pilgrimage. Pilgrimages are not easy. The first jubilee was decreed after the Israelites made it through 40 years of wilderness. Only after their desolate pilgrimage and only when they finally surrendered their stubbornness and made it to the Promised Land did the people enjoy their jubilee. “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you.” (Leviticus 25:10)

Looking back, I find it poignant that the hardest challenges for my family came prior to us even leaving and these challenges seemed to be allayed only when I surrendered and trusted the Lord with abandon. All at once, the wilderness cleared and our path to the Holy City unfolded.

Any pilgrimage we take during this jubilee year, whether to Italy or within our hearts, must start very close to home. Though I’m home now, my pilgrimage of hope should not be over. I’m to be an example to those around me of God’s loving mercy, at home and at work. This pilgrimage of hope starts in our heart. What does it benefit us to walk through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s if our heart is not as beautifully decorated as the basilica’s walls? Will I carefully place jewels of patience, love, and mercy into the altar of my heart? Will I perfume the chamber with oils of humility and kindness? When the Holy Doors close and the jubilee ends, how much more radiant will my heart be?

No matter where we find ourselves this jubilee year, let’s start with the heart. I plan to take time during daily prayer to look within and check on the progress within the basilica of my heart. Hopefully, at the end of this jubilee, I will be able to hand our Lord a heart I’ve done something to improve. All hearts can be like an ugly, rough stone, but each heart is greater than a precious jewel in the eyes of the Lord. With careful refinement, our hearts can shine like the beacons of hope God meant them to be. Let us renew our hope in Him and take up the pilgrim’s staff. God speed on your journey!

Edited by Maggie Rosario

Photo copyright Canva

Hopeful Peace

April 8, 2025/2 Comments/in Devotionals, discipleship/by Isabelle Wood

Hopeful Peace

“We love because He first loved us.”—1 John 4:19 (RSV)

I think that, deep down, we all long for peace. And maybe even more than external peace, we all want an internal peace. We want the kind of peace no circumstance in the world can take away. The peace the martyrs had in the face of death.

Jesus is the One who promises us this peace, and yet, if you’re like me, peace can sometimes still remain elusive, even when you’re doing the work God calls us to do as His disciples. Sometimes, we just seem to be wearing ourselves out no matter how hard we try, and when that exhaustion hits and swipes away our peace, our joy and ability to love others goes with it. Confusion steps in. If Jesus promised us peace in the face of all trials, then why does it seem to be snatched away in our efforts to do His work?

I think the answer lies in our perspective and our motivation.

If we only make the sacrifice to get up early and help out at the parish fundraiser on Friday because we are counting on getting to sleep in on Saturday, we’re going to be disappointed—especially if our kid wakes us up at five in the morning on Saturday and we think we’ve somehow been cheated out of the perfect schedule we’ve planned.

The truth is, if we do God’s work placing our hope on perfect rest and peace in this world, we’re going to be disappointed. We weren’t made for this world. All our longings for God will never be completely satisfied until we reach Heaven, and that homesick ache we want so badly to be filled will never fully go away in this world… because we’re not home yet.

In a wonderful paradox, once we realize that, once we bank our hope on Heaven instead of the next Saturday we can sleep in or the next family vacation, we finally find the peace of the saints.

And once we find that peace—once we can finally understand the depths to which God loves us—once we are finally quenching our thirst with the Living Well that never runs dry—then we can do the work God calls us to do. And love as He loves.

Edited by Gabriella Batel

2025 by Margaret King Zacharias

Rocky Times

March 15, 2025/0 Comments/in Adventure, Blessed Mother, Community, discipleship, Holy Land, Inspirational, Marian Shrines, Pilgrimage, Uncategorized/by Margaret Zacharias

Rocky Times

Taxi drivers shook their fists at each other as I stared out the tour bus window. Blaring horns assaulted my ears. Sunset turned to twilight, and still we sat motionless in Tel Aviv traffic gridlock.
My heart was breaking for my fellow travelers. Although I’d been looking forward to visiting the Carmelite monastery’s public areas for a second time, I’d already been blessed with indelible memories of a daylight Mass in the gardens, followed by a tour that included rooftop views of the fertile valleys below. (See https://www.catholicwritersguild.org/2023/06/mount-carmel/). For the passengers with me on this trip, their visit here was meant to be the pinnacle of a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The bus driver’s scowl mirrored my own frustration, but only an air of resigned disappointment filled the bus.
By the time we had navigated a winding road to the top of Mount Carmel, full darkness had descended. The harried greeter who’d waited for us outside made humble apologies. Unfortunately, no tour would be possible. The brothers had already prayed Vespers, and the vowed community was cloistered for the night. But our host said he’d given the lay oblates permission to reopen the gift shop. This announcement immediately cheered the ladies. At least they could still bring rosaries to their loved ones back home. They trooped off together toward the few still-lighted windows, smiling.
Dominick, a public elementary school principal, quietly pulled his carryon suitcase from the bin above his seat and got off the bus behind them. I’d learned that in his traditional Italian neighborhood, parishioners had sacrificed for years to buy a small triangular lot adjacent to their
church. Dominick was building there, a shrine for Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I watched him engage our greeter in animated conversation.
The other pilgrims eventually returned, with full souvenir bags in hand. But where was Dominick? Finally, he appeared again at the bus door, grinning. A middle-aged but muscular man from a contractor family, Dominick did not seem daunted by the weight he now carried. He climbed right up the bus stairs, and raised his suitcase with both hands, in a victory stance, as soon as he reached the aisle.
“That brother was so kind. He took me all the way back to the mountain!” Dominick’s voice resonated through the bus without benefit of the microphone. “He said I could have as many rocks as I wanted! He found me a spade, and held the flashlight while I pried the stones
free.”
Whoops, whistles, and cheers from every seat greeted his enthusiastic news.

***

I found myself behind Dominick in the El Al security lines for our departure flight back to the United States. He patted his suitcase, and whispered with a wink. “Don’t worry. I’ve got them all right here.”
I heard the uniformed Israeli guards ask, as Dominick slowly wheeled his suitcase to the counter, “What’s in there? Rocks?”
Uh, oh, I thought, looking around. Is this even legal? Archeological artifacts, and all that? Where’s our guide! Dominick just nodded. “Gifts for Our Lady’s new grotto, from our Holy Land pilgrimage,” he said. Seeing the stern looks on their faces, he hastened to assure them.
“Everyone gave me permission. Those monks at Mount Carmel were really helpful.” Dominick pulled a paper from his vest pocket. Apparently, he’d somehow managed to wangle a document from the Carmelite brother who’d assisted with the excavation. Dominick handed his paper to one of the security men.
The first guard examined it and showed it to his partner. Then he refolded it carefully, and gave it back to Dominick. These officials, who now appeared a bit bemused, heaved Dominick’s suitcase up to the metal counter themselves. After looking inside, they exchanged a humorous glance, and waved our hero through, with his suitcase, to the gate. As I placed my own tote on the counter, I couldn’t help wondering how Dominick could have fit in all the stones I’d seen him collect, at the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and other sacred sites we’d visited.

But from the glimpse I’d just garnered, they did look– tightly packed.

***

Dominick engraved each stone from the Holy Land with its place of origin. He mortared them in where they fit, like puzzle pieces, among larger local boulders. Pilgrimage memories endure in a curved rock wall that shelters the consecrated granite altar in the new grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Today, Mass can be celebrated at the grotto as well as the church, often in both English and Spanish. The parish maintains its long and faithful tradition of Corpus Christi processions with the Blessed Sacrament, visiting and blessing individual family homes throughout the old neighborhood. The parish school pioneered for our diocese the first cohort in an optional Spanish immersion curriculum for grades K-8.
Dominick’s spirit of humility, simplicity, and faith lives on.

May we all be blessed this Lent with trust and grace to find joy in whatever God sends.

Feature photo by Margaret King Zacharias. Used with Permission.

This image shows a stature of Jesus with two children. The statue is outside by a large tree.

Let the Little Children Come to Me

February 22, 2025/0 Comments/in Childrens' Books, discipleship, Home & Lifestyle/by Emily Henson

Let the Little Children Come to Me

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. (Matthew 19:14)

This image of Jesus rebuking the disciples for hindering small children from coming to him is something close to my educator’s heart. Children, especially very young children, are yearning for instruction. Children are eager for knowledge in a way that often wanes for us adults. We cannot, however, as Jesus said, be the hindrance to their hunger for knowledge. This searching, or seeking has much to do with our ingrained longing for Truth. To hinder a child’s search would be tantamount to barring the door to God’s kingdom. Instead, Jesus invites us to share Him with children.

One of the simplest ways we can begin children on the path toward truth is by reading to them and, later, encouraging them to read. Provide good works for them that will, like tiny bread crumbs, lead them toward the ultimate Truth.

St. Josemaria Escriva said, “Don’t neglect your spiritual reading – Reading has made many saints.” He also said, “By reading I build up a store of fuel, which fills my prayer with life and inflames my thanksgiving…” As the primary teachers of the faith, we are obligated to ignite our children’s discovery, fueling their innate quest for goodness. We can begin this through the written word.

Interesting children in the written word doesn’t have to be anything particularly complex. One of my favorite quotes comes from Albert Einstein. He said, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” My advice? Start reading what you loved as a child. Your enthusiasm alone will be fodder for their enthusiasm.

There are three easy ways to encourage a child’s reading:

Read to them. Hearing your fluency and inflections will be precious preparation for their own reading acumen. If you let yourself get comfortable with it, using different voices or adding sound effects here and there, they’ll get hooked quickly. It may even be better than watching a movie and having the additional benefit of active, rather than passive, time together.
Listen to them read. Even older children feel special when an adult will take the time to listen to them (all screens aside) and show interest in the story.
Be seen reading. Just like modeling prayer and reflection can be transformative for a child, putting your love of reading on display may convince even the most stalwart “non-reader”.

Once you have exhausted the books you’re familiar with, there are bountiful lists of books that are trusted sources for good, true literature. Start somewhere like here: https://biblicalhomeschooling.org/classical/celoop/1000.html

Finally, be sure to discuss the story. Ask things like: How do you think the character feels right now? Have you ever felt that way? What do you think is going to happen? Etc. This will get their creative juices flowing and add another layer of interest to the experience. Discussing the story will also expand children’s comprehension and strengthen their vocabulary.

Most of all, make it fun! Fun for you so that you’ll be more likely to repeat the exercise and fun for them so they are eager for more and continue to seek the fuel which will inflame their search for Truth.

Edited by Heather Gaffney

Hand holding a card that says "you are invited"

Invitation and Evangelization

February 13, 2025/0 Comments/in discipleship, Evangelization, Faith/by Allison Gingras

The Invitation

“What are you looking for?” Jesus asks (John 1:38). The disciples, perhaps not knowing how to answer, blurted, “Where are you staying?” Jesus replied, “Come and see.”

Of course, Jesus knew what they were seeking. Is it not what we all seek: peace, hope, salvation? Jesus called the disciples, and calls each of us, to accept His invitation to find everything one could ever need — in Him.

From Jesus’ teaching in John’s Gospel, we know He longs to show us where He abides so that we may enjoy the blessing of abiding with Him. In John 15:4-16, we learn the blessings of choosing to live in communion with Him. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Scripture reveals that when we do so, we will bear much fruit, receive what we ask, and most importantly, know the Father’s glory.

Jesus’ invitations present opportunities to contemplate deep inside our souls just what we are looking for, what we long for, and to take stock of our lives and discern if we truly embrace the things of God. Do you know what you have been seeking in this world? Are you open to truly being a disciple of Jesus Christ? Can you leave behind your expectations, trust the goodness of Jesus’ invitation, and follow God’s perfect will for your life?

Stepping Out in Faith

Without waiting for His disciples to voice their reaction, knowing their hearts and that the Kingdom of Heaven holds everything they seek, Jesus invites them to come and see. Interestingly, some of Jesus’ disciples came and stayed with Him because they had heard Jesus preach. Moved by the promise, hope, mercy, and life He offered, they directly accepted His generous invitation. However, others, like Peter, came to follow Jesus after someone else extended an invitation to “come and see” for themselves.

Andrew’s willingness to evangelize led to his brother Peter’s choice to become a disciple of the Lord. Andrew’s love for Peter moved him to share the truth and joy he had found. How blessed to have someone care enough to step out in faith and share the life found only in Jesus—no matter how uncomfortable one may feel or how their testimony may be received.

Those Who Believe Inspire Others to Believe

John’s Gospel also introduces us to the Samaritan woman Jesus meets at the well. Her encounter with Christ spurs a conversion so dramatic — she cannot keep it to herself. Transformed by His love and mercy, and the hope of a life where one no longer has to thirst for acceptance and redemption, she leaves her past behind and becomes an unlikely evangelist. Moved by her transformation from accepting Jesus’ invitation to come and see, she goes out immediately to share the Good News, which causes a ripple effect of discipleship.

One of the most powerful moments in John’s Gospel (4:41-42) occurs after the Samaritan woman goes back to town. The disciples return to the well and soon witness the townspeople making their way toward Jesus. After listening to Jesus, the townspeople say to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One truly is the Savior of the world.” The townspeople, having heard the woman’s testimony, accepted her invitation to pursue an encounter with Christ for themselves. Anytime we accept Jesus’ invitation to follow Him (to abide in truth and love), our lives will never be the same.

The power and beauty of evangelization manifests in the conversion of hearts when an invitation leads to a personal encounter with Christ and the choice to remain and abide with Him. We may recognize our journey within these many roads to discipleship. Which of these paths is yours? Will we pay forward what we have received? Do we have the courage and strength to follow Jesus’ example and invite others to come and see? When we, like Andrew and the woman at the well, tell others about finding the Messiah, we become part of the hope of discipleship present in John’s Gospel. We become conduits for others to encounter the truth and grace found only in Jesus Christ.

Edited by Theresa Linden