The Catholic Mama

Catholic author Brendan Lyons joins Christine on this episode to discuss his most recent work, High King and how fiction can bring Catholicism to life in a unique way.  Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: https://forms.gle/s2xGLPVje8287jcp9 Like what you hear? Don't forget to subscribe and leave a nice review so you don't miss an episode, as well as help ot...

Who *isn't* baking bread right now?? The shortage of yeast in the grocery stores at the moment tells us that, yeah, pretty much everyone is. Catholic creative Emily Malloy joins Christine on this bonus episode to give some great tips on getting started baking bread if you find yourself in quarantine with tons of flour and dry active yeast and want to take your bread game to the next level. Have a...

Genie Shaw of BarefootAbbey.com joins Christine on this episode of The Catholic Mama podcast to talk about ways to add sacred music, quiet, and liturgical living into your home life, Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: https://forms.gle/s2xGLPVje8287jcp9 Like what you hear? Don't forget to subscribe and leave a nice review so you don't miss an episode, as w...

What is prayer really? Why should we pray? And how should we? In this episode, Christine and Pat discuss Prayer 101 to answer these questions, as well as offer practical tips and a general schedule of their own daily and weekly prayers to help listeners develop a deeper prayer life. Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: https://forms.gle/s2xGLPVje8287jcp9 Lik...

It's easy to point the finger and say that Christ died because of the actions of Judas, Caiphas, the Sanhedrin, and Pontius Pilate, but that doesn't tell the whole story. In this mini episode, hear the truth about who really is responsible for Our Lord's death on the cross. Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: https://forms.gle/s2xGLPVje8287jcp9 Like what yo...

In the wake of the coronavirus quarantine, many parents have found themselves suddenly in the position of teacher as well as "mom" or "dad." In this bonus episode, Christine shares an episode of her husband's podcast The Pat Flynn Show on how to homeschool your children: tips and strategies whether you're temporarily schooling at home or are interested in doing it full time. For more information,...

To answer the questions "Is Catholicism a Religion or a Relationship?" we need to first understand what religion means. In this episode, Christine and Pat dive into the meaning of religion and answer the question of what Catholicism really is. Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: https://forms.gle/s2xGLPVje8287jcp9 Like what you hear? Don't forget to subscri...

March 21 is International Down Syndrome Day and so it's with joy that Christine is joined by Catholic wife, mother, creative, and convert Chelsea Movilla-Diago of The Catholic Kitchen to talk about her journey to the faith and how her fourth child's Down syndrome changed everything and not in the way one might expect. Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: htt...

Rosaries, medals, holy water, scapulars, blessings...all of these things fall under the category of sacramentals - sacred signs that direct us to the sacraments of the Catholic Church. How can we use sacramentals to improve our faith life? Which sacramental stands above the rest? Listen to this episode to find out.  Also, head to my website TheCatholicMama.com/ exploring-faith/what-are-sacramental...

In this episode, Christine and Husband Pat discuss the coronavirus - plain facts (no hype) and what we as Catholics can do in the face of this trial, the response to which has varied wildly, from complete mockery and disregard to downright hysteria and panic hoarding. But because of our faith, which includes hope and redemptive suffering, Catholics should view this world event differently than the...

As the novel coronavirus spreads throughout the world, we're left with a lot of questions, a lot of internal suffering and worry, and a lot of illness. What can we do with our suffering and sickness? In this episode, Christine shares the wisdom and hope of the Church and Her saints on redemptive suffering.   Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: https://forms...

Compare a Catholic and a Protestant Bible and you'll notice that one is bigger than the other - the Catholic Bible includes seven more books from the Old Testament, called the Deuterocanon, than the other. Why were these books stripped from the non-Catholic Bibles? Why should they be there? What pieces of Catholic doctrine are missing when these books are removed? In this episode of The Catholic M...

To complement last week's episode on true Catholic manhood, on this episode, Christine and Pat take a look at what the Catholic woman should strive for in her daily life and what her duties are to God, her husband, and her children. Using both the Roman Catechism and Catholic teaching, as well as personal testimony, they sketch out the Catholic woman.  Have a question or topic for Christine and/or...

Perfect timing for Lent: These mini-episodes now begin to explore the part of the Creed, "Jesus Christ was crucified under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried". How did Jesus feel about the Temple? How did Israel feel about Him? In this mini episode, Christine looks at these answers. Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: https://forms.gle/s2xGL...

Two years into being a full-time stay-at-home mom, Christine shares advice on what worked - and what she wished she had done differently - when she transitioned from working in an office full time to being a homemaker, including tips on what to do leading up to giving your two-week notice and how to make these big changes a little less difficult throughout. Have a question or topic for Christine a...

On this episode, Christine and Pat take a look at what the Catholic man should strive for in his daily life and what his duties are throughout his life. Using both the Roman Catechism and Catholic teaching, as well as personal testimony, they sketch out the Catholic man. Join them next time for a look at true Catholic womanhood. Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit...

Perfect timing for Lent: These mini-episodes now begin to explore the part of the Creed, "Jesus Christ was crucified under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried". Why was Jesus so disliked by some of the Pharisees that they conspired to kill Him? In this mini episode, Christine looks at the answer. ---- To read more about what the Catholic Church says about the Sacred Sacraments, the...

Catholic wife, mother, and author Emily Stimpson Chapman joins Christine on this episode to discuss two recent projects of hers - a beautiful collection of essays and recipes available as part of an adoption fundraiser that Emily has organized, as well as an exciting new book with Scott Hahn coming out this spring. Be sure to visit The Catholic Mama website for links to all of the resources mentio...

All reading material for spiritual development is not created equal. Sometimes it's really obvious which stuff to steer away from, but other times, what is worth reading - and what definitely isn't - is not quite so clear. In this episode, Christine and Pat talk about ways in which to decide, as Catholics, what's worth reading and what isn't. Plus a ton of ideas of books and reading material to st...

Anyone else ever look at the Church's immense calendar of saints and feast days and wonder how in the world you're supposed to celebrate these and teach your children about all these wonderful saints and the liturgical seasons, and then feel totally overwhelmed and wanna give up? Or you go all-in on celebrating only to get burnt out after a couple of feast days? In this episode of The Catholic Mam...

Through the Mysteries of Jesus' public life, we get some of the theological basis for practices such as Lent as well as the papacy and Church authority. In this mini-episode of Catechism Fridays, Christine continues the discussion of the Mysteries of Christ's life with a look at His public ministry, starting with His baptism and going through His entry into Jerusalem on what is now Palm Sunday. Le...

Christine is excited to announce The Catholic Mama's first production - The 7-Day Catholic Spirituality Kickstart, a minimalist at-home family retreat to grow in faith, supercharge your Lent, and catechize your family. Join Pat and Christine as they explain this great week-long program that will help the entire family boost their Catholic faith and knowledge.  To learn more about The 7-Day Catholi...

In this episode, Christine and Pat sit down to chat about what to do when one spouse in a relationship isn't Catholic - whether they are hostile, open, or indifferent. But first, they answer listener questions on everything from Jesus as a spiritual guru to how to make sense of the Inquisition. Have a question or topic for Christine and/or her husband Pat? Submit it at: https://forms.gle/s2xGLPVje...

What did Jesus do for the first few decades of His life? What lessons can we learn and apply to our own lives from these hidden years? In this mini-episode of Catechism Fridays, Christine continues the discussion of the Mysteries of Christ's life with a look at the early years. ---- To read more about what the Catholic Church says about the Sacred Sacraments, the Ten Commandments, its social teach...

Besides the research showing that families with four or more children exhibit greater life satisfaction, there is something that happens when parents have a lot of kids - they ask for and accept offers of help, developing the concept of "creaturely dependence" in their lives. Do you need a lot of ankle biters running around your home to develop the skill of interdependence? No. You don't need any...