“Every Body is a Gift” emphasizes the importance of expressing love through our bodies. It teaches children that small acts of kindness make them gifts to others, reinforcing human connection and dignity in everyday interactions.
Saints and Holy People
Everybody Has a Body
The book “Everybody Has a Body” conveys important lessons for children about appreciating their bodies as reflections of their inner selves and highlights the beauty of gender differences as intentional designs by God.
When Fainting Was Good
I have had a number of times in my life where I have fainted. Nearly all of them were anxiety related, where the stress in question was just too much for my mind and body to handle, and so my body decided to "disappear" for a moment. I am reminded of Queen Esther from...
Learn From Your Mama!
For Mother’s Day, I decided to reflect on what Mother Mary teaches all of us—women and men—about the feminine posture of receptivity. So, I read Pope Benedict’s Mary: The Church at Her Source regarding the Magnificat. Mary speaks of “magnifying the Lord.” What does...
Pope Benedict: Good and Faithful Servant
A special blog by Monica Ashour, honoring Pope Benedict XVI’s death and thus his entrance into eternal life. When my friend and colleague, Sheryl Collmer, texted me this morning, “Rest in eternal joy, dear Benedict,” I smiled and said, “Well done, good and faithful...
John Paul II’s Feast Day
October 22, 2022 Happy Feast Day, St. John Paul! “Are you Monica Ashour?” a stranger said to me. We were on a train to Rome for St. John Paul’s Canonization on April 28, 2014. Shocked, I said, “Yes. Do I know you?” She said, “I’m Mary Sladek, and this is my husband,...
What St. Michael Teaches Us About the Body
September 29 is the Feast of the Archangels, but this day has also traditionally been called “Michaelmas,” and has a long history of religious and harvest celebrations connected to it (start looking up those Goose recipes!). The traditional story of St. Michael as the...
The Anniversary of JPII’s Theology of the Body
Blessed feast of the Nativity of Mary, the Theotokos, whose body carried God made flesh. 43 years ago this week, Pope St. John Paul delivered the very first audience of his Theology of the Body (TOB), his greatest contribution to our Church and our culture. Having...
Is St. Joseph a Father?
Catholics often think of St. Joseph as the obvious exemplar for fatherhood. However, like many Christian mysteries that we take too easily for granted, I think we often overlook how counterintuitive it is to place St. Joseph as the model of fatherhood. First, the...
Halloween, Holiness, and Happiness
As Halloween approaches, I think about candy and haunted houses, Trick or Treat and the color orange, spooky decorations, and the World Series. But perhaps I need to be reminded that Halloween originated as a celebration of All Hallow’s Eve, the day before we...