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About Maria Morera Johnson
Johnson has spoken at a number of events, retreats, and conferences, including the National Council of Catholic Women, Austin Women's Conference, and the Catholic Press Association. She also has been featured on CatholicTV and Busted Halo, and in Catholic Digest and St. Anthony Messenger.
Johnson is a native of Cuba. She and her husband, John, have three grown children and live in the Mobile, Alabama, area.
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Blog postI often go back and forth on the idea of making New Year’s resolutions. At this point in the game, weeks after the New Year, I’ve usually broken them. Nevertheless, I think it’s a good idea to make an examination of my habits and goals, and make an effort to grow, to be better in … Continue reading a bit of a progress report →
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Blog postThis sweet little book touched my heart. The Life All Around Me by Kaye Gibbons is a coming of age story set in the Carolinas. It includes quirky characters amidst a series of tragedies and disappointments that create a perfect storm of challenges and grace for the title character, Ellen Foster. Although the story is … Continue reading Review: The Life All Around Me →
The post Review: The Life All Around Me appeared first on Maria Morera Johnson.
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Blog postWhat if? David Goggins’ poses this seemingly simple question, and yet, if we respond to it with the drive and commitment he demonstrates in his motivational memoir, Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds, it will take us our whole lives to answer. That’s a very good thing.
If we respond to that question with courage and trust, the answer will amaze us. Not only will we exceed our goals, but a whole new world of exciting goals open up for us.
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Are you a Catholic mom who prays for the wisdom and patience to get through each day? Do you pray for your children, husband, family and friends, and sometimes even yourself? The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion offers a new, daily resource to make the most of those few, precious minutes you have to pause and reflect.
For more than fifteen years, the award-winning CatholicMom.com website has been a trusted source for sound, practical, and spiritual guidance. In their new book, authors Lisa M. Hendey and Sarah A. Reinhard bring together more than eighty moms, dads, and trusted spiritual companions to provide fresh, uplifting meditations for every day of the year. You’ll find encouragement when you’re struggling, reassurance when you feel alone, and comfort when you’re distracted by worry.
Created by moms for moms, these hope-filled meditations touch on the issues and concerns you face as you try to get through the day with a sense of God’s presence in your life. Whether you are a new or seasoned mom working in or outside of your home, this inspiring collection of reflections for every day of the year will help you
- stay in touch with the seasons of the Church year;
- remember Mary’s loving presence on her feast days;
- keep company with both new and familiar saints;
- see the spiritual meaning of secular holidays; and
- make you smile with occasions such as Houseplant Appreciation Day and National Popcorn Day.
In just a few minutes of quiet you’ll find the boost you need from a friendly voice. Each month also has a special theme such as love, family fun, and slowing down. Start these reflections any time throughout the year and feel your days become more grace-filled and inspired.
What if you had walked beside the Virgin Mary from the Annunciation to the point at which she and Joseph found Jesus in the temple? How might seeing Christ as a child impact you and your faith?
WINE: Women In the New Evangelization offers its second, six-week scripture study, this time following the infancy and early years of Christ as seen through the eyes of Mary and other familiar and imagined women in the gospels.
Founder Kelly Wahlquist and ten other members of WINE uniquely blend scripture reflections, imaginative encounters, and visio divina “sacred seeing” with practical spirituality and discussion questions that will help you take a prayerful and creative journey through Advent and the Christmas season.
Not much is known about the childhood of Jesus, but the Gospels highlight six key moments in his early life:
- the angel Gabriel proclaiming Jesus’ birth to Mary at the Annunciation
- a pregnant Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth
- the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem
- the presentation of Jesus in the temple
- the flight of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to Egypt
- discovering the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple
Week by week, you will dig deep into each of the scriptural vignettes of Jesus’ early life and grow in your faith as you learn about virtues such as humility, patience, charity, reverence, prudence, and courage.
Each chapter uses an image that allows you to practice visio divina, the ancient practice of praying with sacred art. The images are included in an eight-page, full-color insert.
Gaze Upon Jesus will appeal to women who want to deepen their relationship with Jesus during Advent. Contributors to this inspiring scripture study include: Alyssa Bormes, Sarah Christmyer, Mary Healy, Maria Morera Johnson, Stephanie Landsem, Elizabeth Lev, Joan Lewis, Deborah Savage, Kelly Wahlquist, Katie Warner, and Carol Younger. Popular Catholic media personality Teresa Tomeo, also a member of WINE, wrote the foreword for the book.
As an individual or group study, Gaze Upon Jesus is a memorable way to encounter the God who sent his Son to show us his loving Father’s heart.
In this edgy, honest, and often audacious book of Catholic spirituality, blogger and popular podcaster Maria Morera Johnson explores the qualities of twenty-four holy women who lived lives of virtue in unexpected and often difficult circumstances.
In My Badass Book of Saints, Johnson shares her experience as a first-generation Cuban-American, educator of at-risk college students, and caregiver for a husband with Lou Gehrig's disease. Through humorous, empowering, and touching portraits of twenty-four spiritual mentors who inspired her, Johnson shows how their bravery, integrity, selflessness, perseverance, and hope helped her and can help others have courage to reach for a closer connection to God.
She presents remarkable holy women and saints--including the gun-toting Servant of God Sr. Blandina Segale who tried to turn the heart of Billy the Kid, and Nazi resister Irena Sendler who helped smuggle children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II--in a way that brings their vivid personalities to life and helps readers live out the challenges of their lives with virtue and conviction. The book includes a group discussion guide.
In Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary, popular Catholic author Sarah Reinhard compiled an accessible, profound, and unique meditation on each word of the Hail Mary, one of the most important prayer traditions in Catholic life. Each of the reflections encourages readers to “slow down” with the Hail Mary and experience previously unseen dimension in the popular devotion, making it come to life in a new way. This unique, formative, and informative exploration of the beloved prayer is a gift to anyone who wants to be continually changed through it—learning to slow down and examine things more closely.
The book is based on a blog series Reinhard facilitated with popular Catholic writers and social media experts, including Lisa M. Hendey, Brandon Vogt, Paula Huston, Kate Wicker, Pat Gohn, Kevin Lowry, Lisa Mladinich, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, Fr. Patrick Toner, and Jeff Young.
Maria Morera Johnson grew up knowing the virgencita—the Virgin Mary—and had a special love for Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of Cuba.
Even after Johnson moved to the United States, Our Lady of Charity continued to influence her life. In her new book, the bestselling and award-winning author shares her childhood recollections of the devotion to the patroness of her native country and stories of how Mary helped her deepen her faith and led her to Jesus. Johnson also invites you to know Mary in a new way and to allow devotion to the Blessed Mother to help you open your heart to others and to grow in faith and love.
The origin of the devotion to Our Lady of Charity in Cuba comes from a seventeenth-century story of three men who were tossed about at sea during a violent storm. They prayed to Mary for her protection and the storm suddenly disappeared. They found a statue of the Blessed Mother holding Jesus and a gold cross floating in the water. The statue included the inscription: “I am the Virgin of Charity.” The statue was completely dry as it floated in the water.
Our Lady of Charity is not a Church-approved apparition; nevertheless, several popes—including St. John Paul II and Pope Francis, who celebrated Mass at her shrine during his visit to Cuba in 2015—have supported devotion to Mary under this title.
Johnson, author of the bestselling My Badass Book of Saints, traces the history of Our Lady of Charity in Cuba and how the devotion was spread by emigrants as they left their country behind. Johnson weaves the story of the devotion with Cuba’s history, memories of her homeland, and tales of her journey back to Cuba for the first time since her childhood during Pope Francis’s 2015 Apostolic Visit.
Throughout Our Lady of Charity, Johnson shares her devotion to Mary and passion for her Catholic faith. This evocative spiritual memoir is part history and part memory, part modern-day travelogue and part meditation on the role faith, family, and devotion have on how we live and love.
Award-winning author Maria Morera Johnson follows up her bestselling book, My Badass Book of Saints, with a unique and daring exploration of the cardinal virtues through the saints and heroines of science fiction, fantasy, and comic books. Johnson will reignite your passion for your faith as she demonstrates the heroic in the sometimes mundane quest for good and reminds us that Catholicism is filled with adventure.
What do Wonder Woman and St. Katharine Drexel have in common? How about St. Clare of Assisi and Rey, the ingénue from Star Wars: The Force Awakens? All four women sought justice for the abused.
With the same zest for her faith and cheeky wit that readers found so compelling in My Badass Book of Saints and a love for the heroic journey that highlights her career, Johnson now focuses on heroines—improbable pairings of saints and characters from sci-fi, comics, and fantasy—who have influenced her life and deepened her understanding of the Church’s cardinal virtues: prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.
Johnson tells her own story alongside the unlikely pairs to show how the cardinal virtues are at play in our lives as well:
- Prudence (judgment of right and wrong), which influences Marvel’s Black Widow and St. Mary Magdalene, as well as X-Files agent Dana Scully and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
- Fortitude (courage), experienced by Marvel's Storm and St. Cunigunde, as well as Harry Potter's Hermione Granger and St. Marguerite D’Youville.
- Temperance (restraint of desires), which changes how we understand Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games series and St. Mary MacKillop, as well as Nyota Uhura of Star Trek fame and St. Kateri Tekakwitha.
With Johnson's enthusiasm as a guide, you’ll be inspired to embrace the virtues anew and find your faith in your favorite stories.
Discussion questions focusing on the cardinal virtues, making it a great resource for personal or group study.