The Infectious Faith of Catholic Moms

(Image of icon in Victoria House, Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity)

I have discovered a real wealth of impassioned, exuberant faith written in the blogs of Catholic women, some homeschoolers, most mothers. They inspire me in living a life fully devoted to Jesus, grounded in prayer and His Holy Word and in love and service to others.

This morning I was reading John Armstrong's Act 3 blog in which he asked about "our theological deficit." He's referring mostly to mainline Protestant denominations but includes evangelicals in his ponderings as well. The commenters seems to be at a loss in addressing this "theological deficit" -- an emptiness that comes from a lack of solid doctrine being taught in our churches. I know that this "deficit" is not true of all Protestant/evangelical churches -- our EV Free Church does indeed address doctrinal issues headlong, and we are a far healthier and grounded church because of it. But it seems as though we are far in the minority.

Before I read John Armstrong's blog post, I had been reading the blogs of several Catholic mothers. There is an extensive network of Catholic Moms who blog, and I discovered these by following the breadcrumbs of comments from one blog to the next, and I definitely added a few more blogs to my Google Reader this morning as a result. One of them especially impresses me:

Imprisoned in My Bones - Releasing My Inner Jeremiah

In one of her posts, Anne writes about being a "Jesus Freak," about how she can't stop sharing her faith with everyone around her: coworkers, friends, family. It is evident by reading just a few of her impassioned blog posts that she is sooooo in love with Our Saviour and with the Catholic Church. As I read her posts, I was inspired ... and convicted. Do I share my faith as Anne does? Does my faith overflow into the lives of others around me? Is Christ the first subject on my lips when I speak with friends, with family?

Anne's blog is especially convincing when paired with Pastor Nathan's sermon last Sunday on Romans 10, especially these verses:

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15, English Standard Version

Anne indeed has "beautiful feet" as she preaches the Good News daily in her life. I pray that all of us, Catholic and Protestant, will be filled by His Spirit to do likewise.

Here are a few other Catholic mothers with "beautiful feet" that you may wish to check out; I currently follow them all on Google Reader:

Conversion Diary - Jennifer Fulwiler

Postscripts from the Catholic Spitfire Grill - Sister Spitfire

Journey of a Soul - Deborah

Poetry, Prayer, and Praise - a Catholic Mother in Ireland

Carmelite Mom - Theresa

And for a full listing of blogging Catholic Moms:

Catholic Mothers Online

As a small "c" catholic, I believe that it's of vital importance to learn from Christians of all types. I follow a very fair number of Protestant mothers as well as Catholic ones and all of them inspire me to "love and good deeds" as "iron sharpens iron." Being a home schooling mom can often be a lonely job, especially when children are young and one is starved for conversation with adults, and these bloggers encourage me as we walk the Pilgrim Pathway together.