View from the Domestic Church: As Morning Breaks: Interview with Lisa Hendey

In addition to my books

I have written for the English edition of L'Osservatore Romano (Vatican newspaper)

The National Catholic Register, Catholic World Report, Our Sunday Visitor (national) newsweekly, Columbia Magazine, The Catholic Transcript, The News Times, The New Milford Times, Hearth magazine, Canticle magazine, Lay Witness magazine, Faith & Family magazine, CarbLite magazine, On the Web - many areas, including Catholic Exchange, Catholic Online, Catholic Lane, Catholic Mom, and a parenting column for Irish Family Press (print edition), a Catholic weekly newspaper published in Ireland as well as the online format. My work appears in many foreign publications as well (Nigeria, Singapore, Africa, Russia, and more).

A Catholic Woman's Book of Prayers

With all the mixed messages that women receive from society today, women can be distracted from--and even unreceptive to--the deep and abiding love that Christ has for them. Whether single or married, religious or consecrated, parenting children, or spiritually mentoring others, women need to know that the Lord understands the many challenges they face, their desire for inspiration, and, above all, their need to be affirmed as women.Through this book of original and traditional prayers from one of the top ten most fascinating Catholics of 2009 as rated by Faith & Family Live, women can realize God's divine Love, thrive in inspiration from Saints and the Church and rest in the affirmation of the "feminine genius." (order above by clicking book image at top of page)

First and foremost educator

"Since parents have conferred life on their children, they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring. Hence, parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it. For it devolves on parents to create a family atmosphere so animated with love and reverence for God and others that a well-rounded personal and social development will be fostered among children. Hence, the family is the first school of those social virtues which every society needs."--Gravissimum Educationis (one of the documents of the Second Vatican Council)

Saturday, December 27, 2014

As Morning Breaks: Interview with Lisa Hendey

I recently spoke with a dear fellow Mom, friend, and Catholic writer, Lisa Hendey about her latest project: As Morning Breaks.

As Morning Breaks looks beautiful! Would you kindly tell us why you decided to produce this book, Lisa?

Lisa Hendey: Thank you Donna-Marie for your support for this project! On CatholicMom.com, we added a new Daily Gospel Reflection feature in 2014. Every day on the website, we begin our day with a prayerful reflection on the day’s gospel. The feature has grown to be so popular that we now have readers literally around the globe praying the gospel together each morning.

For 2015, we decided to turn this feature into book format to enable our readers to both pray the gospel anywhere and to enable them to provide needed support for our website. The book is priced at only $2.99 for 685 pages of beautiful inspiration. 100% of our proceeds from the book go directly to our support fund for CatholicMom.com, which pays our ever increasing hosting and editorial fees. We give all of our resources away free of charge, but of course there is an expense related to providing them. We pray that this gift for our readers will also provide a small source of revenue for our site to enable us to meet some of our goals for the New Year.

How many writers have contributed to this book? How did you find them?

Lisa: All of our writers on this project are volunteers. At CatholicMom.com, we have over 150 talented writers, like you Donna-Marie, who all share their writing free of charge to support our readers. Our fantastic Daily Gospel Reflection team wrote this book. The team is comprised of mothers, fathers, singles, a college student, a permanent Deacon and his wife, a religious sister, and folks from across the spectrum of ages and locations. We come together with the gospel as our focus, but the perspectives you’ll find in this book are unique and varied. The one key commonality is a true love for the Word of God and a deeply held desire to be both in that Word and sharing the Good News of the Gospel.

How can this book help the typical Catholic in the pews?

Lisa: Many Catholics only receive a small “taste” of the Gospel when they attend Mass on Sunday. As Morning Breaks invites the reader to read the gospel daily, but then to go even a step deeper to “ponder” the gospel with a simple reflection question and to “pray” a short line of prayer in communion with others who are doing the same in their own homes. Donna-Marie, I love that we as Church share our lectionary around the world and that even though you and I live on opposite ends of the country, we will be praying the same daily gospel. I believe this deeper examination of the gospels can help the average Catholic plunge more deeply into the Word, and to be continually uplifted by the connection between the gospels and the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith.

Can your book help those who are not so committed to going to Mass?

Lisa: The gospels are infectious! I recently met a woman who called herself a Catholic but who did not own a bible and rarely attended Mass. She was wanting to return to the Church and also deeply desired a more fruitful relationship with Our Blessed Mother Mary. I had the great joy of reading a few of the early chapters of the Gospel of Luke with her. I watched her joyful expression as she literally—for the first time—discovered the joy of the gospel. I think those of us who are at church all the time forget that there are those who may not own a bible or even know how to read it.

For those who have not been at Mass regularly, I believe that praying with As Morning Breaks will help them to connect on a deeper level with the Word of God. The book is so inexpensive and completely accessible even on their phone that they can take it and pray with it anywhere. I truly hope that praying the book with our writers will entice those who have been away from the Eucharist to truly long for the Word. I believe that daily reading of the Gospels will build in them a desire to know more and to be more active in their practice of our beautiful faith.

What are your hopes for this book?

Lisa: My greatest hope for As Morning Breaks is that families and individuals will discover the true joy of praying the gospel as part of the “first fruits” of a vibrant morning prayer routine. When we give our earliest moments to God and seek God’s will for our days, our entire life is more simple, more productive, and more joy-filled.

Additionally, I do hope that readers of this book will understand that with their modest purchase price of only $2.99, that they support a world-wide apostolate in CatholicMom.com. We need and greatly appreciate their support so that we can continue to reach out and spread our love for Christ and the Church to all of those we serve!

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Lisa: Thank you for your support Donna-Marie. Talented writers like you are the heart and soul of CatholicMom.com. I invite your readers to come and visit us on the web at www.CatholicMom.com. We truly provide something for everyone: daily “tech talk” features, book and movie reviews, resources for your Domestic Church, free printable children’s activities, meatless recipes every Friday, and of course our daily gospel reflections.

You are very kind, Lisa. Where can we find your book?

Lisa: Find the book at Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00PMK5W2O/catholicmom. While the book is in “kindle” format, you do not need to own a kindle to read it. You can read the book on any phone, tablet, or computer using the free Kindle app. We thank you readers for their support!