Sarah Reinhard Archives - Amazing Catechists

A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy: Walking with Mary From Conception to Baptism

Author Sarah Reinhard never ceases to amaze me. She’s the mother of three small children, has an active blog, is a columnist for (it seems like) 100 websites, is CWG Chair for the Seal of Approval Committee… and on top of it all, she’s managed to write four books in two years! As the author of four books (written over ten years) myself, this is nothing short of miraculous!

Her most recent book, A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy: Walking with Mary from Conception to Baptism, is a beautifully written year long reflection with a spiritual focus.

As with Sarah’s other books, each chapter has a format and sections within the chapters: Walking with Mary, One Small Step, Faith Focus and Praying Your Pregnancy. Interspersed throughout the book are short contributions on different facets of pregnancy from various Catholic writers including Karen Murphy Corr, Jennifer Fitz, Jane Lebak and many others.

Part 1 is a weekly journal and starts from conception right up to labor. Part II covers labor and birth and Part III talks about Baptism. The author discusses fears, hopes as well as the details about what is going on at each stage of pregnancy with mother and baby. Father’s role is also included.

I enjoyed Sarah’s honesty. There is no sugarcoating any of the information. She shares some of her own worst fears and concerns in pregnancy. I also appreciated her humor.

I highly recommend this wonderful resource. I think this book’s Catholic focus makes it the ideal gift for expectant Catholic mothers as a companion in pregnancy.

I’m giving away one free print copy of this book. Just leave a comment below (before Friday, October 19th) to be entered to win this book!

A Catholic Mother’s Companion To Pregnancy is also available on Amazon and Ave Maria Press.

Catholic Family Fun – Sarah Reinhard

By Ellen Gable Hrkach

Amidst the busyness of family life with small children, some parents can miss the numerous opportunities to simply have fun with your kids. These are the memories your children will treasure.

One of my favorite things to do with my own children (even those who have reached adulthood) is to play games with them. I’ve always enjoyed a fun game of “Life,” “Scene It” or video games. When they were younger, my sons loved to play pretend games based on movies (like Aladdin, the Wizard of Oz and Return to Oz) and of course, as the only girl in the family, I always got to play the female parts (like Dorothy or Jasmine). As my sons have grown into young men, we still enjoy playing games together (Boggle is our favorite game).

Sarah Reinhard is no stranger to fun. Anyone who reads her columns, blog posts, Tweets or Facebook messages, knows what a wonderful sense of humor she has and what a great writer she is. She has taken two of her strongest talents and made them into a book on how families can have more fun together, not only fun, but fun with a Catholic twist.

Catholic Family Fun: A Guide for the Adventurous, Overwhelmed, Creative or Clueless is a terrific resource that includes nine chapters ranging from a series of light-hearted activities to suggestions on how one can draw deeper into the Catholic faith. Each section lists the activity, the “faith” angle and a way to make the activity your own. It’s filled not only with great ideas for family fun in general, but also specific ideas. I especially enjoyed seeing each activity from a “Faith Angle” and ideas for making the activity your own.

The Appendix is packed with a categorizing of the activities organized by prep time, activities organized by duration and by cost.

I highly recommend this wonderful resource for any family looking make their family time more fun and enjoyable.

Catholic Family Fun has a website where families can enjoy more Family Fun ideas. The book is available through Pauline Books and Media.

Also, Catholic Family Fun has a Facebook page and I highly recommend you “like” it!

Review of Welcome Risen Jesus by Sarah Reinhard

By Ellen Gable Hrkach

“Welcome Risen Jesus: Lent and Easter Reflections for Families” is Sarah Reinhard’s second book and follows the same easy-to-read format of her first book, “Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families.”

In the introduction, Sarah writes, “This booklet will help you and your family focus each day on the three pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.”

Like her first book, each day has a think, act, pray section, although this version also includes a paragraph entitled “Fast.” Each page lists a pertinent Scripture passage.

A few examples from the Act sections: “Do you have lunch money or some saved allowance? Give all or part of it to a food pantry or soup kitchen,” or “Wash the dishes or help with the cleanup as much as you can.”

The Fast sections include suggestions such as: “Give your dessert — or the favorite part of your snack — to someone else,” of “Don’t eat between meals today,” or “Do a chore you hate without mentioning you hate it or calling attention to the fact you’re doing it.”

This is a beautifully written and illustrated book. The fact that it is geared to both parents and children is what I love most about it. This offers parents and children a unique opportunity to grow together in faith during the Lenten season and takes only a few moments each day.

I look forward to using this booklet with my own family and I highly recommend it to all families who wish to grow in faith during this beautiful Lenten season.

Amazing Catechists Among Women

By Pat Gohn

Making a connection. Telling a story. Being a witness. That’s what amazing catechists do. As translators of the truth they seek to give away what they possess because it was so freely passed onto them. Doing that through a podcast is a very low-cost, effective way of evangelizing and catechizing in the digital age.

Over the last two years, several members of the Amazing Catechists’ team have been guests on my weekly podcast, Among Women. Created in Lent 2009, Among Women grew out of my years of ministry in local churches, and my special regard for women’s ministries.

The Among Women podcast and blog celebrates the beauty and grace of a Catholic woman’s faith and life. It’s faith sharing, teaching, and some good old-fashioned girl talk rolled into one. Each podcast has two segments: “Blessed are They” looks back on inspirational women who are either saints, mystics, blesseds, or women from the Bible. The “Among Women” segment focuses on conversations with contemporary women on themes that are important to women.

Get to know the women behind the bylines here at Amazing Catechists by listening to these Among Women podcasts, including the most recent episode, featuring Mary Lou Rosien discussing her new book, Catholic Family Boot Camp:

AW 125: “Spiritual Boot Camp” with Mary Lou Rosien

AW 122: “Star of the New Evangelization” with Robyn Lee

AW 121 : “Each Life is a Masterpiece” with Leticia Velazquez

AW 116: “The Advent of Advent” with Sarah Reinhard

AW 89: “The Sacred Heart” with Ellen Gable Hrkach

AW 81: “Choosing Faith Amid Suffering, Part 2” with Peggy Clores

AW 80: “Choosing Faith Amid Suffering, Part 1” with Peggy Clores

AW 78: “Be An Amazing Catechist” with Lisa Mladinich

AW 43: “Lisa’s Reversion Story” with Lisa Mladinich

AW 30: “Cause of Our Joy” with Leticia Velasquez

AW 11: “The Snoring Scholar and Great Books” with Sarah Reinhard

Among Women has over 125 episodes on a variety of topics. Its growth and success comes from social media contacts, and, of course, word of mouth. Why not share Among Women as a resource for the women in your life and parish?