Tommy and Karen Tighe are the authors of Catholic Funny Fill-Ins and the new Catholic Funny Fill-Ins: Saints Spectacular, both of which are published by Pauline Books & Media. We caught up with them to ask about how families can share laughter and fun while learning about the Church and the faith. How did you ever come up with the idea for Catholic Funny Fill-ins?We were on a road trip to Yosemite National Park. Karen had an app on her phone and we were playing it with the kids as ...

I have a friend who calls me a workaholic. “You’re addicted to it,” Patricia said once, accusingly, and I was instantly taken aback. That’s not at all the way I experience my life, and I tried for some time to figure out the disparity between what she was seeing and what I feel.What I finally realized was this: what I do for work gives me joy. I am a writer, and everything that goes into writing—research, reading, thinking, the act of writing itself—is pleasur...

from the interview with Patricia Marie Barnette, RGS, author of the new book: God's Mercy Awaits You: Find Healing After AbortionSister Patricia Marie Barnette was already a Sister of the Good Shepherd when she heard a call within her call. “As Sisters of the Good Shepherd, we take a fourth vow,” she explains. “We vow to labor with zeal for the salvation of souls. And zeal is from the heart of Jesus, the spiritual energy that keeps all our sisters praying and work...

I live in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where 400 years ago the Mayflower first dropped anchor in the New World. The Pilgrims tried to make a home here before finding Cape Cod too inhospitable and pushing off for Plymouth; the Mayflower Compact was written and signed in Provincetown Harbor. So I have a particular interest in the presence of the Pilgrims here, and their motivations for risking everything to make such a perilous ocean voyage.Why did they do it? Very simply—to worship God in t...

When was the moment John knew? As he reached out his arms to baptize this young man before him, what tipped him off that this man was different from all the others who stood on the bank of the River Jordan, come to confess their sins and be baptized, “to flee from the coming wrath” (Matthew 3:7).Was it when he looked into Jesus’ eyes? The eyes betray the depth of one’s soul. Or was it when his arms guided Jesus, submerging him in the waters of baptism and repentance?How d...