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Floral arrangements add to the beauty of the stored books

Where Did My Attention Go?

By Well-Read Mom | April 12, 2025 |

Last year, after reading Brother Lawrence’s Practice of the Presence of God, it seemed critical to put Br. Lawrence’s wisdom into practice. So, to help encourage the practice in my life,  I took a stack of little Post-It notes, scribbled PPG on each one, and taped these reminders in hidden and not-so-hidden places around my house, my laptop, and in our car.

The Poverty of the Moment

By Well-Read Mom | April 4, 2025 | Comments Off on The Poverty of the Moment

Francis came face to face with poverty and realized that “it was not a loathsome thing to be shunned but something holy”(20). Francis believed that you could not truly love Christ without loving Lady Poverty. It is the natural result of love because “Love must give or it is not love” (21).

Our Father’s Tale

By Well-Read Mom | March 28, 2025 | Comments Off on Our Father’s Tale

actually did not want to read A Father’s Tale, not because of its length but because I am not a father and I have no sons. I thought it would be unrelatable. Yet, I find that despite these very significant differences between myself and Alexandre, we have everything in common that we need to: we are both children of the same Father.

Emptied and Humbled: The Path to True Sacrificial Love

By Well-Read Mom | March 20, 2025 | Comments Off on Emptied and Humbled: The Path to True Sacrificial Love

During The Year of the Father, we have encountered remarkable fathers whose love appears to know no limits. On the surface, their stories clearly illustrate sacrificial love—a love that, in one way or another, leads to both death and redemption. However, I find myself wanting to probe deeper—to better understand the connection between the characters—and to begin to truly comprehend what it means to engage in sacrificial love.

Reading Has Ripple Effects

By Well-Read Mom | March 14, 2025 | Comments Off on Reading Has Ripple Effects

People don’t read classic literature as much as they used to. These books are full of wisdom and insight. The best solution is a slow one: read. Reading, especially reading with others, may cause surprising and good ripple effects in our communities.

A New Look at St. Francis

By Well-Read Mom | March 6, 2025 | Comments Off on A New Look at St. Francis

Elizabeth Goudge’s work, My God and My All: The Life of St. Francis of Assisi, has been a blessing! Her deep academic study of St. Francis’s life, told as a narrative, has given me a new lens through which to perceive the man.

Pinocchio: The Story that Found Us

By Well-Read Mom | February 28, 2025 | Comments Off on Pinocchio: The Story that Found Us

The Well-Read Mom edition of Pinocchio With Reflections on a Father’s Love is a rare gem because we are presenting Carlo Collodi’s original tale alongside extensive reflections made available in English for the first time by Franco Nembrini. Nembrini’s reflections are essential to what Well-Read Mom desires to highlight about fatherhood, freedom, identity, and love in Pinocchio. Having these reflections to draw upon will add to our understanding of the text, deepen our discussion, and provide a true education for our hearts.

Stretch Your Mind: The Gift of Challenging Literature

By Well-Read Mom | February 21, 2025 | Comments Off on Stretch Your Mind: The Gift of Challenging Literature

As I look back on several years participating in Well-Read Mom, (since the Year of the Friend!) I am so happy that in every book list there has been at least one book that stretches my mind.

Parenthood and the Path to Holiness: Lessons from Saint Francis

By Well-Read Mom | February 14, 2025 | Comments Off on Parenthood and the Path to Holiness: Lessons from Saint Francis

As we reflect this year on the vocation of fatherhood, we see that authentic fatherhood – and by extension, motherhood – consists in the willingness to offer oneself, most especially to those souls placed within one’s authority and care. And perhaps, in light of our reflection on the life of Saint Francis, we can even further be gladdened by the vital link between parenthood and sacrificial, sanctifying love.

Saint Francis and the Call to Radical Love

By Well-Read Mom | February 6, 2025 | Comments Off on Saint Francis and the Call to Radical Love

He is one of the most readily recognizable saints of all time: his likeness graces many a garden, he is beloved for his appreciation of the natural beauties and the majesty of God’s animal kingdom, and his spirit of gentleness is universally lauded by both secular and religious camps. Yet, for all his cultural notoriety and esteem, how many of us truly know the person of Saint Francis of Assisi?