Church Is Our Mother: Seven Ways She Inspires Us to Love

by Gina Loehr

Overview

She creates, cares, teaches, accepts, sacrifices, heals, and celebrates with us. She is Mother Church and we are her children. We are all called to love those God entrusts to our care just as Mother Church loves us.

Loehr asks, “Why do we refer to the Church as she or Mother Church? And what does this reveal about the nature of the Church and the nature of motherhood?” Each chapter of The Church Is Our Mother explores one theme mothers and Mother Church have in common: creation, caring, teaching, acceptance, sacrifice, healing, and celebration. A study guide offers relevant meditations from the liturgy, the Catechism, the saints and the sacraments, and also shares personal stories from seven other mothers to inspire readers on their own journeys of faith and family.

Both a personal memoir and a universal call to understanding, The Church Is Our Mother will act as a springboard for other women to delve ever more deeply into the beautiful mystery of Mother Church, and offers a new perspective on the tremendous importance of the vocation of motherhood itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632530202
Publisher:	Franciscan Media
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Pages:	146
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.34(d)

About the Author

Gina Loehr is a popular author and inspirational speaker, a theologian and the mother of six. In 2013 Gina was chosen as one of one hundred women from around the world to be a delegate for the Pontifical Council for the Laity’s study seminar on women and the Church. A frequent guest on national Catholic radio programs on EWTN, Relevant Radio, and Ave Maria Radio, Gina’s other books include Choosing Beauty: A 30-Day Spiritual Makeover for Women and Real Women, Real Saints: Friends for Your Spiritual Journey.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Mothers Create 1

Chapter 2 Mothers Care 15

Chapter 3 Mothers Teach 27

Chapter 4 Mothers Accept 40

Chapter 5 Mothers Sacrifice 53

Chapter 6 Mothers Heal 69

Chapter 7 Mothers Celebrate 81

Chapter 8 Mary, for Mothers 94

Study Guide 109

Editorial Reviews

“With enthusiasm, an inspired perspective, and conveying truths based upon indelible wisdom, Gina Loehr shares her great love for Mother Church, inviting each of us into the universal mission of this timeless institution. A perfect tool for Moms' groups, bible studies, or individual reflection, The Church Is Our Mother: Seven Ways She Inspires Us to Love invites each of us to move beyond basic participation by truly and purposefully unifying our lives with the Church.” — Lisa M. Hendey, founder of CatholicMom.com and author, The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion

"The maternal dimension of the Church involves creating, caring, teaching, accepting, sacrificing, healing and celebrating. In her most engaging and well written book, The Church is Our Mother, Gina Loehr guides the reader into a deeper understanding of "the feminine genius" and how it is reflected in and through the Church. Creatively written and theologically based, this book has helped me greatly in appreciating how the Church truly is our Mother." — Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi, pastor, Church of the Little Flower, Bethesda Maryland, and author, Meeting God in the Upper Room: Three Moments to Change Your Life

“This is a book for all women! In The Church Is Our Mother, Gina Loehr takes up the challenge of Pope Francis to ‘go deeper’ in considering Mother Church. She effortlessly connects this challenge to the feminine genius as well as the journey of discovering our purpose and identity through biological and spiritual motherhood. Informative, inspiring, insightful, and creative, this is a book you will want to share with all your friends.” — Victoria Thorn, foundress of Project Rachel and executive director, National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation & Healing

“Gina Loehr has written a truly superb book, interesting and readable while also profound. Both deeply theological and deeply personal, Ms. Loehr offers a reflection on the Church as Mother that weaves together several distinct narratives: her own insightful reflections on her experience as a mother and daughter, punctuated at regular intervals by the equally perceptive voices of other mothers, all set within the context of a robust account of the Church’s self-understanding. The author reveals the significance and the meaning of our conviction that the Church is truly mother to us all.” — Dr. Deborah Savage, professor of philosophy and theology at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity and co-director of the Siena Symposium of Women, Family, and Culture, University of St. Thomas

“Mother Church. Does that phrase strike you as a quaint throwback or a confusing metaphor? With simple eloquence Gina Loehr draws from her own story as well as that of other Catholic women to show how the Church truly ‘mothers’ us by doing the things good mothers do: We create, care, sacrifice, celebrate, heal, and teach. Loehr also explores Mary’s role as Mother of the Church and exemplar for mothers everywhere. The guide at the end of the book enhances group and personal study. — Daria Sockey, author, The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours

From the Publisher