Sr. Bethany Madonna: "You follow Me:" Letting Love Lead

“A mother’s love is forever,” goes the old saying. Unfortunately, this isn’t always true. A mother’s love sometimes ends where her issues begin. In my travels to speak I have connected with women whose mothers are estranged, overbearing, emotionally unavailable, or abusive. My heart hurts for these beautiful women who feel adrift and hurt. I’m especially aching for them on a holiday that reminds them that their complicated, messed up relationship with mom should be joyful and

A few days ago, I got a text. It was one of my voice students “breaking up” with me. She said she had just lost motivation and was rethinking her decision to pursue a career in singing. Immediately a flash of insecurity hit me. Had I done something wrong? Was I the reason she lost her passion? Does she secretly think I’m a bad teacher? Almost immediately, however, I recovered. I let go of those questions that, a few years ago, would have bugged me all day and run circles in m

There is no custom-designed soulmate for you. There; I said it. As I am already aware from having this debate on social media, some people will want to come after me with pitchforks. I’m okay with that. Just hear me out first, and wait for me to make a will so John and the kids get my stuff. If you’re called to marriage, you choose your “the one.” Practically speaking, Adam and Eve had to be “the one” for each other. I have heard of instances where people received a definite

There’s no denying we are facing a lot of anxiety-inducing problems “out there” in our Church and in the world. On a more personal level, I know few young people who don’t face the struggle of feeling inferior to others on social media or in real life. If you have found yourself becoming cynical or discouraged by the world’s problems, or if your Instagram news feed is giving you a complex, then I have something I truly hope will help you. In this YouTube video I made recently