Special Edition - Q&A
A conversation around the New Missionary Field, Online Catholic Community and Ministry.
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I’m so excited to introduce you to this month. When Amy and I met, I was a new writer on Instagram and Amy, ever the cheerleader, started showing up in full support. It wasn’t long before I joined her growing group of Catholic creatives and got to witness first hand her heart for community, her love for the Lord, and her desire to honor Him with her work. I asked her to do a Q&A with me to share with you about the amazing ways the Lord is using people like Amy to fulfill His great commission to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
1. Amy, I'm so thrilled to have you on my newsletter this month! To give our readers a little background, you and I met up online through your work in building a community for Catholic creatives and small business owners just as I was starting to really grow as a writer online. I know I can personally say your work has been such a blessing in my life, and has allowed me to connect with many other Catholic creatives so that I can grow and learn as a writer as well as in my faith. Yet that isn't the only community you lead and work through. Can you share a bit about yourself and your work?
I am so grateful that the Lord has connected me with you - another faithful Catholic who sees the beauty of sharing prayers on social media and encouragement to all through writing and being a positive, hopeful, presence online.
Thank you for this opportunity to share about my life and work! After college I was blessed to be a teacher in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for 14 years. When my son was born, I wanted to figure out a way to stay home with him. I didn't want to not work at all, so I tried a few things to help our family financially. The idea of blogging came up after a few years and I thought, "we really want to adopt again, but we can not afford to pay an adoption agency. I could network and record all the ways we made connections and eventually adopt again in a blog." I had faith that it would happen and I thought, "this could help other couples who are intimidated by the cost of adoption." I also thought it would be a good idea to create Christmas gift guides that shared faith-centered gifts that people of all ages would enjoy receiving. So I started the Prayer Wine Chocolate blog. I began to meet so many people when I started to blog. I was lucky enough to find a local social media moms group and I learned the value of supporting other bloggers. I realized that writing had been something I always enjoyed and I shared how my faith had helped me through many difficult times in my life. I found a work from home option that I absolutely love with blogging!
2. What prompted you to begin the ministry of Prayer, Wine, Chocolate, beyond it just being a blog? Which came first, the Catholics Online or Prayer, Wine, Chocolate?
At first, Prayer Wine Chocolate was simply a blog. Soon after I started blogging at Prayer Wine Chocolate, I became a part of a group called Philly Social Media Moms and another group called Courage to Earn. These groups were secular, but demonstrated how supporting and educating other bloggers could be extremely helpful. I eventually found some Catholic bloggers and Catholic groups and started forming friendships and becoming familiar with the work of other Catholics all over the country.
At one point I came across a ministry called WINE (Women in the New Evangelization). WINE was advertising a Wine and Shrine Pilgrimage in Italy where you could sign up to go to Italy with this group - their itinerary included visiting the Shrines of great Catholic Saints and visiting Italian vineyards and wineries. I thought, that is a dream vacation! In the same instant I also thought, "I can't go. I can't afford it. Even if I could, I wouldn't want to leave my 3 year old and what if we got a call about adopting a baby? It's just an impossible dream". Not long after that, an idea dawned on me. I realized how incredibly blessed I am to live in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia - where two Saints lived and are now resting.
I decided to show the shrines of Philadelphia to people by going Live on Facebook as I visited them. I had so much fun doing this, and on this adventure I realized the Saint Katharine Drexel Shrine was being sold and would be closing. This campus was beautiful. It was where Saint Katharine spent many years of her life and unlike many shrines within the city of Philadelphia, this one was located outside the city and included a ton of land and wide open space. I decided to host a one day retreat. I would model it like the Wine and Shrine Pilgrimage. The first part of the day was spent at the Saint Katharine Drexel Shrine. About 30 women (and one man) went to Mass together, heard a talk about Saint Katharine from a Sister of the Blessed Sacrament who knew her, shopped at the gift shop, explored the campus and ate lunch together. After that, some of us got on a bus and visited two local wineries together. It was an incredible day and we did that once a year for about 5 years after.
During this time of Prayer Wine Chocolate becoming not just a blog, but a ministry, I tried to implement and share what I was learning from secular bloggers about supporting one another and educating one another. Most groups didn't really jump into these ideas that seemed foreign to them. However, I made some friends that did seem to understand the value of what I was trying to communicate and encourage; so eventually, I started the Facebook group Catholic Social Media Influencers. In this group we support one another and teach each other about marketing, monetizing, branding, using Instagram to optimize your exposure and more. After starting the group I really wanted to have something separate from Facebook, so we created our directory and website which can be found at catholicinfluencers.com today.
3. When we talked about having you on as a guest, you told me one thing you wanted to talk about was how you build communities. Specifically the communities of Catholics Online and Prayer, Wine, Chocolate. As someone who has moved around a lot, roughly five times in the last ten years, I really know the value of having a community you can plug into with similar values and goals. How did you realize you had this gift for bringing people together?
This is a tough question, I think I am still realizing that I have this gift! I recently had a flashback of a time when I was about 6 years old and I was riding my bike in the back driveway of the house I grew up in. I was riding my bike with a playmate and another girl who I had just met as a classmate in the first grade joined us. I introduced my classmate to the friend I was riding my bike with - and they almost immediately rode off together and since I wasn't allowed to go past the end of the driveway - they went and played without me. Next thing I knew, they were best friends and I didn't really play with either of them much after that.
As a kid, that was hurtful. As an adult, I am able to look back and see that I have always had a knack for bringing people together. This goes with a theme I seem to learn and realize over and over again since entering the world of blogging and social media/influencer work - our past pains offer us an incredible opportunity to help others in the present moment. My books (Be Yourself: a Journal for Catholic Girls and Be Yourself: a Journal for Catholic Boys) were written because I felt so much heartache, loneliness and honestly, confusion as a tween and young teen. I wrote those in the hopes to help others going through adolescence look to prayer, God, and the saints for advice on how they should look at the world around them and seek their purpose. I found that faith in God is what can keep us rooted and safe from many forces in the world that are not from above.
4. I know you and I both know the value of being present online, and how many people are looking for a community, a place to belong. I know I personally have seen the value of people of faith coming together to bolster our faith, build one another up and prepare each other to go back out into the mission field of the public square, which we could safely argue is any social media platform. To that end, when you look at Catholics Online, how do you see this ministry in the grander picture of building up the Kingdom? How do you see this group growing?
"when you look at Catholics Online, how do you see this ministry in the grander picture of building up the Kingdom? How do you see this group growing?" I love this question and I hope and pray I don't mess up the answer! Two immediate thoughts come to mind:
1. We need to remember that every single person on this earth is an influencer. Our actions provide examples every single day. Sometimes - perhaps often - we think what we are doing does not matter or that no one is noticing - but the truth is, we influence people. Our lives and our choices are noticed and impact others. As we move into this digital age, our values, personalities, and choices are seen more and more than ever in history. With that we must increase our prayer time, we must stay connected with God and God's grace and we must constantly live our lives in a way that is clearly Christian.
2. The internet is the new missionary frontier. This truth, decided by a synod at the Vatican last year, was pointed out to me by one of our members. As Catholics Online, we are on a missionary frontier. We are called to enter this culture and spread the Gospel here. I love how our group shows the variety of ways individuals share their God-given gifts with the world. Some of our members create physical objects, own businesses and allow Catholics to bring articles of faith into their homes and lives. Some other members create content, write articles, author books, produce videos and host podcasts. Still others run ministries that serve people in need - from mother's facing a poor prenatal diagnosis, to those grieving to those who are trying to cope with broken families; others help recovering addicts - the range of ministry is amazing. All of these Catholics are using their gifts to respond to God's call to shine His Light throughout the world.
Having all of these people with very different callings connected in order to network, support, and collaborate allows each individual to reach more hearts for Christ. The reach Christians have in 2024 is like nothing ever seen before in history. We are truly blessed to live today and serve Christ in this generation. I believe that the only way our group will continue growing is if God allows it and we as a community make prayer and Christian love top on our priority lists. We must pray together and for one another as a community. We each will come across opposition and spiritual warfare - praying as individuals is powerful, but praying as a group has enormous benefits. This is why it is so important to me that a member posts a prayer in our Facebook group every weekday. We must pray together and for one another. We must stay close to the Sacraments as Catholics on social media. We must stay vigilant and diligent in caring for our own souls so we can help other souls know Christ.
5. Another topic we briefly discussed was how you have Prayer, Wine, Chocolate retreats. Now, you're located in the North East and the Prayer, Wine, Chocolate retreats happen there? Can you give me an example of what a typical PWC retreat might look like?
Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreats can be structured in several ways. I have been asked "how I do these Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreats" numerous times, so in response to that question, I created a digital guide! Here is a link to that guide: How To Plan Your Own Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreat
As I mentioned earlier, one way a Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreat has been structured is that a group of people visit a shrine then visit some vineyards and do a wine tasting together. When I hosted these in the past, I would advertise on my blog and sell tickets. The cost of the tickets covered the transportation from the shrine to the winery; lunch; the wine tastings and other costs. However, simply having friends over to pray the Rosary and have a glass of wine can be considered a "micro-retreat" from daily life. The Rosary is pivotal in a Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreat. Many times for our day long event, we would pray the Rosary on the bus ride from the shrine to the wine! We also had a Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreat at a winery for an entire day after the pandemic. We rented a space, had Mass outside in the winery, and I gave a Prayer Journaling Workshop before the wine tasting portion :)
6. As someone who has spent so much time building community with others, in what ways might you suggest individual Catholics can do the same in their area? In what ways could Catholic churches help build community in their parishes?
Your question here is perfect timing - this past year I observed a woman who has attended several of my retreats, take the Prayer Wine Chocolate guide and start her own Prayer Wine Chocolate community within her parish. This woman, who's name is Betsy Scafidi, and another friend of mine who has attended every Prayer Wine Chocolate Retreat I have organized, are helping me really move forward with bringing similar communities to other parishes. I personally believe this:
The woman is the heart of the home; women are the heart of the parish. Prayer Wine Chocolate communities foster friendships based on faith and prayer. The moment you foster those friendships, those positive relationships impact the husbands and the children in the parish. Having women form bonds within the parish is extremely life giving to the parish community. As a general response to your question, Catholic churches can build community in their parishes by encouraging women to come together for prayer, bible studies, mom groups and what the women in the parish feel they would really like to see in their parish. It could be a young adult group, a widow support group, or something I may not even be able to think of . . . women crave relationships, and women of faith often wish they had more friends that shared their faith. The parish should be the natural location and place for these relationships to develop.
7. A fun story I thought I'd share as we wrap this up. It was in 2020 I bought your journal, Be Yourself: A Journal for Catholic Girls, for my then 8 year old daughter. At this point I had never spoken to you, or knew what you did, and it wasn't until maybe 2021 that we met up and started to connect online. Fast forward a year and my daughter finally opened this journal, started using it, and she shared some pages with me. That's when everything clicked, and I realized I had purchased this incredible journal from someone I now get the pleasure of calling friend and guest. Proof that you never know how what you're called to do will impact others down the road and that you may even get to meet them! My daughter really loves that journal too! In what ways have you seen God move through your ministry? It can be something big or small, but something that might encourage others who are doing similar work as yourself.
Wow, great question - how much time do you have?
I think overall, I have witnessed God's immeasurable generosity.
God used my blog to help me make connections that led my idea of a book for young girls into a reality. The fact that I can now say I am the author of two books is a miracle to me. I also have to say that God has a way to say, "hold my beer" or actually I like to think He says, "hold my wine" when it comes to love and generosity.
I started Prayer Wine Chocolate because I wanted to help people adopt even when they felt the cost made it impossible. I truly believe, with God anything IS POSSIBLE.
I went to work and made connections;
I wrote lists;
I searched the internet;
I shared our desire to adopt;
But in the end - God gave us twins and it was obvious that our children are a gift from God and not a result of my to do list. My heart was motivated by love and God responded. It's a long story, but Our Heavenly Father made it very clear to me that He doesn't need my actions to give and answer prayers.
What He does desire is my trust and faith. I can't help but think of the Scripture verse "walk by faith, not by sight".
I also started Prayer Wine Chocolate because I wanted to encourage Catholics to buy faith-centered gifts for their loved ones for Christmas.
That gift guide blog post started with a bang and continues to be successful. It also planted the seed for Catholics Online's Christmas catalog which I believe is a mission from God and a tool that will tug many hearts. I hope and pray our Christmas catalog - both the digital version and the printed version - reaches astronomical numbers of people this year. If you are reading this, please pray for that intention!
I want to encourage people to dream big and think about your goals. So many people will tell you why you can't or why it won't work. Nothing is impossible with God. Have confidence in Christ. Notice who God sends you to walk with you and help you. Embrace them! We are not meant to do this alone! If you are looking for people who share this outlook, join Catholics Online!
Remember, God will never be outdone in generosity. That's what makes our group so incredible. The culture is to give, lift-up and support. No matter how much we do that for each other, God will more than "one-up" us.
To Follow Amy and her work you can find her at her Substack, as well as her Instagram accounts, Prayerwinechocolate and Catholicsonline. You can read more in-depth information about her ministries at Catholic Influencers and Prayer, Wine, Chocolate.
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