Let's Talk About 'Badass' Saints

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If her presentation is anything like her book, Maria Morera Johnson is going to be a bodacious keynote speaker at the 2021 Diocesan Council of Catholic Women convention, scheduled for Sept. 11-12 in Salt Lake City.

I’ve often enjoyed the convention’s keynote speakers – just off the top of my head I remember Marge Steinhage Fenelon in 2019 inspiring me with her presentation on Mary, and in 2015 ValLimar Jansen had us all laughing and dancing – so I expect Johnson will be equally entertaining.

Johnson is a Catholic podcaster, blogger and award-winning author. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed her book My Badass Book of Saints: Courageous Women Who Showed Me How to Live. In these pages, Johnson reflects on the standards of holiness we’d expect – St. Teresa of Avila, St. Joan of Arc, St. Catherine of Siena – but she also brings in some names I’ve never heard of – St. Christina the Astonishing and Blessed Rosalie Rendu. Johnson pairs these saints recognized by the Church with the stories of lesser-known “extraordinary women who inspire me,” as she subtitled her first chapter. Some of these women were members of religious orders, such as Sister Blandina Segale, who faced down Billy the Kid; others were laywomen, such as Phyllis Bowman, the founder of the United Kingdom’s Right to Life organization. Johnson interweaves all of these stories with her own, telling how the women she profiles provided inspiration at different points in her life.

Here’s Johnson talking about St. Teresa of Avila: Admitting that the saint’s spiritual life and mystical experiences “seemed far beyond what I could possibly achieve,” she notes that the Spanish mystic “had other qualities I read about and could relate to. She suffered from a number of ailments, including headaches. I suffer from migraines. She wrote poems and prayerful verses on scraps of paper. So do I.

“She entered the convent without a strong vocation. I began my career as an educator in the same way it just seemed like the thing to do. She didn’t experience a deep conversion until later in life. I can relate to that, too.”

One thing I like about the book is that Johnson includes “questions to ponder” at the end of every chapter. She also concludes with a six-week study guide.

Noticing this, I got a prompt that I’m pretty sure was from the Holy Spirit, because it filled me with pleasurable expectation mixed with just an itty-bitty bit of fear that I won’t succeed. That little whisper suggested that I lead a study group on My Badass Book of Saints in the six weeks prior to the DCCW convention.

Looking at the calendar, I see that if I start the study group on July 28, we’ll finish the week before the convention. I’m thinking that because this is such short notice, and to allow people from throughout the diocese to participate, that Zoom will be the best format. Because of the nature of Zoom and to facilitate discussion, I’m going to limit the number of participants to 10. We’ll met Wednesdays, July 28-Sept. 3 from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. We’ll follow the study guide at the back of My Badass Book of Saints. Please purchase the book and read the introduction and first two chapters (a total of 30 pages) as well as the study guide for Week One, prior to the first meeting. The book is available through Ave Maria Press and Amazon.

If you’re interested, email me at the address below; the first 10 people to respond will be sent the Zoom link. I’ll reply to everyone to let them know whether all the slots are filled. I hope this will be a fun summer discussion.

Marie Mischel is editor of the Intermountain Catholic. Reach her at marie@icatholic.org.