“The call to parenting will never be an easy one. To have your heart walk around outside your body means that your heart will be bumped and bruised along the way. It is not a vocation to be pursued in isolation. What parents need is a network of support, a village.” So begins the epilogue of Holly Taylor Coolman’s new book, Parenting: The Complex and Beautiful Vocation of Raising Children. What she presents in her wise, practical, and spiritually enriching work is a vision for cherishing children as a gift and guest. To do this, we must learn how to depend on and draw life from others, while creating a community where we share in the responsibility for one another’s wellbeing. Holly joins me today to talk about this call to parenting, the ongoing discernment necessary for responding to that call, and the challenges and blessings of raising children and caring for other peoples’ children in today’s day and age.

 Follow-up Resources:

• Parenting: The Complex and Beautiful Vocation of Raising Children, by Holly Taylor Coolman.
• “The Church’s Call to Foster Care, with Holly Taylor Coolman,” podcast episode via Church Life Today.
• “Amid Plagues: The Church’s Call to Foster Care and More,” by Holly Taylor Coolman, article in Church Life Journal.
• “The Invention of Parenting,” by Holly Taylor Coolman, article in Church Life Journal.

Church Life Today is a partnership between the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and OSV Podcasts from Our Sunday Visitor. Discover more ways to live, learn, and love your Catholic faith at osvpodcasts.com. Sharing stories, starting conversations.