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All In: Why Belonging to the Catholic Church Matters
What’s the one thing that defines your life and brings you the most good, the most love?
Pat Gohn knows what her one thing “More than any single factor in my life, belonging to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church has had the greatest impact on me. Faith gives meaning to everything in my life.”
In this passionate and unapologetic account of why her faith in Christ and the Catholic Church are the source of meaning and joy in her life, Gohn—popular speaker, retreat leader, catechist, and author of Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious —invites you to become more confident in the power of the Catholic faith to transform your life as well.
Being a cradle Catholic, cancer survivor, wife, and mother are all a part of Gohn’s story. But in this appealing, personal book, she shares why her relationship with Jesus and her confidence in his Church are so much bigger than her medical diagnosis, more powerful than her family history, and more significant than her career path.
Gohn ardently shares why belonging to the Church will strengthen and nurture your relationship with God. It will keep you connected with Jesus and the sacraments—conduits of grace, forgiveness, healing, wisdom, and renewal. Belonging to the Church connects you to millions of others around the world, to the saints, and to your loved ones in heaven. These relationships are at the heart of Catholicism. In this time when life and society are so fragmented, the joy of belonging to a community—as imperfect as it can be—easily outweighs the agony of separation or isolation.
Gohn’s confidence in her faith emerged despite and even out of a struggle with disillusionment. Working in a parish when news of the sex abuse scandals broke in Boston, she confronted heartbreak and anger within herself and her fellow parishioners. Yet she never left the Church and relates how she found a way to dig deeper and discover reasons to stay faithful.
Each of the nine chapters identifies a dimension of the Catholic faith that is a source of Gohn’s confidence, including the Incarnation, God’s plan, the Fatherhood of God, the friendship of the Holy Spirit, and the love of neighbor. Each chapter also features reflection questions to challenge you.
Pat Gohn knows what her one thing “More than any single factor in my life, belonging to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church has had the greatest impact on me. Faith gives meaning to everything in my life.”
In this passionate and unapologetic account of why her faith in Christ and the Catholic Church are the source of meaning and joy in her life, Gohn—popular speaker, retreat leader, catechist, and author of Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious —invites you to become more confident in the power of the Catholic faith to transform your life as well.
Being a cradle Catholic, cancer survivor, wife, and mother are all a part of Gohn’s story. But in this appealing, personal book, she shares why her relationship with Jesus and her confidence in his Church are so much bigger than her medical diagnosis, more powerful than her family history, and more significant than her career path.
Gohn ardently shares why belonging to the Church will strengthen and nurture your relationship with God. It will keep you connected with Jesus and the sacraments—conduits of grace, forgiveness, healing, wisdom, and renewal. Belonging to the Church connects you to millions of others around the world, to the saints, and to your loved ones in heaven. These relationships are at the heart of Catholicism. In this time when life and society are so fragmented, the joy of belonging to a community—as imperfect as it can be—easily outweighs the agony of separation or isolation.
Gohn’s confidence in her faith emerged despite and even out of a struggle with disillusionment. Working in a parish when news of the sex abuse scandals broke in Boston, she confronted heartbreak and anger within herself and her fellow parishioners. Yet she never left the Church and relates how she found a way to dig deeper and discover reasons to stay faithful.
Each of the nine chapters identifies a dimension of the Catholic faith that is a source of Gohn’s confidence, including the Incarnation, God’s plan, the Fatherhood of God, the friendship of the Holy Spirit, and the love of neighbor. Each chapter also features reflection questions to challenge you.
193 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 3, 2017
4 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Pat Gohn
37 books8 followersHer first book won a Catholic Press Association Award in 2014, and she's given the “Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious Retreat” to more than 3000 women.
She has been an editor with Bayard Inc. since 2016 and serves as editor for Living Faith.
She has been an editor with Bayard Inc. since 2016 and serves as editor for Living Faith.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 25, 2019
Gohn is a master storyteller and a masterful catechist, and it’s woven throughout this book like the hint of cinnamon in that special coffee-cake-that’s-really-bread my mother-in-law makes on feast days and some lucky Saturdays.
“The first followers of Jesus Christ were initially caught by the attraction of Jesus’ message and witness,” Gohn writes. “Those first apostles were the earliest members of the Church. They were so confident in their beliefs that eleven of Jesus’ twelve apostles died as martyrs for the faith.”
That, she reminds us, is “all in.”
And how are we all in? That’s the journey this book encourages you to take. Each chapter ends with the invitation to pray about the content, learn more about it, and/or engage it in some concrete way. And these are not lame or tacked-on (says the hugely cynical reader who’s sick of reflection questions in every nonfiction book I read). They are, truly, ways to grow deeper and to take the words off the page and into your heart and life.
Gohn faces the difficulty and scandal fearlessly and unabashedly reminds her readers that the Reason is so much bigger than the objections. But she’s artful and colorful and delightful in how she does it, even as she’s reasoned and objective and down-to-earth.
Sound impossible? Well, it made the book hard to put down and easy to read, even as I book darted and nodded and muttered as I read.
This book is perfect for the happy-in-the-pew Catholics and also a resource to share with those who are wondering why they should stay.
“The first followers of Jesus Christ were initially caught by the attraction of Jesus’ message and witness,” Gohn writes. “Those first apostles were the earliest members of the Church. They were so confident in their beliefs that eleven of Jesus’ twelve apostles died as martyrs for the faith.”
That, she reminds us, is “all in.”
And how are we all in? That’s the journey this book encourages you to take. Each chapter ends with the invitation to pray about the content, learn more about it, and/or engage it in some concrete way. And these are not lame or tacked-on (says the hugely cynical reader who’s sick of reflection questions in every nonfiction book I read). They are, truly, ways to grow deeper and to take the words off the page and into your heart and life.
Gohn faces the difficulty and scandal fearlessly and unabashedly reminds her readers that the Reason is so much bigger than the objections. But she’s artful and colorful and delightful in how she does it, even as she’s reasoned and objective and down-to-earth.
Sound impossible? Well, it made the book hard to put down and easy to read, even as I book darted and nodded and muttered as I read.
This book is perfect for the happy-in-the-pew Catholics and also a resource to share with those who are wondering why they should stay.
December 15, 2021
I thought this was really good and hope others will read it. The author gives good analogies and word pictures to help things sink in and to make you see truths from a different perspective.
March 3, 2017
I just finished reading this and already I think I need to read it again. The author has a lovely style of writing and the stories from her personal life really add to the feeling that it's a friend talking to you. To use the author's phrases I am a 'cradle Catholic' and most definitely a 'work in progress'. While the author gives plenty to think about, she helpfully gives references for where to find more information. A well constructed and well written book.
I received a free copy of All In via NetGalley and my thanks to Ave Maria Press for that.
I received a free copy of All In via NetGalley and my thanks to Ave Maria Press for that.
June 25, 2017
Pat Gohn's passion for Christ, her faith, and her burning desire to share both with everyone shines through every page of this book. I admire Pat's ability to communicate in plain, clear language even as her intellect and theological knowledge permeate what she's saying. I dogeared a number of pages for contemplation as I slowly made my way through the book, savoring it. This is perhaps my favorite passage, from page 106: "Sin drains. Grace gains. Sin tames me and shames me. Grace inflames and reframes me. Sin retains me. Grace unchains me, and grace retrains me. Sin knocks me down. Grace raises me up. Sin plunges. Grace expunges. Sin destroys. Grace gives joys. Let us choose to move from sin, to turn and beg Jesus for the grace to begin again." Amen, sister!
June 3, 2019
I was really excited to read this book because of the premise. The author begins with an analogy with her husband’s love for cars and her love for the Church. I find myself in the same place as the author. I love the Church, being Catholic is what I do, it’s the thing that I’m “all in” about and know the most about. My faith is super important and the primary decision factor for much of my life - even when I think about moving, I’d want to be within 5 minutes of my new parish ... in the last 11 years I’ve never lived more than 2 miles from my parish. But overall this book didn’t resonate with me. Maybe I broke it up into too many sittings, or maybe it’s just not the book for me.
January 15, 2022
This is a book with many touching moments, yet it does not work for me as a whole. It might be the style problem - it reads like a long sermon, while the subject of “being all in” in the Church to me is an emotional, not rational one. Maybe it is me, but in cases like this (why stay/become Catholic when the Church does not seem like a very attractive choice) I very much resonate with the human stories.
But there are many pearls hidden here - for example, the chapter on loving your enemy is both very touching and full of good, understandable teaching!
But there are many pearls hidden here - for example, the chapter on loving your enemy is both very touching and full of good, understandable teaching!
May 23, 2019
I was familiar with the author from her previous book and her podcast. The book was very good weaving church teaching with cultural issues of the day and the author’s life experiences in a way that makes the topic of church belonging approachable and interesting. It answered the comment we often hear from others that they “are spiritual but not religious.”
I loved the book.
I loved the book.
March 9, 2018
Slow in parts but some touching information. Read with St Pat's book group. Always good for discussion.
March 10, 2017
This book is just as much for the struggling and/or “recovering” Catholic as it is for the faithful churchgoer. Readers on any stop along their faith journey can benefit from the wisdom and action steps provided here, on their way to going “all in.”
Honest discussions of sin, mercy, grace, the Sacraments, and human dignity fill out this book. Each chapter concludes with a 3-part reflection: pray, learn and engage. This last section includes concrete action steps readers can take to heal or deepen their relationship with God and with the Church.
Read my full review.
Honest discussions of sin, mercy, grace, the Sacraments, and human dignity fill out this book. Each chapter concludes with a 3-part reflection: pray, learn and engage. This last section includes concrete action steps readers can take to heal or deepen their relationship with God and with the Church.
Read my full review.
March 31, 2017
What’s your relationship to the Catholic Church? Are you devoted? Dedicated but doing the minimum required? Dabbling? Discouraged or done with the Church? Unsure? In All In, Pat Gohn invites readers to reconsider their relationship with the Church, whatever that relationship might currently be.
Gohn is a cradle Catholic, but truly fell in love with the faith in her teen years after being around joyful Catholics. As she states, her “one thing” is the Catholic faith. “I’m all in. When God came first in my life, the rest eventually fell into place and made more sense.”
What convinces her to make her faith such an integral part of her life? Why does she put her faith in the Catholic Church, an institution which she admits has had its scandals and imperfections? She begins with a relationship with Jesus, rooted in love, encountered in both personal experience and in Scripture. She then explores the image of the Church as the bride of Christ. “Christ will never be separated from his Bride . . . Jesus will never divorce the Church. Jesus is permanently wedded to the Church. What is Christ’s is the Church’s, and all that the Church has comes from his merits, glory, power, and magnificent love.”
We are all connected to God and the Church through our Baptism. “What God has joined together, we must not divide. . . Being a beloved child of God is our single greatest identity, which sheds light on everything we are and all that we do.” God is our Father. He “will never disown or divorce us. We may choose to leave him, but he will never leave us.”
Gohn also explores the image of the Church as mother. “Jesus’ great love for his Bride, the Church, makes the Church a fruitful mother of many spiritual children, born through Baptism. . . The family of God is born of the fatherhood of God and the motherhood of the Church.”
The concept of Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, the importance of love of neighbor, and respect for the dignity of the human person are also discussed.
Gohn invites us to “view each day with an eternal perspective.” Being part of the Church matters, not only in this world, but also the next. Gohn, who has a master’s degree in theology and certificates in adult faith leadership, theology of the body, and spiritual direction, offers solid theological reasons for making our faith and the Catholic Church the main priorities in our lives. In addition, each chapter concludes with an invitation to deeper prayer, suggestions for further reading, and activities to deepen one’s faith.
Gohn is a cradle Catholic, but truly fell in love with the faith in her teen years after being around joyful Catholics. As she states, her “one thing” is the Catholic faith. “I’m all in. When God came first in my life, the rest eventually fell into place and made more sense.”
What convinces her to make her faith such an integral part of her life? Why does she put her faith in the Catholic Church, an institution which she admits has had its scandals and imperfections? She begins with a relationship with Jesus, rooted in love, encountered in both personal experience and in Scripture. She then explores the image of the Church as the bride of Christ. “Christ will never be separated from his Bride . . . Jesus will never divorce the Church. Jesus is permanently wedded to the Church. What is Christ’s is the Church’s, and all that the Church has comes from his merits, glory, power, and magnificent love.”
We are all connected to God and the Church through our Baptism. “What God has joined together, we must not divide. . . Being a beloved child of God is our single greatest identity, which sheds light on everything we are and all that we do.” God is our Father. He “will never disown or divorce us. We may choose to leave him, but he will never leave us.”
Gohn also explores the image of the Church as mother. “Jesus’ great love for his Bride, the Church, makes the Church a fruitful mother of many spiritual children, born through Baptism. . . The family of God is born of the fatherhood of God and the motherhood of the Church.”
The concept of Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, the importance of love of neighbor, and respect for the dignity of the human person are also discussed.
Gohn invites us to “view each day with an eternal perspective.” Being part of the Church matters, not only in this world, but also the next. Gohn, who has a master’s degree in theology and certificates in adult faith leadership, theology of the body, and spiritual direction, offers solid theological reasons for making our faith and the Catholic Church the main priorities in our lives. In addition, each chapter concludes with an invitation to deeper prayer, suggestions for further reading, and activities to deepen one’s faith.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews