Merry Mary-Marthas: Chats with Catholic women exemplifying the feminine genius in the world and in the home.
Meet Katie Bogner,
author and educator
Katie Bogner is a Catholic School Teacher and Director of Religious Education from Central Illinois. She is a farm girl, believes you can never own too many books, and loves road trips. For over a decade, she has run a religious education blog at LookToHimAndBeRadiant.com where she shares free lesson plans, printables, and other resources to help parents, catechists, and teachers feel equipped to share the beauty and truth of Christ and His Church with their students.Â
One of her popular resources is a 200 page curriculum on the life and teachings of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. She also is the author of the books Through the Year with Jesus: Gospel Readings and Reflections for Children as well as Through the Year with Mary: Ponder and Pray Together with Children.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, experiences, education, etc.
Hello! My name is Katie Bogner, and I am a teacher & DRE from small town central Illinois. This will be year 14 in the classroom, where I currently teach 6th-8th religion, and work with my parish to organize our religious education for kids, teens, and adults. I am super passionate about helping parents and teachers feel equipped to share the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith with their kids and students. I am proud to be the favorite “Aunt Katie” to my five nieces and nephews, and godmother to four precious souls. I really, really love books, flowers, Catholic art, living in the country, antiques & thrift shopping, visiting new churches, and coffee.
What is your apostolate? How do you bring truth, beauty, and goodness to the world? How did your ministry/apostolate begin?
When I was fresh out of college with an elementary education degree and a job in a local public school, I went back and started working at my parish. I was blessed to have a great group of fellow DREs (directors of religious education) that I met with regularly and who were so supportive and encouraging. I started making resources for my parish programs, both to have original material to fit the needs of my parish, but also because I often couldn’t find what I was looking for online or in print resources. to have tools to teach our wonderful faith at their fingertips. Â
That became even more true when I moved to a Catholic school and started creating things for my middle schoolers. I took advantage of a blog that I already had and started sharing the things that I was making online, mostly because it was much more efficient than emailing individual files when people asked for them. The interest grew, and I figured that if I were already making things for my students, I might as well share them for others as well. Everything on my blog, which is 11 years old now, is offered for free. I see it as a ministry to make it as easy as possible for parents and catechists
What have you struggled with and how have you managed to balance the interior life of Mary, with the exterior life of Martha?
Well, one time I was literally given a “St. Martha” award, which I maybe took as a tiny bit of an insult! But Martha was a good friend of Jesus, was successful at the work He placed before her, and most importantly is now face to face with Him in Heaven. So we have things to learn from both Martha and Mary! I definitely am more of a doer and have a harder time slowing down. I love being creative, running with new ideas, and filling my days trying to soak up the goodness of the world.Â
While I do tend to understand Martha a little more, I try to cultivate the devotion and prayer of Mary. Sitting at the feet of Jesus in the form of Eucharistic Adoration, daily Mass, and reading the Scriptures is the foundation of my faith. I struggle to not make those things just something to check off my to-do list, so continually work to engage my mind and heart in the rest that comes from prayer. For example, I love reading the Bible, but more naturally tend to read it for information and study. Using Lectio Divina helps me to slow down and view the reading more as a prayer. Mary and Martha are so complementary in the example they provide us in how to follow Christ.
What other contributions, gifts, or new projects would you like to share?
My website is my main form of ministry, but I also love sharing little bits of beauty and connecting with people through Instagram. I travel occasionally to do some speaking, mostly building up teachers and catechists to help them know the calling they have to authentically share the Catholic faith in their classrooms. I was blessed to have the opportunity to write two books for Emmaus Road Publishing (a ministry of The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology) and am still awed that I get to share them with the world. The books are both intended to help facilitate conversations and prayer between adults and kids, and feature rich reflections, discussion questions, Scripture readings, quotes from Saints, and beautiful sacred art. The first is titled Through the Year with Jesus: Gospel Readings and Reflections for Children and the second is Through the Year with Mary: Ponder and Pray Together with Children.
Where can we learn more about you and your apostolate?
My website is looktohimandberadiant.com, which is the best landing page to find all the resources I offer. I’m @katherine.bogner on Instagram, and my books are available at stpaulcenter.com and Amazon.
