Maria Johnson

1 month ago | ohenrymag.com | Maria Johnson

Fourteen neighbors? A couple of dozen cupcakes? A Friday afternoon? Sure, I tell my mom, I’ll help her throw a small celebration of her 92nd birthday, a custom in her neighborhood, where the residents let each other off the hook by proactively reminding each other of the occasion and hosting their own to-dos. It’s yet another example of something that’s gauche at a young age morphing into something that’s graceful, for all concerned, at a later age. We draw up a guest list.

1 month ago | mariamjohnson.substack.com | Maria Johnson

Some years ago, in fact, it was the fall of 2015, I found myself scrambling to get a religious visa in order to travel to Cuba. It was an extraordinary intersection of a number of meaningful moments in my life. First, it marked my return to the country of my birth, almost a week to the day, 50 years prior, that I left Cuba with my mother.

2 months ago | catholicvineyard.com | Maria Johnson

“And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the village; and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”And he looked up and said, “I see men; but they look like trees, walking.” Then again he laid his hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and saw everything clearly.” ~ Mark 8:23-25In today’s brief but powerful scripture passage from Mark, Jesus heals a blind man.

2 months ago | catholicmom.com | Maria Johnson

Heidi Hess Saxton and Maria Morera Johnson discuss the transitions in the second half of life  and how praying with the saints accompanies us in that change. To listen to this week's podcast, simply hit "play" below, or subscribe in iTunes, Google Podcasts, or Spotify. Maria Morera Johnson is an award-winning author, speaker, and digital missionary passionate about encouraging women to embrace the beauty and purpose of midlife and beyond.

2 months ago | ohenrymag.com | Maria Johnson

I was so delighted by the earrings — a pair of verdigris dogs with copper ears as bright as new pennies — that I had to try them on right then and there, in the backseat of my husband’s car.My older son’s partner, Tina, had just surprised me with them, following a family ramble through a row of seaside gift shops. She and I have a custom of giving each other earrings, and she’d clearly hit a home run with the canines she’d just sniffed out.