Jennifer invited Catholic mothers to our house to pray the Rosary for their teenagers, while Greg considers how God uses supposed failures, long-built skills (once thought trivial), and unexpected opportunities to do more for the Kingdom.

---

After seeing Catholic mothers (including herself) often struggling with how to raise holy teenagers in a Godless culture, Jennifer took a risk and invited local Catholic moms into our home to pray the Rosary. At the first gathering, six women arrived. It was small, but it was awesome, and it offered a glimpse of how even the tiniest local Rosary groups could grow.

For the gathering, Greg was motivated to finish his long-in-development Rosary meditation booklet, which brings together all 20 mysteries, Scripture, and St. Louis-Marie de Montfort's meditations. Years of seemingly unrelated work may have prepared him for all of this. Plus, a listener's question about ministry and fiction widens the discussion into how God uses our gifts, redirects old dreams (and sometimes failures), and opens the right doors at the right time.

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Timestamps

00:00 Jennifer starts a Rosary group for mothers of teens
05:00 Building the 20-Mystery Rosary booklet
09:24 Learning to pray all 20 mysteries
12:10 Could local Rosary groups spread?
16:38 A listener's question about calling and creativity
19:43 Co-creating with God through art
22:33 Greg's struggle with writing and rejection
26:00 When to persevere—and when to walk away
31:43 Praying all 20 mysteries through School of Mary
34:23 A prayer for surrendering worry

Greg and Jennifer question crowded schedules, endless to-do lists, and whether planning less can leave more room to recognize and follow God's will.

___

Greg and Jennifer have spent years trying to simplify their lives, yet slowing down can still feel like failure. A passage from Oliver Burkeman's Four Thousand Weeks gets them talking about the pressure to stay productive, keep up with everyone else, and fill every open hour.

Greg explains why he now limits his daily list instead of chasing the next task. Jennifer talks about the good that can come from an empty schedule or even a feeling of emptiness. That space may be necessary if they want to hear what God is actually asking of them. One teacher's yearly gift of handmade rosaries has already reached hundreds of children and could keep changing families for years.

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Timestamps

00:00 Handmade rosaries for third graders
02:25 The unseen ripple effects of a rosary
05:25 Remembering what the year has produced
06:09 Commonplace books and Four Thousand Weeks
15:42 The fourth quarter of the year—and life
18:13 A ripple list instead of a bucket list
19:26 Why simple living can feel like failure
23:03 Surrendering each day to God
28:01 Planning less to follow God's will
29:25 The good of an empty schedule

After musician Glen Hansard's sudden death and Greg's recent talk about God's love, we tackle the sobering question of being ready for eternity.

___

Just a few days after giving a talk in Texas about God's love and mercy, one of Greg's favorite musicians suddenly died in a tragic motorcycle accident. As a result, we find ourselves grieving someone we never personally met. Glen Hansard's death raises a larger question: why do people so quickly assume someone is in heaven instead of praying for the dead?

We also talk about Catholics who intentionally withheld sins in confession because of shame and explain that preparing to die can be as simple as making a full confession, receiving God's mercy, and staying close to the sacraments. And ultimately, we come to the realization that Rosary Army's work is meant to help people die well.

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Timestamps

00:00 San Antonio and the fear of confession
01:29 The sudden death of Glen Hansard
04:17 Why Catholics pray for the dead
06:18 "Die before you die"
08:51 It is simple to be ready to die
11:20 Rosary Army helps people die well
13:26 Making a full confession
19:14 Purgatory and the state of the soul
23:03 A raindrop in the fire of God's mercy
29:03 Daily examen and funeral wishes

Jennifer spent the morning helping two friends process rabbits for food and came home with new respect for homesteading, shared work, and what God provides.

___

Jennifer spent the morning helping two Catholic friends process rabbits for food. She wanted to know whether she could handle the work after years of watching survival shows from the couch. Greg has loved rabbits since childhood and has never wanted to eat one. That may now change. Or it may not.

They talk plainly about dispatching, cleaning, butchering, and preparing the rabbits, along with the work behind the homesteading life and God's plan for feeding us. Jennifer also found something she did not expect: three Catholic women working with their hands while talking about their children, the Rosary, and local community. She came home grateful for the food, the friendship, and the people willing to do this work.

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Timestamps

00:00 Why this episode is different
00:58 Three Rosaries on the drive
02:28 Catholic homesteading and its hidden work
05:12 Jennifer agrees to help harvest rabbits
07:02 Could she actually do it?
11:24 Greg's lifelong love of rabbits
14:27 The work begins
19:27 Friendship and faith during physical work
22:22 The side of livestock people do not post
28:13 What is ahead for Rosary Army

We share the books we're currently reading, from Dungeon Crawler Carl and Dog Stars to Rosary Meditations from Ven. Mary Agreda and St. Thérèse.
___

Greg has always loved books, while Jennifer came to reading later, once trying to make herself literary with Voltaire and Macbeth before pretty much reading only Anne Rice and John Grisham. They talk about high school books, why old titles follow us into adulthood, and how reading changes over a lifetime.

Greg shares his current mix of serious, spiritual, and simple reading, including Oliver Burkeman, Arthur C. Brooks, Dungeon Crawler Carl, I Believe in Love, and more. Jennifer talks about going deeper into mental prayer with the rosary, using meditations from The Mystical City of God, and why Christy has become her slow nighttime read.

Books Mentioned:

Macbeth — William Shakespeare
Interview with the Vampire — Anne Rice
Swiss Family Robinson — Johann David Wyss
Walden — Henry David Thoreau
The Glass Menagerie — Tennessee Williams
The Scarlet Letter — Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Red Badge of Courage — Stephen Crane
A Tale of Two Cities — Charles Dickens
Romeo and Juliet — William Shakespeare
Hamlet — William Shakespeare
Flowers for Algernon — Daniel Keyes
Alas, Babylon — Pat Frank
Frankenstein — Mary Shelley
The Dog Stars — Peter Heller
Dungeon Crawler Carl — Matt Dinniman
Get Fuzzy — Darby Conley
Pearls Before Swine — Stephan Pastis
Calvin and Hobbes — Bill Watterson
4000 Weeks — Oliver Burkeman
Meditations for Mortals — Oliver Burkeman
The Antidote — Oliver Burkeman
From Strength to Strength — Arthur C. Brooks
The Mystical City of God — Venerable Mary of Ágreda
The Holy Rosary with Meditations through the Visions of Venerable Mary of Ágreda — Fr. Mark Higgins
True Devotion to Mary — St. Louis de Montfort
The Love of Eternal Wisdom — St. Louis de Montfort
The Imitation of Christ — Thomas à Kempis
Letter to the Friends of the Cross — St. Louis de Montfort
Confessions — St. Augustine
Genesis — traditionally attributed to Moses
I Believe in Love — Fr. Jean C. J. d'Elbée
Story of a Soul — St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Christy — Catherine Marshall

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Timestamps

00:00 Jennifer's late start with books
03:13 What Greg and Jennifer are reading now
04:06 Giving yourself permission not to finish books
05:34 High school books that follow you around
08:32 Why books keep calling us back
10:02 Greg's "serious, spiritual, and simple" reading
17:20 Jennifer's rosary meditation project
23:17 Greg's pocket Catholic readers
26:33 I Believe in Love and St. Thérèse
28:43 Jennifer's nighttime read, Christy

We talk through the first Rosary Army retreat, what surprised us, what worked, and why we're not quite ready to decide yet if there will be another one.

_______

We're home from the first Rosary Army retreat, still tired, processing, and not making any big decisions. We talk about the beauty of the retreat center, the talks, the food, the people who came, and the difference between wanting something bigger and realizing smaller might just have been exactly right.

We also talk about what it was like to have our teenage daughter with us for this weekend, the impact of silent Eucharistic Adoration, and why personal encounters mattered so much.

Watch the Videos from the 2026 Rosary Army Retreat

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Timestamps

Mac Barron (Catholic in a Small Town Podcast) delivers a talk about the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary at the 2026 Rosary Army Retreat.

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking Engagements

Jennifer Willits offers a talk at the first official RA Retreat on June 20, 2026 with a presentation about Mental Prayer and the Rosary.

Free From Rosary Army:

• Free All-Twine-Knotted Rosaries
• School of Mary
• Audio Rosary Podcast
• Video Version of this Episode

Subscribe to the Podcast:

• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts

Greg's Latest Book (God Doesn't Hate Me After All – Discovering Louis de Montfort's Love of Eternal Wisdom):

• Download Free Sample Chapters
• Buy on Amazon
• Buy on Audible
• Buy from Sophia Institute Press

More From Rosary Army and Greg & Jennifer Willits:

• Rosary Army Mobile App
• Greg's serialized novel
• Contact & Speaking EngagementsTimestamps