About You:
Living Faith: Describe your vocation in life.
Amy Welborn: Disciple, open to using my gifts in whatever the present moment calls for, with family duties first.
LF: Give a brief bio.
AW: I’m the author of more than 30 books on Catholic life and spirituality, including five titles in the Loyola Kids series, The Words We Pray, Wish You Were Here and, most recently, The Great Adventure Kids Catholic Bible Chronicles. (Ascension Press.) I have five adult children and live in Birmingham, Alabama. Learn more at my personal blog, amywelborn.wordpress.com.
LF: Do you reach out to readers online via a website or social media?
AW: I’m active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Substack.
LF: Share a little about your ministry or daily work. (A day in the life looks like…?)
AW: My days are spent reading, writing and traveling—and waiting for people to travel to me. I have five adult children in various stages of life, and my primary duty is to be available to them, whether that means maintaining a home for returning college students or traveling to help with grandchildren, a move or a health situation.
My writing habits are barely that—but I do write every day, of course!
LF: How long have you been writing or when did you start?
AW: I began writing professionally in the mid-80s when I started writing a column for the Florida Catholic newspaper. After that, I wrote columns for Catholic News Service and Our Sunday Visitor. My first books were published in 2001—The Loyola Kids Book of Saints (Loyola Press) and Prove It! God—(Our Sunday Visitor)—both of which are still in print, I am grateful to say.
LF: What is the most difficult part of your writing process?
AW: Just getting started. Getting over the unconscious assumption that the first thing I put on the page has to be perfect. Every time, after all these years, I still have to work through that and remember, “Oh yes, you can revise this. It’s allowed. Encouraged, even.”
LF: How many books have you written, and which is your favorite? If you haven’t written a book, name a favorite that you’ve enjoyed.
AW: I’ve written over 30 books and booklet devotionals. I think my favorite is The Words We Pray (Loyola Press)—a collection of essays about traditional Catholic prayer.
LF: Where do you live today, and is that different from where you grew up?
AW: I live in Birmingham, Alabama for the moment. I grew up in the Midwest and the South, so it is not that different.
LF: Three words your best friend would use to describe you.
AW: “Compassionate, observant and open.”
LF: One additional thing you would want a Living Faith reader to know about you that we haven’t covered above. (A hobby, something silly or fun, an accomplishment, or an interesting fact?)
AW: I love to travel, especially alone!
About Faith:
LF: When did you first know that God loved you?
AW: I can’t name a “first” time, but a vivid experience of that realization came during my senior year (Catholic high school) retreat at the Jesuit Retreat House outside of Atlanta. In late-night prayer time in the Blessed Sacrament chapel (in typical late 70s style, strewn with pillows for sitting on the floor), I was seized by the truth of God’s love for me in a powerful way.
LF: Describe a prayer practice that is meaningful to you.
AW: Lectio Divina as well as the Mass. In the Mass, I am acutely aware not only of God’s presence but of my communion with God’s people in that space, all over the world and through space and time.
AW: As I said above, the Communion of Saints.
LF: What excites you about being a Catholic?
AW: The fact that this is the church founded by Jesus Christ. I am a student of history, especially church history, so I am very aware of the divergences and branches of Christianity, as well as of the flaws and sins of the Church. Despite all of that, I have trust in this Body—that this is what Christ founded, and in being communion with Him through the Church, I am on solid ground—and others can be too.
About the Bible:
LF: What’s your favorite Bible story, psalm, proverb or parable and why?
AW: The exorcism of the Gerasene Demoniac in Luke 8:26-39. To me, this encapsulates so much of the experience of faith—from every way. The possessed man lived among the tombs—in the world of the dead—until Jesus freed him. This is what Jesus does for us, chained by the power of death. But then, what do people do upon seeing what Jesus has done? They beg him to leave. They don’t understand. They can’t process it. They fear the light and life Jesus brings. This is an absolutely accurate expression of how we often react to grace, as Flannery O’Connor has told us many times through her stories.
LF: Do you have a favorite Gospel? If so, which one? Elaborate if you wish.
AW: Mark. I love the immediacy of it.
LF: If you could spend a day with a person mentioned in the Bible (besides Jesus), whom would you choose?
AW: Probably Paul. I find him—as he wrote in his letters—the perfect balance for a disciple’s life and perspective. He is very confident of his own gifts and role in God’s plan but also certain and forthright that anything good he does comes from the Lord. We often struggle with that balance and, more often than not, fall into the trap of celebrating ourselves rather than remembering the call to humility. Paul stands as a model for us in that regard.
About Living Faith:
LF: How long have you been writing for Living Faith?
AW: You tell me! I don’t remember…many years.
LF: Do you ever get to meet your Living Faith readers? What do you talk about?
AW: I do meet people, both online, when they email me or comment on the devotional, or in person when I speak. Quite often they share how meaningful the publication is to them, and I always like to hear that.
LF: What is one thing you love about Living Faith?
AW: I appreciate the evangelical orientation of the publication and the small package that allows it to be easily distributed. Great writers, too!
*The interview was edited for clarity and conformity to style. No meaning was altered in the process.
