{"id":10880,"date":"2026-10-08T04:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/?p=10880"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:32:13","slug":"a-love-that-keeps-expanding-mary-ann-mahoneys-life-of-spiritual-motherhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/a-love-that-keeps-expanding-mary-ann-mahoneys-life-of-spiritual-motherhood\/","title":{"rendered":"A Love That Keeps Expanding: Mary Ann Mahoney’s Life of Spiritual Motherhood"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”full_width_content” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” bg_image=”10881″ bg_image_type=”default” bg_position=”center center” background_image_loading=”default” bg_repeat=”no-repeat” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”20%” bottom_padding=”8%” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” row_position_desktop=”default” row_position_tablet=”inherit” row_position_phone=”inherit” overflow=”visible” color_overlay=”#4d748b” overlay_strength=”0.8″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”padding-12-percent” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”left-right” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” column_padding_type=”default” gradient_type=”default” content_layout=”default”][vc_custom_heading text=”A Love That Keeps Expanding: Mary Ann Mahoney’s Life of Spiritual Motherhood” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:center|color:%23ffffff” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”5%” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” row_position_desktop=”default” row_position_tablet=”inherit” row_position_phone=”inherit” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” shape_type=”” gradient_type=”default”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”right” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”10881″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”][nectar_single_testimonial testimonial_style=”basic” text_color=”#3C1D5E” quote=”I fell in love with Jesus. The fact that he loved me blew my mind, and I wanted to do everything in my power to show him how much I loved him.” name=”Mary Ann Mahoney”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”padding-2-percent” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”left” flex_gap_desktop=”10px” column_element_direction_desktop=”default” column_element_spacing=”default” desktop_text_alignment=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_backdrop_filter=”none” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”3\/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text css=”” text_direction=”default”]Mary Ann Mahoney can still picture the pew:\u00a0Second\u00a0from\u00a0the left, Shrine of St. Anne\u00a0Parish in Arvada, 9:00\u00a0a.m. Mass\u00a0every Sunday of her childhood,\u00a0the\u00a0Christmas Day blizzard of 1982 included.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her family’s\u00a0fidelity\u00a0to\u00a0never missing a single Sunday Mass\u00a0set the pattern for a life that has since taken her from a Chinese mission field to a preschool classroom\u00a0and now toward a vocation many\u00a0Catholics\u00a0may have\u00a0never\u00a0even\u00a0heard of.\u00a0If you ask Mahoney what she does at Spirit of Christ Parish\u00a0in Arvada, she’ll tell you about falling in love with Jesus at sixteen, and how everything else\u00a0\u2014\u00a0the teaching, the tutoring, the youth ministry, the music, even the quiet work behind the sound booth\u00a0as an A\/V volunteer \u2014\u00a0follows from that one answer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Everything about my view of God changed when I went on a Teens Encounter Christ weekend as a junior in high school,” Mahoney said. “I fell in love with Jesus. The fact that\u00a0he loved me blew my mind, and I wanted to do everything in my power to show\u00a0him how much I loved\u00a0him.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That love sent her\u00a0to China\u00a0a few years later\u00a0as a missionary,\u00a0encouraged by\u00a0the late Monsignor Ken Leone. She\u00a0planned\u00a0to stay just long enough to “get that\u00a0\u2018missionary thing\u2019\u00a0out of my blood,”\u00a0she said.\u00a0She\u00a0stayed\u00a0six years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When she came home, Mahoney prayed about where to land and felt pulled toward high school youth ministry. That was 25 years ago, and\u00a0she’s\u00a0still there.\u00a0That same pull toward accompaniment eventually led her into OCIA ministry, walking alongside adults\u00a0becoming Catholic.\u00a0She plays guitar at various retreats and at Mass at Spirit of Christ once a month. When not serving at Spirit of Christ, Mahoney teaches preschool, something she describes as a calling first and a job second.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ask\u00a0her\u00a0why she keeps saying yes to one more ministry, one more commitment, and she\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0make it complicated.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“To whom much has been given, much will be expected,” she said, referencing Luke 12:48. “God has given me a lot, and the least I can do is use all\u00a0he has given me to serve\u00a0him by serving others. Also, selfishly, serving God brings me so much joy! Who\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0want that joy!”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Underneath all of the teaching, the music, the missions\u00a0and\u00a0the ministry is a discernment\u00a0that’s\u00a0reshaping how Mahoney understands her entire life.\u00a0Four years ago, Father\u00a0Trevor\u00a0Lontine\u00a0asked if she had ever considered the vocation of consecrated virginity. She\u00a0hadn’t. She\u00a0didn’t\u00a0even know what it was.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“You certainly can’t discern something you don’t even understand,” she said. “I began to explore what it was, and I felt like I was reading what I had been called to all along.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mahoney had fallen in love with Jesus at sixteen and assumed, in the ordinary way, that\u00a0she’d\u00a0eventually marry and raise a family. What she found instead was deep satisfaction in loving children, serving the Church and loving Jesus.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Perhaps the biggest revelation is that God desires me,” she said. “I never felt like a man would desire me enough to want to be my spouse, and now I realize Jesus has been saving me for\u00a0himself all along.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That discovery\u00a0also named why Mahoney felt like\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0always been a spiritual mother.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“I love my students, my nieces and nephews, my godchildren, and all children in my life with\u00a0such a\u00a0deep love,” she said. “God has given me many, many spiritual children.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

People close to Mahoney often describe her as a Martha with Mary’s heart, quick to jump in and serve, slower to simply sit still. She\u00a0doesn’t disagree. Serving comes naturally to her; but her interior prayer life has taken years to build to where it is now. These days she tries to set aside time after morning prayer just to “be” with Jesus.\u00a0She’s\u00a0increasingly drawn to Adoration chapels, especially the one at Spirit of Christ, where she stops in after work to read, rest or simply listen.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mahoney traces much of her formation back to the priests who have walked with her over the decades, and that gratitude now fuels a steady prayer for more men to say yes to the priesthood.\u00a0As she discerns\u00a0consecrated virginity,\u00a0her eyes have been opened\u00a0to\u00a0her own unexpected\u00a0vocation, one she\u00a0somehow already recognized, one she traces all the way back to a teenager in a pew, falling in love for the first time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations, Mary Ann, for being named the Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal Disciple of the Month!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”20px”][divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”1″ divider_color=”default” custom_height=”10″][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”20px”][vc_column_text]Do you know someone who is an exceptional steward?\u202fNominate them here<\/a>, and they could become the next Disciple of the Month![\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”20″][vc_column_text]The Archbishop’s Catholic Appeal supports a wide range of ministries that are sharing the Gospel every day.[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line” custom_height=”20″][nectar_btn size=”large” button_style=”regular” button_color_2=”Accent-Color” color_override=”#f58320″ icon_family=”none” text=”NOMINATE A DISCIPLE” url=”\/give\/nominate”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Friendship to Faith: Behold Your Mother Ministry travels northern Colorado. Through a chance meeting at a Prayer in the Square event, Mike Phelan and Tom Morrini formed a friendship and ministry that has profoundly impacted Northern Colorado. United in their devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, they encourage deeper prayer in parishes and communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":10881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","content-type":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-everydaydisciples"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10880"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10883,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10880\/revisions\/10883"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archden.org\/give\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}