2024 Year in Review
Celebrating our 5th Anniversary!
It’s good to “pause” every now and then and take time to reflect on how the Lord has been (and continues to be) at work in us and through us since our founding on January 28, 2019. After all, among a list of other notable endeavors, WE TURNED FIVE IN 2024! Here’s a look at what else we were up to as we continued in our mission to “Spread the Love of Jesus by Sharing the Stories of our Souls, One Intimate Moment at a Time.”
JANUARY 19 – 20
The World Is Noisy – God Whispers® 4th Annual Retreat
With conferences given by both Julia Monnin and Fr. Sean Wilson, we hosted our 4th Annual The World Is Noisy – God Whispers® retreat on the snowy weekend of January 19 & 20, 2024. Our theme for the retreat was “The Abyss of Christ’s Merciful Love.” We invited the group of men and women who joined us to “let themselves be drawn into the abyss of Christ’s merciful love” as we spent the weekend in prayer, silence, reflection, fellowship, Eucharistic Adoration, Mass, and Confession. “Come, seek the Lord in greater depths,” Julia encouraged those who attended. “Come, receive God’s mercy as you learn to trust more in the goodness of our Father.” This weekend proved to us that all time spent reflecting on God’s goodness, love, and mercy is time well spent!
FEBRUARY 19 – MARCH 25
ISBF Lenten Series:
The Patron Saints of JRM
FEBRUARY 27
our First Annual Almsgiving Appeal
This year we stepped WAY out of our comfort zone and asked 100 people to donate $480 (or $40/month) to our apostolate since (as I’m sure you know) running a non-profit does indeed incur some expenses. To be honest, we were sort of terrified to make this ask and to send out this appeal. But you know what? YOU RESPONDED! And, because of that, we were completely blown away by God’s generosity poured out to us through your hands. Thanks to the generosity of so many of you, our faithful supporters, WE REACHED OUR GOAL! “Thank you” doesn’t begin to describe the immensity of our gratitude but allow us to say it anyway. With heartfelt sincerity, WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT! We are becoming increasingly convinced that the work we are doing here is pretty special, and it is a great honor to be able to love and serve our Lord as we walk with so many amazing men and women through this apostolate. Again, THANK YOU!
MARCH 1
Season 7 of The World Is Noisy – God Whispers® Podcast
The first of JRM produced podcasts, The World Is Noisy – God Whispers® Podcast released its 97th episode in 2024 as host Julia Monnin continued to welcome special guests to the show and share her “behind the scenes” thoughts and ponderings related to the reflections found in her books. Included in the episodes released in 2024 are audio recordings of the six sessions of JRM’s “An Intimate Sharing Between Friends” Lenten Series on the Patron Saints of JRM. Click here to see the full list of all 97 episodes (and counting!).
APRIL 1 – SEPTEMBER 9
Ministry of Mothers Prayer Series
Julia Monnin joined the “Ministry of Mothers” group meetings for a 6-part series on Part IV (the section on prayer) of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This series was hosted by St. Augustine Church in Minster, OH and open to all women who were interested. Click here to learn more about this series and about how you can contact us to invite Julia to come to your parish to share this series with your group.
MAY 31
That’s a Wrap! – The Darting Through The Faith Podcast Records its Final CCC Episode
On May 31st, Fr. Sean Wilson and Julia Monnin released their final episode on the Catechism of the Catholic Church in their Darting Through The Faith Podcast. The two started this podcast in 2020 with the goal of making their way through the entire Catechism. They covered their last topic in May of 2024, reaching the end for which they began. It was a fruitful and formative (and, yes, even funny) four years. You can find the archived episodes here. If you’re looking for a good laugh, you can find a Blooper Reel of the podcast here.
JUNE 1
“Finding My Feminine” by Beth Dunn
On June 1st, we released our eighth JRM publication: Finding My Feminine by Beth Dunn. What a joy it was to celebrate this release with our newest author at Kenton Stories with Spirit in Maysville, Kentucky. Book Release Day always gives us many reasons to REJOICE!
Finding My Feminine is now available for sale on our website. You can also learn more about this book and about Beth at journeysrevealed.com/bethdunn.
JUNE 5
Pilgrim Letters by Audrey Weatherhead
In a new (but sort of old) way of “sharing the stories of souls,” we mailed our very first Pilgrim Letter in June of 2024. Pilgrim Letters is a monthly postal mail subscription in which Audrey Weatherhead, a young Catholic woman, writes about being a pilgrim on the journey to becoming a saint. Her handwritten letters delivered directly to the mailbox of subscribers offer “fellow pilgrims” an opportunity for an old-fashioned way of connection that is simple, beautiful, and off-line. You can learn more about and subscribe to Pilgrim Letters (or gift a subscription to someone you love) by signing up here. Or visit journeysrevealed.com/pilgrim-letters.
AUGUST 24
Day of Prayer at the Oratory of St. Mary Magdalene
On August 23rd, we hosted our very first “Day of Prayer.” Beginning with Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Botkins, OH we then traveled (by minivan) to the Oratory of St. Mary Magdalene in Fort Wayne, IN to spend a few hours with our Beloved Lord and King in Eucharistic Adoration. On our return home, we stopped for lunch and had a heartfelt discussion as we shared our lives of faith and encouraged one another on the journey. The day was a blessing for all!
September 19 – November 14
ISBF Fall Series: St. Mary Magdalene
In the Fall of 2024, we headed back to St. Lawrence Church in Rhine, OH for our next “An Intimate Sharing Between Friends” (ISBF) series. In this 8-part series on St. Mary Magdalene, the “Apostle to the Apostles,” Julia Monnin centered her talks on the book Saint Mary Magdalene: Prophetess of Eucharistic Love by Fr. Sean Davidson. We began our evenings in the hall at St. Lawrence Church with Julia’s presentation and ended each evening with a Holy Hour, complete with Eucharistic Adoration, in the Schoenstatt Chapel at St. Lawrence Church. On the final session of the series, Julia welcomed a few young women to join her in song as all were reminded of the beauty of authentic femininity and the most perfect example St. Mary Magdalene gives us of who “woman” is truly meant to be.
September 23
In Persona Christi Pilgrimage to Cincinnati
Joined this year by Fr. Andrew Reckers and our friends at Silver Cross Catholic Store, we once again hosted this pilgrimage as we journeyed via bus to the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains where the priests in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati are ordained and to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology the seminary where these men are formed. What a blessed day of prayer and fellowship! This was the second year in a row that we hosted this pilgrimage. Perhaps another offering will be added to the JRM calendar of events again soon!
OCTOBER 18
Celebrating Our 5 Year Anniversary
Officially established in January of 2019, we turned five this year. Praised be Jesus Christ! On Friday, October 18, we gathered to spend time together in thanksgiving as we celebrated our anniversary. We began with Mass at St. Lawrence Church in Rhine, OH with Fr. Sean Wilson, chaplain to the JRM board, presiding and with Fr. Jedidiah Tritle and Fr. Andrew Reckers concelebrating. Then we moved to the hall at St. Lawrence for refreshments, fellowship, and talks by Fr. Sean, Julia Monnin, and our keynote speaker Katie Englefield. Our hearts were (and still are!) filled with gratitude as we reflected on the countless ways God’s grace has been at work in us and through us during these first five years of our existence. And we THANK YOU for joining us on the journey. Click here to watch a short video highlighting this event and celebration.
NOVEMBER
Welcome to Flocknote!
In the Fall of 2023, after much prayer, discernment, and discussion, the JRM Board of Directors made the decision to “go off into the desert” and delete our Facebook pages. (This included both the Journeys Revealed Ministries page and the Julia Monnin, Author page.) This was not a decision that was taken lightly nor one that was made in haste. Weighing all the pros and cons (for years on end), we eventually concluded that Social Media platforms (like Facebook) are simply not consistent with our mission and purpose. As a result, in the Fall of 2024 (to prepare for our move off Facebook), we made the switch to using Flocknote as our main source of communication with those we’re connecting with. May the Lord be with us as we make this move to intentionally withdrawal from the world of Social Media, not to “escape” from it, but to better focus our attention on Him and on the person who is in front of us. Our Facebook accounts were officially deleted on January 1, 2025. To stay in touch with us, please subscribe to our Flocknote account at journeysrevealed.flocknote.com.
DECEMBER 25
The World Is Noisy – God Whispers® Blog Turns 10!
Wow! TEN YEARS!!! Five years before the official founding of JRM, Julia Monnin began “sharing the story of her soul” in her The World Is Noisy – God Whispers® Blog. She’s sent out over 450 reflections to her subscribers over the years through these weekly posts. To quote a footnote of hers found in Volume II of her writings, “I’m certain you won’t be surprised to hear that I did not want to [start a blog]. I had made up my mind that if I really was meant to share any of my writing with the public, then I would just wait to share it all at once when my book was actually in print. But [my spiritual director] was very persistent in his directive [about me doing so] and, after some time, I knew he was probably right about the matter. Besides, whether he was actually right or not, I had an obligation to proceed with what he was asking of me. So, out of obedience to him, I began sharing my journal reflections, one by one, with others. And this is when (and why) I started my blog.” Sharing some small glimpse of her soul nearly week after week for ten years straight, you can join in the reading and reflecting by subscribing to Julia’s blog here. As something to note for 2024, Julia’s most viewed post for the year (by far) was one entitled “In Sickness and In Health”; a post in which she asked readers for prayers as shared with them the sorrowful news that her husband of seventeen years was diagnosed (in the Fall of 2024) with Stage 4 Metastatic Adenocarcinoma. (This photo here is of the two of them in elementary school.)
As you can see from our 2024 Year in Review, we’ve been striving eagerly to make the most out of the many gifts and graces our good and gracious Lord has sent our way over the years. And we certainly don’t plan to stop serving Him as we grow in our love of Him anytime soon! In addition to all of the above, it seems noteworthy to mention that we sat down one-on-one with 28 people at 85 different Spiritual Companionship meetings in 2024. (You can learn more about this JRM ministry here.) We also had 14 meetings with 8 different people discerning the possibility of sharing their writings with others. Additionally, we spoke at 41 events in 2024 which connected us with over 1650 people. Oh, and lest we forget what is most important of all, we rooted all of these external works of service in prayer encouraging everyone we’ve been blessed to meet along the way to join us in invoking the intercession of our patron saints during our novenas leading up to their feast days throughout the year. In short, 2024 was a year unlike any other! We’ve grown. We’ve shared. We’ve learned. We’ve loved. We’ve journeyed. We’ve revealed. And you know what? God willing, that’s exactly what we’ll keep doing in 2025!
Do you feel called to join us in our mission? There are many ways to get involved, but please start by praying for us and for the fruitfulness of our ministry. The financial support we receive from generous donors is also deeply appreciated. There are significant costs associated with publishing books, hosting events, and providing the resources writers and speakers need to share the story of their soul. Click here to offer your gift and to learn more about what the future holds for us at Journeys Revealed Ministries.
To sustain our apostolate, our funding need for 2025 is $50,000. Do you feel called to help us reach our goal?