A Nod to Mustardseed Mentor Lisa M. Hendey, Founder of CatholicMom.com

Roxane Salonen highlights CatholicMom.com founder Lisa Hendey, whom she interviewed recently for her 'Matters of Soul Importance' podcast. 

I was a young mother in 2000, the year my friend Laura died at age 39. Grieving this great loss, I wrote to her mother and shared all the things I loved about her daughter. And I’ll never forget her reply: “We can never know everything about a person, and how many lives they’ve touched.”

At that time, I was still so attached to my little ones, I suppose, that I couldn’t imagine a day when they would be out in the world affecting others without me knowing. Only later did I realize how brief a time our children are with us, and how profound their effects could be.

I’m thinking about this now as I ponder how one life can make such a profound difference, one “Yes” at a time. There are few, perhaps, as fitting to highlight in this category as Catholic Mom’s founder, Lisa Hendey.

Lisa is someone I consider a “Mustardseed Mentor,” because she has done so much in the years she’s lived so far to mentor others. Lisa has traveled the world through her ministry as a Catholic mother, wife, writer and speaker, but it all started so simply — with a desire to help her children grow in their Catholic faith.

Recently, I had the privilege of interviewing Lisa on my podcast, Matters of Soul Importance, for an episode titled, “Can I talk to Jesus in the grocery line?” If you have a chance sometime soon to listen, I can almost guarantee you will leave feeling more hopeful and inspired than when you started. But for those short on time for now, please journey with me a few minutes to allow me to introduce the Lisa I’ve come to know.

As I write this, it strikes me again that, without Lisa, so much of my own life as a Catholic mother and writer may not have developed to the extent it has. I’m now pushing 58 years old, but in the last 30 years, I have left a trail of articles, radio interviews and talks behind me, in numbers that would have been inconceivable to me back when I first met Lisa, not long after CatholicMom.com was founded.

The Gift of Gratitude

I still remember where I was the day the package came in the mail. It was from Lisa, who, though she couldn’t pay me for the first published piece I’d written for this new website, wanted to give me something for my time. It was a T-shirt that referenced this new endeavor of hers that I had now joined as a contributor.

It encouraged me that she cared enough to say thank you. It made me realize that on the other end of the computer screen where I’d submitted my piece, there was a real person who was just another mom who wanted the best for her family, and who saw me. Up to that point, I’d received a fair amount of rejections from attempts to break into the publishing world, and with each, doubts came. But Lisa helped revive my hope that maybe this gift I felt I’d been given was real, and could someday help someone else.

It’s stunning to me to think back to that day and wonder, what if she hadn’t said “Yes"? Would I have given up, concluding that I really didn’t have anything to offer? CatholicMom.com has always been an apostolate, and never a paying gig, so I’ve never received a penny for my articles here, but I have received bundles of encouragement that has made a difference. I also have made several connections that have led to significant outcomes.

Without Lisa, I would not have been led to co-author Redeemed by Grace, the story of Ramona Trevino, a former Planned Parenthood manager. It was through a connection with Lisa that that book contract with Ignatius Press ultimately transpired. But even more importantly, during that collaboration, Ramona and I developed a deep friendship that continues to this day. So, Lisa helped open up an opportunity in my writing, but even more, she brought a new and dear friend into my life, which is even more valuable than a book.

Mentoring Through the Miles

But here’s where I continue to be impressed. Despite all the worlds Lisa has traveled, and all the people of renown she’s met in those journeys, she remains a humble soul who is invested in helping others. For instance, after our interview, when the recording was done, she asked how my writing was going. She was interested in my life and communications ministry and expressed this authentically. Despite that she has exceeded what I ever could in my own career, there were no pretenses — only two Catholic moms exchanging updates and celebrating what God has given us through our vocations.

I am calling Lisa “Mustardseed Mentor” here because I am by far not the only person she’s impacted through her natural mentorship. Two years ago, at the first CatholicMom.com retreat for writers, I met and befriended Jennifer Thomas, another CatholicMom.com writer who has been greatly influenced by Lisa. I know there are piles of others out there who have been graced by encountering her.

Growing the Kingdom from the Kitchen

As for the “Mustardseed” part of that title, it’s somewhat self-explanatory, but still incredible, to consider how Lisa’s eagerness to share Jesus with others has spread — from her kitchen where she served her young sons macaroni and cheese to the expanse of world she’s touched since then.

Of course, this idea comes from the Parable of the Mustard Seed in Scripture, in which we hear Jesus declaring,

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown, it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” (Matthew 13:31-32)

How many birds have perched in Lisa’s branches, which started small, but have widened as her love of God and the Church have expanded? How many souls needing reprieve can we make room for in our branches, day by day?

But here’s the real lesson in all of this. Lisa was just an ordinary mother with a big heart. And she wasn’t, nor is she now, perfect. Certainly, she made mistakes along the way like we all have, and doubted herself at times, too. But it never stopped her from trying, and from seeing others’ hearts, and doing what she could to respond. And if Lisa can do that, so can we.

I’m grateful that, despite some health trials Lisa has experienced, as she shares in the podcast, I am not speaking of her in the past tense. She is still very much here with us, and after some quieter years, has been back in action lately, doing what she does best — connecting, writing, loving and listening. I really do think you’ll be inspired by our conversation, as well as by her devotional book we were promoting: Jesus Every Day, Jesus Every Way.

Now, go and grow with God, like that mustard seed, every day, and in your own unique way!

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2026 Roxane Salonen
Images: Canva