Jesus Heals: Finding Hope, Wholeness, and Peace

Karen Estep received the privilege of reviewing Allison Gingras’s new book in the Stay Connected Journals series from Our Sunday Visitor.

Jesus Heals: Finding Hope, Wholeness, and Peace

By Allison Gingras
Published by Our Sunday Visitor

A One-Pot Recipe in a Book 

Allison Gingras has written a new book from Our Sunday Visitor called Jesus Heals. It’s like a “one-pot recipe,” so to speak, when it comes to furthering our relationship with Jesus. It has prayers, Scripture, places to take notes so the reader can dive deeper while reading each chapter.  

I am constantly coming up with excuses for why I cannot take the time to dive deeper into Scripture. I repeatedly think, “I shouldn’t write in my Bible! I can’t carry my Bible, a journal, a companion, and whatever else I need everywhere!” My favorite excuse is, “I’m not smart enough to understand this!” Well, Allison is the excuse-maker's barrier breaker. She helps combine all of these into Jesus Heals so that we can take one book with us into our prayer time and be a friend to guide us into this study.  

How the Book Is Set Up 

In the introduction, Allison does a great job of breaking down what each chapter will look like;  

• Opening Prayer 
• Encounter with the Word 
• On My Heart: a section for writing down some thoughts 
• Encounter with Christ 
• An Invitation to Ponder: another section to write down your thoughts 
• Connecting with Scripture 
• An Invitation to Share 
• Closing Prayer  

This book can be used as an individual or with a group. What I love about having journal entries in books is that you can write down your thoughts the first time you read something, then the next time you read it, a new thought might form that connects everything! I do this daily when teaching the same lesson. By the time I get to my last class of the day and I have read the same thing a few times, the connections I have are outstanding! I love when authors do this already in books so we can continuously make connections as we read.   

A Great Book for Adoration 

I think this book would be a great choice to take with you into Adoration. As a mom constantly on the go, making time for Adoration is not the easiest thing to do. I also really stink at sitting in silence and not wanting to do something during Adoration time. About a year ago, I purchased another Stay Connected Journal by Allison Gingras and started working my way through it during Adoration. It was beautiful and really helped me feel connected in my time of prayer. Jesus Heals is no different. It’s lightweight, easy to pack in a bag, and has everything I need in each chapter.  

Guided by Messy Holiness 

The other thing I really enjoy about the way Allison Gingras writes is that it is like she is giving advice as a friend, a big sister, or an aunt. She lives her life messy but holy and brings us into it with her. I know when I pick up one of her books that she is presenting herself as a true authentic woman and her messy holiness is filled with grace and beauty. These qualities are what I am looking for when I read and ultimately qualities I strive to achieve. I know my life will not be perfect and with Allison’s guidance through her writing, I know that is truly OK!  

Jesus Heals will take you on a journey to recognize that Jesus is still healing today and He can help you heal to be a true woman of God. Our healing journey may have many steps, and Allison gently guides readers through prayer, Scripture verses, and reflection questions. When we recognize the areas of ourselves (our hearts too) that we need to let Jesus come into to heal, we can then be stronger women of Christ. Strong women in Christ are just what this world needs. Jesus Heals can help us all to become those women.  

Is this a book you'd like to read? 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 2025 Karen Estep
Images: Canva