Rejoice Always: Cultivating Joy with Six Saintly Companions

Maria V. Gallagher discovers laughter, love, and a closer relationship to the Lord in the new book by Catholic Mom contributor Sheri Wohlfert.

Rejoice Always: Cultivating Joy with Six Saintly Companions

By Sheri Wohlfert

Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor

The road to heaven can be filled with potholes. The situation can bring us to tears, but, under the right circumstances, it can also lead to laughter. 

Author Sheri Wohlfert has a tremendous gift — she can find the funny in a number of situations and, while she’s doing it, provide some incredible spiritual insights. 

Her new book, Rejoice Always: Cultivating Joy with Six Saintly Companions (Our Sunday Visitor, 2025), is a pure joy to read. Sheri mines the fields of everyday life and discovers an array of spiritual gems. She accomplishes this feat with a healthy dose of humor which makes this book a delight to contemplate. 

The book offers the reader six gifts to explore: joyful love, joyful suffering, joyful trust, joyful prayer, joyful humility, and joyful peace. Each gift is personified by a holy guide: Saint Marianne Cope, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, and Saint Gianna Beretta Molla.  

God’s Love Cannot Be Earned 

Sheri notes that her observations about the spiritual life have changed over the years: 

I spent decades thinking God’s love had to be earned by completing a checklist of tasks. I was under the ridiculous notion that getting to heaven was my work and that it was evaluated as homework handed in at the end of the day. It wasn’t until I let out a loud cry to the Lord, asking him to show me who he made me to be, that I understood the power of his grace, the depth of his love, and the stunning beauty of his joy. That’s when my life changed. (p. 10) 

Resting with God  

Sheri’s reflections are down-to-earth, yet amazingly meaningful and original. She can take an ordinary rocking chair and turn it into the central theme in an extraordinary meditation: 

In the slow, gentle rhythm of the rocker, I was able to soak in the beauty of my surroundings. I was able to soak in the presence of those rocking with me. I was able to just be still, shut up, and take it all in. When I think about it, I was really seeing God and his goodness in the Texas prairie and the West Virginia mountains and the Clinton County corn and the heavy eyes of sleepy babies. I felt the love of God as I laughed and prayed with family and friends. In a rocker I am reminded of the slow and gentle ways God is part of the rhythm of every moment of every day. The trick, however, is to slow down and recognize it. (pp. 182-183) 

A Vehicle to Drive You Closer to the Lord 

Sheri is the kind of author you wish you could sit with on a warm summer night and with whom you could share smiles, laughs, and thoughts about the Lord and his abiding love. Her devotion to God is infectious and makes Rejoice Always a pleasure to read. 

Rejoice Always came into my hands at a critical time. I spent four hours of Good Friday sitting in my car, waiting for a tow truck to arrive. Then I read in Rejoice Always that suffering is a “vehicle” for getting to heaven. Coincidence? I think not! 

Whatever tough times you are going through, Rejoice Always can lift your spirits, calm your anxieties, and draw you closer to the Lord. It is one of the finest spiritual books I have had the opportunity to read this year.  

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 Maria V. Gallagher
Images: Canva