Fierce and Tender Love

In A Fierce and Tender Love, bestselling author, speaker, and theologian Timothy P. O’Malley invites us to contemplate Mary, as a model of tenderness, hope, and renewal, and as the Church’s first and preeminent disciple. As O’Malley writes, “Mary’s vocation is also to be ours. Like her, we are called to find our meaning and our identity most completely in the tender mercy of God revealed in the face of the Son.”

Through personal stories, spiritual reflections, and deep theological insights, O’Malley shows us how Mary, as the Mother of God, Mother of the Church, and Queen of All Saints, guides us to Christ, teaching us how to live as true disciples. Along the way, we learn what it means to belong to the Church, to journey together through history as a pilgrim people, and to play our part in the “revolution of tenderness” that Pope Francis speaks of—a movement rooted in the mystery of God becoming human in a virgin named Mary. O’Malley helps us to see that in this time of renewal and hope, Mary offers us the key to unlocking both.

The book offers seven thoughtful meditations on Mary’s life, including:

• The Immaculate Conception as a model of true freedom
• The Annunciation as the wisdom to trust God
• The Visitation as a source of enduring hope
• The Incarnation as the revolution of tenderness that changes everything
• The Seven Sorrows of Mary, showing us how she walks with us in suffering
• Mary’s motherhood of the Church, calling us to deeper discipleship
• The Assumption as a glimpse of our own future victory in Christ

These meditations help us to walk with Mary, aligning our lives with hers and discovering renewed hope in Christ and in his Church. Through O’Malley’s guidance, readers will see how Mary’s life offers a sure path for navigating times of uncertainty, suffering, and our world’s profound need for spiritual renewal.

Holy Mary, Mother of the Church, pray for us!

This book is part of the Engaging Catholicism series from the McGrath Institute for Church Life.