Our Lady of Hot Messes
Getting Real with God in Dive Bars and Confessionals
by Leticia Ochoa Adams
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Pub Date Nov 11 2022 | Archive Date Jan 05 2023
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Description
Leticia Ochoa Adams met Jesus in a dive bar when she was eighteen years old.
She didn’t actually meet Jesus, but it was there where she first witnessed holiness in action. The bar’s regulars taught her about the importance of community, being honest about who she is, not giving up on people, and how to laugh—even when awful things happen.
In Our Lady of Hot Messes, Ochoa Adams tells the ongoing story of her redemption. At times funny and heartbreaking, but always gritty and unflinchingly honest, her story shows that no matter what you’re dealing with, God wants you to trust in his love.
The Tejana daughter of a single mother—a cycle she would repeat in her own life—Ochoa Adams was sexually abused as a child. She married after a two-week courtship and, eight years later, divorced her husband who struggled with drug addiction. In between she suffered a late-term miscarriage and had three more children back-to-back.
She always thought a dream life meant having a big house, kids, lots of money, and new cars. Since she hadn’t yet cracked the code for the American dream, “I turned to the person that every American woman turns to when looking for a way to make a better life for herself: Oprah.”
Watching the daytime talk show queen helped Ochoa Adams put a name to what happened to her as a child. But she was still searching for something more. Ochoa Adams was baptized Catholic but attended a small-town Baptist church growing up. When she reverted to Catholicism at age thirty-three in order to marry her second husband, Ochoa Adams was convinced that Catholics had all of the answers to life’s toughest questions. But she quickly learned that becoming Catholic didn’t mean she could just erase her bad choices and difficult past. And just when she thought she was getting her life together, her son, Anthony, died by suicide.
God, therapy, and caring priests helped her face her pain and heal her brokenness. She wants you to see yourself in her mistakes, learn from them, and realize along with her that even when we’ve put our trust in God—even if it’s begrudgingly—we still have to do the tough work to become the person God wants us to be.
“I still make mistakes,” she says, “but I’m trying not to live as a hot mess even when things around me are messy.”
A Note From the Publisher
Since the death of her son, Anthony, by suicide in 2017, she has focused her work being a witness to suffering and God’s healing. Ochoa Adams is a contributor to several books, including Surprised by Life, The Catholic Hipster Handbook, The Ave Prayer Book for Catholic Mothers, and Responding to Suicide.
She has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Holy Apostles College and Seminary. She has written for Our Sunday Visitor, The National Catholic Reporter, FemCatholic, The Catholic Herald, Patheos, and Aleteia. Ochoa Adams was a frequent guest on The Jen Fulwiler Show on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel, and has appeared on a number of podcasts, including Terrible, Thanks for Asking with Nora McInerny.
Advance Praise
“In her stories of suffering and survival, Leticia Ochoa Adams introduces us to a God who sticks around, even when we feel forgotten.”
From the foreword by Nora McInerny
“In a culture obsessed with social media–perfect posts, Leticia Ochoa Adams’s voice is a needed breath of fresh air. Her raw and honest story is a reminder that all people, regardless of their past or trauma, are loved by God even in the messiness.”
Alessandra Harris
Writer and author of Last Place Seen
"God bless this mess! Funny, engaging, haunting, and real—this is the book a growing Church needs. Ready or not, you’re gon’ learn today!”
Marcia Lane-McGee
Coauthor of Fat Luther, Slim Pickin's
“There is nothing more powerful and yet nothing that makes one more vulnerable than sharing a personal testimony. I was moved to tears and driven to see the Lord on my knees as I heard Leticia Ochoa Adams’s heart and its cry for answers. Through trial, loss, and pain she held on to the Hope Giver, who gave her hope and consolation. Wow! I cannot recommend Our Lady of Hot Messes enough. You will laugh, cry, and be drawn to God through every page. Thank you, Leticia Ochoa Adams, for your brutal honesty and for bringing hope to those who are struggling to find it.”
Fr. Rob Galea
Author of Breakthrough
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781646801503 |
| PRICE | $16.95 (USD) |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Lindsey C, Reviewer
This book was a wild ride full of heartbreaking events and ultimately the best hope for the future. I really didn't know what to expect from this book and it was the first time I've read something like it so far out of my normal confort reading patterns. Despite all that, Adams does an amazing job telling her story and having it be engaging and captivating.
April S, Reviewer
I am a convert to Catholicism so I am drawn to people's stories, especially where their Catholic Faith plays a big part in their life or helps them survive unimaginable events. I have long followed Leticia Ochoa Adams on social media and was very happy to be approved to read an ARC of her story.
Adams talks about her life in the book. Her childhood, her teenage years, and both being married and being a single mom. Just one aspect of her story is enough to make many people wonder how she still moves forward. When you put the whole story together and add to it the death of her oldest son, what is in the pages is a story that is heartbreaking, powerful, thought-provoking, and for Catholics in particular, an example of just what our faith represents and the power in living out the Catholic faith even when the last thing we want to do is talk to God.
I highlighted so many things in this book that struck me and cannot wait to see how this book resonates with other readers. Adams gives us a chance to get a big look into her life and how events in her own life have shaped her into the person she is. Her story is a reminder that we have have event that have shaped us. The important part is what we do with those events, what we allow our lives to be as a result.
I voluntarily received a copy of this book from Ave Maria Press. All views are simply my honest opinion.
Maureen B, Reviewer
Ms. Ochoa Adams is honest and real and her witness and style would appeal to many people. The vulnerable sharing by the author of her families background, experiences, triumphs and tragedies is moving . insights that she has gained while getting healthy are awesome. In the trenches ,every woman point of view and no fear of touching on hard topics make this author relatable .written in a very impact ful way while also !making the reader feel like they are sitting around the table listening.
Susan I, Reviewer
In this hilarious and heartbreaking memoir, Leticia Ochoa Adams reminds the reader that you don't have to be perfect or pure to be a Catholic--Jesus loves you in all your hot messness.
She talks a lot about generational trauma and how it informed her own life--which included sexual abuse from the ages of 5 to 9, teenage pregnancy, divorce, and her son's suicide. In fact, the suicide of her oldest child, Anthony, is a recurring topic throughout the book (for obvious reasons). That she has survived and even thrived, despite the difficulty of her life, is a testament to faith. Some more conservative Catholics might find some of her stories shocking, but she represents the best of the new Catholic church. #OurLadyofHotMesses #NetGalley
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