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Prodigal Daughters: Catholic Women Come Home to the Church
In this memorable book, seventeen women of the Baby Boom generation tell their poignant personal stories of apostasy and repentance. Each left the Catholic Church to seek autonomy and fulfillment on the major cultural battlegrounds of this era. Each eventually turned homeward to find, like her prodigal brother in the best-loved of Christ's parables, that her Heavenly Father had been calling her throughout her absence, watching and yearning for her return. Feminists in the bureaucratic networks of Catholic dissent continually predict that women will abandon the Church en masse unless they are soon admitted to the hierarchy. The women who recount their experiences in this timely and important book prove the dissenters wrong. They are representative of a growing stream of "reverts" who have recognized and repented of their errors when they rediscovered the living heart of Christ at the center of the Church. Today, when virtually all faithful Catholics wait and pray for the return of some family member or friend who has strayed from the Church, these accounts of faith reborn offer hope and direction to lift the heart of every reader.
358 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 4, 2008
Started this on the 5th of September 2000 and finished it 15 days later. The Parable of the Prodigal Son is my favorite parable and so I was really excited when I saw this book about 17 women -- some famous, many not -- who left the Catholic Church for one reason or another and then found their way back. It's a compelling book; I heard myself in many of those women's stories. A must read for anyone who has wandered or knows anyone who has...and isn't that just about all of us?!
September 18, 2024
THE STORIES OF SEVENTEEN WOMEN "REVERTS" WHO RETURNED TO CATHOLICISM
Donna Steichen is a Catholic author and journalist, who has also been active in the Pro-Life movement. She has also written 'Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism' and 'Chosen: How Christ Sent Twenty-Three Surprised Converts to Replant His Vineyard.'
She wrote in the Introduction to this 1999 book, "From unrequited love, it is said, we learn how God must feel... All the stories in this book are recollections of His courtship... Most of the ... writers [in the book] were affected by the prevailing climate of rebellion, as well, though overt feminism was seldom the principal cause of their defections. Instead, the movement of these women away from the Church most often began in unexamined conformity to society's attitudes... Their stories make it plain that when they left the barque of Peter, the authors were uprooted, scattered, disoriented... But wherever they went... their Father never stopped seeking them...
"These women are representative of a vital movement in the Catholic Church today, a current running counter to the flood of contemporary corruption. A vigorous and growing stream of humble believers is seeking to join the Body of Christ in its fulness, despite shocking scandals, casual betrayals, and self-serving deceptions committed by some who should have been their heralds. Many prodigals are coming home, so many that they have been tagged with a categorical level as 'reverts.' ... we should not be surprised if 'reverts' do not yet constitute a majority of the younger generation. Yet the writers in this book... constitute... a yeast in the measure of flour that can eventually leaven the whole of society." (Pg. 9, 14-17)
One of the writers recalls meeting a more "traditional" Catholic: "What did she have that I didn't have?... I couldn't believe it. In the whole feminist movement I had never met a woman who seemed as happy as this one... Her ideas were her own, but they were always based on some God-given principle. Having no other gods kept her life simple and focused: she viewed all the world through the lens of the one true God. Now, I saw, THAT was freedom." (Pg. 106)
Another remembers, "The Mass seemed to me, then, like a meeting of the 'Do Gooders Club.' The prayers evoked no sense of the sacred, and the ritual demanded no acknowledgement of the majesty of God or the existence of the supernatural. The point of it all seemed to be: 'Try to be a good person.' To me, it was the liturgical equivalent of 'Have a nice day.' Frankly, I wasn't interested. One Sunday morning, in my teens, I simply locked myself in my room and refused to go to Mass." (Pg. 115)
Another recalls hearing a tape of Scott Hahn describing his conversion: "I could see that the claims of the Catholic Church were entirely sound. The afternoon that I heard Dr. Hahn's tape, I practically danced around my living room. So many things made sense at last. Questions that had been open for years now closed, as I learned that one can make a firm and permanent choice if one uses reason along with faith... within days of hearing Dr. Hahn's tape, I returned with joy to the Church." (Pg. 144)
Another recounts a conversation with her mother: "'How would you feel if I left the Church for a Bible church?' I asked her... she gave me the answer that was to change not only my life but the lives of many others as well. 'Before you leave,' she said, 'You should find out what it is that you're leaving.' Then she told me some of her reasons for her conversion to Catholicism... Everything Mom said that evening made sense, and my thoughts of leaving the Church were at least neutralized." (Pg. 259)
Not nearly as "stimulating" as "Ungodly Women," this heartfelt book will be of most interest to those thinking of leaving, or of returning to the Catholic Church.
Donna Steichen is a Catholic author and journalist, who has also been active in the Pro-Life movement. She has also written 'Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism' and 'Chosen: How Christ Sent Twenty-Three Surprised Converts to Replant His Vineyard.'
She wrote in the Introduction to this 1999 book, "From unrequited love, it is said, we learn how God must feel... All the stories in this book are recollections of His courtship... Most of the ... writers [in the book] were affected by the prevailing climate of rebellion, as well, though overt feminism was seldom the principal cause of their defections. Instead, the movement of these women away from the Church most often began in unexamined conformity to society's attitudes... Their stories make it plain that when they left the barque of Peter, the authors were uprooted, scattered, disoriented... But wherever they went... their Father never stopped seeking them...
"These women are representative of a vital movement in the Catholic Church today, a current running counter to the flood of contemporary corruption. A vigorous and growing stream of humble believers is seeking to join the Body of Christ in its fulness, despite shocking scandals, casual betrayals, and self-serving deceptions committed by some who should have been their heralds. Many prodigals are coming home, so many that they have been tagged with a categorical level as 'reverts.' ... we should not be surprised if 'reverts' do not yet constitute a majority of the younger generation. Yet the writers in this book... constitute... a yeast in the measure of flour that can eventually leaven the whole of society." (Pg. 9, 14-17)
One of the writers recalls meeting a more "traditional" Catholic: "What did she have that I didn't have?... I couldn't believe it. In the whole feminist movement I had never met a woman who seemed as happy as this one... Her ideas were her own, but they were always based on some God-given principle. Having no other gods kept her life simple and focused: she viewed all the world through the lens of the one true God. Now, I saw, THAT was freedom." (Pg. 106)
Another remembers, "The Mass seemed to me, then, like a meeting of the 'Do Gooders Club.' The prayers evoked no sense of the sacred, and the ritual demanded no acknowledgement of the majesty of God or the existence of the supernatural. The point of it all seemed to be: 'Try to be a good person.' To me, it was the liturgical equivalent of 'Have a nice day.' Frankly, I wasn't interested. One Sunday morning, in my teens, I simply locked myself in my room and refused to go to Mass." (Pg. 115)
Another recalls hearing a tape of Scott Hahn describing his conversion: "I could see that the claims of the Catholic Church were entirely sound. The afternoon that I heard Dr. Hahn's tape, I practically danced around my living room. So many things made sense at last. Questions that had been open for years now closed, as I learned that one can make a firm and permanent choice if one uses reason along with faith... within days of hearing Dr. Hahn's tape, I returned with joy to the Church." (Pg. 144)
Another recounts a conversation with her mother: "'How would you feel if I left the Church for a Bible church?' I asked her... she gave me the answer that was to change not only my life but the lives of many others as well. 'Before you leave,' she said, 'You should find out what it is that you're leaving.' Then she told me some of her reasons for her conversion to Catholicism... Everything Mom said that evening made sense, and my thoughts of leaving the Church were at least neutralized." (Pg. 259)
Not nearly as "stimulating" as "Ungodly Women," this heartfelt book will be of most interest to those thinking of leaving, or of returning to the Catholic Church.
June 19, 2013
The women who wrote these accounts are baby boomers like me and I identified so much with their stories. I am not Catholic, but the conflicts with secular society were similar for me as a Protestant and God's love and redemptive gifts are the same to all Christians. I read some parts to my husband and it hit home with him, too. It brought back many memories of the 60's and 70's and sheds more light on the struggles of women who could no longer accept some of the doctrine feminist groups and the radical left were espousing. I didn't know how much Vatican II had changed the church and I grieved with them for the losses.
April 3, 2008
I really enjoyed this stimulating book I read for our book club. I learned there is always hope that those who have left the fold will return.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews