My Son, the Priest
A Mother’s Crisis of Faith
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“A beautifully written tale of spiritual growth.”—James Martin, SJ, author of the New York Times bestsellers Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Learning to Pray
Not every Catholic mother wants her son to be a priest.
The true story of a young man’s journey to become a Jesuit priest—written by his mother, a fallen-away Catholic who must come to terms with her son’s decision or risk losing him. It is an intimate, sometimes irreverent, and often searing examination of faith, family, and reconciliation.
“You send your son off to college and you think that in a few years you might get a call, and he’ll announce that he has someone he’s bringing home, someone he wants you to meet. But then that someone turns out to be a recruiter hawking a lifetime of poverty, chastity and obedience. What college kid in his right mind would sign up for that?”
The book offers a rare, often entertaining, glimpse into the highly unusual Jesuit formation process—which includes sending would-be priests off on pilgrimages with $35 in their pockets. It also takes on tough issues, from the church’s history of sexual abuse to its treatment of women, and asks tough questions: Is it possible to be Catholic, liberal, and a feminist all at the same time? What does it mean to call yourself a Catholic?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Gilger (coauthor of There's No Crying in Newsrooms) recounts in her candid memoir how her son's Jesuit ordination shaped her belief. Patrick decided in college to join the Jesuit order—a surprise for the author, a self-professed skeptic who'd grown up Catholic but raised her son mostly in the Episcopal church. As he progressed through his training, mother and son negotiated the damages wrought by the Catholic church, including its sex abuse scandals, and considered its worth as an imperfect institution that nonetheless provides "a scaffolding and community" for a Jesus-centered way of life. Gilger also grappled with the complex reasoning behind priestly celibacy, the place of ritual, and the role of women in the church. Her eventual return to Catholicism, she writes, was less a wholehearted embrace of the faith than a recognition of its value despite its flaws. Throughout, Gilger critiques Catholicism while leaving room for its mysteries ("I've given up trying to know everything, and I'm beginning to accept what I can't possibly know yet deeply feel"). Most affecting is the depiction of a mother's unflinching willingness to follow her son into unexpected places ("We went with Patrick, haltingly and stumbling at times, but we went with him"). This will strike a chord with Catholics who have questioned their own faith.
