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4.5
If you've seen "The Journey Home" on EWTN, AKA Eternal Word Television Network, the global Catholic network, you know exactly what to expect in this book by the host of the show, Marcus Grodi. At least I thought I did. I eagerly await this show because I love to hear conversion stories, and also spiritual struggles, even with dark nights of the soul. To me, these stories are far more human than newscasts, they say far more about human quests, struggles and joys. So what would this book be? Transcripts of the show? A sort of "Best Of" gleaned from the show, a page turner excerpting the most riveting then-and-now transformations?Not really. This is quite a broad selection, with some very short and other rather long pieces. I was surprised how much humor some of them had. The book begins with Marcus Grodi's own story, which seems like a good opening point. However, most of these tales don't follow the classic conversion story format of "I once was blind, but now I see". They're more properly considered journeys, because some of the paths home are very circuitous (which is what keeps us reading). Most of the authors don't accentuate the negative: "See how blind I was?" in order to contrast the positive; they mostly just tell it like it is (or was). I found the calm tone engaging and refreshing.As anyone who's seen the show knows, Marcus Grodi has a rather specific ministry of helping clergy and their spouses "come home", although the rest of us get to look in. His goal is to provide information, fellowship and support, not to "prod, push or pull" but to let people make their own decisions. I quite realize this still looks like Catholics swiping converts out of other churches, including pastors of other denominations. All I can say is look at it the other way. There is no religious, political, fraternal, or social organization you can name that isn't full of (and possibly run by) ex- or lapsed Catholics. A great thing about books like this is that they give readers a chance to look in on things Catholic being discussed from all angles and a prism of views.One thing I find humorous is that when Evangelical Protestants decide to convert, for one reason or another, they lose none of their fiery enthusiasm, and retain their evangelistic zeal. I can't help think this makes lapsed cradle Catholics wonder if they're missing something (this book would say they are). Convert priests draw out the homily until it resembles an Evangelical sermon. They love to point out how full the Mass is of the Bible (three readings per service), and get excited cross-referencing passages and introducing even more. While there's a gathering movement to make Latin Masses more available (and as this happens readers will see how wonderful this "dead" language really is), at the same time, youth at folk Masses are singing the same praise songs as the neighborhood non-denominational fellowship (and their numbers are growing as more and more adults come alive to this medium of praise).So this book was not what I expected. It's better. It's an antidote to everything instant, unfolding instead a journey. And not one journey, but many, which meander through diverse pathways. And if the distinctions between denominations seem merely mystifying, it's interesting to have them explained by professional clergy who have themselves to weigh which differences matter and which don't. I found interesting the stories by cradle Catholics who left the Church and later returned. What, for them, was different? One of the most interesting stories is by William Cork, formerly Seventh Day Adventist, and who briefly lived at the interdenominational community associated with Franciscan brother John Michael Talbot. He provides a lively overview of the history of Adventism, another denomination with an intriguing history.So it's not really conversion stories, not really apologetics, not really religious philosophy. But beneath the sedate cover lies, in my opinion, something better: true life stories of people wrestling with the sort of questions we all do, and finding, against all odds, a way home.
