What women want The Prodigal Daughter

Feb 16, 2006

“Oh, she’s a ‘fallen-away’ Catholic.”  “No, she’s Catholic in name only!”

In my conversations over the years, I’ve heard and regrettably used these phrases when describing a friend’s stance on a controversial issue or when rationalizing a loved one’s behavior. 

Fortunately, about a month ago, I attended a luncheon with some Religious Sisters who reminded me that as we develop our catechesis and understanding of Church, we must also consciously couple that knowledge with love.  If we do not increase our love as we increase our knowledge, we are likely to fall into patterns of self-righteousness, condescension, judgment and intolerance of others.

The truth shot straight to my heart as I was listening to these wise women.  How could I be so injust in my judgment of acquaintances, friends, even loved ones?  Had I forgotten how merciful God had been and continues to be with me? 

All of us, as sinners, have turned our back on God’s love in one way or another.  However, like the prodigal son, we can humble ourselves and run to our compassionate Father who awaits our return home with great anticipation.

In the book, “Prodigal Daughters,” author Donna Steichen recounts the personal testimonies of seventeen women who left the Church to seek autonomy in the feminist movement, the sexual revolution, New Age spiritualism, or through chemical abuse and academic skepticism.  Each found her way home to the Catholic Church after an incredible journey from apostasy to repentance.

Steichen’s book opens with a passage that depicts Blessed Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, urging his followers to welcome the repentant prodigal son.  He told the congregation not to judge the man because “he may yet become an Augustine, while you remain mere mediocrities."

What a fundamental reminder that repentant sinners are as likely as anyone to become the greatest saints!  In Luke’s Gospel, the father exclaims, “we must celebrate and rejoice, because [my child] was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (32).   Just as this father celebrates the return of his son, our Heavenly Father rejoices with every soul that returns to Him.

As women committed to building up the kingdom of God, what are we doing to bring others back to the fold?  Do we allow self-righteousness and judgment to paralyze our ability to reach out to the lost daughter? 

We battle many distractions that lead us away from the Church and the truth.  Radical feminism, “reproductive rights” propaganda, the pursuit of vanity for its’ own sake, and rampant gossip circles are just some of the distractions diverting women today.  They undermine the inherent dignity owed to women and as a consequence distort the view we have of ourselves, others and our world around us.
 
We need to firstly recognize these enemies of the truth.  Then, with compassion and love, we must reach out to our lost sisters. 

In Steichen’s book, Juli Loesch Wiley, one of the prodigal daughters, wrote a touching and humble prayer that we should make our own.  She wrote:

“If a person without love is somehow given the gift of Truth, she can become its enemy even as she propounds it.  Because any message given by a person manifestly driven by ego, a person prone to meanness and pride is bound to repel us.  The loveless truth-teller makes the truth repulsive.  So I am full of fear when I ask God to grant me the truth.  Will I be granted it, only to discredit it by my sins, my weaknesses?  Will I inoculate people with a bit of truth only to make them immune to it by my failings? 

O God, first make me a good person, a virtuous person, a loving person.

Then give me the truth.” 

Just as those Religious Sisters had exhorted, we must marry knowledge and truth with virtue and love.  Otherwise, we will lack credibility with those who need to hear the message the most.

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