{"id":21005,"date":"2023-09-02T16:52:47","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T21:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=21005"},"modified":"2026-02-09T08:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:16:14","slug":"sister-julias-memoir-now-available","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2023\/09\/02\/sister-julias-memoir-now-available\/","title":{"rendered":"Sister Julia’s memoir now available"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Forthcoming in April 2024, For Love of the Broken Body: A Spiritual Memoir <\/em>(Monkfish)<\/a> by Julia Walsh is now available for pre-order at booksellers such as Barnes & Noble<\/a>, Amazon<\/a> & Bookshop<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cJulia Walsh gives me hope for a future with religious women changing the world. She tells a story all her own,\u00a0but I felt her doubts, questions, and passion each step of the way. Highly recommended.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Sister Helen Prejean, author of\u00a0Dead Man Walking\u00a0and\u00a0River of Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFor Love of the Broken Body\u00a0is a beautiful, searching, searing book.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Liam Callanan, novelist, author of\u00a0Paris by the Book, winner of the Edna Ferber Prize<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA searing, riveting, surprising, challenging and ultimately inspiring work that asks some of the hardest questions a human being might face.\u201d\u00a0\u2014James Martin, SJ, New York Times Best-selling author of\u00a0Jesus: A Pilgrimage\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI laughed out loud, gasped, felt seen, and learned so much in this exquisitely written memoir. It is full of universal truths, questions, and doubts.\u201d\u00a0\u2014Marlena Graves, professor of spiritual formation, Northeastern Seminary; author of\u00a0The Way Up Is Down<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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“<\/em>This bold, stereotype-busting book is bursting with wisdom. It helps us turn toward our weaknesses, self-doubt, and anxiety and walk through these, with Love, into self-acceptance, self-kindness, and concrete love for others. Bravely coloring outside the usual religious lines by sharing her story frankly, Julia brings us into the brightest hope. Highly recommended!”\u2014Carmen Acevedo Butcher, poet and translator of Brother Lawrence’s\u00a0Practice of the Presence\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Cloud of Unknowing\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A questioning novice nun\u2019s coming-of-age story.

Readers will be moved to reflect on the universal human experiences of being broken and the pull to be part of something bigger than themselves.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the age of 25, just a month into her novitiate as a Franciscan Sister, Julia Walsh fell from a cliff and became disfigured. While working toward healing, she felt pulled to religious community life, but also toward unresolved feelings regarding her own sexuality, identity, and injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Love of the Broken Body is a story of pain, questioning, recovery, and discovery. What does it mean to exist as a broken body? Why would a young woman dedicate herself to the Catholic Church\u2014to a life as a Franciscan Sister\u2014while others are leaving churches in droves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of women choosing to enter religious life across the U.S. is shrinking rapidly, so Walsh encounters a lot of curiosity about her choice. In this memoir, she writes honestly about feeling drawn to men and to sex, as well as what it means, in this age of self-discovery and hook-ups, for a young woman\u2014physically broken and still very much attracted to the world\u2014to join a celibate, religious community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pre-Order the Book<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forthcoming in April 2024, For Love of the Broken Body: A Spiritual Memoir (Monkfish) by Julia Walsh is now available for pre-order at booksellers such as Barnes & Noble, Amazon & Bookshop. \u201cJulia Walsh gives me hope for a future with religious women changing the world. She tells a story all her own,\u00a0but I felt...","protected":false},"author":4071079,"featured_media":21017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[698756417],"tags":[],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-21005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-02-at-4.56.54-PM.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"
Sister Julia’s memoir now available<\/a><\/blockquote>