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A review by sde
An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Teresa in Search of Love, Service, and an Authentic Life by Mary Johnson
3.0
Not sure what to think of this book. It was recommended by the director of our church, who was a sister herself - in a different order - to learn more about the Missionaries of Charity. Although this book was long, I tore through it. But it was sad. Although the author talks about instances of enlightenment and knowledge of G-d being with her, mostly she seemed depressed about being in the order.
The rules and the politics were crazy and the book was disillusioning. I understand why women from India joined the order - it is a way for them to get free from their situation, have some autonomy (paradoxically, since one of the rules of the order is to lose the sense of self), get some education and do good in the world. Given that many of the sisters were coming from the Indian culture, the roughness and strictness of many of the sisters made sense. But I never understood why this American woman would join the order and go to final vows. I wish the book had explored more of this beyond saying the author had seen an article about Mother Teresa in Time Magazine when she was in high school.
There were many other things that I didn't understand. Why was Niobe allowed to take final vows (why did she even want to?) given that she was a predator that didn't even seem to do much work or be very pious, but then Sister Donata was censured for "fornication" when she held a severely depressed sister on her lap?
The goings on behind the walls may have been shocking, but to me the most shocking thing in this whole book was the time when a priest told Sister Donata's superior what Sr. Donata said in confession. All other vows can be bent or broken, but the confidentiality of the confessional, in my mind, is the most sacred that there is. Why was this priest still allowed to be a confessor? Many in the order were worried about orthodoxy, but they weren't worried about this most egregious break with church rules?
I was reading this book while also reading [b:A Nun on the Bus: How All of Us Can Create Hope, Change, and Community|18085511|A Nun on the Bus How All of Us Can Create Hope, Change, and Community|Simone Campbell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396910117s/18085511.jpg|25396148]. Very different orders, extremely different experiences. Yet both women spoke often of feelings of transcendence and G-d speaking to them. Goes to show that there really are many different paths to the same goal. And now I understand the other side and how the investigation of the American sisters, started in 2012, could happen. The American sisters and priests portrayed in Sr. Simone's book are the ones that the MC's in Sister Donata's book were railing against. They even dabbled in Zen practices! So, I guess Mary Johnson's book helped me understand the wider global church, at least.
The rules and the politics were crazy and the book was disillusioning. I understand why women from India joined the order - it is a way for them to get free from their situation, have some autonomy (paradoxically, since one of the rules of the order is to lose the sense of self), get some education and do good in the world. Given that many of the sisters were coming from the Indian culture, the roughness and strictness of many of the sisters made sense. But I never understood why this American woman would join the order and go to final vows. I wish the book had explored more of this beyond saying the author had seen an article about Mother Teresa in Time Magazine when she was in high school.
There were many other things that I didn't understand. Why was Niobe allowed to take final vows (why did she even want to?) given that she was a predator that didn't even seem to do much work or be very pious, but then Sister Donata was censured for "fornication" when she held a severely depressed sister on her lap?
The goings on behind the walls may have been shocking, but to me the most shocking thing in this whole book was the time when a priest told Sister Donata's superior what Sr. Donata said in confession. All other vows can be bent or broken, but the confidentiality of the confessional, in my mind, is the most sacred that there is. Why was this priest still allowed to be a confessor? Many in the order were worried about orthodoxy, but they weren't worried about this most egregious break with church rules?
I was reading this book while also reading [b:A Nun on the Bus: How All of Us Can Create Hope, Change, and Community|18085511|A Nun on the Bus How All of Us Can Create Hope, Change, and Community|Simone Campbell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396910117s/18085511.jpg|25396148]. Very different orders, extremely different experiences. Yet both women spoke often of feelings of transcendence and G-d speaking to them. Goes to show that there really are many different paths to the same goal. And now I understand the other side and how the investigation of the American sisters, started in 2012, could happen. The American sisters and priests portrayed in Sr. Simone's book are the ones that the MC's in Sister Donata's book were railing against. They even dabbled in Zen practices! So, I guess Mary Johnson's book helped me understand the wider global church, at least.