Springs of Water in a Dry Land - by Mary Jo Weaver (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"With imagination and insight . . . explores the desert experience of Catholic feminists to find the wellsprings of new spiritual awareness." --Anne Carr, University of Chicago

From the Back Cover

In the late twentieth century, women have made great gains politically and professionally, yet U.S. Roman Catholic bishops have failed for nine years to complete a single letter regarding the standing of women in the church. A Catholic woman can be a Supreme Court justice but she cannot be ordained; she can run a city or state but may not make her own reproductive choices without condemnation. Her daughter can play on a co-ed softball team but cannot serve on the altar on Sunday morning. Is it possible, then, to be a feminist and remain Catholic? For Weaver, the answer is yes. Though the words "Catholic feminist" may seem a contradiction in terms for many women, in Weaver's view they are a challenge to find new sources of spiritual nourishment, for women who are in exodus from the patriarchal church, and for women who feel they are in exile from the church that was once their home, Springs of Water in a Dry Land describes the spiritual options that have always existed for women and provides valuable guidance in keeping both aspects of a Catholic feminist identity intact. Weaver urges women to look for spiritual truths in places and ways sometimes overlooked. Her book points women toward an expansive Catholic spirituality that can be discovered within and outside of the Catholic tradition. The life and writing of Teresa of Avila, for example, inspire women to have confidence in their own relationships with God and to trust their own experience. In other chapters, Weaver examines the problems of women's ordination, and the possibilities offered by liberation theology, process thought, and Goddess spirituality. A God who desires relationship is revealed in the lives of women who are on themargins of the Catholic tradition. These women are pioneers, Weaver shows us, whose intuition and experience will lead them to find sustenance in old wellsprings, toward new ways of naming their spiritual home.

Review Quotes

One of our most insightful feminist thinkers, Mary Jo Weaver here charts the difficult spiritual terrain facing women alienated from their religious background but searching for alternatives within it. Liberation theology, Process throught, Goddess worship, male and female visionaries from the past, Catholic women's communities at the present time, issues of gender and ordination: all are explored with lucidity, tact, and intelligence. --Susan Gubar, co-author, The Madwoman in the Attic

"Beautifully written, and highly readable." --National Catholic Reporter