Equipping Catholic Families with…Book DeBriefs is a series of book reviews on awesome Catholic books published by Franciscan Media* and its imprint Servant Books, both offering excellent spiritual reading to boost prayer life, devotion and Faith.
When We Were Eve: Uncovering the Woman God Created You to Be
by Colleen Mitchell
Order your copy today at Franciscan Media
This is such a powerful and thoughtful book reflecting on women as God created us to be (before Eve bit the apple), contrasted with the damaged and disordered body image that most of us have inherited throughout our lives. “We are walking back to the Garden of Eden together and trying to remember who we were when we were Eve, living naked and unashamed…”
Each chapter explores our experience of faith and our bodies as women, asking a poignant question and revealing the mystery and meaning of women’s inherent dignity through various women in the Bible.
The author’s personal stories and those shared by other women certainly strike a chord of familiarity and they guide and prompt us to reflect and relate them to our own experiences. Scripture readings, journal prompts and reflection questions help us to prayerfully explore and apply what we have read. The book would be well-suited to a Women’s Book Club!
I love the questions the author asks about Eve’s first thoughts and experience of being a woman…and later the first thoughts and experience of Mary, as it was revealed to her that she would be the Mother of God. Each chapter introduces another woman in the Bible, reflects on what she must have been experiencing and how her response brings us further insight into our dignity as women. While Original Sin wounded Eve’s body image and we tend to follow in her footsteps, the book also gives us hope, recognizing God’s Plan for us as women. We can reclaim this dignity through humility and grace and faithfulness modelled for us by holy women in the Bible.
The last part of the final chapter includes prayers and meditations to help us make peace with our bodies, receiving every grace and blessing and reclaiming the dignity God intended for us as women.
In my eagerness to write this review, I did rush my reading through the chapters a bit. I know that there is much more for me to absorb from this book’s exploration of identity, authentic self-care, joy, sexuality, embracing vulnerability, suffering and Eternity…when I read it again!
*I have received these books in exchange for my honest review.
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