“I no longer felt alone”: Angela Sealana reviews My Peace I Give You

Catholic new-media expert Angela Sealana, who blogs at Inspired Angela, confesses today that she used to think of me as “that chastity speaker.” When she saw that I had written My Peace I Give You, a new book offering a Catholic spirituality of healing from childhood sexual abuse, her first reaction that it didn’t apply to her situation. Yet, she writes, “I wondered: Would the book do me any good?”

Her answer: “YES.”

God recently worked through a book to facilitate my journey towards healing and renewed hope.

Before dating my wonderful husband, I was involved in a poisonous relationship for over two years. That relationship still triggers painful flashbacks, and left me with fibromyalgia — the now constant physical reminder of the emotional stress I experienced for too long. …

When I began reading this book, I felt like I was fighting a solo battle to hide and forget wounds that constantly ate away at my peace. When I finished the book, I no longer felt alone. I became convicted that God wanted me to face my struggles, and that both He and His Bride the Church had victoriously preceded me in that encounter.

I strongly recommend this empowering book to anyone who has experienced pain and needs healing. [Read the rest in Angela’s blog entry: “If you hurt, read this book.”]

As I have said elsewhere, I believe that people who have suffered trauma as a result of abuse—particularly those affected by sins committed against the family and against the dignity of the human person—are going to be vital members of the next generation of Christian witnesses. Their witness will be particularly powerful because, having experienced their own Passion, they have risen to new life through faith in Christ. So I am very, very thankful, not only for the healing that Angela is experiencing in Christ, but also for her having the courage to share her witness with readers, so they will know that they too are not alone. That is how healing spreads!