As I was reading this book, I kept thinking about "Rome, sweet home" (read it if you haven't). It is a very didactic book, meaning that it answers (along with Sister Lisa's journey) many questions about the Catholic Church and faith. Her path to becoming catholic and then a nun is also compelling and interesting, both for religious and non religious people.
Thanks Netgalley for my Arc!

Sister Lisa warmly describes her journey from an active Protestant to becoming a Catholic nun. She describes her early misconceptions, prayerful insights and what she learned along the way. She addresses many questions outsiders have about the practices and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. She provides encouraging advice for prayer, confession and baptism, and other sacraments. She’s humorous, self-deprecating and caring about her readers. Most importantly, she gently challenges anyone’s belief that Catholics are not Christians.

For her, a turning point was being asked, “Do you believe the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus?” (Or something like that.) Having learned some, she answers, “Yes.” And then begins her journey to learn more about the church and eventually to be involved with it. While this is mostly a memoir answering her questions, they are many left unanswered, such as:

What about the Eastern Orthodox Church which also has apostolic roots, and was once headquartered closer to Jerusalem in Asia Minor?
Coming to terms with the distinction between mortal (major) and venal (minor) sins—what Jerry Bridges calls “respectable sins”— how would she address Galatians 5.19-21 where Paul writes that even sins like jealousy, envy, greed, quarreling also disqualify us from heaven?
What is the scriptural basis for purgatory as a place for us to shed our burdens that hinder us from entering heaven?
While communion is a sign of unity with the Church (or church), why are only Catholics permitted to partake inside a Catholic Church, while many Protestant churches (not all) permit any believer to participate?
Sister Lisa describes how entreating (praying to?) the saints and Mary to intercede on our behalf is like asking friends to pray for us. How would she describe the human limitation of any saint to identify and pray for anyone when being “barraged” by hundreds, if not millions, of requests? Think Jim Carrey in “Bruce Almighty” movie. Perhaps it’s a spiritual mystery or ability that God has granted these special individuals but there’s no scriptural basis.

She acknowledges Martin Luther’s reforming push to change some of the Catholic Church’s practices, especially the “sola scriptura” (only scripture) foundation. There were many other reformers, including those who pushed for translations in more than just Greek and Latin (Septuagint and Latin Vulgate). Yet the church still has Latin masses at certain times, as if Latin was a language of the Christ and the apostles—Hebrew and Aramaic being ignored. Worshipping in Arabic—another Semitic language—would be closer if the Church wanted to harken back to its roots. Latin is the language of Rome, hence Roman Catholic Church. So I’m curious if she really researched the history and foundations of the church, why she didn’t end up with a different orthodoxy? Granted, I’ve not seen any of her TikTok reels so she probably has more answers to questions like this in public.

I’m appreciative of the publisher for providing an advanced copy.

I received a free copy of, A Rome for the Restless Hearts, by Sister Lisa Hezmalhalch, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Sister Lisa Hezmalhalch was a protestant before converting to Catholicism. I really enjoyed this book, Sister Lisa answered some great questions, people have about Catholics, like when in the church.

I was given a copy of A Rome for Restless Hearts by Sister Lisa Hezmalhalch from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a surprisingly dense book, considering how short it was. I think this worked quite well as an autobiographical guide of Hezmalhalch's life choices, with occasional advice meted in throughout the book about how she felt we, the readers, could interpret the Bible and what lessons could be gleamed in everyday life.

I picked this book because I was intrigued by how people in the modern age decide to become part of a religious order, and she answered these questions quite well. I wonder if there may have been a second writer who could have asked her questions. There could maybe be an additional chapter in this regard.

Overall, I was pleased that I read this and feel I have based my review on fulfilling some of my curiosity and having an overarching picture of religious life in this day and age as an alternate image to the world around us.

I’m a newbie Catholic, having been a Protestant all my life. It hasn’t been a straight forward path, and living in a small community, there hasn’t been a lot of people I can talk with about my journey. Protestant friends don’t normally understand my choice to follow this relatively unique path. Catholic friends have been Catholics all their lives, so also struggle to understand what seems odd or unusual to me. I hadn’t managed to find many books that were on my wavelength. Reading ‘A Rome for Restless Hearts’ was such a blessing. It felt like I had finally found that friend who had travelled the same path as me. Someone who had wrestled with issues such as Mary, Saints who aren’t really dead, purgatory, the role of women in the Catholic Church and what true unity in the worldwide Church looks like. Thank you, Sister Lisa, for sharing your heart, and providing encouragement to those of us who are travelling a similar path. It’s so lovely to have a companion on the journey.