The Unfinished Table: 12 Woman Who Affect My Life Journey

A WOMAN’S PLACE
IS HERS TO CHOOSE

“In this collection of short meditations, veteran New York City priest James Sheehan celebrates women he has had the privilege of getting to know over his many years of life and pastoral ministry.

“None of the women we meet in these delightful vignettes are conventionally famous or powerful; but, as Sheehan’s recollections reveal, all of them are followers of the Gospel who have made a difference in his life, in the lives of their families and neighbors, and in the life of the Church writ large. Writing with his signature verve and robust humanity, Fr. Sheehan invites us to encounter the wholesome holiness of just a few of the millions of flesh-and-blood women who make up the true substance of the church as the Body of Christ.

“Sheehan’s reverent respect for these ordinary but extraordinary women undergirds, as well, his prophetic challenge to the Catholic Church that he and they have served with such loyalty and grace: to reform currently restrictive Church teaching and practice so that in the future, women’s gifts can be fully exercised in all areas of its leadership and life.”

—Christine Firer Hinze, Professor, Theological and Social Ethics,
Fordham University

“A superb collection of insightful and incisive portraits of women and their relationships with their faith and a Catholic priest.”

—Carolyn Kost, Feminist and Former Professor of Religious Studies

“When will the men in power realize that the women have left the Garden of Eden a long time ago—and can lead.”

—Sister Margaret Treacy, RSHM, International Missioner and Educator

“Jim Sheehan is one of the best feminists I know. He is a man who refuses to stay on the sidelines as women are overlooked for life-giving care in the Catholic Church.”

—Ruth Wooden, MA, Director, Encore Transitional Program,
Union Theological Seminary