title: Faith, Doubt, Mystery: A Catholic Journey
author:  James J. Tracy 
description: <span>"</span><span>In an account of remarkably unsentimental</span><span> </span><span>honesty, Tracy charts his falling away from the Jesuits and his eventual adoption of another life altogether. His memoir</span><span> </span><span>has no villains, no convenient turning points, and no cheap theatrics; instead, he limns the entirely more believable and</span><span> </span><span>sympathetic changing of a person's heart over time. The result is a quietly powerful revelation of personal--and, despite</span><span> </span><span>everything, spiritual--reinvention.</span><span> </span><span>A sympathetic but unflinchingly honest testament of indoctrination and embattled faith.</span><span>" <i>Kirkus Review</i></span><br /><br />Tracy's memoir is moving account of his path from Catholic childhood to Jesuit life to where he stands today. His honesty invites readers to search for meaning in their own lives.<br /> Peter Ely, S.J., Vice-President Mission and Ministry, Seattle University<br /><br /><span>James Tracy's <i>Faith, Doubt, Mystery</i> features challenges of faith and challenges of the heart. In the end, this amazing tale is intelligently told and finds redemption in unusual and rewarding places.</span><br /> <span> Charles R. Cross, Author, <i>Heavier than Heaven</i></span><br /><br /><span>In <i>Faith, Doubt, Mystery, </i>James Tracy has written a well-tempered memoir, one that will ring true to anyone who has undergone a crisis of faith. In retracing the steps of his journey as a Jesuit seminarian, he manages to evoke that peculiar affection we feel toward our own younger, more idealistic selves. Tracy's trek is a small victory for us all.</span><br /> <span> Gary Miranda, Author, <i>Listeners at the Breathing Place, Grace Period</i></span>
zlib_text: FAITH AND CERTITUDE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THOMAS DUBAY. S.M.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## FAITH
  
  
  ## AND
  
  
  ## CERTITUDE
  
  
  IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Cover by Roxanne Mei Lum
  
  
  With ecclesiastical approval  
  © 1985 Ignatius Press, San Francisco  
  All rights reserved  
  ISBN 978-0-89870-054-1  
  Library of Congress catalogue number 84-80910  
  Printed in the United States of America
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  
  
  Because the seriously intended word wells up from our deepest recesses, its
  limitations easily escape the notice of its author. I am therefore immensely
  grateful to three friends who gave generously of their time and talent in
  improving the typescript by ridding it of many defects. Sister Mary Vincent
  Fritton, S.C.L., once again passed her sharp eyes over these pages and freed
  them of small typographical errors. Father Carl Telford, S.M., contributed his
  theological expertise in his evaluation of content, while Sister Margaret Mary
  Kingsley, S.N.J.M., improved the text with her insightful literar