She heard the call as a young girl growing up in a loving Mexican American family in Los Angeles, California. Then after high school, Rosie Robles joined the convent and became a Catholic nun. She enjoyed spending decades serving the Church, leading retreats, comforting people in hospice, and even counseling a man on death row.
Then Rosie followed her heart to leave her religious community and embark on a new life, ultimately marrying and enjoying family life while continuing to serve people with her spiritual gifts.
Now, in her engaging and inspiring memoir, Memories of My Life: Reflections of a Former Nun Led by the Spirit, Rosie shares her inspiring life story.
The book includes a Foreword by Rosie's cousin, Cheech Marin, the Hollywood movie star and comedian in "Cheech and Chong" films.
Though she expresses her reverence for God and the divine throughout the book, Rosie does not sugar-coat her religious experience. She writes candidly about how the Church hierarchy and parishioners alike restricted her as an ambitious and talented woman in the religious patriarchy, and how she questioned the existence of God. She also reveals incidents of inappropriate behavior by priests toward her, and how she counseled women who had been abused by priests.
All the while, Rosie's witty storytelling escorts the reader along a unique trajectory during which she formed deep friendships, trusted God's guidance and grace to lead her path, and enjoyed life's simple pleasures.
Rosie also writes about the beautiful, lifelong love that her parents shared, and how she and her husband Ron and a care team kept them happy and comfortable until they went to heaven.
This book is sure to warm your heart and renew your faith!
