Faith
HAKESLEY
Published Work
My writing has been featured in several media outlets including Our Sunday Visitor, The National Catholic Register, The Ruth Institute, and Made in His Image. I am also the author of Glimmers of Grace: Moments of Peace and Healing Following Sexual Abuse available from Our Sunday Visitor. In this book, I share what I have learned about the gifts God wants to give victims throughout their journey of healing. Practical, personal, and versatile, Glimmers of Grace accompanies readers step by step from acceptance to true freedom.
From the Back Cover
It started with a Tootsie Roll.
The day then-18-year-old Faith Hakesley was to testify in court against the well-liked Catholic priest who had raped her, a court guard pressed a Tootsie Roll into her hand. It was the first glimmer.
The little piece of candy reminded her of the Scripture about "faith the size of a mustard seed," and this bit of encouragement, by way of the guard, but really from God, gave her the courage she needed to endure the trial.
In Glimmers of Grace: Moments of Peace and Healing Following Sexual Abuse, Faith shares what she has learned about the gifts God wants to give victims throughout their journey of healing. Practical, personal, and versatile, Glimmers of Grace accompanies readers step by step from acceptance to true freedom.
In each reflection, you'll explore the healing gifts God offers, including:
-
Hope
-
Kindness
-
Perseverance
-
Self-compassion
-
Joy
Each reflection includes a gratitude prompt, positive affirmation, achievable to-dos, and journaling questions to help you embrace each gift. Like Faith, you can learn, slowly but surely, to see where and how God is speaking to you and find hope and healing after sexual abuse.
Glimmers of Grace can also help spouses, friends, loved ones, or anyone who works with abuse victims gain perspective and understanding.
"Glimmers of Grace is a powerful book and tool for victims of sexual abuse. The author, a sexual abuse survivor, offers small and great glimmers of grace to guide the reader to find grace, healing, and freedom, as well as to overcome fears and harmful thoughts, to build trust again, and to gain control of their life. I recommend this unique devotional, which contains a journaling component, for victims of sexual abuse and those in counseling roles."
--Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle. EWTN TV Host, international speaker, and award-winning and best-selling author of more than thirty books, including: The Kiss of Jesus, Family Consecration to Jesus Through Mary and Mother Teresa and Me: Ten Years of Friendship
"Faith Hakesley wants to be a friend, companion, and instrument of grace as God guides readers on a journey of healing. A survivor of clergy sexual abuse, she writes with graced vulnerability for others who suffer. Readers who take this devotional with them on their journey will doubtless be blessed with abundant "glimmers of grace", as Hakesley calls them - moments of light, touches of joy and consolation, little revelations of God's loving presence. Hakesley has produced a real gift for hurting hearts, and a testament of the possibilities of God's healing."
--Rev. Thomas Berg, author of Hurting in the Church: A Way Forward for Wounded Catholics
Editorial Reviews
"Child sex abuse is a plague, potentially creating a lifetime of trauma and wounded relationships. Catholic clergy sex abuse has led people abandon the Church because they feel that God has abandoned them. Faith Hakesley is that rare person who has survived Catholic clergy sex abuse, and who still loves the Church and her teachings. This devotional will bring encouragement and hope to other survivors, their families and anyone who wants to help them heal."
--Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D., Founder and President, The Ruth Institute
"Throughout history, at moments of real crisis in the Church, the Lord has raised up witnesses who are able to provide a powerful corrective. In "Glimmers of Grace" Faith Hakesley provides just such a heroic witness. She offers practical steps to victim survivors from the perspective of a person who has experienced clergy sexual assault first-hand. Saint Pope Paul VI said "the world no longer listens to teachers, it listens to witnesses." This book is a desperately needed witness of how to move forward from clergy sexual assault while still praying and working for justice."
--Father John Hollowell, priest of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis