The late Father Kevin Joyce, a priest of the Diocese of San José in California, wrote about his own life’s testimony in his book, Surprised by Grace: A Spiritual Journey from West to East and Back. His stated, intended purpose is to “support those already on a spiritual journey and encourage skeptics and non-believers to take a gamble on God” (xv).

For the searching soul, one of the most striking features of the book is Father Kevin’s honest presentation of his own humanity, reminiscent of The Confessions of Saint Augustine. While the book intends to analyze and compare Christian and ancient Eastern mysticism, it does so in a way that fits within the overall story of a young, searching soul seeking direction and inspiration.

Young Kevin Joyce

Starting in his youth, Father Kevin shares that major influences throughout his spiritual journey include the constant intercessory prayers from parents, grandparents, religious, and spiritual friends. With great affection, Father Kevin recounts God’s gift to him of all the faithful people who guided and mentored him in life.

Father Kevin came of age during the post-war “golden age” of American culture and American Catholicism, a time of prosperity and cultural change. He entered formation for the Roman Catholic priesthood at the time of the Second Vatican Council. He left seminary in an age when “the focus was on social transformation and work on behalf of the disadvantaged — an essential part of Catholic teaching — but it became disconnected from its spiritual foundations” (24).

This book is for both young readers and their parents alike. Throughout the book, there are instances when Father recounts his own parents’ attitude to his own journey. “They had watched me pursue one new venture after another without coming to any vocational decision. I was deeply touched by my parents’ respect for my journey, even when they did not agree with some of my decisions. They never tried to push me in one direction or another” (193).

Encountering Eastern Meditation

Exposure to non-Christian meditation led the searching Kevin to seek the answers to questions within him. However, he ultimately decided to follow Jesus Christ (whom Father Kevin realized was his purpose in life, revealed through his meditation on the Gospels).

For those seeking clarity on the relationship between Christianity and other Eastern religions, Father Kevin’s book broadly outlines the differences between these, but the book is not a comprehensive primer on Eastern philosophy, by any means. Kevin set out to show how, in a secular age, this spiritual testimony provides wisdom from both the Asian East and the Christian West in a language understandable to the modern person.

A Brother Priest Reflects

As a pastor, seminary professor, spiritual director, and priest, Father Kevin intended this work for those discerning God’s call on their life. Father Kevin had to deal with questions about what to do with his life, especially after leaving the seminary in 1972, having eight years of priestly formation with the intention of pursuing marriage and a career in the world. After months of “intensive self-scrutiny, [he] still felt no closer to resolving these questions.”

As a brother priest with the heart of the Good Shepherd who labored in the same pastures of the diocese in which we are living and ministering, Father Kevin’s story is familiar and inspiring for me, my brother priests, and all our faithful alike. The echoes of his strong faith, convicted by the relentless love of God, ring loud for me as my own story unfolds.

Having now gone on to his eternal reward, Kevin’s love for Jesus and his church has eternal weight for us today. I often ask for his help as a pastor, disciple, and leader of the people who are on their way. Father Kevin has walked from Alameda to eternity, and I would imagine many will too after finishing the book.

Perhaps the most inspiring is his final sentence: “Even in the most painful happenings of our lives, for those with hearts filled with faith in the God who created us, we can experience the reality of Grace and the invincibility of Love.”