By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
A Catholic couple has turned the page on heartbreak, something they attribute to God’s grace and fiction novels. Tyler and Sadie Woodley of Iowa City hope their story and their new book club will inspire Catholics and non-Catholics to connect with God in unexpected places. “Revisiting (our favorite books) through a Catholic lens helped us understand this new religion and each other in a new way,” Tyler said.
When Tyler and Sadie began dating more than 10 years ago, they bonded over a love of reading and a distaste for religion. Sadie grew up in a Muslim household but considered herself agnostic. The Christian church of Tyler’s youth left him with bitter impressions of hypocrisy and false piety.
The couple’s relationship began to break down a few years after their 2015 wedding. Sadie’s unexpected desire to learn more about the Catholic Church drove them further apart. “I started to think that the values I’d brought into this (marriage) were failing me,” she said. God’s grace, through Mary’s intercession, inspired her to participate in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) classes at St. Patrick Parish in Iowa City. Sadie and the couple’s children received the sacraments of initiation in 2022. Meanwhile, she earned a Master of Catholic Studies from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio.
Tyler struggled to understand his wife’s newfound passion for the faith, but reading and discussing secular books with Sadie helped him see Catholic values and his wife in a new light. “We were reading ‘Pride and Prejudice’ at the same time we were learning Ephesians 5 together.” In both texts, he observed men who could receive criticism from a love interest and fix the problem without becoming defensive. “For the first time we started talking about the Church’s teaching on marriage and family,” Sadie said. A year after Sadie’s confirmation, Tyler joined the Catholic Church.
Inspired by their journey, the couple discerned whether a Catholic book study on secular literature could serve as an evangelization tool and an opportunity for Catholics to explore the intersection of faith and culture. They felt called to develop a monthly, virtual book study where members could discuss characters and themes in relation to Scripture, catechism and the saints. “We want people to see that this is a beautiful way of life,” Sadie said of Catholicism, noting that novels can be a good starting point.
“Great Catholic Book Club” kicked off in January with a study and discussion on “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. The group opened with prayer and then read together an excerpt from the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” on the purpose of creation. Members discussed their thoughts on how the novel’s characters addressed various moral problems and how the story did or did not reflect a Catholic worldview. “We had a solid discussion,” Tyler said of the first meeting. “Everyone had something to say. Lots of deep insights.”
Each month’s meeting focuses on a different secular book that helped the couple on their journey to understand and embrace the Gospel. “Every one of these books beautifully illustrates some aspect of Catholic teaching,” Sadie believes. “Jurassic Park,” the couple’s June selection, touches on the importance of stewardship of creation, even though its author, Michael Crichton, was not religious, she said. “A lot of Catholic truth is hidden in plain sight in the secular culture.”
Lindsey Alexander, a member of St. Wenceslaus Parish-Iowa City, said the book club has encouraged her to step outside her comfort zone and find value in books she wouldn’t have considered reading otherwise. “The discussion questions are weighty and cause me to examine the story far beneath the surface level.” She appreciates that members of the group vary in age, situation and location, allowing for multiple perspectives and ample opportunity to gain insights from those with different life experiences. “The monthly online discussions have been a welcoming and safe place to share my thoughts and opinions.”
Antonina Guardiola of St. Wenceslaus Parish describes the book club experience as refreshing and fun. “The books chosen so far have been genuinely well written and engaging and the discussions we’ve had through the Catholic lens have been fascinating.”
Participants Nathan and Jenna Gibbs of St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Iowa City enjoy reading science fiction and thought the book club sounded interesting. “It’s fun to read thought-provoking books and engage in meaningful discussions about their themes from a Catholic perspective,” Nathan said. “Although the books are fictional, science and religion impact our real lives in so many ways. It’s nice to feel like you are growing spiritually while enjoying some truly excellent reads!”
Learn more about The Great Catholic Book Club at greatcatholicbookclub.com
