I must confess that I normally find myself a bit wary when priests write about women's experience, but despite this I was pleasantly surprised by Fr. Wilfred M. Sumani's text, Mothers of Faith. This book comes out of the African theological tradition, taking primarily a narrative approach to motherhood in the Christian tradition. It is divided into four parts: the first three provide the stories of these mothers—from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and subsequent Christian history—while the final part is a reflection on motherhood as a theological analogy.

In the introduction, Sumani frames his work clearly in the African tradition. His key point, however, is that “motherhood is one of the most theologically fertile human and Christian experiences” (xv), and that we do not have to turn to science or psychology to understand this experience because religion, and especially, in this case, the Christian tradition, have their own resources to draw on. One thing to note is that in this text Sumani brings together a variety of traditions and sources to analyze the theology of motherhood: biblical texts, Christian theology, African traditions, and—importantly—his own conversations with mothers.

The chapters in the next three parts are primarily narrative, and all have the same basic structure: an introduction to the mother being discussed, a narrative that tells their story, a reflection on the theological import of and what we can learn from that story (though this is sometimes not distinguished from the narrative), a conclusion, and a prayer that draws on the themes and models of the mothers in question. There is no consistent length to these chapters, some of them—like that of the Virgin Mary—are much longer than others. In the first two parts the narratives incorporate modern biblical scholarship that helps to contextualize the mothers historically, and the writings of Church Fathers help both to interpret and to enhance these stories. What is especially good about this section is that the narratives help to give a voice to these mothers, which can become lost by itself in the biblical text. Sumani often speculates on their thoughts and feelings—for example, the difficulty and inconveniences “of having to deliver one's first-born son in a squalid environment,” as Mary did (142). These are aspects of the biblical narrative that are not explicit and too easy to overlook. In this way, Sumani is approaching the biblical text through Ignatian contemplation, helping to draw the reader into the story itself. This allows him also to rehabilitate, in some ways, mother figures, like Eve, who have garnered primarily negative interpretations over the centuries. Overall, these chapters would help to enhance the experiences of undergraduates when read alongside the biblical texts themselves, provide helpful reflections in a parish setting, or offer material for personal reflection, especially by mothers.

I was, however, less impressed by the theological reflection on motherhood that comes in the final part of the text. Sumani divides this part into four chapters, looking at aspects of motherhood in the three Persons of the Trinity in relation to earth. He begins this part with an introduction on the use of analogy in theology, almost a preemptive defense of what he is about to do in the following chapters. What I liked most in these chapters was his drawing on African traditions to enhance Christian theology and reinforce the ways in which we can understand God as Mother. What I disliked is the reliance on traditional and stereotypical characteristics of women and mothers for this theological analysis. For example, I would really hate to think that things like comfort, care, and protection are characteristic only of mothers and not of fathers. Finally, what is missing in this part is a chapter on the church as a mother, although this concept is mentioned earlier in the text. It would also have been nice to have more connections made between the narratives in the first three parts and this final part. However, my critique here is primarily a critique of Sumani's theology in these final chapters, and so does not take away from the overall value of this text as a narrative theological reflection on motherhood in the African and Christian tradition.