ABOUT ME

Name: Antonella Garofalo

About Me

I was born in Naples (southern Italy). The Amalfi coast is my favorite place in the world and I miss it very much. The color of the water, the rocky landscape...have you ever been there? If you have, you'll understand. I don't really miss anything else about Italy, not even the food...of course here at home we cook our own food and  are good at it!  My husband is Italian, a retired philosophy teacher. We have a 22 year-old son who also studies philosophy and is an atheist. We moved to the USA eleven years ago.
I was raised in a watered-down Catholicism and I sympathized with Buddhism in my youth. I returned to Catholicism at the age of fifty (five years ago... so now you know how old I am!). If you want to know more about my conversion, read my Witness to Communion and Liberation.
I'm a figurative artist and a restorer of antiques. I can translate from English into Italian. I like to write in both languages, but I must apologize for possible errors in English.
 I wrote a book based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and, if this is God's desire, it will get published one day. The Exercises consist of imagining oneself in ancient Palestine as one of Jesus' followers. I was fascinated by this idea, and that's how "On the Road to Jerusalem" was born. The book is made up of two different stories which intertwine, forming a narrative fabric. The discourse runs smoothly from the spiritual journey of a first century Jewish woman named Anya, to my own spiritual journey. Anya is an imaginary character and her story is told in the third person. She leaves her husband and her son  to follow Jesus, but she lives a conflict between her emotional attachment to her family and her longing for a spiritual dimension. She finds comfort in her friendship with Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, Andrew and James. She witness many miracles and is struck by the magnetic force of Jesus' message.
Each Gospel account is seen through Anya's eyes and is followed by memories of my life as an Agnostic. While Anya's story is told in a rather poetic style, the main characteristic of my narrating voice as a twentieth century woman is my sincerity. Writing in the first person, I share compelling reflections about my past and my newborn faith, so that the reader may feel the deep impact that the presence of Jesus has on my life.
The second theme of my personal story is my relationship with my husband and son. Our passionate discussions reflect many well known objections to the faith. My son often paraphrases modern hard-core atheists, presenting me with the opportunity to refute them.

But let's go back to a more frivolous subject, such as my taste in  movies and books. Well, I became fond of most of them when I wasn't a believer, so you might desagree with me. But what can I say, my taste hasn't changed and I  still like them!


My favorite movies: