Sometimes life can feel like being on a river. You float along and the current of the water takes you wherever it wants to go. Somehow, you feel like life is simply happening TO you. When things are hectic with appointments, work responsibilities, dinner, bedtime routines, laundry and grocery shopping — who has time to contemplate life?
Moving away from the frenzied big city introduced me to a much slower pace of living. My children had grown out of the nest and the demands on my time started easing up. I found myself looking around and asking “now what?”
Enter the Holy Spirit. My church asked me to help out. I always considered myself a good Catholic (e.g. went to Mass (almost) every Sunday, made sure my kids went through CCD, donated to the church as we could, etc.). Little did I know that “living Catholic” would mean so much more than that.
I got involved in faith formation classes, Bible studies, signed up to help with RCIA, started volunteering on various committees and met so many wonderful people along the way. I started to have questions about my faith — “Why wasn’t Jesus accepted by the Jewish elders?” “How are the old and new Testaments of the Bible really connected?” “Why was Jesus’ first miracle about a couple saving face at a wedding by not running out of wine?”
These questions drove me to ask more questions as I found more answers. All of sudden, I’m wanting to learn more and more. The Holy Spirit knew me so well — it engaged my curiosity and my heart came along for the ride.
The true transformation came when I decided to resurrect my old rosary and start praying it on a daily basis. At first, it felt awkward. But each and every day, it became less so. Soon, my prayer time was bracketed by quiet conversations with God. I had arrived at the core of what Catholicism is: an encounter, a relationship, a bonding with my Creator.
This is the journey I am on. Luckily, the Catholic faith is chock-full of layers — layers of things to know, understand, internalize, and reflect out to the world. I hope you’ll find it as interesting as I do.
Thanks for journeying with me!