My Faith Story
Hello everyone! Thanks for reading :)
As you can see there's a slightly new layout, due to a request that I put up more Bible verses.
The ones shown are some of my favorites, and I will add to the list as I find more favorites!
Ok, so to my faith story.
I have been asked by some why I have decided to write this blog in the first place.
A short, abridged version of why this blog exists is written on one of my first blogs here.
However, I was asked for a full version of it, so here it is:
My spiritual journey has taken many different twists and turns. I was raised Roman Catholic as a child, but when I got into late elementary school, things started changing. My parents did not want to go to Mass anymore, so we just didn’t go. We were “Christmas and Easter” Catholics for a while. It really made me not like church, so I usually brought a book to read during Mass. I still went to faith formation classes, but I did not like going. I thought that church was boring and not worth my time. I was definitely wrong.
In 9th grade, everyone who is to be confirmed performs in “Passion Play”. The play was like 3 hours long and performed during Lent. I was not looking forward to that either. I received a small part and was glad. During the middle of that experience, my friend asked if I would like to go on a youth group retreat with her. I didn’t really want to go, but she convinced me. That was the start of my newfound faith life.
I was so moved by what I learned on that trip. I met some good role models who helped me learn more about my faith. I learned that church can be fun and full of intense emotions. I was hooked on youth group after that. I went to every single event they had planned, and made a lot of new friends. I was glad to be in the “Passion Play”, and it was a great experience for me. It felt great to be part of a group that shares my faith stance, and I made lots of great friends that year.
Getting back into the swing of going to church was really hard. First of all, I didn’t know what to say at certain times during Mass, or why things happened the way they did. It was really difficult to follow others and try to understand what they were saying. Fortunately, there was a teaching Mass one night that I went to where I figured out what was going on.
After that, I experienced Confirmation. It was so awesome to take part in such a cool Sacrament. That same year, my youth group traveled to Missouri to take part in a youth conference with 3,000 other teens. That weekend was filled with intense moments for me. We had Eucharistic Adoration, Mass, and lots of praise and worship singing. It made me feel so empowered. I also experienced the Sacrament of Reconciliation after more than 5 years of not having received it. I felt so free and relieved after it was over.
I went on a bunch of other events, and still had a great faith life. One of those events was a mission trip. My church traveled down to Miacatlan, Mexico, a small town outside Cuernavaca, to help at an orphanage. We were not doing any hard labor, which was nice. Our job was to love the kids and teach them about God through bible school. We sang songs with the kids and did crafts. We also read them a Bible story every day. Even though we didn’t understand the words that were coming out of their mouths, we could just look in their eyes and see the love they were trying to express. At the end of that week, it was really hard to say goodbye to them.
That same summer, our church switched from being a Benedictine parish to an Archdiocesan parish. It was really sad to say goodbye to the Benedictines after having them around for 150 years. However, I was hoping that I would be able to go here for college and be blessed with the Benedictine spirit again.
This last summer, we went to Missouri again, and my faith life grew even more intense (this is where that first blog comes in). There were so many great speakers there that I just fell in love with the faith again. I felt like I was renewing my faith. Everyone at the conference was called to be a witness in Christ, to explain His love to other people. I have been doing that ever since. People love to ask me questions about Catholicism and question my beliefs through email. I love researching more into my faith and explaining it to them. This has helped me strengthen my faith because I am finding out more about other faiths at the same time and seeing how mine differs.
My family has not really been involved in my faith life recently. Sure, they used to drive me to church for faith formation, but that is pretty much all they have done lately. They are still “Christmas and Easter” Catholics, but a lot of people are at our church. It sort of makes me feel sad because there is so much to do at our church and with the faith, but they don’t like to talk about it. I have been told many times not to push anyone into the faith, so I usually just go with my sister to church.
I believe that my value system supports my faith stance, but also flows from it. Whenever I encounter a moral decision/viewpoint that I must make, I consider my faith as one of the key parts to my decision. It also works out that everything I believe coincides with the Catholic Church’s teaching. There are still times when I’m not sure what I believe, and in those moments I rely on the Catholic Church’s views to help support my decision.
However, my journey has just begun. I still feel like I am fairly new to the faith and all it has to offer. In my future, I plan on being a youth minister and helping others with their faith lives. I also hope to have a blog to answer people’s questions about faith because explaining it to someone really helps. However, that is in the future. Right now, I just need to live out my faith day by day.
Sidenote: This was written for my theology class, so the last couple sentences might not make the most sense.
I hope that you guys understand what I have been through now and see where I am coming from. If you have any questions/comments/concerns, feel free to post a comment on this blog or go here and I will get back to you.
Take some time to praise God today, amid this chaotic season of joy.
Your Sister and Witness in Christ,
Emily
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