Monday, September 16, 2013

Mornings with Mary: My Journey


our angels dressed for their baptism:
Derek Hunter, Alison Blair, Charles Herbert II (aka Chip)

A reader commented on this post
about a possibility of a story.
So here it is.  I hope the reader
is not disappointed.


My searching for somewhere to worship God
began when I was in grade school.
I went to church with various 
friends.
I did not find my place till I was in junior high school.  

The name of the house of worship
was Avondale Methodist Church.

Sunday mornings I went to Sunday School,
then church, and come evening time, 

I attended MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship).
I was also active in the church choir.
Later, as an adult my momma reminded me that 
I had considered converting to Catholicism.  
But I had told her that it sounded too hard.
Oddly, I have no memory of this,
but there is no reason for her to tell me that

and it not be true.
This Methodist church continued
to be my home base

up through the time I was married.
Then my husband and I switched to the 
Methodist church that was close to our home, 
also it was his sister and brother-in-law's church.
We stayed there till our babies were born.
Still at age 2, our oldest and his siblings
were not baptized.  
Neither of us

wanted them to become
members of the Methodist church

because both of us
had become disappointed in the

lack of spiritual nourishment we needed.
In the meantime, we had become good friends
with a Catholic couple. I loved how
they interacted as a family-
prayer time, kindness, 
a general openness to loving others.

So I asked about taking instructions
in the Catholic faith. 

I was introduced to Father Grady, 
the assistant pastor of St. Mary Church.
Father Grady continued my instructions 
until he received a transfer to another parish.  
So that I could continue, 
he notified Father Schultz 
at St. Lawrence to instruct me.
So, even before I was baptized,
I started going to Mass.
(Instruction then was different.) 
The first time I went to Mass,
I felt as if I were home!
Even with not knowing Latin,
I was warmed by the essence
of what was taking place.
About a year later,
 Father Schultz baptized me.  
The following afternoon 
the assistant pastor baptized our three children.  
Their Godparents were our Catholic friends 
who started me on this road.  
My husband agreed that our children 
would be brought up Catholic.
So this church became our home parish 
until I started teaching at St. Mary in 1986.  
My conversion to the Catholic Faith 
began at St. Mary, 
continued at St. Lawrence
 and at this time, 
I have gone full-circle 
whereas St. Mary is my place of worship.  
And I am glad.





Our fourth child, born in 1970,
was baptized on Chip's birthday.





Pictured here is a pen and ink drawing
of St. Mary Church and other buildings
including our school campus.
done by an architect Mr. Tony Costello.
When the prints came out,
my student-teacher gifted me with it.



lovingly linked
to 
Rebecca's


7 comments:

  1. Blessings and have a nice Monday, thank you for stopping by my blog

    Much love...

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a story! As a former Methodist, I can feel some of what you felt...

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thank you for sharing this piece
    of your life story Norma...I was born
    into a Catholic family and it is interesting
    to hear from someone who chose it for herself.
    (these are the things we could talk about
    while walking in the morning)
    ♥ ♥

    ReplyDelete
  4. dear nonnie,
    we take many journeys in life, but none carry such import as our spiritual path. thank you for sharing your footsteps on the path of love.
    p.s. your children are beautiful!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Nonnie, your story gave me goosebumps! What a blessing to have found your spiritual home. Your circle of women at the well sounds wonderful - another blessing and gift in your life - a spiritual community is more family than one's own sometimes. blessings to you and may you have a lovely week

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Nonnie,

    What a loving story of your yearning for God. Our paths to His love can be a long and complicated (and sometimes torturous)one. Your post has implanted in me a germ of an idea to write about my own journey.

    Love,
    Annie

    ReplyDelete
  7. I give thanks to each of you for taking the time to comment. I continue my journey with the help of people like you who give me encouragement. God bless each of you.

    ReplyDelete

Bless you for your comments.