Hello! Thanks for your kind words!!!
I'm not very good at putting things into words, but I shall try! Where to begin...
My dad was born & raised Catholic, but he fell away from the Church in his teenage years. He married my mother, a born & raised protestant, while he was still away from the Church. My dad came back to the Church a couple of years after I was born. I was baptized in the Catholic Church, and my mom didn't go to her church very often, so I was basically raised Catholic. However, I am sorry to say that I grew up with no real understanding of the Church (unfortunately, the RE classes I took were poorly taught as well). As I grew older I became more resistant to any church, but (thank God!!) my dad made me go to Mass with him every Sunday and never gave up praying for me! So, last year I joined (with much urging from my dad and his family) the high school-age youth group at my church, LifeTeen. It has truly changed my life! It sparked the fire of my faith, and this year, around May, I met someone in LifeTeen who has changed my outlook on Catholicism. Her name is Esther and she is a convert, and so is very knowledgeable about Catholicism (she knew more than me when I met her!) She inspired me to make God and His Church the first and foremost priority in my life. So, over the past months, I have been learning as much information as I can about our beautiful Catholic faith, and have grown into a deeper relationship with God. I had never considered the religious life before, always wanting that Disney-princess-romance, but the more I read and thought about vocations, the more I realized that it really shouldn't be my decision. As our Holy Father Pope John Paul II said, "In the first place I say this: you must never think that you are alone in deciding your future! And second: when deciding your future, you must not decide for yourself alone." And so lately I have been considering the religious life, because the best gift that I can give God is my life, totally & completely dedicated to Him!
proud2bcatholic-I like your username!
No, unfortunately I don't go to St Tim's (I wish though!) However, I go to XLT( Xtreme LifeTeen or eXaLT) every Tuesday, which is hosted at St Tim's Academy, and Matt Maher plays live there every week! <3 He is so awesome and a huge inspiration! (So are Msgr Dale, Matt Smith, Mark Hart and Tom Booth!) Anyways, I attend St Jerome's in Phoenix. I think I may have heard of St Anne's though!
Thank you everyone for your comments, I feel really welcome here!
God bless you!
Angela
