Second year of high school.
Everything was going great for me: I was a straight-A student, on the varsity basketball team, was the youngest in my ballet class to start toe shoes, and my family and social lives were going great. Perfect, right? Well, it wasn’t.
I attended church, but never paid much attention—I didn’t think I should have to…I felt pretty satisfied with my life already. It came the time for me to get confirmed and I had to take a Catholic education class in order to do so.
I attended public school and my friends, knowing I was Catholic, always asked questions like: why are you pro-life? Why are you saving yourself for marriage? I never knew the answers. I didn’t know why the Catholic faith taught these things.
When I took that confirmation class, I found all the answers. Anything and everything I had ever questioned was answered. Everything seemed to make sense. I had finally heard Truth. A couple of weeks into the class, my teacher noticed that I was liking what she was teaching, fully understanding, and craving more. So, she suggested that I attend daily mass with her. Daily mass?! I thought church was a Sunday thing. And now she wanted me to go every day?? It seemed excessive. But I went, just out of curiosity and to make her happy.
Turns out, it was one of the most inspirational experiences of my life. I saw everyone kneeling, praying the rosary. I was watching faith in action. I had always thought that faith was like a set of guidelines, rules that we had to strictly abide by, but I never realized how much more it could become. I looked on in awe as they spoke those beautiful words, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen” in unison. I couldn’t explain it at the time, but there was something inside of me that wanted, deeply, to take part in that beauty, that love that illuminated those prayers’ faces. My curiosity compelled me to go back the next day. Awed by their dedication, I kept on going back: again, and again, and again….
Eventually I stopped going back out of curiosity, and started going because I wanted to for my soul. I felt in my soul that I had to go. I enjoyed going.
This had a ripple effect on my whole life. I began going to Adoration, and praying in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I started opening up more during my nighttime prayer, and doing so more often. I finally gained the courage to speak the Truth to my friends about the moral issues they had been asking me about all along. And I successfully made them speechless. After all, they had never heard anyone defend the Catholic faith before. They had never heard the Truth.
Most importantly, I was happy. I had finally found something that truly fulfilled me. Having everything I had just wasn’t enough; I was missing something, or rather, someone: Jesus. I finally could stop searching because I had Jesus, who fulfilled me completely so much that I sought nothing else.
And right now, I seek nothing else. Jesus is here. He’s in me. He’s in you. He’s in everyone and He’s not going anywhere. It’s all a matter of seeking Him out.
We all have reason to believe that Jesus was the happiest man on Earth. He lived and loved completely. Find Him, and you will too.
That social mistake just keeps growing.
Tags: Faith
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