Written by Patty Mayer, Director of Adult Faith Formation
We all have a story.
When I meet with a person seeking to become Catholic, or a person desiring Spiritual Direction, I ask them to tell me their story. For some people this is the first time they have been asked to share their story; for some people it feels awkward, and for others they seem relieved that someone finally asked. Listening to people’s stories is a favorite part of my ministry. Stories tell so much about us. My story is different than your story. Even though I grew up with five sisters in the same house, my story is different than each of theirs. Our story begins before we are born into this world, and continues until we are gone from this world and the stories of our lives cease to be shared.
We all have a story.
As we prepare for the upcoming CEWs our team shares stories of our faith journeys. Stories of struggles and triumphs. It is when we share our stories that we help one another to grow. My sister and I went through divorces together, but our circumstances for divorce were different. As we walked through these together we were able to show greater compassion for each other, and for ourselves. We also found that neither one of us had it harder than the other, divorce itself is hard and the circumstances added different issues to work through. After my divorce I started to see Brené Brown’s quote, “One day you will tell your story of how you’ve overcome what you’re going through now, and it will become part of someone else’s survival guide” everywhere, and it encourages me to continue to share my story. Sharing our story is valuable both to us, but also to those who hear it.
We all have a story.
Stories help us to see the world differently. When I lived in Marshalltown and started working with St Mary parish, which had a large Latino population, I wasn’t sure about working with “them” – how could I minster to people I couldn’t speak with? And the negative things I heard about this community made me leery. Then as my ministry expanded I had more opportunity to listen to the stories of many of the Latino families. I grew in my compassion for them as individuals, which helped me to grow to love the diversity they brought to the Church and to the community. I often asked questions like “tell me more about that” or “explain that to me” and really listened to the answers. Beautiful things happened as I listened to stories and began to see individuals instead of “them.” They were no longer a nameless, faceless group of people, instead I found friends and companions on this journey of life.
We all have a story.
A significant part of my story is being Catholic, and I love being Catholic. I have had hard times in my life that made me question my faith, but through those challenges I was brought to a deeper faith. As a child I remember giving my life over to Jesus and Mary, as an adult I sat on the floor of a bathroom questioning if God exists. As a child I was bullied and made fun of for my faith, as an adult I have the privilege of ministering to others and walking with them on their journey. What keeps me Catholic? Jesus and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. I can’t imagine my life without the Eucharist.
We all have a story – what’s yours?