Power of Christ - Let the Redeemed of The Lord Say So

My thoughts on being Confirmed in the Catholic Faith:

I entered the Catholic Church at an odd time. Not as a child/infant - but as an adult because I was a convert. Not at Easter Vigil - but in August of 2005 because I was waiting on an annulment and that was when word came from the Metropolitan Tribunal that I was not bound by my first marriage (deemed nonSacramental). The day I entered the Catholic Church, I was so focused on receiving Holy Communion that I had given very little thought to the fact that I would be Confirmed just moments before receiving the Eucharist.

Nothing could have prepared me for the moment of Confirmation. I sensed the movement of the Holy Spirit in a way that I never had before. The parish secretary said that my face was glowing when I was annointed with Holy Chrism, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

These last five years (as of August 14) have completely turned my life upside down. Not by my own strength, but by the grace that is ours through Confirmation, I have been able to be instrumental in bringing both my daughter and my husband into Mother Church. I have had the joy of helping my daughter's friend catch up on what she missed when her mother stopped practicing her faith (which meant the little girl had missed the opportunity of receiving Holy Communion in 2nd grade and had to catch up on about 4 years of PSR). I was able to witness this child's First Holy Communion, knowing that I had been given the privilege of helping her to Our Eucharistic Lord.

I continue to grow in wisdom, understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge and reverence, and wonder and awe in the Lord. These gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to shape me and prepare me to live out this new faith and to share it with others in a winsome way.

I am convinced that the Sacrament of Confirmation has led me to share the faith in a unique way, since I have been blessed to write a column (Catholic by Grace) which has run in 37 diocesan papers. Only a few run the column each month, but I consider each one a gift back to God, who has made a way for me to come home to Mother Church.

There is no logical reason why a Protestant preacher's daughter and divorced (annulled) wife of a former United Methodist minister would ever see the Catholic Church as the Church Jesus Christ started and continues to preserve and protect. For centuries, my family line has believed that the Catholic Church was one choice among many . . . or worse, a cult that one should avoid altogether. I am Catholic by God's grace and mercy.

Without a doubt, my Confirmation changed me, it prepares me for each new challenge, and it opens doors for me to live out the faith and share the joy of being Catholic with others.