Well, its Friday again. This means that I was up way past my bedtime last night working on my church's bulletin. Yes, that's right...I am that person.
When Joe and I met almost six years ago, I was that happy ignorant atheist who hadn't been to church, other than occassionally with a friend or my mom, in more than 20 years. Yikes.
When I first walked in Joe's house (the house we still live in (he's been here his whole life)), I was overwhelmed to say the least. The living room walls were covered in family pictures and religious paraphernalia. This was quite a shock to my atheist system. I knew that Joe was a good Catholic boy when we first were introduced...but I wasn't expecting that. I got used to it fairly quickly. Heck, I must have...I moved in 2 months after knowing him.
Just 19 days after meeting him in person he got me into church. Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles for midnight mass on Christmas. It was the first Christmas after the Cathedral opened. It was also my 30th birthday.
For weeks/months after that I would watch him get up and go to church on Sunday mornings...while I usually slept in. Then something strange happened. I got curious (okay, my sister-in-law Anita constantly calls me Curious George), so maybe I can get away with saying I was curious about what it was that made Joe come home so peaceful on Sundays.
So, one Sunday I got up and went with him. It wasn't quite as tedious as I had remembered. The whole sit/stand/kneel thing that is. This continued for a few months. At this point I noticed an announcement in the bulletin about RCIA. For those non-Catholics out there...it stands for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It's for people switching to the Catholic faith or like me just coming back to it. We started to go to the meetings. The couple that runs it were great and terribly understanding.
The process lasts two years (only one if you have already had your First Communion and just need to be Confirmed). After the first year I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue. Then came Lent. I was very big into knowing all of the aspects of the Holy days and events of the Church. So, we went to them all. Including Holy Thursday. That is the Thursday before Easter. At my church after the Holy Thursday mass the Hosts are carried in a solemn procession from the church into the hall where they are left overnight with people staying up all night praying. We didn't stay up all night, but we did follow the procession. Joe and I were standing there holding hands and suddenly I realized that I was crying. Tears just streaming down my cheeks. Somehow I had found my faith. It all just clicked for me. That was when I knew I wanted to be Confirmed.
The classes were just on Monday nights for the 1st year. The second year we had an assigned Mass schedule. We would go to Mass thru the readings, then we would get dismissed and go to a class talking about what we had just heard. It was during that second year that I was asked to join the Handbell Choir. I also became the Webmaster to the church website. I know! It was getting crazy.
2005 was my Uber Catholic year. I gave my first confession (now referred to as reconciliation), had my First Communion, got Confirmed, and got married in the Catholic Church.
In 2006 they asked me to be the Bulletin Editor. Apparently they thought it would be good for me since I was already the Webmaster. Maybe it is good...but I still stay up way too late on Thursdays making the thing.
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