Have you ever been driving along and had a strange feeling that you were going in the wrong direction? On a trip out west, late at night, when one of us was asleep that is exactly what happened....sorry, that's another story. This one is about a spiritual u-turn.
It started a few years into our marriage. We had become regular mass goers due in part to Chip's return to the church choir he had enjoyed in his youth. I started feeling something was missing, particularly during Lent as we neared the Easter Vigil when new Catholics were brought into the church. I felt that strange feeling that I was going on the wrong road. You know when they build a new highway and there is that old road running parallel to the new one but they just don't connect. That is exactly what had happened. I was on the wrong road and I needed to find the entrance ramp. Years earlier I had exited my faith formation when my parents divorced and we stopped going to church just at the time when I should have been confirmed. I had been telling myself that that formality didn't matter. So many of my Catholic friends said that they didn't feel any different after their confirmation. Maybe it didn't make a real difference. Matter of fact the priest who married us told me not to worry, that I was a Catholic (By the way, he is now married and no longer an active priest...hmmmmm.).
I started feeling like something was missing and realizing that it did matter! The Holy Spirit started nudging me a little at first but then it was so strong that I just couldn't deny the reality any longer. Everywhere I looked, everything I read, at home, at work, and at church it was all about fire...being on fire, word on fire, tongues of fire... fire, fire, fire! I have since found that when I get these repeated messages it is important to listen. So when the priest announced one Sunday that they would be having a special class for those raised Catholic that didn't complete their sacramental rites, my soul cried out, "That's me!"
So I took the class, went to my first confession since I was a child, got confirmed, and I am here to tell you that confirmation does make a difference. When I was confirmed I was truly filled with The Holy Spirit and I have been on fire with the love for Jesus ever since. I have been living and loving my Catholic faith on the move!
If you have had a similar experience and have not received all of your sacraments,find a good holy priest and live your faith to the fullest. It will change everything!
We'll see ya on the road!
