I was born and raised into a Catholic family, with parents who always remained active in the the church in our small community of Guy, Alberta. As a child, I was an alter server who sang in the church choir as well as participating in Sunday school activities each week. I wrote letters to my parents when they worked Cursillos, made Cursillo place mats, and attended Cursillo masses. We also prayed the rosary as a family weekly, and my parents said it every night in their room if I chose to join them. I remember my first communion clearly, as well as my first rite of reconciliation... back then, communion came in the second grade and reconciliation in the fourth.
Later, as a teen, I attended several Discovery weekends, joined a group from the Peace/Grande Prairie area on a trip to Denver to see the pope for World Youth Day, and actively participated in a youth group in Falher. I was confirmed in Guy by Archbishop Henri Légaré, for whom my mother had been working as secretary and cook for several years. I loved visiting her at the archives in McLennan; I'm sure I drove both the archbishop and the priests crazy running to them with all my questions regarding faith and Catholicism... They couldn't even escape me out in the workshop between the residence and the cathedral.
I continued to attend a small Catholic School through the tenth grade, at which point I chose to leave my small home community to attend a French Catholic boarding school in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan. While there, I continued to sing in the church choir, attended mass each week as well as daily celebrations, and continued to study Catholicism and explore ways to deepen my faith.
When I graduated, I attended the U of A in hopes of obtaining a BA in English. My courses were diverse, ranging from philosophy to religion to humanities courses. I attended for a full year followed by one year off, during which I did not practice my faith so much as explore the faiths of people I met and worked with. I left the Church in order to attempt to find my own "truth," exploring other faith traditions and straying from a path that had colored and guided my life until that point.
I returned to classes in the fall of 2000. In my second year of studies, I opted to begin a degree in Education rather than my former plan of being an English major. After an unpleasant experience in my observational field experience, I changed my mind again, choosing to continue on as a psychology student. I stayed at the U of A for another year before returning home to Guy... I had become lost, and needed to return home in more ways than one. I did not find my way again until I had experienced many poor choices and finally returned to the faith of my childhood...
Though the journey has been long and sometimes difficult, I have found my home again in practicing my faith life and striving to have this faith permeate my whole life. Prayer, fasting, spiritual reading, and putting my faith into action have become a priority. Today, I pray the rosary and attend mass weekly, and am trying to find ways to become more involved in the Church. I am still in the process of taking baby steps towards being the Christian I want to be.
Later, as a teen, I attended several Discovery weekends, joined a group from the Peace/Grande Prairie area on a trip to Denver to see the pope for World Youth Day, and actively participated in a youth group in Falher. I was confirmed in Guy by Archbishop Henri Légaré, for whom my mother had been working as secretary and cook for several years. I loved visiting her at the archives in McLennan; I'm sure I drove both the archbishop and the priests crazy running to them with all my questions regarding faith and Catholicism... They couldn't even escape me out in the workshop between the residence and the cathedral.
I continued to attend a small Catholic School through the tenth grade, at which point I chose to leave my small home community to attend a French Catholic boarding school in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan. While there, I continued to sing in the church choir, attended mass each week as well as daily celebrations, and continued to study Catholicism and explore ways to deepen my faith.
When I graduated, I attended the U of A in hopes of obtaining a BA in English. My courses were diverse, ranging from philosophy to religion to humanities courses. I attended for a full year followed by one year off, during which I did not practice my faith so much as explore the faiths of people I met and worked with. I left the Church in order to attempt to find my own "truth," exploring other faith traditions and straying from a path that had colored and guided my life until that point.
I returned to classes in the fall of 2000. In my second year of studies, I opted to begin a degree in Education rather than my former plan of being an English major. After an unpleasant experience in my observational field experience, I changed my mind again, choosing to continue on as a psychology student. I stayed at the U of A for another year before returning home to Guy... I had become lost, and needed to return home in more ways than one. I did not find my way again until I had experienced many poor choices and finally returned to the faith of my childhood...
Though the journey has been long and sometimes difficult, I have found my home again in practicing my faith life and striving to have this faith permeate my whole life. Prayer, fasting, spiritual reading, and putting my faith into action have become a priority. Today, I pray the rosary and attend mass weekly, and am trying to find ways to become more involved in the Church. I am still in the process of taking baby steps towards being the Christian I want to be.