Upon arriving to the session, I found out the speaker, Fr. Zach Webb not only grew up where I live and was a student at the high school I go to BUT he was a part of the same High School Ministry that I am a part of!
Father Zach talked about how he was a cradle Catholic who sort of strayed from his religion and began heading down the wrong path with the wrong people in high school. Then in his philosophy class, a girl who was very outward about her Catholic faith, did a presentation on St. Padre Pio (who is a really cool person btw!!!) He was so inspired by her presentation that he read every book the library had about Padre Pio. He had planned to attend UT and study business but decided he felt called to the Franciscan University of Steubenville's pre-theologate program. He was ordained as a priest a little over a year ago.
During the session Fr. Zach asked us why we are often hesitant to share our faith with others. Some reasons included; not knowing how to, not wanting to seem pushy, not wanting to be rejected and most of all, fear. I, come face to face with all of those fears on a daily basis.
In my group of friends, I am the only Catholic. We are very close friends but the one thing I have always struggled with is sharing my faith with them. I do not intend to convert them or anything, but whenever our conversations begin to reference religion I get anxious. Being Catholic is such a huge part of me, in fact it is my entire being and it stinks that I feel like I can't share it with them.
We like to have very intense discussions and they usual turn political which turns religious. Since my friends are not Catholic, they do not know what we believe and why we believe it. So unknowingly, they say things that diss Catholics and it hurts. But I never know how to reply. For example, they once said "You don't have to take communion every single week" They didn't know that Catholics offer the Eucharist at every Mass. They don't believe in transubstantiation, therefore it is not sacred to them, it is symbolic. But I didn't know how to explain to them that when we receive the Eucharist, we are receiving Jesus Christ nor did I want them to shoot me down so I kept my mouth shut.
One of my friends in this group and I are polar opposites. Basically, her belief on every controversial topic (birth control, abortion, abstinence ect.) is different from what I believe as a Catholic. It sometimes scares me that her beliefs may lead her down the wrong path. I love her so much that it hurts to think that I can't just make her belief what I do, but that is evangilization: I can tell her what I believe, but I can't force her to believe it too. She has her own mind and can choose to accept or decline what I have to offer. All I can do is trust that even though she might not think so, God is holding her in in His hands, and will be there if/when she decides to turn to Him.
Some people always seem sad or angry. It is as if they are constantly looking for somebody or something to give them security. I just wish I could show them that the One they need has been here all along. But sometimes I don't know how to.
Father Zach's session gave me so much peace with this. He too, was afraid to be outward about his faith with his friends. It took him a whole month to work up the courage to say Grace at lunch. But he finally did and his friends were cool with it. Reasuring me that, eventually, when I do share what I believe with this group of friends, they will accept me and my faith.
He also taught us how we can share our faith without sounding arrogant or pushy. For example, in my situation with the whole communion conversation, I could say, "As a Catholic, I believe that..." Whether or not they agree with me, I will have shared my belief and maybe even opened their eyes to a new idea.
The hardest thing for me to grasp, is that not every body will agree with what I believe. Me being who I am, I often have trouble accepting that although I believe it is true, not everybody believes the teachings of Our Church are. But Fr. Zach assure me that as long as I am strong in my faith, I cannot be shaken.
I have not seen my friends since DCYC (band/line camp :( ) but I now feel more prepared if I am put in a situation with them, or with anyone else. This was defintley the most eye opening and helpful talk I heard during the weekend. It felt like God was like "Meredith is struggling with this, so lets help her out"
In today's society, we are surrounded by such diverse religious culture and so much temptation, it is sometimes hard to express your faith, but I encourage you to stand strong and stand up for what we, as Catholics believe. Do not let anybody pressure you into anything that makes you feel like you are going against God's will. It can be tricky, but with God, it is possible.
Fr. Zach also showed us these videos, which I thought were pretty funny so I thought I would share them with you all :)
Here is Fr. Zach Webb's bio on his parish's website. I'm sure he has a blog but I haven't looked for it yet
In His Name,
Meredith
If you have questions, prayer requests or just wanna say hi please leave a comment! And remember if you need somebody to talk to feel free to email me meredithmunro@icloud.com
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