People started to hear that I had gone off the deep end, but were intrigued by my deep interest in Catholicism. I had always been conservative in the political sense but not with much relation to religion. My peers always respected me as an intelligent individual. (WARNING: I’m about to toot my horn.) I was in the “gifted” program since 4th grade, was always in the highest “team” throughout middle school, took honors classes in highschool, and maintained a GPA of over 4.0 putting me in the top 10% of my class. I got a 1390 on my SATs and was my classes VP. I was also involved in groups like the National Honor Society, Peer Helping, Big Brothers Big Sisters, blah blah blah. So, taking all that into consideration, most people that knew me knew that I wouldn’t do something so rash as “get all religious” without doing lots of critical research, scrutiny. This intrigued them and I’ve been discussing religion with my friends lately, one of whom’s father is a pastor. All that I can say is that “all roads lead to Rome” and “the Truth will set you free.” I read my way into the Catholic Church. Because of this, it was hard to actually put my new found faith into practice. I believed intellectually in Catholicism but I still didn’t have the guts to live it. I was…let me just say…not involved with very good things. I had a rough time (and still do) with some addictions that I’ve had for at least the past 5 years. I was without a doubt a moral relativist. After 9/11 I had gotten interested in Christianity but not specifically Catholicism. I was more of a fundamentalist. I didn’t see the use of the Church. I saw it as an unneccessary “in-between” rather than the Body of Christ that is inseparable from Him that She really is. I didn’t see the necessity of going to Church every Sunday nor did I believe in the Real Presence. Sorry that this is all out of whack and not chronological, but I haven’t actually sat down and thought about my conversion this much until now. Anyways, the summer after my girlfriend was hounding me about Catholicism and made a fool out of me, I went to Ocean City, MD with her family. That was just like 2 years ago when there were a bunch of hurricanes. Anyways, there was something brewing out in the Atlantic and the surf was pretty strong. So, I went out with my friend (her brother, who is my lifelong friend…yeah, it’s weird) and tried to boogie board on some distant waves that were forming from a sandbar. We made it out the the sandbar and were able to stand up, but soon thereafter, I was washed off into a rough area with an undercurrent. I tried as hard as I could for what seemed like forever to get back into shore. I wasn’t getting anywhere and I could see that my girlfriend’s family on the beach was getting worried. I started to really get tired and seriously thought that I might drown. So, I prayed. It was the first time in a while. Needless to say, I eventually made it back soon after that. That near death experience, or at least what I perceived to be one, made me re-examine my life, but it still didn’t straighten me out. Like I said, I’m still not completely straightened out, but I’m workin’ on it. Then, this past summer (of '05), a close friend’s brother (he was a friend of mine himself) was killed in a freak dirtbike accident. He was only 14. It could not have happened to a worse family. They were already in rough shape. His parents were going through a divorce and he was even a twin! Once again, this was another wake-up call for me. Finally, last year I went to World Youth Day in Cologne. I have mixed feelings about it, but in the end, I think that it strengthened my faith, especially spending time in those ancient churches in Rome. (Our diocese group went to Rome first and stopped by in Assisi and Padua before making our way up to Cologne.) I guess that that’s about it. Just a lot of different experiences that prompted me to re-examine my beliefs and a lot of learning with a lot of mind-changing. Believe it or not, I used to think a lot like Mike.
Now, I’m debating what I want to do with my life. The priesthood is a possibility.
You guys probably read that and thought: “What an idiot! he claims to have gotten a 1390 on the SATs and can’t even spell 'class**‘s**’ correctly.” At least that’s what I thought when I just noticed it. Haha!
