Alliance for Catholic Education
Friends,
Easter blessings to you all! Dan and I just landed here in Orlando for the annual NCEA conference, and are eager to see many of your friendly faces this week! If you are in town, please stop by our booth at the conference and join us for the ACE reception this evening, in the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency at 5pm. Also, here is a helpful list of all ACE team members and graduates presenting this week.
More importantly, I'd like to ask you all to join me in celebrating with RLP 12 member Kristin McNeal who joined the Church this past weekend. Kristin was kind enough to write a reflection about her conversion experience, that we'd like to share with you all below.
We are all an Easter people,
Greg
Deuteronomy 2:7
"For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing."
My journey to the Easter Vigil has been a slow, but steady stroll. Throughout my 13 years teaching in a Catholic school, the path has been on that invisible incline – you know the kind – it looks like the sidewalk is flat and straight, but once you reach the top and look back towards where you began, you realize you climbed a hill. I knew I would convert to Catholicism within a few years of my start at Cathedral High School, but I had no sense of urgency. Then I reached the top of the hill – last May. Within a two week time period, I learned that my pastor of 10 years was retiring suddenly and I had been asked in two job interviews about being Catholic – it was then I noticed the hill I had been climbing and having reached the top, my decision was made and I could begin my enjoyable saunter back down.
Outside of my husband and immediate family, the first people I shared with were my Notre Dame family members. I truly felt like I had won the lottery – everyone was excited and happy. I also attended my first Mass at the basilica after having shared the news – and I could not keep the tears from streaming after receiving my blessing in the communion line. There was a sense of completeness and contentment.
When Fall began, so did my RCIA course. The group consisted of one convert (me), one person getting baptized and having the entire experience, 4 or 5 others wanting to make first communions, and a group who simply wanted to learn more about their Catholic faith. We met weekly and talked, asked questions, and shared where we were on our faith journeys. I looked forward to my time with these people each week and was surprised at how quickly Holy Week arrived.
Palm Sunday was a lovely Mass I shared with my daughter. We talked about the Centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant and we talked about Jesus entering Jerusalem. Tuesday was a much more challenging experience for me – the first incline in my journey since my decision was made – it was the penance service – my first confession. It truly is a much difference experience to verbalize your faults and flaws to another person, rather than simply acknowledging them in your mind. It was a beautiful service and it was nerve-wracking to wait in line, but sharing those thoughts with the priest brought tears – not of sadness, but of relief and completion. It was challenging and wonderful all together. It reminded me of my family at Notre Dame, and the feeling of community that surrounds me there. The Maundy Thursday service was another beautiful and touching experience as I was able to participate in the washing of the feet. I was honored, simply by being invited to participate, but the actual experience of sitting in the chair as the Gospel was read and having my feet washed by my priest was otherworldly. Once again, I was enveloped by feelings of completeness and joy. I truly felt special.
The Easter Vigil was a beautiful experience that will forever be etched in my heart. It was wonderful to participate in the candle lighting surrounded by my family, the Christian Brothers from my school, and my sponsor, Ashley, who brought with her the presence of my RLP 12 cohort. She sat with me and walked up to the altar by my side as I made my first communion – and I was again filled with joy, zeal, and a complete sense of community. It was an awe-inspiring moment to receive the sacraments of the church, but it is even more moving to be surrounded by those people and communities who are central to my life.
I know that this journey has truly only begun as I will continue to grow in my faith and I will walk these same steps with my children in coming years. I have truly enjoyed my path thus far, and I look forward to each new experience as a member of this Catholic family.
- Kristin