Member-only story
My Journey to Catholicism
In April 2021, my husband and I were celebrating my 37th trip around the sun with a couple’s getaway at the Omni Resort on Amelia Island. On the morning of my 37th birthday, we took the tram from our hotel to the resort’s gym and indoor pool complex. Each treadmill had its own personal TV and, as I flipped through the channels on my treadmill, I landed on what must have been a Catholic mass or adoration ceremony.
I read the beautiful prayers scrolling down the screen and saw a shiny, golden, sun-shaped object on a stand, which I now know is called a monstrance (in the middle of the “sun,” the Eucharist is displayed for adoration). I was captivated by the prayers, reverence, and the peace I felt. I wasn’t sure what I was watching or why but I didn’t want to change the channel from this Catholic show.
Little did I know the explosions that would soon be erupting in my life and marriage. The year ahead was to be one of the most difficult of my adult life. Through it, I would gain confidence in my newfound sobriety, a more authentic relationship with my husband, and motivation to go deeper into my personal walk with God. Frankly, I had nowhere else to go.
When someone I had worked with on several real estate deals invited me to visit the adoration chapel at her Catholic church, I went. I had never heard of adoration before.
