A Reflection on My Journey With Catholicism (By Jack McGuane)

A core part of my identity is my Catholicism. I was raised in this tradition and I will always value it. My experience with religion has been nothing short of spectacular, but to honor how much Catholicism has influenced me, I must first back you all up. I was born on April 4, 2008, and was baptized a few days later at St. George’s Church in Guilford, CT. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Baptism is a sacrament, a holy ritual. Catholicism has seven sacraments: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Orders. From Baptism, I was deemed free from sin in the Catholic tradition, as children are believed by Catholics to be born with original sin (which is what Catholics believe Jesus Christ saved us from). I was also deemed a member of the Catholic Church, which is how my parents decided to raise me.

As a child, I never enjoyed Church or catechism/CCD, but I always felt and honored my connection to the Holy Trinity of God. I prayed with my family every night, went to Church on some Sundays, and completed the required education to complete the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist for the first time. I remember how scared I was to confess my sins to the priest, but the feeling afterwards is one of complete freedom, transparency, and honesty – a sort of spiritual therapy. About a year after my first confession, I celebrated my First Holy Communion, in which I received the body of Jesus Christ. Although I have not completed a new sacrament since then, I am getting confirmed at the end of this month after about ten years of CCD.

From my First Holy Communion to now, I have taken the largest jump in my Catholicism. It is no longer something I am encouraged to do, but rather something I can explore and cherish on my own. I turn to God in my moments of stress, fear, joy, pride, anger, solemnity, and everything in between. I need to pray more, but I am trying to grow closer to God each day. The closest I have come to God was during this years’ retreat to Trinita, a retreat center in New Hartford, CT. While I cannot disclose anything that occurred there, I can reminisce on the power of a weekend dedicated to teenage Catholics finding God and God in each other for twenty-eight hours. It was then that I started to fully realize the power of God, the one who has saved, and continues to save, so many from their darkest times.

I have been a Catholic all of my life, but I have not really tried to be a Catholic until recently. I know I should be kinder, less judgmental, and a more God-fearing person, but I am doing my best. I know God is not angry with me, and despite the countless times I have sinned, God loves me, God cares for me, and God grows in me every day. I believe that is the power of God.