Written by Heather Gately

Rooted in Catholicism, although not strictly, I came to know God in a certain way. Pretty steeples and stained glass windows, frilly white dresses, and a little white purse with a book filled with words too small for my young eyes. Confirmed as an adult, a choice made only for the necessity of progressing through the required steps of Catholic sacraments, hoping to one day walk down the coveted aisle.

My next Catholic endeavors would be a much deeper immersion, an awakening of my faith, and a call to my duty. I became a first-grade Catholic school teacher in a poor inner-city school with a rich, multiethnic tapestry. There are countless memories I hold dear. Some of the most cherished from our school-wide monthly masses, precious little souls waddling in at 3 years old from our preschool program escorted by their 8th-grade buddies, ushered into the sacred home of our Lord and Savior. It is within these dazzling walls, under expansive ceilings, that made you feel like you could reach up and touch Heaven itself…sitting on the hard, wooden pews….that the obligatory motions began.

Until I was a teacher, religion happened on holidays. I became a good person based on the morals I was taught because it was the right thing to do, not because God tells us to be so. I knew to tell the truth because my mom explained the consequences, not because scripture showed me the way.

Dear Children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth 1 John 3:18

How did you learn what it means to be a good person? Fairy Tales and make-believe? Family? Religion, in whatever way that looked for you growing up?

Today, standing as a church brings an entirely different feeling. The air begins to electrify with the combined energy of excitement; suddenly, music plays but not pipes and organs, yet a beat so strong you can’t help but clap and move your body. Before me, a band, guitars, drums, piano, and a group of singers with voices that wrap around my heart and soul and bring me to tears of gratitude to behold their God-given gift. The feeling as our voices blend is indescribable as if we were joined, hand in hand, individuals now as one. Pastor takes the stage, and a tender-hearted presence fills the room. His words bring smiles, laughter, insight, contemplation, questions, and a sense of responsibility to walk in the word of God.

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1

As I listen, it is impossible not to contrast what I am witnessing and hearing to my days sitting in the pews when a stoic man stood before me in a long, black garb, reading verbatim words from the bible in a hushed voice that no one could really hear. His monophonic chant, more requisite movement, and then the mass ended. Here, amongst the large, lively crowd sitting in chairs, Pastor begins with a booming welcome to those there and those connecting online. He is dressed as one of us, and my favorite adornments are his boots and a sparkling golden necklace, which I later find out is a precious gift from his best friend that he will never remove unless he is doing prison ministry.

As in Catholicism, the bible is largely present, but somehow, the words fly from the pages somehow. It’s like I am watching a movie with so many lessons to learn that I cannot digest what is being taught fast enough. Enthralled, I hang on to every word Pastor speaks. The scripture comes alive in a way I have never experienced. On a large screen behind him, carefully selected passages are quoted, and as he walks about the stage, I feel as though I am listening to a good friend giving me advice on the current conundrums of my life. I’m shocked! Is it possible I am understanding the bible? How can this message be relevant to my life, and so timely at that? By the end, I am invigorated. I want to apply every piece of the invaluable insight I have been gifted here to my life. I want to research scripture, make lists of action items, and help myself and others; I want to come back again and again.

This is not to say Catholicism will not promise a sense of purpose. In fact, my teaching time was the most fulfilling time of my life. However, my impetus for the content I deemed essential in my lessons to cultivate self-aware, kind, conscientious members of society did not come from our religion or our experiences of it, sadly.

These days, Sunday is a day of activation. I walk in drained from the week, often disgruntled by the stressors I’ve encountered along the way. Yet, the minute I approach the door and am greeted with a gregarious smile and ‘good morning,’ even when the temperatures are in the teens, warmth surrounds me as I step through the threshold, coming from the people and not the furnace… something stirs inside of me. Worship begins; we sing and rejoice in the Lord. Pastor shares his wisdom and faith, in turn watering the seeds of conviction in the room. I leave rejuvenated, inspired, and ready to take action.

Faith without action is dead, and faith is made complete by action. James 2:17-23

Do you become activated by the Word of God? Will you find inspiration to not only read the Word but also to turn thought into action?