I’ll admit it. I’ve been struggling these last few months… spiritually. Hence the lack of posting. Spiritual Dryness is a funny thing, you know when you are in the midst of it and it is SO HARD to pull yourself out.
Maybe it’s because you aren’t supposed to pull yourself out?
Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi and as we missed Mass last Sunday and I didn’t make it to confession yesterday, ironically, no Eucharist for me. Part of the reason for my Spiritual Dryness is that we moved from a place of strong, vocal, vibrant Catholics to one that is… not so much. Where we were living, it was easy to be Catholic… everyone we knew was Catholic, our Parish was warm and welcoming and people missed you if you were missing (at least that was my experience.)
Moving and joining a new Parish is hard… it’s kind of like moving to a new school in the middle of the year. Sure, people recognize you and they might remember your name but you are still kept at arms length unless you have some commonality. Because we are choosing to send The Bear to Public School, we don’t even have the school parent connection (the school parent community is very strong!)
I shared my feelings of isolation and dryness with our Priest and his suggestion was an old one, but a true one: Get Involved. In short, make the Parish into the place where you want to be. Our Parish has a Family Ministry in which families gather together once a month (kids and all) for dinner and fellowship. I have been hesitating to join in, mostly because I am not sure how it will be received. But I am ready to give it a shot. I am even thinking of getting involved in Hospitality in some way… maybe welcoming new families to the Parish or starting a “Big A$$ Faith Group.” (For those who get that, I’m thinking of you!)
My faith background is having a church family. I grew up in a Baptist church where everyone knew you. I became Catholic through a University Catholic Church RCIA with a vibrant student ministry (even at a liberal University!) I became a wife and mother while worshipping (and singing) at city parish in Downtown Chicago and I met my best friends at a Parish in Missouri.
My faith journey is not at an end.
Christ’s got it all figured out.
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