Testimony to Faith
By Daisy McCully
I have always been interested in religion. I decided to learn about becoming a practicing Catholic because both of my parents were raised in the Catholic faith, although they did not attend church.
A few years ago, my mom gave me a Bible, and I began learning about Jesus. As I read and learned more, I became interested in deepening my faith and understanding. Wanting to take the next step, I contacted St. John’s to find out how I could become part of the Church.
I started catechism last year, and the more I learned, the closer I began to feel to Jesus. I started learning the prayers, and I enjoy praying to God and Jesus to help me and others.
I feel a sense of belonging in the Catholic Church, and I am so grateful that Mr. Gale and Father Chas have guided me through this journey. Through this experience, I have found hope, faith, and structure in my life where before I felt as if something important was missing.
— Daisy McCully
Why I Have Decided to Become Catholic
By Emily McIntosh
I made the decision to explore Catholicism last June after I had the opportunity to attend a Catholic funeral. I was, up until very recently, working in the child welfare system for the State of Michigan as a foster care worker. One of the foster children on my caseload had a parent unfortunately pass away, and as their worker, I was responsible for ensuring the youth could attend their parent’s funeral to say goodbye.
The funeral was Catholic, and I recall sitting in the back of the church and thinking the entire time how at home, warm, and safe I felt. Something felt right about sitting in that church. I couldn’t really explain it, especially given the high anxiety I was feeling about being around a family who held resentment toward the system and the child welfare worker who was responsible for their young family member. This anxiety was a feeling I was well acquainted with, but it went away as I sat in the church and watched the service.
In working within the child welfare system for those three years, I experienced firsthand some very egregious, violent, and harmful acts of abuse. Some were so unimaginable that you couldn’t even think of them until they had happened. It was burning me out, and some days I thought I couldn’t possibly continue. Doing that job convinced me without a doubt that Satan exists and that evil is real and can be made tangible.
I was able to rationalize with myself that if I was so convinced that the devil was real, why was I not spending time with God and becoming closer to Him? I knew I believed in God, but I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t actively making that part of my life.
After the funeral, I was left thinking about my own religion and how I wanted to live my life. I had grown up being told that God existed but was never given a foundation of prayer or devotion. We had gone to church a handful of times but were not part of a church community. The churches I had experience with were mega churches with strobe lights and mini rock concerts before the service began.
I never felt a connection in those church services that felt as genuine as it did when I attended the Catholic funeral. My family life was relatively tumultuous growing up, with a lot of trauma defining my family’s history. It created tangible issues within my family, such as divorce and addiction. This too was a driving factor in my decision to lead a better example and not follow in my family’s footsteps, especially as I continue to grow my own family.
I had already recently been thinking about how my then-fiancé, now husband, and I should be leading our lives once we were married and especially once we started our family. We had talked about how we wanted to raise our children and what our most important core values were. We came to the conclusion that, although we had not decided what path to choose, we would begin exploring a church community. We both wanted to look into this further, considering that neither one of us had been raised with significant religious foundations.
So following the funeral, I did what any person my age seems to do and looked up “Catholic” on TikTok. A ton of videos came up about the OCIA process, and many were informational about what Catholics believe and why someone should give it a try.
I still am not able to fully explain why I felt so strongly that then was the time to choose God. Once again, while looking at the information I was finding about Catholicism, I felt that same comforting feeling I had experienced in the church. It simply felt like the right choice.
My next logical step was to Google Catholic churches near my house, and I had the opportunity to speak with Todd, who was very welcoming and encouraging. That same week, I attended my first OCIA class. I have not regretted it since. My now husband even comes to class with me and is inclined to continue his own journey down the line, as he too feels that our family belongs here.
I have felt nothing but positivity, warmth, and encouragement from everyone around me. I have especially felt more connected and more in touch with God. I find myself turning to prayer immediately when something is troubling me rather than jumping straight to anxiety and panic. In the end, I always feel better.
I am so honored and thankful to have been presented with this path. It has truly made some amazing changes in my life, and I am looking forward to being a continuous and faithful follower of God for the rest of my life.
— Emily McIntosh