Keeping the Faith - From Student to Coordinator

I still remember what Addie was wearing when she came to my Biblical Encounters class in September of my senior year at Dowling. I was set on getting through senior year as quickly and efficiently as possible. I wasn’t interested in many extracurricular activities or making new friends. I felt like I had had enough of high school and the only things standing in the way of me and the University of Missouri, where I already knew I was going to college, was some pre-calculus homework and four hours from West Des Moines to Columbia, Missouri.

Addie told my class she was starting a new ministry at Dowling that revolved around small groups and mentors. I was uninterested. I thought it would be cool for someone else to join, but not for me. I already had enough friends who were now in college and didn’t care to make new ones. But, She seemed relatable and like she had something in a relationship with God that I didn’t have, but deep down really wanted. I didn’t know how to get what it was and I didn’t know how to ask for it.

I was aware enough of my faith to take the opportunities that were presented to me. I would go to Mass in study hall and attended and lead the retreats Dowling offered. During March of my senior year, I went on Radix, the senior retreat. Addie was there too and after, she asked if a group of girls from the retreat wanted to join an Ut Fidem group that she would lead.

I never would have joined Ut Fidem if someone didn’t ask me to. It was a personal invitation from someone who I could tell had something that I didn’t have that made me take a step forward in my faith. We started meeting on April 12th and we graduated on May 27th.Addie taught us how to read scripture and to pray with it. She showed us what it meant to fall in love with the Lord. She showed me discipleship for the first time in my life.

It was because of my short but transformative time in Ut FIdem that I knew how I wanted to live my life when I went to college. The seeds that Addie sowed in those four short months before I went to the University of Missouri grew and blossomed in college. Throughout my time at Mizzou, I was involved with Focus and led Bible studies and other students in discipleship. Through my time on mission, I knew that Jesus wanted to bring me closer to his heart. It is through knowing God and knowing myself that I can know what I am made to do: spread the good news to those around me. Through mission, I can know myself and God better. Love is never idle, as Teresa of Avila says. If love is real, it will give of itself. It cannot hold back itself from the one it loves. In my love of God, I couldn’t keep what changed my life in.

God gives us particular desires and loves. In being away from Dowling, I realized how much I loved it. My love for this school was real and I wanted to give myself back to it because it gave so much to me. In my prayer, I saw myself ministering to high school students who were just like me; they want to know their faith deeper, but do not know how. It has been a gift to be able to do that this last year and I cannot wait for the next one! Through this, I have come to know Jesus even more. I have not only kept the faith because of Ut Fidem, but grown in faith immensely.

Keep the Faith!