Like many Catholics, I grew up in a practicing Catholic family. My family and I would go to Mass every Sunday, pray together at home and talk about our faith regularly. I’ve always loved learning about our faith, learning about Jesus, but I never really focused on getting to know Jesus for who he is.
Eventually, I heard people like my parents and my youth ministers telling me that I should try to pray every day, so I decided to listen to them. I ended up getting into this in-and-out habit of prayer. There would be periods when I was praying well, and every day, but right after that, there would be periods when I either wasn’t praying well, or I wasn’t praying at all.
This in-and-out habit of prayer continued until about my sophomore year in high school, when I met a friend who helped me grow in this area. She became an accountability partner for me; we encouraged each other in things like going to daily Mass, developing a daily prayer life, and even just bringing up our Lord in everyday conversation. Because of this, I decided to make prayer a committed and non-negotiable part of my everyday life. Through this, Jesus showed me who he is, how much he loves me, and that he desires to know me, and for me to know him.
I found myself being invited deeper and deeper into relationship with our Lord. He’s the person who invites me to tell him everything. My joys, my sorrows, my struggles; he wants to hear all of it. And not only that, but he wants to share himself with me as well! He does so by speaking to me in prayer, revealing himself to me in the Eucharist, and allowing me to encounter him in the people he places in front of me.
I recently listened to Father Mike Schmitz’s podcast episode titled “A Message to Cradle Catholics.” In it he talks about those who have left the faith, and he poses the question, “Do you know Jesus well enough to reject him … or did you just not know him well enough to accept him?” When I think about this question, all I can think is that, yes, I do know Jesus. I know him well enough that the thought of me or anyone else rejecting him hurts. I know him well enough that he is the reason why I am Catholic. I still don’t know him nearly as well as I would like, but the beautiful thing about a relationship with him is that he will continue to reveal himself to me. I only have to listen. He will continue to reveal himself to all of us; we only have to listen. A relationship with God is everything.
Dehmer, 19, is a parishioner of St. Michael in St. Michael. She recently served as a missionary with West St. Paul-based NET Ministries and recently joined the STMA Catholic Youth Ministry Team. She will be studying theology through Franciscan University, starting in the fall. The oldest of five siblings, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading and watching movies.
