God does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t he?
My mother grew up Catholic, my father Lutheran. My brother and I were raised in the Episcopalian faith; a compromise between my folks, I guess. Growing up, we would occasionally attend my maternal grandfather’s Catholic Church, at Easter or Christmas time. The good, the true and the beautiful were on full display in that old church, the stained glass, the pews, the confessionals. My first exposure to the Catholic Church; God’s fingerprints were on those moments.
God’s next move? My ninth-grade Episcopalian confirmation teacher recently recounted to me that, during one of our confirmation classes, when asked what religion we thought we would practice in adulthood, I predicted I would eventually be Roman Catholic. I was dumbfounded upon hearing this; in ninth grade, I had no understanding of Catholicism, nor an interest in any faith at that point; you know how adolescence goes. Looking back, it had to be the Holy Spirit working in me.
Throughout my childhood and early adulthood, I enjoyed playing music, saxophone to be specific. When I got to college, I knew I wanted to keep playing. I came across a musical group at the Newman Catholic Student Center, and I joined. Why there? I likely would have come across a different, secular music group if I had looked harder. But it seems now, God sent me there. On purpose.
During my later college years, I met and fell in love with a young man who was Catholic. I was already attending a Catholic church (Newman Center) and was going to marry a Catholic: Why not convert? I went through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and was confirmed as a Catholic. The conversion was only a conversion on paper, though; my heart wasn’t in it.
After (barely) “going through the motions” as cafeteria Catholics for most of our early married life, our twin boys began their first Communion preparation (a year late, third grade), when we joined a new parish after moving in 2016. As part of sacramental preparation, we brought them to their first reconciliation. I was intrigued with the experience because it seemed quite casual and not the intimidating experience I envisioned in my mind. Parents were invited to make a confession as well, but it had been 18 years since my RCIA experience, and I hadn’t done it since! I didn’t participate, but for some reason, my curiosity piqued, and I began researching how to make a confession. It took a year to build up the courage to go. That was the big moment, the one God had been preparing me for since my childhood. The peace I experienced after that confession was something I had never felt before. My heart was his.
Four years later, I’m still relearning the faith but finally LIVING the faith that my heart was not ready for back then. Why am I Catholic? Because being Catholic is what God led me to be.
Durch, 44, is a parishioner of St. Charles in Bayport. She co-chairs the parish finance committee and leads the outreach committee, which coordinates events within the parish to help build a sense of community, and contributes to the broader Bayport and St. Croix Valley communities through charitable donations and volunteering. She and her husband, Matt, married 21 years, have three children: Maggie, 17, a high school senior, and twins Joe and Jon, 13, who are in eighth grade. Durch, who lives in Hudson, Wisconsin, enjoys reading and doing puzzles in her spare time and is working through the Bible in a Year podcast.
