Corpus Christi Blog

What I received from Discovering Christ and the ChristLife series

01-15-2017Weekly ReflectionKathy Carter

These past few years have been tough for me. I was diagnosed with adult ADHD, my marriage andmy family were falling apart, my finances were just out of control. I was stressed at work, and life justseemed pretty gloomy. I was stuck in depression, which lead to weight gain, unhealthy relationships,and hopelessness.As you canimagine,I was constantly ina state of fear.

The fears that haunted me affected the important roles I play in life. The fear I faced as a wife was how can my husband truly love me for me with all the mess I've made in our marriage. As a mother, I feared not leaving good human beings in our world. The fear I faced as a daughter was about how I carry myself and not bringing shame to my parents and for them to be proud to call me their daughter. I am the third oldest of eight girls, so the fear of being unreliable in meeting their needs would haunt me. And last, as a friend, the fear of not being honest at appropriate times and not being honorable.

As you can imagine this is what kept me in depression because of the constant fear of being judged by others and not being good enough. This was my reason for committing to our ChristLife Series offered here at our parish. I've seen so many people in so many different aspects, who had a relationship with Christ, and I knew they weren't stuck in depression. What they had, I wanted. When this opportunity came up for Discovering Christ, I prayed about it and I asked God to help me to commit to this.

I volunteered to assist in facilitating the Discovering Christ series, where I learned that I wasn't alone with the feelings that I struggled with. I learned who Jesus truly is and the role he plays in my life, which now I can confidently say that I'm not alone. So, with this series, I learned about Christ.

As a participant in the Following Christ series, I learned the disciplines of being a disciple of Christ, which brought on the fear of not being worthy because of the things I've done in my past. But, then I learned how to pray, the power of our Sacraments offered in our Catholic faith, and forgiveness of myself and others who have hurt me, which led me to personally commit to following Christ.

As a participant in the Sharing Christ series, I learned how to share what Jesus Christ meant to me and the personal relationship I now have with him in my spiritual journey. The fear I faced was faith in action and actually speaking with people and sharing my personal sins with others and the fear of judgment. However, learning about the Kerygma and sharing His Good News, helped me to overcome those fears knowing there is hope in Christ.

As an "Old Testament" Catholic, I felt that God was distant and restrictive; however, this ChristLife series has helped me grow into a "New Testament" Catholic, believing that God is within me, granting me the freedom of putting my faith in action for Christ. Therefore, I now view life as a gift, a pure gift only offered by our Lord. This series has helped me out of depression because it offered hope and a way to better handle life's challenges. My relationships with my husband, children, parents, siblings, and friends have healed because of my personal relationship with Christ. Earlier I mentioned my financial stress, which I now have better control over, and my weight gain, which I have already gone down three pant sizes and am hopeful to reach my goal size in the coming year. I no longer struggle with the fears mentioned in the beginning, because I now put my trust in Christ our Lord. I also know now that with any fear I face, I can handle it better because I have a relationship with Christ. So, thank you for offering the ChristLife series.

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