Faith Hard Won #4 The Roof Falls In

If you've been reading earlier installments, you now know the Lord GOT me and turned my life upside down. After hearing His gentle call, and responding as I thought was best, I bought or borrowed books on Catholicism, and a little cross on a chain, and headed home.

My Mom was aghast. "What do you think you're doing?!!", she said in less than sweet tones. Other pronouncements made it clear this was not going to be simple, but having heard that Voice, I couldn't turn back, any more than you can change your mind after stepping off a cliff. So I schemed, and found that the school I commuted to for ballet studies, 25 miles distant, was across the street from the cathedral,that also had a lending library in the basement. A ballet bag is perfect for hiding books, under all the sweaty togs. For 4 years I voraciously read everything I could find, from Thomas Merton, to John of the Cross, St. Thomas, and lots of others. A favorite was the story of Maria Goretti.

I snuck around corners in my own small town, to drop in on the priest who wrote a youth column for the national Catholic paper published there, and in both towns, did my best to find a priest who would tell me more about this ancient, deep and broad Faith that I was discovering. The parental pressure to drop this got quieter, but persistant and relentless. One time, they came up with what must have seemed a brilliant plan:....oh dear, how the time flies by. More later.