Growing up in a family with strong Catholic roots and being sent to private catholic school my whole life, I have never had an issue with my faith and how I went along displaying it to others. I had parents who taught me to never be afraid of my faith and by them putting me through catholic schooling I never was. I would get up in the morning, get dressed in my uniform just to make it to school in time to hear morning prayer, which always kept my faith in the front of my mind.

 Almost all of my classmates at school were catholic, just like myself. We all shared the same belief, we all went through the same religion class and we all most of the time agreed about faith-based things. I never had to worry about anyone questioning the Catholic faith or showing my faith to others because I was immersed in a Catholic community.

After I graduated from high school, there was no more Catholic school for me, of course, I had my family and would try to make it to church in time on Sunday nights, but I still had a major change in my faith life. I wasn’t as open about my faith-based opinions anymore, I no longer was surrounded by practicing Catholics such as myself. It was an adjustment, I never before had to defend the reason why I was a catholic, or the churches stance on pressing issues, simply because everyone I was around would have the same opinion.  

As I gained new friends it was always a topic of discussion as to what our faith is and for the first time ever I am one of the very few Catholics I know and spend time with. In the beginning, I did not necessarily have an issue with it, the only problem being that I was growing away from my old practices such as church on Sunday and spending time with God.

As I continued to grow farther away from God in my relationship I decided that it was time that I stood up for what I believed and how I chose to present that. I can’t tell you that I make it to church every Sunday but I can tell you that I no longer run and hide whenever someone brings up the topic of faith. I use my knowledge that I spent the whole first half of my life learning and I defend what I believe in and why I choose to be a catholic. I have been through quite the journey in my life, and between all the ups and downs, twists and turns, God never turned his back on me and my faith never seemed to fail me. So why should I hide from my beliefs, when I can share the love of God with those around me. I have surrounded myself with accepting people, reestablished myself at the church, restored the faith I worked so hard to protect and when in doubt I turn to God in prayer.