I almost had a heart attack a few weeks ago when both of my sisters informed me that my niece and nephew were graduating on June 20th. I thanked God that one was in the morning and the other was in the evening. I would not have been able to choose between either! Both graduations were full of inspiring quotes and visions of bright futures but there was something missing. After thinking about it over the weekend I knew exactly what it was!
Querida Papa,
I have been thinking of you a lot this last week. Last Friday, I walked with Daniel’s family during the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. It is a relay to help raise money for Cancer. They had a team goal of raising ten thousand dollars. Team Nick raised over $7,000. It was a lovely event. As we did the final laps as teams, the lights were out and the luminary bags were throwing shadows over words. People wrote sweet words on the bags to the people they were walking for. …In memory of … It dawned on me then that I hadn’t thought of you in a while.
“…It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord. For, though innocent, he suffered willingly for sinners and accepted unjust condemnation to save the guilty. His Death has washed away our sins, and his Resurrection has purchased our justification…”
These last few weeks have been a true examination of my faith. In class on Saturday I reviewed with my catechism class that faith is all or nothing. As a Catholic, to have true faith is to embrace all of the tradition and teachings of Jesus Christ. To accept only some parts does not satisfy the definition of true faith. Do I have faith?