Hello, and welcome to the Tiber River Café. My name is Dean Humphreys, and today’s topic
is the second part of my faith journey story.
In the first part I briefly reviewed my upbringing in the Protestant
church, the United Church of Christ, and through my college years and early
adulthood of my early 20s. My early
faith journey was mostly non-existent, stagnant, and perhaps lukewarm at best,
but looking back I can see hints and nudges to seek more, to open my eyes and
ears.
So I’m now in my early 20s, my
first job out of college and living away from home. I felt called to the married life and wanted a
life partner, someone to love and someone to love me. I knew I wanted to be married and to have a
family, and so I set out to find the love of my life. I wanted to meet someone that would make me a
better person, someone with honesty, dignity and sincerity. And I thought I would meet such a person at
one of the local churches. So I scanned
through the Yellow Pages and picked a church that was close, that had a nice
name, and the local Presbyterian Church sounded right, so I decided to attend
their upcoming Sunday service. Why
Presbyterian? I enjoyed researching my
family history and knew that my ancestors had once attended the local Welsh
Presbyterian Church in my home town, so Presbyterian seemed like a good
starting point. I knew absolutely
nothing about Presbyterian beliefs or doctrines, I was simply looking to return
to my ancestral roots. So at my first time
at the local Presbyterian Church I quickly realized that there were no young
women in sight and my time in the Presbyterian Church came to a sudden end.
But several months later I was
introduced to a girl, Lisa, who was the maid-of-honor at my co-worker’s wedding. We went out on a date which I thought went
very well, dinner and a movie, only to find out later she wasn’t interested but
agreed to a second date only at the prompting of her mother (and we’ve now been
married for over 20 years!). Around the
time that we started dating I decided that I did not want to spend the rest of
my life wearing a business suit and carrying a briefcase so I started to
explore other career options. Then one
afternoon I was in my apartment by myself and clear as day I heard the words
“Be a nurse.” I will never forget that
day, the words were so clear, like someone was standing next to me. Looking back I can see that God was calling me
to my vocation. The message was very clear,
but I knew absolutely nothing about nursing so I started researching about the
profession and liked what I was reading, the occupation seemed to fit my
personality. I applied and was accepted to
the local nursing school which was affiliated with our local Catholic hospital,
and I quit my corporate job—absolutely no regrets and I haven’t worn a suit
since. Becoming a nurse has been one of
the best decisions of my life. I have
one of those jobs that I would continue to do for free.
So as Lisa and I were talking one
day the conversation turned towards religion.
She was from a Catholic family who attended Mass every Sunday. I remember the moment of silence when I told
my parents that I was dating a Catholic girl.
I never had a negative perception of the Catholic Church. I really didn’t know anything about the
Catholic Church. The few people I knew
who were Catholic seemed to be very kind and friendly people. The few times I was inside a Catholic Church
were positive experiences; I really do like stained glass windows and Gothic
architecture. But I knew I believed in
God and that was the starting point. The
topic of religion can be a game-changer moment for some couples, but we
continued to date and our relationship strengthened. Eventually we started talking about future
plans and what-ifs. And eventually the
topic about religion came up again. If I
ever got married (like there was any choice at this point) I definitely knew I would
want to raise our family under one faith.
And since I obviously wasn’t staunchly Protestant I would, with a big
gulp, convert to the Catholic faith.
We had already been attending her
parish for the past several months. Interesting, I remember thinking at the
time that the church of my youth seemed more ‘Catholic’ than the Catholic Church
we were attending. My former Protestant
church (St. John’s), well over a hundred years old, had two stories of very
large stained glass windows on both sides of the sanctuary, rows of wooden pews
with hymnals, a large picture of Jesus, and a massive organ behind the altar
area where the choir stood. The Catholic
Church Lisa and I attended (ironically, also St. John’s) had chairs with no
kneelers (we visited about a year ago and they have since added them), no
statues, a piano but no choir and hardly anyone sang, and no stained glass
windows. Did I mention that I love
stained glass windows? I proposed to
Lisa at the end of summer and she thankfully said yes.
I soon entered the parish RCIA
program that autumn and was on my journey to the Catholic Church. I remember the moment of silence when I told
my parents that I was converting to the Catholic Church. Thankfully it was nothing more than a very
brief moment. I enjoyed the weekly RCIA
classes taught by Deacon Bud, they were very informative, welcoming, and
friendly. The book we read in RCIA
helped to clarify the basic teachings of the Catholic Church. I remember the uneasiness I felt the first
time I made the sign of the cross or knelt during prayers, because that is what
Catholics do—until I reminded myself that I was becoming one of those Catholics. Lisa and I attended a day-long retreat at
Deacon Bud’s home which was eye-opening and powerful. I remember vividly my Confirmation Mass; it
was a beautiful spring day in 1992 at the Easter Vigil. Walking into the Church Deacon Bud asked me
what I had chosen as my Confirmation name.
I asked ‘what is a Confirmation name?’
I really didn’t know of any saints, this was all still pretty new to me,
and since it was close to St. Patrick’s Day I chose Patrick as my Confirmation
name. My parents and family were present
for the Mass which was very meaningful and encouraging for me. My parents have always been supportive of my
decisions regarding my faith journey.
Well, there’s the second part of my faith
story. Thanks again for stopping by the
Tiber River Café, where there is always plenty of room at the banquet
table. I hope to see you next time. Peace be with you
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