Trying to Make a Home
We have been truly blessed in finding the parish we belong to in Ogden. Our priest, Father Richtsteig, is a fantastic priest and the Mass is said with great love and care. Still, I'm having a hard time feeling we are truly home.
We were in our parish in Maryland for 11 years. We put down roots. Many of our children were baptized, received their First Holy Communion and First Penance, and were confirmed there. We formed attachments not only to our priests and deacons, but to the people within our parish. Our oldest son was a fixture within the Altar Boys and by the time we left, he served almost every single Mass we attended and was the Master for High Masses. We have our lost baby buried there. I miss our Sacred Heart family deeply.
I know we've done what we should to make this parish our home. Wingnut has joined the Knights and serves as financial secretary. He joined the men's Saturday morning Bible study. I've taught Blue Knights, joined the women's prayer group, joined the homeschool support group, joined the meals ministry, and have been a presence with the youth group. We've had dinner parties and celebrations with new friends.
Still I feel isolated and not a part of our parish community as fully as I would like. I think it really has to do with the fact that the four mothers of the families I have felt the strongest connection with have or are leaving Utah for one reason or another. One moved to Canada last summer, two more are moving away this summer, and the fourth I cannot even think about without tearing up. My dear friend, Joyce, is in the last days of a long battle with cancer. How can I even complain? I really need to just buck up and make new friends. Unfortunately, being an introvert, new friendships just take me forever to forge.
This spring, two of our children will receive sacraments in our new parish. Lil' Wingnut will have his First Holy Communion and Skoshi A will be confirmed. I have a firm belief, those two events will go a long way in solidifying our parish as our home.
We were in our parish in Maryland for 11 years. We put down roots. Many of our children were baptized, received their First Holy Communion and First Penance, and were confirmed there. We formed attachments not only to our priests and deacons, but to the people within our parish. Our oldest son was a fixture within the Altar Boys and by the time we left, he served almost every single Mass we attended and was the Master for High Masses. We have our lost baby buried there. I miss our Sacred Heart family deeply.
I know we've done what we should to make this parish our home. Wingnut has joined the Knights and serves as financial secretary. He joined the men's Saturday morning Bible study. I've taught Blue Knights, joined the women's prayer group, joined the homeschool support group, joined the meals ministry, and have been a presence with the youth group. We've had dinner parties and celebrations with new friends.
Still I feel isolated and not a part of our parish community as fully as I would like. I think it really has to do with the fact that the four mothers of the families I have felt the strongest connection with have or are leaving Utah for one reason or another. One moved to Canada last summer, two more are moving away this summer, and the fourth I cannot even think about without tearing up. My dear friend, Joyce, is in the last days of a long battle with cancer. How can I even complain? I really need to just buck up and make new friends. Unfortunately, being an introvert, new friendships just take me forever to forge.
This spring, two of our children will receive sacraments in our new parish. Lil' Wingnut will have his First Holy Communion and Skoshi A will be confirmed. I have a firm belief, those two events will go a long way in solidifying our parish as our home.
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