Haley Davies
I didn’t grow up Catholic, or with any religion for that matter, but I always had an interest in it. When I was younger, I knew there was a God in Heaven, but that was basically it. I had a wonderful childhood, with loving parents who tried their best to answer questions from their young daughter about the meaning of life and how we got here, and I always appreciated their honesty when they didn’t have all the answers.
I went to public school, and hung out with friends who also didn’t practice any religion or have any interest in it, so it’s safe to say I was pretty alone with my thoughts and questions. Growing up, I never really had a “thing” - I didn’t play sports, or really participate in any extra curricular activities because nothing really interested me. (I had the best friends, and still do to this day who are extremely supportive of me, so I don’t want this to sound like a sad thing!)
Fast forward a few years and I meet someone at work who became one of my best friends, and I come to find out she is a practising Catholic. She was very instrumental in my journey of becoming Catholic and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Seeing her love for Jesus and living out her Yes every day was extremely inspiring and influential on me. She was very open about her faith, and answered the questions I wasn’t able to get answers to before. I appreciated her honesty about Catholicism and how she wasn’t annoyed with my millions of what were probably ridiculous questions (I was always curious if the act of confession was exactly like how it’s portrayed in the movies…)
She would bring me to church with her, and at first it was extremely overwhelming. The first time I went to mass I was too nervous to go up and get a blessing during communion. She convinced me to go up the second time we went, and the feeling I had afterwards was nothing I had ever felt before; it was so freeing and comforting, and I wanted to feel that way all the time. So I met with the Deacon at the time and he told me about RCIA (The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), and that October I was in the program, preparing to get baptized the following Easter.
My time in RCIA was something I will never forget. Getting to spend so much time with other adults who had a similar experience to me and going through a period of growth and learning with them was so special. While I was in the program, I was still going to mass, learning the prayers, and meeting some truly incredible people. The Catholic community is one that is extremely open and welcoming to people on their faith journey, no matter what step they are at.
On March 26th, 2016, I was called home and baptized into the Catholic Church, and it’s safe to say my life has never been the same since. Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses - there have definitely been times where I second guessed myself and thought I might have bit off more than I could chew. If you told me 10 years ago that I would volunteering at my church in the various youth programs helping bring kids closer to Jesus, there is no way I would have believed you. But God has a funny way of showing up and giving you blessings that you may not have asked for, but turned out was something you needed all along. Not a day goes by where I’m not eternally grateful for that friend who walked into my life all those years ago and shared her story with me, because I wouldn’t be here without her.