I was Married, Confirmed and had my 1st Communion all on the same day.

On May 17th 2014 I had one of the biggest days of my life. 

At 3 PM Paul and I had our marriage concelebrated in the catholic church.

At 430 I was Confirmed and brought into full communion.

3 sacraments. 1 day. An amazing day of graces. 

But had you told me even a year ago that this is what I would be doing with my Saturday...I wouldn't have believed you. If you told me you did these things a year ago I would have not understood why in the world you would consider that an important day as joining a new church for me consisted of simply walking in and saying hello. As a protestant I never, ever wanted to be catholic. If you haven't read about how I got here please do so here.

This day came after lots of tears, lots of challenges, lots of heartache. It came after lots of learning, lots of growing and lots of steps of faith. I won't go into the details of this at this time, nor am I going to go into what went in to getting to each part of the day in this post. 

Paul and I got there about 245 pm. We walked into the chapel to meet Father Richard. He prayed and blessed our marriage, our wedding rings and thanked us for bringing our marriage to the church. His words recognized that we had been married and didn't say we hadn't but affirmed that our marriage was not just between us and God but to be brought to the church. 

Then I had to go and meet with Bishop Noonan and acknowledge that I believed in the doctrines of the Catholic Church and in what it is that the Eucharist is. I do. 

We then processed into the church, sat with our sponsors and awaited to be confirmed. Bishop Noonan spoke :  He gave a beautiful homily that I would have agreed with before I was ever Catholic and it reminded me so much more how my faith has not changed but grown, expanded. 

And then we were called up and anointed. The bishop traced a cross on our foreheads with this wonderful smelling balm. It was a moment of beauty and peace and grace, preparing me for the gift of the Eucharist. 

We sat, and the liturgy of the Eucharist  began. As I walked forward my mind and heart was flooded with emotion. I was about to encounter Christ physically. When I was part of various parts of the protestant church I could never understand how Jesus was to be everything for me. I could understand how He could fulfill me spiritually but being such physical people there was no physical way to connect with Christ. Now that I'm Catholic, I can physically encounter Christ through the Eucharist. The words to describe what it felt like are hard to come up with. A warmth and a joy filled my heart that could have knocked me over. All in a moment I felt full of His love. It made real in my heart just what His sacrifice for me was and how amazing it is that He loved me that much. His promise to be with me to the end of the age and to never leave me for forsake me suddenly had weight in my soul. I was mixed with tears of joy and sorrow. Joy to encounter Christ and sorrow for how sinful I am and how unworthy I am for such a gift. I looked back at my husband and saw his eyes welled with tears as if he could feel it all too from his seat. I watched him go up and rejoin the church, taking the Eucharist for the first time and saw his face as he was overwhelmed by the same flood of grace. I finally understood why the mass was focused on this moment. I finally could attest that it's NOT just a cracker and wine. I could finally confess that communion in the protestant church had never been so radical on my heart, even though it had met so much. It stretched my heart all in a moment to overflow and it's a feeling that hasn't shaken each time I've gotten to participate in the Eucharist since (9 times over the course of my vacation, as I went to daily mass).  I wish the words I've drafted could really paint the picture for you but I don't feel they do it justice. All in a moment it's like a ton of bricks hits your heart and yet you feel the arms of Christ wrapped around you. This gift is blessed. This truly is a sacrament of grace. This truly is Christ: body, soul and divinity. 

 A final picture with the bishop, and I was off to thank my family and friends for being there, knowing that many of them observing could only speculate in part as to what the Eucharist might be, but praying they would one day experience the joy and grace of this gift.

My sweet friends were there to celebrate with me and some graciously opened their home to celebrate this occasion. So thankful to celebrate this time with loved ones. (I didn't get pictures with everyone so I'll leave out pictures with friends so not to leave anyone out.)  So blessed to be part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

What was your confirmation like? Have you been confirmed? Ever thought about being catholic? Ever wondered what the Eucharist is? Have questions? Don't hesitate to e-mail me or comment: beautifulgoodtrue@gmail.com

<3
Anita