Not Just Any Given Sunday

Hello. My name is Sara and I’m St. Michael Radio’s newest blogger (click here for my bio). I keep chocolate chips in my freezer (and did not give up chocolate for Lent), I enjoy Belgian beer when I’m not growing a human and I bake my own bread. Now that you know a bit about my dietary preferences, let me tell you a bit about why I’m blogging for St. Michael Radio.

After growing up Catholic in a small, Midwestern town I fell away from the faith of my childhood during my college years. After graduating, I moved to Washington D.C. for my first big-girl job and carried on being the enlightened, open minded feminist that I was expected to be as a fresh, young college graduate. I became very good at this.

Then came January 2011 and the Green Bay Packers were headed to the Super Bowl. I come from a long line of devoted Packer fans and this was about as big a deal as it gets for a native Wisconsinite. However, exiled in D.C. as I was, I had no one with whom I could share this euphoria; most of the diehard fans I knew were miles away celebrating with a Miller High Life and a bucket of cheese curds (the stereotypes are true). So, after years of missed Sunday Masses, I decided to go to Mass at a neighborhood Catholic Church and pray for my beloved team. At that Mass, I made what became the biggest bargain of my life: “God, if the Packers win the Super Bowl, I’ll start going to church again.”

Win they did and I had to keep my end of the bargain.

But, unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as just showing up at church once a week and punching my card. I had a lot of problems with the Church’s teachings – or rather, what I thought the Church taught. On the surface, most of these grievances had to do with Catholic social and moral teaching. Digging a little deeper, I found it completely inconceivable that the Creator of the Universe gave a second thought to me; why should I care at all about Him?

So, I sought out a priest and started asking questions, a lot of questions. Over the course of several months of questions meticulously answered by a small army of extremely patient holy priests and lay people, along with a supernatural infusion of Grace, I finally came to understand that not only did the Creator of the Universe know me, He loved me completely and was asking me to come Home.

Fast forward four years from that grace-charged winter, I am newly married to a wonderful, holy man with whom I’ll welcome our first child into the world in early summer of this year.

I am writing for St. Michael Radio because God has done great things for me; things so great that it is impossible to keep silent about His love for and desire to be known by every one of His creatures.

I’m thrilled to be part of this team and am grateful for the opportunity to add my small voice to the constantly growing chorus of people announcing His message of love and mercy for all of us.

Sara Rennekamp