I'm a Proud Daughter, Part Two.

If you would have told me, four years ago (it's in one of the earlier blog posts that I couldn't find quickly), that my dream of having both of my parents return to the Church within a couple of years would come true, I would've said "yeah, right!" If you've been a reader of this since the beginning then you know how hard it was for me to even get my parents to attend Mass with me. My dad used to get very angry about having to drive me to confession and/or Mass. My mother would look for any excuse to not go. Though my mom was the one who prayed the most often, she was (surprisingly) the hardest to get to come back. Thankfully, she's back and I couldn't be any prouder of her.

My mom didn't fully come back to the Church until shortly before my father passed away. My dad returned to the Church the day before my 24th birthday (which remains the BEST birthday present I've ever gotten) and she followed a few weeks later. In fact, I think it was the fact that my father was dying that made her want to return. Though she had been fighting it for a long time, it's now gotten to the point where I don't have to try to persuade her to go to confession or Mass. It took two and a half years but she's finally comfortable (well, as comfortable as one can be) going to confession. We have to go weekly because there are bad habits that are hard to get rid of but I don't mind. It's a slow process but we're getting there. Yesterday she asked me to translate (from English to Spanish) the questions on the iConfession app I use to examine my conscience so that she could use it this week... and I nearly burst with joy.

Lately mom's been on a Bible reading kick.. and I'm fully supportive of it. Let's face it, we Catholics don't always read the Bible and that's where our Protestant brothers and sisters think they "pwned" us. I didn't grow up reading the Bible and I didn't really do it until I took my Intro to Monotheistic Religions course a couple of years ago. It's sad but it's not uncommon amongst us young Catholics. I truly don't think we can fully understand our Faith until we not only read what is in the Bible but also really study it. How can we back up what we believe if we're just going on what we've heard? A lot of things get skewed to fit a person's lifestyle so what we hear may not be what's really in the Bible. If you already haven't, I strongly encourage you all to read it. I'm going to make an effort to study the Bible with mom at least twice a week because I think we'll both benefit from it. I'm going to be using 150 Bible Verses Every Catholic Should Know by Patrick Madrid (which I was given as a gift a couple of years ago) to start her off. Since I couldn't find a good Spanish equivalent to it, I'll be translating it for her as well. It'll be good for both of us.

I'm just... really overjoyed at how things have turned out. Between attending Mass, going to confession, reading the Bible, AND asking me to show her how to pray the Rosary, I feel like I burst with happiness. I am grateful that the Holy Spirit has used me to bring one more person closer to Him. Though I may be physically speaking to mom, I know the Holy Spirit has been behind all of it. Of course, this is not the end of my self-given mission to bring both of my parents back to the Church. Lord knows whether my dad is still in purgatory or already in Heaven but I know He's taken care of him. As for my mom, it's only just the beginning. I don't think it'll ever be finished because we all grow every single day. I'm just looking forward to seeing how things pan out... and I hope that I can pass all of this along to my future children whenever God blesses me with them. :)

Anyway, just wanted to share a bit of what's been going on with this "mission." Now I need to try to do something productive for the day so I don't have to add another day of being lazy to my own confessions list. Yes, sloth (laziness and being unproductive) is a sin and it's easy to fall into it as a new graduate.

I hope y'all are still have a great week. If not, hit me up and I'll say a prayer for you. :)

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless!