Isaiah the Catholic I Be

"He will then be reborn..."

On April 26, 2009, Isaiah Henry was baptized.

If you look at Anthony and myself, you wouldn’t believe we were too religious. We go out late at night, we drink, we (well, more me) have potty mouths, we are accepting and respectful of all lifestyles and beliefs; basically, we aren’t what you would call “old school” Roman Catholics.

Ever since I was born, my family and I have always gone to Church on Sundays. I’m always praying. I attend religious events, pray the Rosary and went through my share of CCD and Confirmation classes. I’ve completed all of my Sacraments, the latest one being Marriage. I can admit that through the years I hadn’t taken all of my Sacraments seriously, but I’d say about 10-12 years ago, everything all of a sudden started to make sense. Would it be corny to say that meeting Anthony changed my way of thinking? But not in the way you would think.

Anthony, too, had completed all of his Sacraments up until Confirmation when I met him. But his family stopped going to Church for personal reasons and because of that, Anthony wasn’t really motivated to go to Church anymore. I remember one of our first trips to Las Vegas with the family. Early Sunday morning, we all started waking up and getting dressed. Anthony went through the motions of getting ready, but didn’t really know why we were up so early and where we were going. He finally asked me what the plan was for the day. I said, “We’re going to Church.” He said, “How come you didn’t INFORM me of this?” This was funny to me for two reasons: First, it is assumed that we go to Church, even though we were on vacation, and even though we were in Sin City; Second, he was so upset in being forced to go to Church when he hadn’t gone in years.

When we began dating, our Saturday nights began with going to Mass because I worked Sundays. Later, it turned into him joining my family for Sunday Mass. Even later it turned into his family joining my family for Sunday Mass. And even later still, we became more involved in the church, with my brother, Anthony, and myself leading Children’s Liturgy every Sunday, and Anthony finding his calling as a teacher, more importantly, a teacher at a Catholic school.
We have so many reasons to be thankful. God, Our Lady, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and countless other Saints have been so good to our families. We have been witnesses to so many miracles and many blessings, and the latest one being the birth of our beautiful baby boy.

Which brings us to the point of this post. After much planning and re-planning, we were finally able to Baptize our amazing son and introduce him as a member of our Catholic community. It was a beautiful day and a very spiritual event for both of us. Isaiah slept through almost the whole thing; he was so angelic and beautiful. Godparents are my older sister and my younger brother, whom I hope will continue to guide him through the journey of his faith.

Even though we may not seem like it, Anthony and I are proud Catholics. Having faith in our lives is so important to us. It grounds us. It guides us. It gives us a deeper connection with God. It makes our marriage stronger. It makes our new little family stronger. We have a love for one another that is so deep and unbreakable. Anthony and I speak so freely of our faith now; it’s a part of our daily lives and I’m proud of who we have become. And we are proud of our little boy, who will now share in all the wonderful blessings of the Catholic Church.

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