I am a typical young suburban dad – house, wife, 4 young children, commute to an office job in the city. I grew up in an Anglican household with faithful parents, but by the time I went to college I was pretty much ignoring my faith. My junior year (2017), I met my wife who introduced me to Catholicism. I was fully convinced and converted.

I embraced my role as a Catholic husband and father and have been living the life of a faithful Catholic, driven primarily by a sense of duty to provide for and nurture my family in faith. However, when a friend invited me to a bible study, then a discipleship group, I realized I had been missing something. In reading, discussing, and praying with “Foundations for Discipleship” and “Time for God” alongside three brothers in Christ, I encountered Him in a much deeper way.

 My previous disposition was stuck in what I thought I should do, instead of accepting who I am as a child of God and simply receiving His love and His Will. I was missing a more complete submission rooted in love that is renewed and grown every day in an authentic conversation with God. I had no idea how fundamental it was to simply “put oneself in God’s presence and stay there” – this daily act of receiving &giving love (engaging in “mental prayer”) has transformed my interior life and my relationship with Jesus.

 As I continue my journey, I begin to contemplate my further mission, not as only a duty, but as an outpouring of loving relationship with Him.

‍