I remember the first time I was asked to share my “vocation story” as a seminarian I was fairly overwhelmed. I had never thought much about it and all the other guys telling their stories had more dramatic pieces like cars flipping over and them walking away unhurt or the Blessed Virgin statue talking to them and telling them to be a priest. In my mind, my story was pretty weak sauce. I had grown up Catholic, liked going to Church, never really fell away, wanted to follow God, and felt like the best way to do that was by going to the seminary.

            Throughout my six years of preparation for the priesthood I had to tell the story at least three times a year at various functions and each time something new was added, mainly to keep things fresh in my mind, but also, I became more introspective about the question. What was my real story? What was God doing in my life? The more I thought about it the more I came to see God working through the everyday actions of my life. All this is to say that many of you probably have similar experiences. Some of you may feel a little overwhelmed if put on the spot to share your journey of faith but that’s ok. Many of God’s prophets felt the same when they were asked by God to minister in His name. Jeremiah said he was too young, Moses said he was too old, Isaiah said he was too sinful, and the list goes on and on.

            At some point in time, we must stop and take a stand and say today is the day when I share my faith in the best way I know how. It doesn’t mean we need to do it perfectly; it doesn’t even mean we need to do it well. The Christian life is more about getting up and continuing than it is about doing things well. In fact, it only adds to the story when we screw up majorly, I remember how excited I was the first time I realized that the fight I almost had with the Mormon Missionaries was a shareable moment. What I had considered scandalous, and dark was actually a God moment. That’s what we call redemption! Jesus takes what is scary, sinful, and sad and turns it into something beautiful.

            Starting the Wednesday after our first Rooted session I will be hosting a group to practice telling our faith stories and Sharing. I am reserving it for those who have already gone through the Alpha program because there is a lot of language from Alpha that will be used, and it is helpful if people already have a bit of a foundation to work from. For those of you to whom this applies, you can certainly sign up if there is room available. For everyone who hasn’t done Alpha, this can be an encouragement to do so.

            I have already heard from a number of you that Alpha isn’t your sort of thing, and some have been rather critical that Alpha isn’t Catholic. It’s true that it isn’t produced by the Catholic Church, but it is also true that there isn’t anything in the Alpha sessions that is contrary to Catholic teaching. It is important to remember that the Catholic Church has a long history of taking from what is good in the world and “baptizing it” so to speak so that it becomes authentically Catholic. Alpha provides a platform in which we can all learn a facet of our faith that is not typically highlighted in more academic programs. The fact that we all come from the Catholic Tradition then provides for some of the “Sacramental aspects” that are lacking. I found it a helpful program in preparing people to move forward in the Encounter, Experience, and Share that we have made the foundation of our Mission Statement here at Our Lady of Hope. I hope many of you try it so that I can swell the ranks of my faith-sharing groups in the future