October 2024

     “Every good and perfect gift is from above” -James 1:17…a verse that has had profound meaning in our lives. We are honored to share our story of how God’s perfect timing intertwined with the community and ministries of St. Catherine of Siena parish.
 
     As lifelong Catholics and products of K-12 Catholic education, we have both prioritized our faith and close relationship with God, not only individually, but as a couple. We received all sacraments of initiation and celebrated the sacrament of matrimony in November of 2019.
 
     Our independent prayer lives were always strong, but it was not until our timing to conceive was tested that we turned to one another in prayer. Our journey to begin a family started three years ago. The emotional ups and downs that accompanied the conception process caused us to question whether God was hearing our prayers. During that time, we opened our hearts and began praying together.
 
.    After church hopping for years, we joined St. Catherine of Siena parish in the spring of 2023. We felt the immediate connection to this vibrant community after attending mass on a regular basis. Fr. Tim welcomed us with opened arms to the parish. In that time, Gabrielle had a transformative encounter with the Holy Spirit during an Alpha retreat. This unique experience gave her peace of mind knowing that God was with us on our journey, and that we needed to surrender our timing to align with God’s timing. We found ourselves fleeing to the adoration chapel together before mass and individually throughout the work week.  In July of 2023, Brent attended the men’s ACTS retreat and returned with an overwhelmingly profound closeness to Jesus. Brent also shared our struggles to conceive to Fr. Tim that weekend.   

Months later while leaving a Saturday vigil mass, Fr. Tim caught us walking out of the adoration chapel and exclaimed across the church, “LET’S GO PRAY FOR A BABY!” He walked us over to the prayer team where we all prayed in unity. This was our first experience being prayed over as a couple, and it was heartfelt and emotional. We truly felt God’s presence in the individuals who prayed for us. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them"- Matthew 18:20.
 
     Moving forward, Gabrielle attended the women’s ACTS retreat, and we continued to utilize the prayer teams after mass and the sacred space of the adoration chapel. We were gifted a book, The Consecration to St. Joseph, which we prayed nightly together in hopes that St. Joseph would intercede on our behalf. This book opened our eyes to the power of the saints, specifically the role St. Joseph plays as the gateway to Jesus and Mary. The following month, we attended the vigil mass for the feast of the Immaculate Conception at Immaculate Conception Jesuit church downtown. After that mass, we had an extreme sense of calm and peace knowing that God would provide and be with us.
 
     We woke up on Christmas Eve morning with the best gift, a positive pregnancy test! We knew in this moment that God has the most perfect timing and that all of these moments and experiences leading up to this point were not coincidental but all a part of His plan.
 
     Our journey to conceive brought us closer to one another as a couple, deepened our prayer lives with God, expanded our hearts to church ministry, and provided us with an expansive network of prayer warriors. We are forever grateful for this parish, ministries, and priests. If you find yourself in a similar season of frustration and trials, we encourage you to lean on our parish ministries and fellow parishioners.
 
     We are proud to announce our miracle who joined us on August 28, 2024, George Joseph Benoit!