"Everyone works in the service of man. We doctors work directly on man himself... The great mystery of man is Jesus: 'He who visits a sick person, helps me,' Jesus said... Just as the priest can touch Jesus, so do we touch Jesus in the bodies of our patients. We have opportunities to do good that the priest doesn't have. Our mission is not finished when medicines are no longer of use. We must bring the soul to God…Catholic doctors are so necessary!" - Gianna Beretta Molla
I was raised in another Christian denomination, and our faith as a family was certainly a very large part of my growing up. There were some Catholic influences along the way via family members, friends, and my alma mater, St. Mary’s Dominican High School. I met my future husband while I was in high school- a Jesuit student- who had a wonderful and strongly faithful Catholic family.
As I progressed through college, I decided to follow in the footsteps of my father and go to medical school. For me, being a physician wasn’t just a career; through all the years of training, work, sacrifice of time, it really becomes a part of who you are as a person. Getting through all the trials and turmoils of med school and residency takes a large toll on your faith, but I believe now, it was an integral part of what finally called me to convert to the Catholic faith.
I am sure that I am like many converts, in that my three beautiful children were a huge influence on my faith these last few years. In 2013, my oldest daughter, Lucie, started school at SCS, and her sisters Charlotte and Anne soon followed. As I grew to know the community here at St. Catherine, I was continually amazed at the bond that was shared. Friendships, both old and new, were strengthened by the fact that there was a uniting faith in the community. Seeing and experiencing that made me want to be a part of that faith community. It strengthens your own bonds of marriage and family when those with whom you are close also have Christ at the center of their family life. St. Catherine certainly makes it a priority to cultivate that idea in its parish.
When Lucie made her first reconciliation and communion in spring 2017, watching her take that faith journey was so amazing for me as a mother. It was further encouragement for me to consider joining the Catholic church. I remember seeing her climb the steps to Father Ronnie and Father Tim, how excited she was to finally receive the Eucharist, and it moved me, both as a mother and a Christian.
Also in the last few years, I began volunteering for an annual fundraiser for the Woman’s New Life Center. Being that the fundraiser is a race, it brings together two things I have a passion for: the ProLife movement and running. The work that this organization does is truly amazing, and being around the faith community there (many of whom are Catholic) was influential in furthering my desire to join a faith that very strongly holds dear my value of life, in all its forms. I guess it hearkens back to the part of me that is a physician as well…taking care of human life and preserving life in all of its forms, from the womb until natural death.
The moment, though, that gave me that final “nudge” I needed occurred on April 28, 2017. I scrolled through my Facebook feed, as I do many mornings before work, and someone had posted that it was the feast day of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, so I clicked on it to read. She was a physician (Pediatrician) in the 1940s-50s, and she made her Catholic faith a part of her mission as a physician. She also made her vocation as a wife and mother a dominant part of her life, ultimately giving her own life for her 4th child, as she refused surgery or abortion in order to save that child’s life. She is the patron saint of physicians, mothers, and unborn children. My “Ah-Ha!” moment had occurred through reading about this amazing woman and saint on her feast day. Her life had some small parallels to mine (though mine is humbled in comparison), and it called to me in that moment. As a wife, mother, and physician, I struggle daily with balance in my life and whether I’m living in the best way as a Christian. I also hold my ProLife values as a core part of my faith and who I am, in much the same was she did. St. Gianna allowed her Catholic faith to guide her, I believe, in some of these same struggles of career, motherhood and life, and I continue to find strength in my own faith upon reading and learning about hers. I credit her greatly for getting me to where I am today: a part of the Catholic church.
I would encourage anyone who has been considering joining the RCIA program to talk to any of us who have recently gone through it. It was truly a beautiful journey that I took this past year, not only in exploring the Catholic faith, but my own personal relationship with God and how I can implement that in my daily life. You will certainly not find a better community for exploring these things in your own life than the one at St. Catherine of Siena.