My first memory of Mum is when I was a little child, maybe two or three. I was so young that I couldn’t reach the door handle of my bedroom. And one night I couldn’t sleep, and I was crying at the door because I wanted to sleep with Mum and Dad. And after what felt like forever, Mum came out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes. I remember not really caring that I’d woken her, but instead just happy as I could be that she came and I got to be with her and Dad.
My Mum and I are both very level-headed, and we don’t worry all that much. When something doesn’t go according to plan, we sort of just accept it and carry on. We also think in similar ways. We share a lack of concern for what others think, for the most part, in regards to our ability to talk to people, or express ourselves to others in public.
Mum is very forthright, and candid about a lot of things. She’s open and honest, and lets you know what she thinks. I’m a lot more reserved, until I get to know you. Mum can be very ‘shoot from the hip’ as well, whereas I think I’m a bit more measured and in control of my emotions. Mum has a tonne of passion. I share that same passion and enthusiasm, but I think I keep it under wraps a bit better.
I realised that I needed to do what she says and get baptised, go to church and get to heaven.
Why I became a Catholic is a very long story honestly, but to boil it down, it was because, for whatever reason (I’d say God’s grace now), I asked, ‘Why do I exist? Why does anything exist? What happens when you die? Why do we die?’
When I was six years old, my big sister Nellie woke me up in the night while we were on holiday in New Zealand, crying about the fact that she was afraid of dying. I had no idea what brought this on, but it led me to think about it also. And I was filled with existential dread.
Fast forward to being an adult, and I was introduced to the idea that maybe the Bible and Christianity weren’t as crazy as ‘regular’ society would have you believe. After investigating, listening to a tonne of apologetics and reading, I learnt about philosophy. This was spurred by CS Lewis and his book Miracles. In it, he poses philosophical questions that I realised I had been asking in my heart but was unable to articulate.
From there, reasonable arguments for the existence of God led me to believe that he was real. And from there, it followed that the Catholic church was the Church she said she was, and so I realised that I needed to do what she says and get baptised, go to church and get to heaven.