{"id":1224,"date":"2011-04-08T07:23:25","date_gmt":"2011-04-08T12:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=1224"},"modified":"2011-04-08T07:23:25","modified_gmt":"2011-04-08T12:23:25","slug":"donuts-oral-roberts-and-mary-pt-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/04\/donuts-oral-roberts-and-mary-pt-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Donuts, Oral Roberts, and Mary pt. 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part 1<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

That first Mass I visited with my fiance (we’ll call him Tom) was an experience I’ll never forget. I had been reading about Catholic theology, but had done next-to-no research about what actually happens at Mass. I scoured message boards, trying desperately to find a post that broke it down into “First Mass For Dummies” style language. You know,<\/p>\n

1. You can cross yourself with water. It will not burn your flesh off.
\n2. While the kingdom, the power, and the glory ARE His now and forever, we pause before blurting that part out.
\n3. God will not rend the heavens and smite you for kneeling.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

While I didn’t honestly think the holy water was going to burn me, 2 really happened and\u00a0\u00a0I was seriously concerned about 3. I kept waiting for the Mary worship to start. I held my breath during the Creed, thinking, “Surely, SURELY they’re about to spring it on us now!” <\/em>But it never happened.<\/p>\n

“Tom” and I pulled out of the parking lot soon after Mass was ended. We were both very, very quiet on the drive back to campus. I felt so much peace about what we had just witnessed that it was starting to have the reverse effect on me – I was royally, royally freaked out.<\/p>\n

“Well,” <\/strong>I\u00a0took a deep breath, “That was. . .actually beautiful.”
\n<\/strong>Tom looked relieved that I said something first. “I agree. Not at all what I was expecting.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

We didn’t say much else until we got to campus, but we spent the next several days discussing everything over, and over, and over again, and we decided that we wanted to pursue this whole Catholic thing for real. We weren’t positive that we wanted to convert, but something had stirred our hearts, and I for one did not, in any way shape or form, want to ignore that.\u00a0By the time Advent ended, I had made up my mind. God was telling me to take the biggest spiritual leap of faith I’d ever made, and I would be an idiot to disobey.<\/p>\n

Of course, immediately after I made that decision Tom and I had a highly traumatic breakup that involved an enormous betrayal, and I was left broken and shattered and picking up the dirty, nasty pieces. It was a few weeks before I was back at school, and the first few weeks of that semester are a blur to me – but I vividly remember thinking, “I just want to get to Mass.”<\/p>\n

I was hurting.<\/p>\n

I was betrayed.<\/p>\n

I was ashamed.<\/p>\n

And the next time I walked into the little mid-town Tulsa parish, I wasn’t full of suspicion. I had next to no answers about WHY I was becoming Catholic. All I knew was that I was desperate to sit in that pew and let the peace that permeated the air soak into my broken spirit. I didn’t think, “Gee, I could really use some time sitting in front of the body and blood of Christ”. <\/em>I hadn’t the slightest clue what perpetual adoration was, outside of my feelings of eternal love for Johnny Depp and Dr Pepper. But there was something in that sanctuary that my heart cried out for, and I was going to let it drink its fill.<\/p>\n

It would be a long time before I would bring myself to make the sign of the cross, and even longer after that before I would let myself kneel or genuflect. But healing was taking place.<\/p>\n

And then my first Lent happened.<\/p>\n

To be continued.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part 1. That first Mass I visited with my fiance (we’ll call him Tom) was an experience I’ll never forget. I had been reading about Catholic theology, but had done next-to-no research about what actually happens at Mass. I scoured message boards, trying desperately to find a post that broke it down into… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":127974,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/7th-annual-mens-fellowship-mass-july-18th\/","url_meta":{"origin":1224,"position":0},"title":"7th Annual Men’s Fellowship Mass – July 18th","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"July 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Masculinity is increasingly confused and misunderstood in society today. In a world that seeks to blur the lines of gender, we men seek to discover the wonderful gift and identity of our masculinity. God has blessed us with a unique and intentional role as men in world and Church. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/events-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"St Joseph, Pray for us","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/StJosephtheWorker-550x625.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/StJosephtheWorker-550x625.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/StJosephtheWorker-550x625.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73836,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/12\/sunday-says-december-28-2014-mass-readings-reflection\/","url_meta":{"origin":1224,"position":1},"title":"Sunday Says – December 28, 2014 Mass Readings and Reflection","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"December 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"December 28, 2014 Feast of The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Lectionary: 17 (NAB Readings) (Jerusalem Bible Translation) This is a Sunday mass that has several options for the each of the readings, Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Gospel lengths. The version or length could vary grately from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sunday Says"","block_context":{"text":"Sunday Says","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/podcast\/sundaysays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"SundaySaysPodcast-logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo1-630x486.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo1-630x486.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo1-630x486.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":122511,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/06\/encouraging-latin-in-the-mass\/","url_meta":{"origin":1224,"position":2},"title":"Encouraging Latin in the Mass","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"June 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Latin is no longer a well-known language, even in the Church, few people know it. It\u2019s not quite dead, but it\u2019s far from common. After Vatican II, even many of the priest never went through any formation in Latin. In the US, it has become more important to learn other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/events-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Encouraging Latin in the Holy Mass","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/EncouragingLatinInTheMass-550x275.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/EncouragingLatinInTheMass-550x275.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/EncouragingLatinInTheMass-550x275.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":239646,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/atx-catholic-meetup-day-reflection-april-30\/","url_meta":{"origin":1224,"position":3},"title":"ATX Catholic Meetup and Day of Reflection April 30","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"April 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Join us for a day of reflection at Our Lady of Schoenstatt\u00a0Shrine on Saturday, April 30, 2016. We are hosting a meetup at the beautiful grounds of the Schoenstatt to take a day to come together in community.\u00a0There will be presentations, time for reflection, prayer, optional Holy Mass, think tanks,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/events-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Shoenstatt Shrine","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/SchoenstattShrine-200x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":343651,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/sunday-says-podcast-january-1-2017-mass-readings-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":1224,"position":4},"title":"Sunday Says Podcast – January 1, 2017 Mass Readings and Reflections","author":"Steve Scott","date":"December 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Octave Day of Christmas Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God Sunday January 1, 2016 Lectionary: 18 (NAB Translation) Reading 1 Numbers 6:22-27 This week\u2019s first reading is from the book of Numbers, the fourth book in the Old Testament and part of the Pentateuch.\u00a0\u00a0 This particular passage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6464,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/mass-and-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":1224,"position":5},"title":"Mass and Children","author":"Brandon Kraft","date":"October 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month, I wrote about some ways to prepare for Mass, intellectually, in light of being distracted more because of the kiddos. But, how can we prepare to reduce those distractions? First, a disclaimer, we are no experts. I'm just a father of a two-year old and an eight-month old.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}