. . .would not be half as awesome as Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha.<\/p>\n
I have a confession.<\/p>\n
We’re all Catholics here so I can do that, right?<\/p>\n
When I first made the conscious decision that converting to Catholicism was what I was going to do, one of the things I was geeking out about was the fact that I could pick Confirmation saints and have an0ther name. Psychologists, try to shrink me if you must but – I just really, really like names. I’m a little bit obsessed with the history of names. I had multiple name books when I was younger that I read. For fun.<\/p>\n
We have already established in previous confessions that I am vain. More than a little so. So while I was excited about the name picking, I did not want to be Therese #594820482042333. I knew I wanted to feel an affinity\u00a0to the saint that I chose to be my patron, and I was having a hard time feeling an affinity for the virginal martyr saints. Did I want to strive to be like them?<\/p>\n
Yes!<\/p>\n
Well, most of the time!<\/p>\n
. . .<\/p>\n
St. Catherine of Siena was the first saint whose intercession I connected with. She was a total introvert with a gazillion siblings. . .or. . .25. . .which I definitely related with. She wrote and was involved with politics. Also things I related to. And her prayers helped me through much of the initial studying and turmoil that came with my decision. But I knew she wasn’t my Baptismal or Confirmation saint.<\/p>\n
So while looking for other saints named Catherine I could befriend\u00a0– because I really like the name Catherine – I found Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.<\/p>\n
A) I have more fun saying Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha than almost any other phrase I know.<\/p>\n
B) She was Native American, and I have a significant amount of Native American blood.<\/p>\n
C) She was the closest thing to Pocahontas I could find. I like Pocahontas. A lot.<\/p>\n
Don’t judge my reasoning – we have to start somewhere.<\/p>\n
So I made a new prayer friend.\u00a0And through her, I began to understand a little bit more about the Communion of the Saints and what a wonderful, wonderful gift that is to us.<\/p>\n
Choosing a name started as an exercise in cultural Catholicism. But the process helped me discern my own life goals, what I wanted to become, the character I wanted to have facing adversity. . .and it gave me a tangible representation of, “If any man is in Christ he is a new creation – the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”<\/p>\n
As Baptism and Confirmation grew nearer, “my” saints chose me – St. Gianna Beretta Molla and St. Thomas More.<\/p>\n
I am not Bey0nce, and Confirmation was not my “I Am Sasha Fierce” moment. I’m not introducing myself as Kassie-Leigh-Gianna-Thomas-Rutherford. But the tangible reminder that something is different. Something has changed – <\/em>has been powerful as I walk out the first few months of my conversion. Do I always LISTEN to the reminder? No. But I can’t say I wasn’t warned.<\/p>\n And in the meantime, St. Catherine and Blessed-Kateri-Tekakwitha (!) are still praying for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" . . .would not be half as awesome as Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha. I have a confession. We’re all Catholics here so I can do that, right? When I first made the conscious decision that converting to Catholicism was what I was going to do, one of the things I was geeking out about was the… [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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,91],"tags":[176,177,143],"class_list":["post-3189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","category-young-adult","tag-patrons","tag-sacrament","tag-saints","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t