In new life—whether in the priesthood or bringing a child into the world—we can experience God in new ways. Faith comes from surprising places. We asked readers to share stories of surprising moments of faith in no more than 100 words. In these (very) short essays, they describe their faith journeys found through these experiences with life. They show how faith can be strengthened in these small yet meaningful ways.
I am currently pregnant, but my husband and I know there are several problems with this pregnancy. We don’t know what the end will look like, but there is a chance our third baby will not survive. In the midst of this, I feel God tapping me on the shoulder through prayer, Scripture or those around me trying to say: “No, you don’t know the outcome yet, but I’m with you through it all. I haven’t abandoned you. Trust me. I’m here, I’ve got you, and I love you.
Elizabeth Hokamp
Sterling, Kans.
We’ve lost our intimacy with the life and death of things we eat. Humans can pretend their meat wasn’t a living being before it arrived at the market elegantly wrapped. I have never said grace so earnestly as I did after hunting, cooking and eating a woodcock. As the instrument of my dinner’s demise, I felt sad and grateful for its life and that it died on my behalf. Giving thanks to God for his creature, I thought of how serious a decision it is to eat meat, to take a life, when other options are available. God provides.
Anthony Giattino
Yonkers, N.Y.
May 17, 1975. I lay prostrate on the cold marble floor of the cathedral in Trenton, N.J., preparing to be ordained a Catholic priest. I listened to the Litany of the Saints being sung. When the music concluded, I began to right myself from the floor. My hands touched the marble where my body had been, and it was warm. This was what servant priesthood would be for me; to draw from the cold world, and absorb in my body all that is cold, and make it warm with the love of God within. My soul smiled with joy.
Msgr. Charlie Cicerale
Willingboro, N.J.
The day arrives. The manufacturing business that sustained the family over generations succumbs, a victim of change. Virtually nothing is left. He worries. What will he do now, in middle age? How will he provide for his family?
On his weary way home, he feels conflicted. To visit a cheery, well-lit pub or a quiet church? Both are on his path. Inexplicably, he chooses to trudge into the church, slipping into the back pew. It is deserted and peaceful; the light of the tabernacle comforts. “Fear not; I am with you always.”
Comforted, he walks out of the church. Faith strengthens.
Tom Thomas
Bengaluru, India
It’s his smile, a toothy grin that, spread wide, creates five deep dimples across his face. It brings God close every time I see it. During the pandemic, his smile was lost in the confusion of a deaf child unable to read lips concealed behind masks. But he refused to disappear. Educators taught him creative ways of connecting, like using big buttons with their smiling faces on it, and being more intentional with their eye contact. He and his teachers navigated the barriers until the barriers finally came down. It is his smile that, for me, is faith made real.
Gretchen Crowder
Dallas, Tex.
