The Year of Faith may have concluded (on Sunday November 24, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe), but I feel that my faith is only just beginning. I got my Catechism of the Catholic Church today and, amongst the worries, stresses and fears a quarter-to-midnight mind brings, inspiration rose.
I’m going to read a bit of the Catechism every day from front to back, no matter what.
Essay due for the next day? Read the Catechism first, then devote the wee hours to the work. Not feeling up to doing anything? Reading and thinking do not need a happy mind, only a peaceful one, which, in turn, comes from reading the Peace of God. If I have time to read three pages of fiction, I have time to read even one of the more precious fact.
More than the bewilderment of a new book and my own thirst and curiosity/nostalgia keep me to this tome; if am to truly pledge myself to God as a Catholic, I ought to enhance my understanding of the Church, as well as my acceptance of it. Even a GCSE in Catholic morality and scripture is superficial compared to what goes on in the faithful community. I can see I’m slowly absorbing the Church – I follow almost as many Catholic blogs as I do writer blogs – but that fact can only lead me so far.
I guess, just as the choice is mine to make, the interpretations are mine to find firsthand. I enjoy listening and reading someone’s take on scripture or doctrine, but, in the end, I am the one who will be making this step, following these rules. I need to make sure that, whilst I doubt I will back out now, my anima is truly loving God in the right deeds.
But this is my challenge.
Yes, I like books, but this is a challenge for me, since I push any reading aside for favour of writing, and have never even read the Bible from top to tail. One of my worst habits is that I tend to keep my prayers and thoughts of God ‘for later’. Now, however, as I meet weekly with the Chaplain and try to find my sponsor in an old friend, God comes to me more frequently during the week, and ‘later’ is not an option.
After all, immutable God lives ever in the now, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t commune with Him thus.
Alexandrina Brant 
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