Fatherhood Stirs Conversion

Kevin playing with Max, our first dachshund's father

Years in the Desert
Although, I was raised in a strong Catholic home where both my parents attended Mass regularly,  I drifted away from my Catholic faith when I went to college. I did not set out to leave the Church. At first, I simply claimed driving back cross town to attend Mass at my old parish was too far. Then I complained that the Catholic Church near SMU was too old and stuffy. Finally, I asserted that the campus ecumenical chapel wasn't Catholic enough to hold a "real" Mass. If anyone ever asked, I would say I was still Catholic. Even my dog tags in the Army were imprinted with ROMAN CATHOLIC. Before I knew it, I had wandered away, lost in the desert of sin for nearly 20 years.

Finally Home
Fast forward past those twenty years and I found myself at St. Catherine of Siena parish in Carrollton, Texas. I had already been sporadically attending Mass at St. Anne's, which was located in another diocese and miles away from the home we were leasing at the time. I didn't know about St. Catherine's until I happened to drive by it one day by accident. When I walked into the church for the first time and shook Sonny Cruz's hand as he greeted me at the door, I knew I was home.  It was not long after that +Stacey Gonzalez and +Kevin Gonzalez joined me and would eventually go through RCIA.

Why Catholic?
I very quickly got involved in the parish life: first as a reader and eventually as an adult formation catechist. My return to the Church gained warp speed after attending the Christ Renews His Parish retreat. Eventually, this would influence the formation of Joe Catholic. About this time, our parish began participating in the small faith group program, Why Catholic? While we were sharing at one of these sessions, someone asked me (I think it was one of the discussion questions) what brought me back to the Catholic Church. I had never had a good answer for this. I would just say it was a gradual thing. The Holy Spirit must have inspired me that night because I identified the event with pinpoint precision. I said Kevin moving in with me and Stacey motivated me to change. I figured out that this boy was looking to me for spiritual and moral direction and I didn't have anything to share with him. I had to get working on me so I could be there for him.

Fatherhood Stirs Conversion
So there it is, just add water and instant family – instant fatherhood. When I realized I wasn't just playing house with Stacey, that we were now a family, I had to get serious about becoming a better person, to become a real man, a real father. The Holy Spirit was guiding me towards conversion. I didn't use these words at the time– but they are fitting now – I needed to become more like St. Joseph who was a just man, a righteous man. Like Joseph, I was asked to raise a son who was not my biological son and raise him as my own. Eventually – and only time will tell how good a job I've done – this meant teaching him about our faith and morals.

Here's Kevin now, giving a talk on the North American Martyrs at Joe Catholic earlier in the year.