“I heard God say, “Go for it” (I)

Calm and smiling, Kimberley tells her story. She had an atheist mother, a non-practicing Catholic father who was very discreet about his faith, and Muslim grandparents. Before she was born, they chose not to give her a religious education, leaving her free to make her own decision when she came of age.

This was without counting the providential encounters that occurred well before her 18th birthday. "My parents enrolled me in a Catholic middle school so that I would have a good academic record," the young woman explains.

Kimberley was dropped off at the school every morning at 7.30 a.m., well before the start of classes. "One morning, the person in charge of pastoral ministry invited me to come to the chapel where prayers were held at scheduled times. I told her I didn't know anything about prayer, that I didn't even know if God existed. She said, "Come in, it's warm in the chapel." Being curious, I followed her. The atmosphere was very special, very soothing, very calm. People were reading passages from the Gospel. The life of Jesus seemed quite interesting. I let myself be challenged in my beliefs and went back regularly."

One thing led to another: Kimberley enrolled in catechism classes and, in the 8th grade, asked her parents for permission to go on pilgrimage to Lourdes. This was a decisive step in her spiritual journey: "I was struck by the immense faith of all those sick people, who prayed the rosary non-stop and waited for just one thing: to touch the rock in the grotto. Through this faith in Mary, I understood that God existed." On her return, convinced that God existed, Kimberley asked her parents to be baptized.

(to be continued)

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