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A place to share family life

“There must be a place in Your Church for me and all of my family to belong.” This was my begging to God. Real begging, not casual asking or wondering; it was a desperate plea...

“There must be a place in Your Church for me and all of my family to belong.” This was my begging to God. Real begging, not casual asking or wondering; it was a desperate plea, and when the invitation was made to “Come and See” for the Beginning Day in Rochester, Minnesota, ten years ago, we went with an enthusiasm that was certain because of the concrete and immediate response to the prayer. But after the day, the drive home was not enthusiastic. Could CL really be a place of belonging for us? They were talking about wonder–what did this have to do with faith? Yet we saw something alive in the friendships, and there was joy. We stayed. Another family, who was also looking, decided not to stay, because they felt all the Movement activities would separate their family too much. I wondered, “Will being part of this separate my kids from me?” Fast-forward 10 years, my oldest three have encountered Christ through the Movement and in unlikely ways. Jim, my oldest, was on a GS vacation and was yelled at for goofing off and not taking seriously what was being proposed. Surprisingly, in this reprimand, my son recognized Another. He recognized there was someone who cares about his life more than he did when he was asked to take this GS vacation seriously, for his own life, for his own happiness. He came home changed and has lived differently ever since. Now he is married to Steph and they are missionaries in Peru. After attending Beginning Day in Lima, Peru, Jim and Steph called, and we discussed Fr. Carron’s talk. We discussed living life with an awareness of His Presence. How is it that I am talking with my daughter-in-law and my married son like this? It is you, Christ. This life you’ve called me to in the Movement is Your life, it has not separated me from my children; instead, my husband Peter and I share a life with our children that we couldn’t have imagined.

Marcie Stokman, Crosby, Minnesota (USA)