The Faith We Profess

Dr. Chris Johnson, from the tender age of 8 had become fascinated with the catholic faith. Perhaps she was born with the gene VMAT2 more developed than others. She seemed to be destined to question the universe. Her fascination with the faith was a legacy from her mother, a devout catholic, raised by nuns in a convent. Chris’s mom punctuated her sentences with the expression “God willing”. Everything she said ended up with “God willing”. - Mom, are you going to the store today? - Yes, honey. God willing - What happens if God does not will it? - Well, then I won’t go. Chris grew up in a small town in the country of Brazil, in Latin America, surrounded by cousins, aunts and uncles who spoke like that. In that environment, she learned to develop a relationship with a living God. It was easy to have faith in God when everyone was talking to God and about God, as you are growing up. - Why do we have to say “God willing” as if it is a period at the end of a sentence? Chris asked her mother. - Because everything we do is the will of God, and only when God wills, things happen, her mother said. Chris was the second of nine children in a large, extended family. That made her second in everything. Her birthday was after her sister’s; her graduation was after her sister’s, even when receiving gifts such as a wristwatch, which the children got only after they learned how to tell time, (and in those days there were no digitals) hers was after her sister’s… but not her first communion. That she maneuvered to do with her sister, after a lot of crying and the especial intercession of Father Pedro, the town priest she had befriended. Fr. Pedro was so impressed with Chris’s persistence in questioning about the will of God that he decided to “prepare” her for the sacrament. She took her first communion at the age of five, when most catholic children took theirs at the age of seven, in those days. Now Catholic children take their First Communion at the age of ten in the States and at 14 in Brazil. What is the will of God? Chris asked her mother, her teachers, her friends, her priests, everyone she thought could help her. Nobody could give her a satisfying answer. How do I know if I am doing the will of God? How do I know what the will of God is for me? She wanted to know many things about her mother’s faith. She wanted to believe what her mother was teaching her. She wanted to believe in that almighty God who can will humans to create humanity. What an idea! How fascinating! Life is already planned because it has a purpose. All things happening on earth are connected to a higher order and reason. How interesting! She wanted to believe, as her mother did, that all was written. Chris’s mother would tell her at bedtime that one’s destiny is decided even before one is born. - Even before you were born, when you were just a twinkle in my eye, and a desire in my heart, God had you in the palm of his hand. Before you were born, God told you everything you needed to know about yourself and your mission on earth. - If God told me everything I need to know about my life, how come I don’t know? Asked Chris with disappointment.