BONUS: An Invitation to Come Home (Awakening)

You've received this invitation because someone deeply cares for you and wants the best for you. The gift of the Catholic Faith has brought them joy and peace, and they want you to share in the beauty of the same joy and peace that this world cannot give.

It doesn't matter how long you've been away from the Church, we invite you to join us for a 6-week period of sessions that will awaken you to the beauty, peace, joy and community found in the Catholic Faith. Please know that these sessions will be a place free of judgement, rather, an invitation to be a part of this community

Though our sessions begin on October 22nd, 2026 we are always happy to walk the journey of faith with you at any time!

Learn more at our website:

Awakening: An Invitation to Come Home to the Catholic Church

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hi, friends. I wanted to welcome you to this very special bonus episode of the podcast. And it is in reference to our awakening program here at St. Mary of the Woods in Whitesville. So today I just wanted to take the opportunity to talk about this personalized ministry that's happening here at St. Mary of the Woods. And not only that, but just have this episode be an invitation to anyone who has left the church, whether or not you are in Davis County, Kentucky. So if someone is sending you this as an invitation to consider coming back home to the Catholic Church, allow me to start just by introducing myself. My name is Emily Gibson, and I am the director of catechetical formation here at St. Mary the Woods in Whitesville. This summer I began year five, not only in this position, but in Whitesville. I grew up in a very similar, even though smaller, uh very similar community of St. John's and Paducah, where everybody knew everybody, and somehow or another, we were all kin to each other. Throughout my years of school, I went to my parish's school up until the end of second grade when we closed down there at St. John's. And then me and a gaggle of my other classmates all moved to St. Mary in Paducah. And that was like our city's Catholic school. So I graduated from there, one of 20 in my graduating class, and made the move to Bowling Green to go to Western Kentucky University. Now I'd gone there to study music, very quickly failed and had a come to Jesus whole moment. I'd rush sorority and was actively involved with all of that. And it was very much a big fish and a little pond, all of a sudden, is a very small, confused fish and a very, very big pond. And so I had all of those experiences throughout college and um ended up graduating with a communication degree uh and in creative writing. And uh, you know, COVID hit my junior year, and just all of these things, when you combine them together, I had a real lapse in my faith here and there. I had a lot of beautiful moments with the Lord, a lot of beautiful conversion moments. But as with life is, uh, I also had a lot of moments where I would fall away from the church, uh, whether temporarily, whether in COVID and the effects of COVID or whatever it may be, uh my my life is very and has been very up and down with the Lord. Um, but as soon as I graduated college, actually, really technically before I graduated, I started selling real estate with my mother in Paducah. And the longer I did that, um, the more unhappy with it I became. And it became very evident and very clear that the call that the Lord had placed on my heart to work for him and his church and to study him in getting a degree in theology, uh, he was he was making that desire very uh how can you say loud, very loud again. Uh, and so ultimately, whenever I decided to start listening to that and um just take some steps to study theology, everything began falling in place very, very quickly, um, not in like a frightening quick way, but in a very peacefully quick way. Uh, so very soon after that, I was offered the job here in Whitesville, and that was five, a little over five years ago, and I've been here ever since and loved most every minute of it. And as you can expect, um, when working for the church, your your ministry, especially as a director of catechetical formation and religious ed and OCIA and all of these things uh that go into my job, uh it can't come from an empty faith. And so very naturally and very graciously, the Lord has continuously drawn me closer to him. And so I, as much as I love and miss my family and friends at home, I have to say that the best thing that the Lord has done for me is move me out here to Whitesville to serve this church. Now, when I made the move in 2022 to work for St. Mary, uh, I was given a heads up by some friends that, you know, with being the small town that this is, and everyone also somehow related one way or the other, that it might be very difficult for me to make my way into the community. Uh, but what I found was very opposite. Uh that this community is incredibly warm. It is incredibly welcoming and hospitable. Uh, and not only that, uh, they have been incredibly encouraging and affirmative. Uh, they they are constantly just lifting me up in the good I do. But not only that, they are also constantly calling me to grow in virtue and in obedience. So both are incredibly needed and both I am I am so thankful for. Now, in my past four years of ministry here, uh, working with families and individuals, walking them through the sacraments of baptism, first reconciliation, first communion, confirmation, I have the just a front row seat to witness the Holy Spirit moving in their lives and drawing them closer to Him. I I get to see parents falling in love with their faith in a new way when their children are baptized. I get to see second graders just nervous as all get out for their first reconciliation, uh, and then to walking out of the church that morning, giggling and smiling with their families. After that, I get to see the anticipation and excitement as they prepare to make their first Holy Communion, and an excitement that quite honestly has them bouncing off of the walls. Uh, I get to see eighth graders who come into their first prep class for confirmation and they're a little bit annoyed that they have to be there. Uh now I will say there are some who are excited that it's their turn to make this sacrament. But over our time together, um, as they learn about what the sacrament is, how incredible those graces are that they're going to receive, if they should so choose to, uh, and as they hear of how confirmation has changed their peers' journey of faith, um, I see them become excited like the second graders, though it is in their own like 13, 14-year-old way. Uh in addition, I have the privilege of walking with people who come from just a Protestant faith background or absolutely no background in faith at all, um, just as they pursue why something feels missing from their lives and those answers to the big questions, and I get to walk through them in a beautiful, beautiful journey to them eventually receiving their sacraments at the Easter vigil and becoming a fully initiated member of the Catholic Church. Now, in all of these experiences, uh, though I get the front row seat at the core is our are so good, our very good, our good and gracious God. Uh, he is always calling each and every one of us closer to himself. And specifically, he draws us into the Catholic Church where he is truly present: body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist. This is where we find our joy and peace. This is where we find comfort and consolation. This is what draws us into deeper communion with one another. This is our strength, this is our shield, this is our life. Now, I also want to recognize that there are a multitude of reasons that you or someone you love may have walked away from the church. Maybe you felt closer to Jesus or developed a more personal relationship with him at another Christian church. Uh, maybe you've been wounded by those within the church, either clergy, uh, religious, lay ministry leaders, or just others within the community. Maybe you've even been scandalized by times when our fallen humanity has just reared its ugly head in the church. Maybe you don't agree with what the church teaches on hot button topics like abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, contraception, IVF, marriage, etc. Whatever it may be, please know that everything that the Catholic Church teaches, especially in these more controversial areas, everything she teaches is always in the interest of protecting and promoting the dignity of every single human person. And first and foremost, the church recognizes that that dignity comes from being created in the image and likeness of God. It is inherent. It is inherent, it cannot be taken from you. And you also cannot increase your dignity by anything you do, nor can you decrease your dignity. The question becomes: am I honoring the dignity of who I am? Am I honoring the dignity of who others are? Again, everything in morality that the church teaches is aimed at safeguarding, protecting, promoting the dignity of every single human person. And now I will say that the church also does not pretend that she has never erred in matters of conduct. Um and honestly, for that, we do have to recognize it. Um and I want to, and I also want to apologize for the pain that it has caused. And I do I ask for forgiveness, and I do ask that you um prayerfully consider releasing that grudge and that anger and that pain. Um I do have another episode on forgiveness, if that's something you're interested in, uh, because I I think the best way to boil it down is that saying of withholding forgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. And I also want to say that we know that forgiveness, even when it's not deserved, it is a release from the bitterness and the anger that we allow to control us by holding that grudge. Uh this release, it makes a way for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, um, for the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which include peace and joy, um, but also it cannot be done without the Holy Spirit. But at the core of everything Catholic is the Eucharist. The Eucharist, this is where God the Son Himself is truly not symbolically, but truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity. And how much closer can we get to God than by receiving himself into our very bodies? And if your issue is with the clergy, please know that the Eucharist is still the Eucharist, regardless of by whose consecrated hands the true presence of Christ has come to dwell with us, among us, and in us. So again, I want to invite you to this opportunity to be personally ministered to as you consider re-engaging your foundational Catholic faith. Here at St. Mary, we're hosting a six-week period of sessions called Awakening, and that is beginning on October 22nd, 2026. So please know that these sessions, they're in a loving and judgment-free environment. Uh, and simply coming does not obligate you to come back to the faith. It does not obligate you to rejoin the church. Now, if you're in the Davis County area and you're interested in learning more about this program or participating, please see the link in the show notes uh to the awakening page of our website. Now, if you're not in this local area, uh, I would really encourage you to reach out to your local parish and ask to meet with the priest. Because it doesn't matter how long you've been away from the church, or if you have a lot of questions about coming back, we need you here. We really do, we need you here. So please know that not only am I praying for you, but our whole community is too. And I hope that you will give your home of faith another chance.