Rick's story

  I was brought up Catholic, spending seven years in a Catholic school.  Contrary to some stories I've heard, the nuns and lay teachers were nice and loving.  In second grade, a nun had us do something that didn't seem so loving.  She had us all stand and hold our arms out to our sides, and keep them there.  After a while she asked if it was uncomfortable and some complained.  She challenged us all to continue.  Then she said, "That's what Jesus did for you, except he had nails in his hands."  I knew well by then that I'd sinned, done wrong in God's eyes.  At that time, I realized that Jesus paid the price for what I'd done wrong.  Even though I didn't hear teaching like that in the next 5 years at school or Mass, I never forgot what Jesus did for me.  After not going to church for many years, I started going to a different church and was directed to the Bible where I read passages like this,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  Eph 2:8

Since then, I've learned more and more about God's love for me through the Bible and through teaching from Pastors at church.

To learn more about being a Catholic and being a Christian, please click here.