Carolyn Susin

My family and I have been parishioners of St. Catherine's for 15 years. My journey into ministry started 27 years ago in Hayward when the priest who was preparing my husband, Tony, and I for the Sacrament of Marriage asked if we would consider helping teach teens in preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. I said I couldn't because I didn't go to Catholic school. He was clearly puzzled, so I explained that when we were children my four older brothers couldn't become altar servers because we didn't go to the parish school. Fr. Mike reassured me that he thought it would be good example for the teens to see our relationship which was grounded in faith. Once immersed in this ministry we asked the teens why many seemed to disappear from church once they were Confirmed. Across all demographics, most said that they didn't feel like they had anything to contribute and felt they weren't an important part of the Church, which seemed to echo what I had expressed about myself, so we started a Youth Mass and Youth Group. While exhausting, the joy of seeing the youth getting involved was greater than I can express.
 
I was then asked to lector. The first time I stood in front of a lectern I thought there was an earthquake because I saw the microphone swaying, but then realized that it was my heart beating so hard that it was shaking everything in front of me. Then, the Holy Spirit and my love for the Lord in the Word took over. Every day He teaches me something new in my walk with Him, through His Word.
 
Then, my brother, Robert, was dying from AIDS. I found myself ministering at his bedside and God using me as His instrument to bring a priest to administer to him the sacraments after being away from the Church for 20 years. At that time, I felt called to be an Extraordinary Minister of Communion to the homebound. After their initial momentary disappointment of me not being a nun, I developed a very close spiritual relationship with the two elderly women that I visited until the days that they died; and, still remember Louise and Adelle in my prayers.
 
By a Godincidence, I ended up with the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Alameda distributing food and serving meals in the dining room in Oakland. This has left me with many profound and humbling experiences that I will cherish forever in my heart.
 
Even with all these blessings, I came to realize that there was something hindering my relationship with God. I was angry with Him that I was infertile and couldn't understand why He was giving children to women who didn't want them. After ten years of infertility and a series of miraculous events, I confessed my resentment and finally gave God all of my pain and anger. When God healed my soul, He also healed my infertility. The following month, I conceived my son Marc. A year after Marc was born I conceived my son Kyle. God replaced the anger and resentment in my heart with love and compassion and I found myself drawn to the Respect Life Ministry. My first Walk for Life was truly inspiring. In recent years, I have found myself praying in front of abortion clinics offering support to parents who are facing fear rather than joy in their pregnancies.
 
We all exist because God wills it and has endowed everyone with gifts and talents that we can offer to the Lord.