Spring. A time of all things renewed, a time when we prune the old to encourage and foster new growth. We celebrate Easter, our Risen King, His glorious Ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It is a time of anticipation and hope. Springtime presents a different sort of anticipation in 2013. My beloved parish, the Church of Saint John of Saint Paul, will be closing its doors at the end of June. It will be the end of daily worship in the beautiful church which has been a in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood since 1922. [The parish was founded by Archbishop John Ireland in 1886.] My own journey at Saint John's began nearly 21 years ago. I was 25, newly graduated from nursing school and raising two little girls on my own. Life had assumed a steadier and calmer rhythm compared to the turbulent years of my late teens and early twenties. Raised in the Church since birth, I epitomized a generation that was mostly lost, knowing little to nothing about the teachings of the Church and certainly not practicing my faith in any coherent manner. The spring following my college graduation gave me the opportunity to go on a blind date with a fresh-eyed choir boy from Saint John's. Three years later I was walking down the aisle of this Dayton's Bluff institution, standing before the exquisite altar and vowing to love and honor my future husband all the days of my life. My marriage vows were not only my beginning as a new bride but where, for the first time, I was able to discern the promptings of the Holy Spirit. What did it mean to be Catholic? Was contraception really wrong? Why? Mortal sin, venial sin, confession, our Blessed Mother ... all subjects the Holy Spirit invited me to ponder and study. Our new family claimed as its own a pew near the eastern windows of the church. Over eighteen years, in the beauty of the light that poured through the stained glass above us, I gazed at Saint Joseph cradling the plump and angelic baby Jesus and marveled at the joy and blessings of adding six little people to our pew. As I sat near the third Station of the Cross I pondered the pain I had caused our dear Lord. I soaked up the richness of the truth preached from the pulpit and the encouraging words of the parishioners seated near me -- the same kind souls who would rejoice with me when I actually made it through an entire Mass without having to step out and walk a fussy baby. My years spent pacing in the vestibule taught me important lessons as well, my own faltering steps of learning to die to self and to accept the crosses God has chosen to send me. How then to react to the news that my beloved parish would be closing its doors? My first response was filled with fear, sadness and trepidation. Participating in the planning of our final Mass and luncheon seemed surreal, as if I were planning a funeral. Slowly I have felt the Holy Spirit nudging me, pushing me vigorously, truth be told, to frame this painful parting in a new way, not only for my own benefit but especially for the sake of my family. I reflected on the joy that God had formed me and made me into a new creation, that we are all called to be salt and light in the world, to be sent forth. The parishioners of Saint John's will be scattered like seeds, taking root in new soil, and, with God's grace, continuing to learn and grow in our beautiful Catholic faith. I firmly believe the timing is not coincidental. When the world seems to have gone mad and I need the security of my wonderful parish more than ever, instead God, loving Father that He is, is pushing me out of the nest. I must depend on Him and Him alone and trust that a greater good will flourish as a result. My gratitude runs as deep as my sadness and my joy. Thank you, Dear Lord, for placing me beneath Saint John's hallowed roof and for opening my heart and mind over these many years. Thank you for the wonderful individuals who under that roof have challenged, encouraged and inspired me . Thank you, Father George Welzbacher, for your wisdom and for the example of a life lived fully for Christ. Saint John's will never be just a church in the eyes of this wife and mother. It is the place where I fully learned what it meant to be a woman of faith and a Catholic. This was on Fr Welzbacher Pastor's Page dated June 23, 2013.