Mara's Story

As a 26-year-old looking back on my faith journey, I can note a few key moments where I felt God’s hand at work in placing me in the right place at the right time.  Joining St. Pius X parish was one of them. I moved to Appleton in the summer of 2019 not knowing anyone and feeling unsure of where my life was going and if God had a plan for me. Come 2020 those feelings grew stronger as Covid became the isolating reality we all came to know. With the world shut down and churches moving to online mass, I missed the feeling of family within the church and a place to call my spiritual home. It wasn’t until the mass was taken away that I felt I needed it more than ever and I felt a calling to grow deeper in my everyday faith life rather than just the Sunday routine I was living before. 

Before Covid and the churches were shut down, I was visiting a new church every week trying to decide which fit me best. It wasn’t until after the churches opened back up that I started regularly attending St Pius X. I’m not sure how I ended up at St. Pius X but I felt drawn to this parish because of the welcoming presence of the parishioners even though I did not personally know anyone. Although being back in church and attending mass again was great, I still felt like I was missing something and God was calling me for more. One day during one of Fr. Jim’s homilies he mentioned the idea of joining a small group, and I thought to myself- this is where I am going to meet my best friends... and the rest is history. 

Since then I joined a small group of “young adult women” and am great friends with them to this day.  I later got involved with the “young adult group” and attended many of their events where I met many other great Catholic young adults in the area. I’ve since joined the “planning team” and now volunteer as the Marketing Coordinator sending out emails and social media posts to inform the young adults of new and exciting events and opportunities through the church. Now with the help of Shileng, Fr. Patrick, and many others, I have learned the skills necessary to start my own women's small group, bringing it all back to where I first started with my involvement at St. Pius. 

I am incredibly thankful that God brought me to the Appleton area and placed me at St. Pius. Looking back over the last few years I can truly say with certainty that God placed me here at the right time and in the right place for a reason, even when I felt like He didn’t have a plan for my future. Seeing the impact that the young adult community had in my faith journey, I hope to share this opportunity with those who may be in the same position I was in three years ago; feeling alone, unsure of where their life is going and if God has a plan for them. After all, it only takes one person to share an invite that may change your faith journey forever.