WITNESS TALK - EMILY LeDONNE

Hello everyone, my name is Emily LeDonne, and I've been asked to speak to you today about what church means to me. First off, let me tell you that I am not a morning person. Like most teenagers, I like to spend my weekends sleeping, hanging out with friends, and sleeping some more. So, why do I come to church every weekend? It's not because my parents make me, although they do have to roll me out of bed for 9:30 Mass.

I have not always been so willing to go to church, however. I have attended a Catholic school, Sacred Heart High School, in Kingston, for my whole life. I find that sometimes people have very strange ideas about Catholic schools. They seem to think that the students walk around with Bibles in their hands and halos over their heads. In reality, being forced to take religion classes every day since first grade makes a lot of kids really sick of religion by the time they hit their teenage-rebellion stage. (That's what my mom says whenever we get into a disagreement- "watch out! She's in a rebelling stage!") I went through my own rebelling stage. I'd do anything to get out of church. I'd pretend not to hear my alarm clock and take hours to get dressed. Then one day, a friend of mine asked me to go on a summer retreat with her. I went for all of the wrong reasons, and I planned to sleep through all of the churchy parts. Then, one night, we had a candlelight vigil, with straight praying for the whole night. I was not looking forward to sitting and trying to telepathically connect with God. I thought going to church meant trying to beam your thoughts into the sky and hoping some guy sitting on a cloud could hear them. But that night, church became something very different for me. I learned to appreciate the spirit of community on that retreat, and in the many other faith communities in my life, both in my school and here at this parish.

Slowly but surely, I became more involved in my church community. I became involved at the peer ministry program at my school. Through this program I helped to organize food drives, fundraisers, and school retreats. I also became an assistant Religious Education teacher here at Sacred Heart, and I loved the job instantly. The third graders I taught always made me laugh, but they also challenged me to think about my faith. Often, they had questions about God that left me stumped. My favorite was, "When goldfish get flushed down the drain, is that like sending them to heaven?"

Another of my favorite experiences was becoming a retreat team member for the sophomore Confirmation retreats. It was a little scary to go from being a sophomore retreatant last year to being a leader this year. The most enjoyable part of the experience was seeing the pure delight on the kids' faces when I woke them up at 7 AM. I had flashbacks to my own retreat experiences and how they helped me, and I hope that I made someone else's retreat an eye-opening experience.

As I became more involved in my church community, I noticed that I also began to enjoy going to Mass. I discovered that going to church never fails to cheer me up. Whether I'm listening to the choir, hearing an interesting sermon, or watching Father Crowley tap his toes to the music, something about Mass is always uplifting. Mass is a welcome break from the craziness of everyday life, and a time to forget about biology projects, dance recitals, and the impending doom of final exams. It lets me step back from my hectic schedule and participate in something larger than myself. By joining in weekly Mass, I feel like I am part of the entire church community.

There is a strong sense of community in our church that comes straight from the Mass. It's great to come to church every week and see the friendly people that come here. This parish has an atmosphere that is open and welcoming, and every week I see how respectful and kind so many of the members of this congregation are.

We see each other, we celebrate Mass together, and we receive the Eucharist together every week. This is why we all come to Mass: to celebrate our church's community together. And that's why Sunday is one of the few times you'll see me awake at 9:30 in the morning.

Thank you.