Was I Ever Not a Christian? Mother-Daughter Conversation on Faith, Sacraments, & Growing Up Catholic

Is becoming a Christian always a before-and-after story — or can faith be something you’re simply born into and grow up inside of?
In this conversation about growing up Catholic, I sit down with my daughter Mary as she shares about how she fell in love with God and continues to fall. How and when did being Christian move from something her dad and I taught her to something she truly lived out? We talk about the family activities that made Catholic doctrine concrete and practical for her as a child, the small but grace-filled ways children experience God’s presence, and a question that stopped me mid-conversation: was there ever a moment she wasn’t a Christian?

Mary shares what it was like to be raised Catholic from infancy, how she “re-chose” her faith as a teenager living in Italy with no other practicing Catholic friends, and what finally made the difference between going through the motions and actually knowing and choosing God.
We also dig into Scripture together, looking at the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of John, to ask whether salvation requires a dramatic turning point, or whether it can look more like a child growing up in continuous communion with a parent who has loved her from the start.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your own child’s quiet, undramatic faith is “real,” this conversation is for you. I learned so much from my daughter, and I pray you will too!