When I experienced my reversion back to the Christian faith, like many other young adults going through a spiritual awakening, I had a new found fervor for growing in the faith and understanding the love of Christ. Being single, I would look for presentations and seminars for singles in hope of learning more of how to grow in my faith. Time after time, session after session, I came away disappointed and frustrated because the teaching inevitably was focused on points for Christian dating, (or pitfalls,) and the inevitable road to marriage. It is not that I didn’t want to get married at some point, but there had to be more to the spiritual life of a single Christian than focusing on dating and eventual marriage. I noticed that the speakers were always married pastors or ministers (I was protestant at the time,) and they really had very little insight to offer single adults. They may have had great advice on marriage, but they did not delve into the spiritual development of the individual. There seemed to be no ministry for the person that I was at the time, single and dealing with loss and fears of being alone and not loved. The ministry being offered was not for me but for the person I was expected to become, romantically involved and eventually married.
When I began my journey to the Catholic faith, I discovered the wealth of writings on spiritual growth by such authors as Saint Theresa of Avilla, Saint John of the Cross, and Saint Therese of Liseaux and so many others who have described their experiences and encounters with Christ. The spiritual development outlined in these writings is true for all believers, independent of one’s state of life. The rich depth of these resources provide us, as singular Catholics, with insight by which we too can understand the process of developing a closer relationship with God. How do we grow up in the light of God’s love? How do we move past our naturally self-centered ideals and desire for self-satisfying love so that we are free to enter into God’s love characterized more by commitment and sacrifice? How do we deal with disappointment and the loss of relationships in our lives? Learning to bring Christ into these situations is the beginning of is our mission.
If we are living out our calling and mission, our relationships with others will fall in line. This does not mean that the relationships in which we engage will take on only the aspects that we prefer, but rather we will be more equipped to bring Christ into our relationships.
Singular Catholic 