The Undeniable Truth About Being Catholic in College

BIBLICAL POINT OF REFERENCE:

"For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them."

~Ephesians 2:10

Upon entering college in today’s day and age, many new students leave their faith behind as they discover more about who they want to be, and the inconvenience of attending mass becomes their truth.

I’ll never pretend that being Catholic, particularly in college, has been easy. Constantly, I am faced with pressure to drink excessively, watch pornography, participate in premarital sex, stop attending mass, encourage others to sin, and deny that there really is a God out there who gives a crap about any of us. My life sometimes seems to be in the hands of those who feel they have been given the right to judge me completely, bias intended. And while I take my life, my mind, my beliefs, and my faith into my own hands, what does not escape me is the pain for those who cannot see how freeing God’s love is.

For when I came across heavy drinking and partying, I was blessed with friends who did not want to participate in it as well. When pornography stumbled onto my path, I was blessed with resources to aid me in the fight to stay chaste. When premarital sex didn’t seem all that sinful, God placed Love in my heart and mind to remind me that there is a purpose for physical intimacy. When it seemed easier to stay home instead of going to mass, I was blessed with family who encouraged me to keep working at my relationship with God, for it is good. When I was given the chance to encourage others to sin because it was politically correct, the Lord granted me clarity and wisdom to provide instead. And when I was ready to deny that our Father loved me because I could not see a positive outcome to the crosses I bore, my faith in God proved too strong for the Devil’s temptations.

My resolve is strong, even when my mind is weak, for God has already shown me that salvation lies with Him alone. The future is any time, the past was every time, but the present is all the time. Right now, in the present, I have been saved. I have yet to find a single thing that can tear me down when God is at my side.

Simply know this: The pressure won’t go away whether you’re Catholic or not. People won’t stop judging you whether you attend mass or not. But knowing that God has freed me from my sins, by dying on a cross no less, has shown me a way to get past the pressure and the judgment. Happiness is on God’s side, not the world’s.

Your Laughing Sister,

Callahan

Check out the STRENGTH and PRAYER quotes pages for more inspiration!