How a relationship with Jesus has enriched my life

by Christine Grimm

Staff position: Coordinator of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

When I look back on all the ways that God has led and guided me throughout my life, I am in awe!

In high school and college, I did a lot of work in the pro-life movement. Jesus put on my heart a deep desire to help others know His love and mercy, as I spent many hours praying outside abortion clinics and working with women who were vulnerable to abortion or had experienced the pain of an abortion. He constantly drew me closer to himself through this apostolate, giving me more time for prayer than I would have chosen for myself and introducing me to people who had a deep love of God.

I was very blessed to have a wonderful group of friends in college. Through this gift of friendship and the mentoring of holy priests, our group of friends had a great joy of spirit. It was a little bit of a shock to me, towards the end of college, to realize that maybe I would be happy in religious life. It had never occurred to me before, but as I reflected on the regular routine I had with friends – Mass, morning prayer, then breakfast together in one of the cafeterias on campus – I realized that this had a lot of similarities with the way religious communities lived!

As a postulant and novice in a religious order, the immense love of God was constantly revealed to me, in small and big ways. His love and care for the smallest details of my life was very touching. When I discerned a call to married life and left, I was grateful for the time I was able to spend in formation. I could see that he was molding me and shaping me so that I would be ready to serve him even better in the future.

I had the opportunity to study in Austria for three years, and got to experience so much of the Catholic world there. Visiting Rome really brought home the universality of the Church – to be standing in St. Peter’s Square with people from all over the world reminded me of how many sheep the Good Shepherd has! It is inspiring to wander around the streets of Rome and see all the beautiful churches that many people before us labored to build. I enjoyed being able to visit the burial places of so many saints and to feel so much closer to them. I was also happy to visit the monastery where Gregor Mendel did his research with pea plants – to see that he devoted his life to God and helped the world understand nature better by living his vocation well is heartening. In my later work as a high school biology teacher, I had many opportunities to see with my students the workings of God in nature, and how wondrously he has made everything.

When I first encountered an atrium while in graduate school, I fell in love with the way that Jesus reveals himself to the little ones. The child’s ability to trust in God’s love serves as a witness to me of the love of the Good Shepherd. We listen to him and follow his voice, and he rejoices when we return to him.

One of the more recent blessings in my life is my marriage! I am grateful that the Lord has entrusted my husband and me to one another, to help us get to heaven.

One line that always stands out to me when I read the Visitation passage is, “Blessed is she who believed, that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” I trust that the Lord will bring to completion all the plans he has for me, and I look forward to the day in heaven when I will finally fully understand all the twists and turns, and how the Lord has used everything in my life, even the difficult times, to bring about a beautiful symphony.