Today I spent some time at the Newman Center and met a couple of the young adults. I had learned the other day that tragically one of the students died over the Christmas break. The campus minister had to break the news to the community when everyone returned from their holidays. There was a memorial service for the young woman yesterday. When I was with the group today, the topic came up. A couple of the girls talked about how they spoke at the service, which I thought showed great courage. Forcing back the tears, one of the girls told me a little more about their friend who had died. Evidently she wanted to become Catholic and was going through some of the preparation, but was not Baptized. She had epilepsy and was struggling with her health. The girl said she was glad her friend had “Baptism of desire” which is what it sounds like – receiving the grace of Baptism due a strong desire. She also said that her friend had amended relationships that she was struggling with before she died. And the young woman was happy that her friend was no longer suffering with her medical issues. She said that in the end, her organs were donated and took comfort knowing that perhaps she gave life to others. She summed it all up by saying “What more could you ask for?” I thought she had a very spiritually mature sense of life, death, and faith. The friend shared her faith with others and I was blessed that it was shared with me.

I Found God today in a spiritually mature young woman.