My name is Mary Gomez and I’m 52 years old. John and I have been married for 29 years and we have 3 sons, 24, 22, and 18. I was an Air Force wife and I taught elementary school up until the time we started having a family. John retired as a Colonel with 27 years of service. He is now working as a civilian consultant and I have worked as a substitute teacher and teacher aide for several years.
About 5 years ago, Matthew Kelly came to our parish in O’Fallon, Illinois to speak on his life story. He was so engaging and made so much sense, that I bought some of his books, and started picking up several of the CDs.
Growing up a cradle Catholic, I didn’t get the catechesis like many others in the 1970’s. So, there was so much I didn’t really know about my faith. My mother has been a wealth of information, but Matthew has been a big part of my journey these past few years.
My husband and I were able to hear Matthew speak again at another parish in Collinsville, Illinois about a year and a half later, and we were hooked. We joined the Dynamic Catholic community that day, and we believe it has tremendous impact and potential to change the world.
In the spring of 2012, I started feeling restless, a feeling that God was calling me to something. At the time, I was working as a teacher aide in a middle school special-needs classroom. It was demanding work, but very rewarding. I had thought, over the past 4 years in this position, I was doing God’s work. But I still had this restlessness. I decided to go back to work in the fall, but an event happened that gave me a clear answer to my restlessness.
On December 21, 2012, a car hit me as I was walking across a 4-way crosswalk at a shopping center not far from home. I never knew what hit me… only that I was spinning. When I landed on the pavement, still conscious, but with sheer pain and complete numbness to the entire left side of my face, I looked up to the sky and thanked God for not taking me. On this day the world was supposed to end – according to the Mayan calendar! With several fractures to my left cheekbone, I was in surgery on New Year’s Eve and on medical leave from work for over a month.
During my recovery after the December accident, I came to understand that this was maybe God’s way of telling me, “It’s time to quit your job. I have plans for you, Mary.” So, the end of January 2013, I resigned. I felt a lot of guilt about it, but I also felt a deep peace. I knew this was what God wanted me to do. But I wasn’t sure where He was leading me.
During this new “free time” God has been stirring up a deep desire for me to get more involved in my parish. I have enjoyed having the time to serve God through many ministries: Eucharistic Adoration, marriage preparation for engaged couples, Bible studies, helping to bring dynamic speakers to our parish, meeting in groups of women and individually to share faith stories, attending weekday Mass more often, and reading rich Catholic books and listening to many Catholic CDs. One CD especially led me into a burning desire to consecrate myself to Jesus through Mary. I celebrated my Consecration on May 13, Fatima Day. I have many ideas to share with our parish priest and I look forward to becoming a deacon’s wife in five years.
I still question whether I am on the right track… if I am doing what God wants me to be doing right now. But everything feels so right and I am seeing blessings, even through daily struggles. I love Matthew’s books and tapes and want to be that Dynamic Catholic that draws others to our Lord. And I have this yearning to help educate parishioners in our church who “don’t get it” and don’t realize how perfect and awesome God’s plan is for our world.
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