RIVERHEAD (NY)
Riverhead Local
September 16, 2018
By Eileen Benthal
I remember sitting outside the church, in the middle of the discarded tree. The cold wind blew around me and the swirling snow formed interesting patterns in the air. But I was warm as the tree branches enveloped me.
I was attending a youth retreat and the retreat director gave us some time for individual reflection and journaling. The Christmas tree, cleared of all remnants of paper decorations and lights, was tossed off to the side of the parish hall on the border of the woods surrounding the church property. It was the perfect place to sit and reflect on that Saturday morning in the middle of January.
When I was a teenager, I made a deeper and more personal commitment to Christ and to my Catholic faith. I was a cradle Catholic, brought to church to be baptized by my faith-filled parents whose individual lives and marriage was founded on principles they had learned growing up in the Catholic church.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.