Holy Cross Parish has played a large part in the lives of Stephanie Heath’s twin sons, and at the end of this month, they — and she — will join the parish as new members of the Catholic Church.
The 41-year-old Dover resident and her sons, 8-year-old John and George Hawk, are looking forward to the Easter vigil on March 30. That night, the boys will be baptized and receive their first Communion, while Heath, who has been baptized twice, will receive Communion.
Going through the Living as a Family of Faith process has filled a void that Heath said has existed since the boys were born.
“I have a lot of regret that I didn’t do this as soon as they were born, but I’m kind of looking at it like everything happens for a reason,” she said recently. “I know they’re excited. I’m really excited.”
Heath said the boys’ father wanted to wait until John and George were old enough to make the decision for themselves. They attend Holy Cross School, and most of their friends there are Catbholic. She decided it was time for them, and her, to join the church.
“I kind of started feeling like, the age of seven is the age that the church established as when a young person is able to discern whether they want to or not. I started to talk to them about it, and I discovered that they were … interested in it. That gave me hope enough to pursue it. I just kind of took the ball and ran with it, and here we are,” she said.
Heath grew up in Newark and attended Glasgow High School. She was baptized Methodist but did not go to church on a regular basis as a child. She went to Sunday school for a bit. She said when she was 11, she became friends with someone who was Baptist, and she starting attending church with her friend’s family. She was baptized again, this time as a Baptist.
That ended up “falling by the wayside” as well, she noted. Through her early adulthood, Heath didn’t have much spiritual structure.
With her sons in Catholic school, the thought of rebuilding a more formal faith life came back to the fore. She had two cousins who were raised Catholic, and she began to look into the faith.
“I watched them go through Communion and confirmation and everything. Even though the concept of faith was present in my life, I always sort of yearned to be part of that structure,” she said.
John and George have found themselves a home at Holy Cross School, so she wanted to complete the process of joining the church there. She didn’t get started in time to have her sons receive Communion in second grade with the rest of their classmates, but she wasn’t about to let that happen again.
One of the benefits of having her boys baptized a little later in life is that they will be able to remember this day, whereas most Catholics have no recollection of theirs. She knows how profound this moment can be.
“I remember the second time I was baptized, and it was a very profound experience even though it didn’t stick with me the way I had hoped it would,” she said. “Hopefully it will sit in their hearts in a different place than maybe some of us who don’t remember their baptism.”
Heath said she has been careful to keep their conversations about faith short and to the point. She wants them to do this for themselves, not for her.
“I don’t want them to feel like it’s something they have to do,” she said. “They’re really excited. They learn about it every day. They know what the Eucharist is and the receiving of the sacraments. Even though they know what it is, I’m not sure if they grasp how powerful it is yet. I try not to beat it too hard, but I definitely try to put it out there as often as possible.”
As for her own journey, she said everything makes more sense now than it ever has.
“And the more into the process I get, the more grateful I am to finally be going through the process,” she said.
Heath appreciates the support she has received from Holy Cross Parish. The people have been welcoming, and she had no problem finding a sponsor. She has become friends with the other people in the program.
“You meet people you can call your friends. That doesn’t happen every day,” she said.
She’s nervous, but more excited as the day nears. Her best friend and an aunt will be on hand, and the boys’ father’s family will be well-represented at the vigil.
