Moved by the Spirit

I was born into a faithful farm family who attended church regularly. My sister and I were among the little people who flocked to Sunday School and ran around the church basement while our parents served coffee and visited with other members of the congregation.  It was with sincere devotion that I was baptized as an infant and confirmed by my own choice as an adult in the United Church.  

My journey continued in the United Church when I was married, and my husband and I welcomed two beautiful children into our family. We were living in Edmonton and I was teaching at a public school when my husband received the news that he was being transferred to work in Calgary. Shortly after arriving there, we needed to look at schools for the children.  As a teacher, I started to research the schools in the area and found myself drawn to the Calgary Catholic Board. My husband was baptized Catholic and so we enrolled in the neighbourhood Catholic School.  

I was thrilled with the education my children received and even more excited about the learning they were doing in regard to faith.  They came home with stories about their lessons and asked questions about what they were learning.  The more they asked, the more I thought about my responses and I was not satisfied. I attended liturgies at school and asked questions of my husband but felt like I needed more in order to support my children on this path that I had chosen for them.  

Soon, I found myself in the office at St. Albert the Great Parish and enrolled in the RCIA program. “Information is what I need”.  “It is for the children”.  “I am happy with my faith and the United Church”.  These were the lines that I was telling myself and they were what got me started; my feet in the door I guess you could say. As we hear so often, “God works in mysterious ways”.  The more I learned at RCIA, and the more I volunteered at the school, the more invested I became.  
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Wednesday nights became the best night of the week as I joined my sponsor and delved deeper into the faith. RCIA allowed me to grow and expand on the faith that had been fostered in me as a child. As an adult, I am acutely aware of the fact that I had an opportunity to look at faith in a new way and to choose it for myself (with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and many other faithful companions). Now, as a Catholic school teacher, I am blessed daily to learn and grow in faith alongside my students. It is with humble appreciation that I embrace each day of learning that will last a lifetime and beyond.

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Written by Pamela Perizzolo for Faithfully. ​Pamela Perizzolo is a blessed wife and mother who has been a teacher for the last 27 years. Teaching is and has always been her passion and calling. She has had the privilege of serving with Calgary Catholic School District for over 10 years and is proud to have been touched by so many amazing families and partners in education.

Photos courtesy of Pamela Perizzolo.