The Power of the Pope - Part 2

by: Gina Loehr, WCI Leader Couple, Mt. Calvary, WI.

(If you missed the first installment, read Part 1 here.)

. . . After my brother gave me a life-changing challenge to read Pope John Paul II’s letter, “On the Dignity and Vocation of Women” my junior year in college, I made some major shifts in my life’s direction. I rearranged my college career, graduated a year earlier than expected, and decided to serve with the National Evangelization Team(NET) in St. Paul, Minnesota. This was a difficult decision. As a theatre major, my plan had been to move to New York after graduation to start an acting career. But I felt a desire to nurture my recently renewed Catholic faith, and I was encouraged by the fact that Pope John Paul II had been an actor too! Learning about his theatrical history opened my heart to consider that my acting training might possibly be used in someway other than a career on the stage. And so it was.

As a missionary with NET, I began to give talks and presentations at retreats allover the Midwest, while simultaneously learning more about my faith and starting to live an authentically Catholic lifestyle in community with my teammates. The ideals that the Holy Father had written about in his apostolic letter began to take on flesh for me. He wrote, “In the context of the ‘great mystery’ of Christ and of the Church, all are called to respond - as a bride - with the gift of their lives to the inexpressible gift of the love of Christ.” I began to view my life as a gift to be shared with the world. Instead of having a spotlight shine on me as a stage actress, I was now seeking to let the Light of Christ shine through me as I shared the Gospel with others. So, after my year of service, instead of heading to New York, I moved to Steubenville, Ohio and pursued a master’s degree in theology to lay the foundation for a life of mission and ministry. (To be continued….)