New Catholic: ‘The faith really spoke to me’

Courtney Sauntry smiles as she prepares to receive her first Communion from Father Benjamin Syberg at St. Lawrence Church in Lawrenceburg during the Easter Vigil Mass on April 3. (Photo courtesy of AJ Waltz, Waltz Photography LLC)

By Natalie Hoefer

Courtney Sauntry, now 17, was fascinated by a particular presentation during “Religions Week” in her public school’s social studies class during her sixth-grade year.

The speaker was Donald Paquette, director of religious education at St. Lawrence Parish in Lawrenceburg, and he spoke about Catholicism.

“He talked all about Catholic prayers,” Courtney recalls. “He brought in rosaries and taught us how to use it. I just fell in love with it. The faith really spoke to me.”

Sixth grade was a particularly hard year for her. She suffered from severe depression, even contemplating suicide. She attributes Paquette’s talk as the positive turning point in her struggles.

“I kept [the rosary] in my backpack,” she said. “When I held it, I felt calmer. It’s helped me get through. I still have it today.”

Last year, Courtney decided to join RCIA at St. Lawrence.

“I decided even if I wasn’t Catholic, I’d still go to church every Sunday,” she says.

“The really cool part is that the Holy Spirit started to go through everyone. Even my mom and my [paternal] grandpa, who hadn’t been to church since he was 16, started going to Mass. Then my brother Jackson started going, and he ended up getting baptized, too!” she said of her 12-year-old sibling.

The joy in Courtney’s voice was clear as she recalled receiving her sacraments during the Easter Vigil Mass on April 3 at St. Lawrence Church.

“Oh, my goodness, I was over the moon!” she gushed. “I was ecstatic, smiling.”

She said when her parish priest, Father Benjamin Syberg, “started to say the prayer and we had to respond, ‘I do,’ I was smiling from ear to ear! I couldn’t contain my happiness!

“When he poured the water on me, I had this moment where I felt clean and different.”

It was a joyful moment for Courtney’s mother Samantha Sauntry as well.

“The whole time we were there I kept thinking, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ ” she said. “This couldn’t have happened without God.”

Sauntry is sure of this fact because, despite her Catholic upbringing, she hadn’t been to Mass in several years.

“After my Dad died [in 2015], I went through a gray period in my faith,” she said. “I felt angry and hurt.”

Now, she said, she feels “proud” of Courtney and Jackson, the oldest of her four children.

“And I feel blessed that God didn’t forget about us,” she added. “It makes me feel happy. And it got me back in church.”

Courtney has found joy in the sacraments, and happiness in going to Mass with her family.

But there is one additional blessing for which she is grateful.

“Through the RCIA class and learning about God, I learned how to be able to stand on my own,” she said.

“Something I struggle with is what people think of me. Going through this class taught me the only person’s opinion we should care about is God’s. … I stay on my path and just worry about what my Father-God thinks.” †
 

Related: See a list of all new Catholics in the archdiocese for 2020 and 2021