About a year ago, Diana Nagel lost her house and wasn’t sure where to turn. A friend told her about St. Martin’s Home for the Aged, which the Little Sisters of the Poor operate in Catonsville for elderly people who have low income.
Diana moved into the community and felt immediately that she was in the right place.
“I can’t explain what it was like the first night to spend here,” said Nagel, who is 80. “I was so at peace.”
As Diana settled into the community, she started making friends and getting to know the Little Sisters better. And she found herself reflecting on her own faith journey. She had been baptized years ago as an adult mother of two when she felt compelled to go forward to be baptized in a nondenominational church. She’s attended different Protestant churches over the years, but she hadn’t really found a church home.
“When I moved here,” she said, “there was still something missing.”
She became curious about Catholicism, especially as she talked more to a Catholic friend who lives at St. Martin’s. Diana felt drawn to learn more about the faith.
“I want what you have,” she told one of the religious sisters, who connected her to Our Lady of Victory Parish, which is nearby in Arbutus. For months, Diana has been participating in the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults program to prepare to enter the church this Easter.
When Diana and I met a few weeks ago, she was nervous about making her first confession, but she was looking forward to experiencing God’s mercy through the sacrament. She was especially excited to receive the Eucharist.
“I want to be that right and that good with God,” she said. “That’s what I want.”
After Diana and I spoke about her life and her faith, we walked to an outdoor prayer garden at St. Martin’s, where she spends time each day. She described for me how she picks up trash that blows into the space, clears away piles of sticks, feeds apples to the deer that stop by and tries to ensure it is a beautiful, peaceful space where her fellow residents can relax and pray. A tall crucifix is the focal point, and Stations of the Cross line a path to one side. Diana loves to be busy, and she told me how happy she is to be working to enhance the space.
“I work hard. I work for God. I work for nobody but him,” Diana said.
As we conclude Lent and transition to the rejoicing of Easter, Diana’s faith journey inspires me. Her story is a beautiful reminder of how God lovingly pursues a deeper relationship with us throughout our lives. Along the way, he sends people who walk with us and meet us where we are. No matter where life takes us and what challenges we encounter, God wants each of us to find our way home to him and to a place of peace.
The miracle of Easter shows that anything and everything is possible for God, and that even death does not have the final word. Every year at this time, we have the chance to discover anew that Jesus’ love for us is greater than we can possibly imagine – and that even the darkest Good Friday can lead to the abundant joy of Easter Sunday.
I’m so happy Diana will encounter Jesus’ love as she enters the church this Easter. But talking with her in the final weeks of her preparation, she was radiating her love for Christ.
“I’m following in his footsteps,” she said. “I know that he loves me, and I love him. And I know that I’m looking forward to going to eternity.”
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