These days, Joyce Flory feels at peace, far more in touch with her spirituality and hopeful that her faith life will continue growing. Yet, this journey to a serene spirituality has been a decades-long expedition for Flory, who spent her early years in the Chicago area “wandering as a child and teen from church to church,” her early adult years in a poor marriage, and the last three years working to enter the Catholic faith and establish a stronger, healthier relationship with God. Over the years, Flory said, “I began to look at faith as more of a process and relationship as opposed to something similar to winning the lottery or getting the gift [I] wanted for Christmas. Now, I realize that faith is something you pursue every day. You search for and communicate with God, just as God searches for and communicates with you.” While her family was not religious, even open hostile toward the Catholic faith, Flory pursued some degree of faith-based life in her formative years, motivated in part because her mother thought she “needed it to become a ‘good girl.’” Though Flory enjoyed the social aspects of her encounters with different churches and faiths, she struggled to maintain any connection with God and understand a given religion’s principal tenets. In her adult years, Flory found herself returning to church at various points, visits often prompted by a personal crisis, such as the end of a relationship or job loss, rather than any concrete desire for a true spiritual relationship. “I often felt that I was bargaining with God, asking for something good to happen rather than investing my time in the creation of an ongoing relationship with God,” she said. For a time, Flory became an active member of the Fourth Presbyterian Church, attending services even if she didn’t pursue a disciplined program of study. “But I never really felt at home there in the sense that the church became part of my identity,” she said. A call to the church Three years ago, Flory, a Chicago resident, began entering Holy Name Cathedral to sit and reflect. Soon after, she started attending Masses. “The beauty of the service with all of its complex layers made me want to know more,” she said. In 2009, Flory began the RCIA program at Holy Name, eager to investigate faith as an ongoing process and relationship and not a quick fix to personal problems. Not wanting to become a “ritualistic Catholic,” Flory thrust herself into a deep pursuit of the Catholic faith and its meaning, appreciating the supportive, even entertaining leadership shown by the RCIA program. Rather than fire and brimstone fear appeals, she welcomed the church’s “gentle nudges.” Rather than following a rigid list of daily rules, she relished the church’s insistence on free will, dialogue and knowledge. And rather than marching into a church and proclaiming the faith, she embraced the challenging, disciplined process of entering the Catholic faith as an adult. “To be honest, there were times I didn’t think I was going to make it through [the RCIA program], but I anchored myself in the creed and establishing a personal relationship with God,” Flory said. Entering the faith This Easter, Flory officially enters the Catholic Church and becomes a parishioner at Holy Name. While the completion of her RCIA program spells the end of her initiation into Catholic life, it also represents the independent budding of her faith-based life. “I hope my faith continues to progress and that I will only feel more connected with the parish and more at home with the faith as time goes on,” she said. “I see this spirituality as a gift and I’m committed to leading a spiritual life, which is what I feel a real conversion is.”