Scott Anderson is a man of his time. He has experienced the struggles that come from our society today, and found that Christ is the answer to all of them. Here is his story:
I grew up in a small town in the Midwest just outside of Chicago. I was sent to Catholic school for the first nine years of my education, during which time I had fostered a great love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Heavenly Mother; a relationship that would eventually ransom me from my own bonds sin.
A revert to the faith, I fell away from the Church during my high school years, due in part to the poor catechesis that I had received as a child and up into adolescence. In high school, I started searching for my faith, it wasn’t until four years later that I would be inspired to return to the Catholic Church. I began to instruct myself in the teachings of the Church, and quickly realized that all I had been looking for was right in front of me. During this time, I would greatly rely on the comfort and strength I had received from my devotion to Our Blessed Mother, in order to bring me back into full communion with the Church once more.
Until I had begun the work of catechizing myself I had never known of the Church’s doctrines on the Real Presence, Holy Days of Obligation or Fasting outside of Lent; I had a poor understanding of the Sacraments as well, all of which are essential to our Divinely appointed position as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Despite the nine years of religious education that I had received, I was still ignorant in our most basic teachings. The poor evangelization of the people of God- which, so often, leads to the falling away from the faith- is all too common of a problem and I knew I had to find some way to dedicate myself to this cause. It was the Mercedarians’ great zeal for evangelization that inspired me to look deeper into this community. After experiencing their great reverence for the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the orthodoxy of their teachings, their love for the Virgin Mary and the great devotion they have for living out their Fourth Vow of Redemption- I knew I had to apply. After all, who else would vow death in order to save the faith of another?
I am now just beginning the next step in my discernment process and I am greatly looking forward to when I can fully dedicate my life to Jesus through Mary and the evangelization of His people.
Piissima Mater de Mercede. Ora Pro Nobis.