Must-read: Patricia Heaton’s moving testament about going to Mass

Last updated on: July 31, 2017 at 8:29 pm by Deacon Greg Kandra

Must-read: Patricia Heaton’s moving testament about going to Mass 2017-07-31T20:29:11-04:00 Deacon Greg Kandra

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Some months back, the star of “The Middle” and “Everybody Loves Raymond” caused an Internet sensation when she engaged in a “Catholic Throwdown” with Stephen Colbert. (Check that out above).

But this weekend, she offered a profound—and thought-provoking—witness with this post on Twitter:

Spent Mass internally grumbling about lame sermon; received Eucharist, knelt down, burst into tears. #NoOneExpectstheHolySpirit.

— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) July 30, 2017

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That prompted a longer exchange with her Twitter followers about the Mass. (Visit her Twitter page for more).

What can you say? There’s just one word for this: grace. Amazing grace.

Beyond all that, what we’re witnessing here, I think, is another bright spot in the New Evangelization—Catholics living their faith in their public square and making manifest how Catholicism is meaningful, transformative and, quite simply, beautiful. Kudos to Heaton for engaging in this conversation.

I also think people might appreciate Patricia Heaton’s testimony because it is, in fact, eminently relatable, the story of a cradle Catholic who left the Church and later returned:

After she divorced and remarried, she left the Catholic Church and went through a self-subscribed “Protestant wilderness.” It was during this time, she’s later said, that she realized acting had become an idol for her, and that she needed to put Christ first.

She eventually got connected with an Opus Dei priest who guided her through the annulment process for her first marriage. Since then, she has been a practicing Catholic. “It was a great joy,” she says of her return to the Catholic Church, “…a beautiful thing.”

It’s wonderful to have her back from “the wilderness,” isn’t it?

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