Kolbe and Kate Andrzejewski

Kobe Andrzejewski

We are all called to be saints and everyone’s path to follow Christ is unique and exceptional. My faith journey was jumpstarted by my wife when I met her in Kansas. I recently moved there to attend graduate school at the University of Kansas. Before that time my family and I were not attending Mass and had lost touch with the church after 3 long distance moves through my father’s work.

When I moved to Kansas my faith flourished as I learned more about Catholicism.  I owed this growing faith to some degree from my growing relationship with my soon-to-be wife, Kate, and her family, as well as through the Holy Spirit. Kate and her mom were both youth ministers and her Dad was just ordained a deacon in June. Kate’s family provided a wealth of knowledge and love that was deeply rooted in the church. I also attended a retreat called Teens Encounter Christ (TEC), which was a beautiful experience focusing on the pascal mystery. During TEC I encountered Christ and found grace in adoration, which I then began to attend with Kate.

Soon after attending the TEC retreat I started the RCIA process to become confirmed at the Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas. At first I was fairly skeptical of the RCIA process and felt alone, but to my surprise I was surrounded by a dozen other college-age students who wanted to know more about the church and grow in their faith.

Since that time my wife and I moved to Plano and have been with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for around 2 years now. It took some time to adjust from our parish in Kansas that had 1 priest and 3 Masses on the weekends in comparison to Seton, which has 4 priests and many options for Sunday Mass. Kate and I really enjoy participating in the Young Adults group, which we are delighted to see has grown considerably. We also like to volunteer at Seton Service Days and attend First Friday Adorations. This fall I am excited to continue my faith journey by joining Kate to teach faith formation for the parish youth.

Kate Andrzejewski

Growing up in Kansas you always get the classic questions, “Where are your ruby slippers? How is Toto?”. Usually I just smiled and played along because I absolutely loved everything about my home in Kansas. We lived in the country with wide open spaces and friendly neighbors. Not only was I a cradle Catholic, but my parents were involved in almost every aspect of the church. My mother is a youth minister and my father was just ordained a deacon this past June. This isn’t to say our family is perfect by any stretch, but our faith was always the rock that got us through any storm.

I was beyond blessed in my youth getting to experience retreats both near and far including World Youth Day in Australia and Spain where millions of young Catholics gathered to celebrate their faith with the Holy Father. Here I witnessed how truly universal and beautiful the church is. I also attended local retreats including TEC (Teens Encounter Christ). This three day retreat truly transformed my faith and showed me how to dive into a deep and loving relationship with Jesus.

Needless to say, I was comfortable in my home parish in Kansas. I knew every parishioner by their first name and could recognize new families straight away. However, God has a way of knowing when it’s time for us to grow and get outside of our comfort zone. This came when I was accepted to SMU in Dallas to pursue a PhD. My husband Kolbe found a job in Plano and thus we found ourselves in Texas. One of our first priorities was finding a parish. I remember googling nearby Catholic churches and being astonished by the number of parishes and how many Masses there were. Our first Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was filled with mixed emotions. At first sadness, I didn’t recognize any of these faces or know anyone sitting around me. Yet, through all this change one thing remained constant and that was the Mass. The familiarity of the readings, songs, and of course the presence of Christ in the Eucharist brought comfort and peace to my restless heart. Over the next couple of years my husband and I would become involved in various groups such as Catalyst, our young adults group, and teaching middle school faith formation which has allowed us to make new friends and find joy in our parish. Though there are days where I am still overwhelmed by the many new things life throws my way and missing the much smaller town I grew up in, I take comfort in knowing when I walk into Mass each Sunday I am home with my Catholic family and like Dorothy said “there is no place like home.”