Joseph Galinsky

Dr. Probst, Martin

English 1101- 114
Being Born into a Religion
Many people today as well as before are born into a certain religious denomination. The
religion that I had the great fortune of being been born into is the Roman Catholic Church. I was
baptized into the church as an infant and received the sacrament of Holy Communion as a child.
Being brought up as a Catholic has made me take a different perspective on life. I had plenty of
faith in God himself as my higher power. For it is by means that if we struggle in life God will
present himself in different ways throughout your life. Having had some of these experiences
myself, I clearly understand how the Catholic religion has drastically shaped who I am today.
Each persons journey through their faith is an extremely personal journey between them and
their God.
Being born into and being raised as a Catholic put stress on me as a child. I very much
wanted to be able to live my life by the teachings of the church. Because of my need to please
others more than myself, I was constantly picked on as a child. My self-esteem suffered greatly
during my first few years of grammar school. It was because of this, I asked my parents if I
could attend Catholic school so that I would be around other kids of my faith. It was during this
time I became an altar server. To me, as a young child, I felt this was one of the best ways to
bring myself closer to my God. I can remember when I was in 5th grade the career I wanted was
to be a football playing priest. I took the commandments I learned very seriously and would
constantly inform my family if they were breaking any. I used to drive my mom insane telling

her you just committed a venial sin. My dream of wanting to be a football playing priest ended
about the time I entered 8th grade. It was at this time I asked my parents to enroll me back into
the public school system so I could reacquaint myself with the kids I would be attending high
school with.
My high school years were the four hardest years of my life. I was able to manage school
while playing a sport and helping out in the community in many different ways. Myself, being
the good Catholic I was raised to be, I helped out with many charities and fundraisers throughout
my four years at Willowbrook High School. My favorite volunteer event was packaging meals
for the underprivileged. This to me was a way to do Gods work by helping others less fortunate.
When I look back on my four years of high school, I wonder where I went wrong to get to who I
am today. The biggest turn around in my life was when my grandmother got really sick my
senior year of high school. I went to church every Sunday and also prayed every night to help her
get through the struggles and be made whole again. My grandmother having been a devout
Catholic her whole life was all about God. I remember every night she would say the rosary
before she would go to bed. She wasnt praying for herself, but for those whom she loved. How
could such a beautiful soul inside and out who abided by Gods laws be made to suffer so much
during her final years of life. To this day it really makes no sense to me why she had to suffer so
much. I guess everyone suffers at various times in their life, not only mentally but physically too,
I guess its just another cycle of life.
After my grandmother passed away I felt lost and like I had no one else to turn to. I
thought God had let me down taking the one person I loved so deeply and cared for throughout
my life. I felt that there was nothing there anymore and my relationship with God became more
distant. I stopped going to church and stopped praying. The only thing I found pleasure in was

the world of drugs. As I said before, not everyone is perfect in the way they live and this was my
greatest slip in life. I felt during this time that drugs were more important to me than anyone or
anything, even my own religion. My life quickly spiraled completely out of control. I went from
Mr. Nice Guy to someone who really didnt care about people or his own life anymore. Like I
said, God will work his magic in mysterious ways. Having had an overdose on a specific drug I
found myself drifting in another world. It was in this world that I finally met my higher power.
At this moment I thought is this real or am I dreaming? My life had finally begun to have
meaning to it again. I began my treatment process knowing I had an addiction and knowing that
God was going to be by my side every step of the way. Successfully completing treatment I
became one with my higher power again. The Lord now shows me the ways of the life. I have a
different perspective on life now and that is that everyone dies, but until then one must grab life
by the reigns. Meaning dont let life control you, you must control it yourself before anything
wrong happens. The NA program has helped me to regain my faith and has allowed me to
become one with my high power again. You cant let your past predict the future. Life is too
short to constantly dwell in the past. This experience through the NA program lead me to having
a spiritual awakening that many cannot say they have experienced.
Knowing who I am today I believe Catholicism had a major impact on my life. I finally
can say that I believe in the one God, the Father and the Almighty. I continue to walk in his
footsteps because he carried me when I no longer could walk on my own. The love and grace of
God has showed me the way. He has guided me through my struggles and picked me up over and
over again when things werent going as planned. Many people can say life is a bitch, but if you
believe in something higher than yourself, life will be alright. In the Catholic Church we all

come together as one by the grace of God. I am proud of the denomination I was born into, and
my story is telling of what being a Roman Catholic means to me.