Each winter season brought sprinklings of joy – knowing that celebrating Jesus’ birth on Christmas would also bring my family together. At dinner, we place on empty settings for those loved ones who are no longer with us and acknowledge them during our dinner prayer.

For several holiday seasons, I was seeking more – a change from the traditional Ukrainian Catholic mass – that’s all I knew. I became a CEO Catholic – you know, those that show on Christmas and Easter Only, with a sprinkling of a few other annual masses in between. Drop in a donation envelope and feel redeemed that I fulfilled my obligation of showing up and being seen. Afterall, God is everywhere, in His house and mine.

Maybe it was all the festive Lifetime Christmas movies that I’ve watched, but I was seeking something – something that would fill my soul. I was lost after my sister Laryssa passed, and was hoping to find light in the darkness. The Story explains how I came upon the Episcopal church and how – in a moment of Christmas Eve sadness, The Very Rev. Michael T. Sniffen made me feel seen and loved.