Stories of Grace

Listen to alum Patrick Calderon tell how God's love broke into and transformed his loneliness and depression

"It was in the deepest darkness of my condition that God’s presence illuminated me with hope. I felt God reach out and embrace me. It felt like he was sitting next to me in that church pew, holding me up with his arm around me as I continued to pray to him."

"For me, the messy reality of being adopted consists of a constant internal struggle between overwhelming gratitude and unexplainable feelings of inadequacy. For every voice that tries to tell me that I am unwanted and unloved, there is this stronger reiteration of love from my mother, who has shown me what it truly means to love unconditionally."

Quite simply, I wanted to bake my own pie - I wanted to be in control, always on the giving end of charity. But God was inviting me to something different, something beautiful, something more in line with our eternal goal - union with the love of God, which must always be received

"If I sit in the side aisle of the Basilica, I can see clearly the stained glass window I eyed suspiciously years ago, a window I can now trust like an old friend: each little piece, fit into place slowly and creatively, as light shines steadily through." Listen to Notre Dame senior Madeline Lewis tell the story of finding the grace to trust the intricacy at play in her life.

Leah Jacob tells her story about an eating disorder, the depths of self-accusation, treatment, and the rediscovery of beauty.

"I think that, if we’re lucky in this life, we’ll get to come across perhaps three or four really really good ponds." Listen to Notre Dame senior Madeline Lewis tell the story of finding the grace to sit with things for long whiles.

"It's a messy business, drowning in God's love and grace." Listen to senior John Lee tell the story of encountering the humbling grace of God in the breaking of the bread.

Listen to Saint Mary's senior Jess Jones tell the story of encountering grace as a comfort and stronghold amidst all anxieties: "I cannot even put it into words, but it was as if God picked my fearful body up as my mom had when I was a little girl, and held me in His arms until I was calm. It was then that I knew that God would not let me suffer from this for my entire life." Jess is a member of the Class of 2017 at Saint Mary’s College majoring in Communicative Sciences and Disorders and minoring in Gerontology and Sociology. She currently deciding which graduate school is best for her and is on her way to becoming a Speech Language Pathologist! Jess was a mentor for Notre Dame Vision in the summer of 2016 and will serve again in 2017. In her free time she loves catching up with friends through great conversations and spending time visiting with the Holy Cross Sisters at Saint Mary’s Convent.

"We were not capable ourselves of the relationship we were gifted. Yet our obstacles were as nothing to God’s grace." Listen to Notre Dame junior Courtney Morin tell a story of love, trust, and grace encountered through the adoption of her little sister.

Listen to Madeline Lewis, a Notre Dame senior, tell a story about fog, bread, and unexpected grace in the uncertainty of waiting.

“There isn’t a tidy bow that I can wrap on this story. But, I learned, it’s not the bow that makes things beautiful; it’s the gift of life itself.” Listen to Alex White, a graduate student in the Echo program and a theology teacher in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, tell a story of family and finding God who gently holds the world.

“Like performing and articulating music, we are meant to develop our relationship with God so that we can perform mercy and articulate love to all of humanity.” Listen to Notre Dame junior Lacey Silvestri tell the story of being schooled in the grace of attentiveness through her impatience with playing piano.

“I cannot even begin to express how much that small bit of empathy meant to me. My idea of this monster I’ve been fighting for so long was beginning to be transformed by just five words.” Listen to Notre Dame junior Dani L’Heureux tell a story of the healing power of prayer, reflection and relationship.

“My dad’s suffering allowed him to recognize suffering—in its many clandestine and unwelcoming forms—in others, and his common humanity and humaneness brought the humanity of others to the surface. It was a grace, to be sure, and one he practiced receiving. And not just in his living but in his dying, as well.” Listen to Colleen Moore, director of the Echo: Faith Formation Leadership Program, tell a story about her father’s witness to life and death made more, not less, by God’s grace.

“As I thought more about that prison pudding cup, I began to realize something important. Me, sobbing in front of that vending machine? That isn’t the whole story.“ Listen to Notre Dame senior Madeline Lewis tell a story about family, pudding, and learning to see the hidden story of God’s love.

“I started to think about how often I had told others I would pray for them. I used it as a meaningless phrase to convey that they were in my mind. But had I ever really prayed for them? Really prayed?“ Listen to Notre Dame senior Andy Miles tell the story of encountering the God who never tires of our prayers, through the witness of his mother praying the rosary.

"Has anyone ever felt just like, a little bit lonely, and had the urge to just see a really big whale?” Listen to Notre Dame senior Madeline Lewis tell the story of her first summer away from home, a story of finding the grace to look not for what we want, but for what is given.