"I often envy how so many of you are so sure, as far as your religion is concerned. I'm just wondering if you ladies were always so devote, our did you ever have doubts along your life's paths as well?"

Hi, Hannelore: I think, all in all, the essence of faith and spirituality will depend on individual circumstances and expressions. Some will come to it from the cradle, others will come into it later on in life by association with people and events. In my case, the foundations of faith was deeply set from childhood with both my parents and the nuns at convent boarding school working alongside each other with cathechism. As I grew up, left boarding school and became exposed to more temporal living and issues, questions have arisen as to where life "outside the walls" ran in partnership with spirituality. Essentially, it became a question of: "where do I find God amidst all of this?" I questioned issues of segregations in the US, the war in Vietnam, assassination of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, famine etc. Much closer to home were early deaths of people I knew and loved. One could only approach all those issues from a perspective of faith based on what was previously taught within the context of Catholic theology. It was something to fall back on time and time again as one grew older and faced greater challenges in life. When Mom was alive, she encouraged me to continuously study and understand the disciplines, doctrines and dogmas to avert any crisis of faith in the Church. Have I ever had any doubts along the way? Sometimes, I do. But not in the manner with which one would question whether God exists or whether He loves me. Often the questions center on issues wherein I lack deeper theological thoughts.