And, as he became a young adult, he became more aware of the “God shaped hole in his heart.”
But he still was not ready to consider the Gospel.
Instead, he tried to find spiritual fulfillment elsewhere.
“The next few years were spent searching but nothing filled that hole,” Ben says. “I only felt more and more like I would never find what I was looking for.”
During a philosophy of religion class at Michigan Tech, he was introduced to Catholicism. “Now I had reason to hope that I really did have a place in the universe and the ordering principle of that universe was love.”
That class led him to St. Al’s where his hope flourished.
“I found other people like me who shared this hope and are committed to sharing this hope with others. The devotion of this community has been a source of inspiration for me over the past year since I joined the Church. I think there were a few people who were more excited for my baptism than I was. Over the months I got more and more involved with the community until eventually I decided that I wanted to move into St. Al’s and become a Chapel Rat.”
Ben says being a Chapel Rat has been a rewarding experience.
“I’m an only child,” he says. “I often feel like I missed out on the kind of sibling dynamics that many people grew up with, but being a rat has gone a long way to overcoming that deficiency.”
A favorite part of being a rat is spending time with his fellow brother rats.
“No matter how much time I have to spend doing homework, I always know a few hours of my week will be spent with brothers. I don't think many people in our culture are privileged to have this sort of family away from home and I often thank God that I do.”