DRAGON TESTIMONIES

Brennan Lee '23

Brennan (second from the left) with members of FISH Club. 

It all started a while ago. My Dad’s side of the family is very involved with the Catholic Church, so religion has always been in the background. I was baptized as an infant and went to church as a child, especially at Easter and Christmas. However, around third grade, I started playing baseball and practices took place on Sundays, so I pretty much stopped going to church.

Church stayed in the background for many years after that. In 10th grade, I wasn’t doing very well in school and was not in a very good place socially. I had friction with my friends and things felt like they were falling apart. I tried sleeping earlier, tried confronting people, but I was at a loss as to what to do.

My Dad goes to church every week, so one Sunday I decided to go to church with him on a whim. I figured that going to church would be more productive than trying to study more. For the first time in a very long time, I felt really peaceful among all the chaos in my life. I can’t really describe it, but I felt stillness and a sense of community. The experience of being there made me realize Jesus was really working in me. That was a spark.

At school, I had met a couple of friends who were Christian, and they invited me to join them at the counseling office during lunchtime. There was a “guy” named Kevin Kong, who always had people hang out in his office and talk about interesting things. I remember that Thursdays were called Faith and Cake. I really enjoyed those times and liked the community, so I started going there regularly. Some of those friends also led FISH (Fellowship is Shared Here), which is the High School Christian Club, so I started going to FISH too.

"I remember that Thursdays were called Faith and Cake. I really enjoyed those times and liked the community, so I started going there regularly. "

Kevin was really instrumental in my faith. During Covid, we often went for long walks, and he talked to me about what is mercy, what is grace, what makes Christianity unique compared to other religions. I had a lot of questions, and I was in the process of getting to know more and more about this faith.

About a year into going to church, I asked my Dad if I could go through the Confirmation process. He looked at me and said, “really?” I don’t think he ever expected to hear that. After actually paying attention to the sermons and learning about different denominations, I felt that I identified as a Catholic. I explained that I felt my journey as a Catholic started now, not when I was a child. It was a new part of my identity.

Usually Confirmation takes place before Middle School, but my Dad set about looking for a Confirmation program that would take a 17-year-old who had a lot of questions. After a couple of tries, we found one that was happy to answer all my questions. Sometimes they didn’t have all the answers, which I actually really appreciated.

Looking back, I really see how Jesus works in His own way. My bond with God has really grown in my life. Now I’m involved with Alpha, which is a collaboration between Middle and High School for students to ask questions about faith. Who knows? Maybe this interview about coming to faith will be happening with some of them next year. I hope so.