The Greatest Destination
By Debbie Lackey
My name is Debbie Lackey and I am the mother of two adult sons, Jeremy and Tyler. My oldest son, Jeremy, had started in his RCIA program in 2021. As his mother, a believer in God but not really committed to attending church or choosing any denomination, I was thrilled with his journey into the Catholic faith and supported him by driving him to and from church every Sunday.
Jeremy fell gravely ill in April of 2022 and I was terrified that I was going to lose my son. After many prayers from myself and many others, he started getting better and, having missed his Easter Vigil due to the situation, was baptized into the Catholic Church in the ICU at Mercy Hospital by Bishop Joe Binzer. I was beyond thrilled that he had found God, especially with his very near brush with death. On a Sunday a couple of weeks after he had gotten out of the hospital in May of 2022, Jeremy asked me to go out and have breakfast with him and to attend Mass together afterwards. Wanting to support him in his faith, I agreed. Breakfast took way too long, and the Mass that he intended on us going to was already halfway over, and so we agreed to go and try St. Max instead. One Sunday, one Mass… that was all it took for me to fall in love with the Mass and the Catholic faith. On the following Sunday my youngest son, Tyler, voiced his interest in attending Mass as well, and so we began attending Mass at St. Max every Sunday.
Tyler and I also began attending inquiry classes every Tuesday, desiring to learn more about the Catholic faith and grow closer to God. In September of 2022, Jeremy became the sponsor of both Tyler and I as we started our own RCIA journey. It wasn’t easy, as Jeremy had yet another, even closer, brush with death in October of that same year. He was taken to Jewish Hospital by helicopter to receive emergency surgery for a critical brain bleed that he had been dismissing as nothing more than headaches and stomach illness for months. As Jeremy was being prepped for surgery, the surgeon talked with me on my phone and told me that he had never seen anyone so young, that looked so good, yet be in such a critically ill state. We prayed fervently, and I prayed especially for the intercession of St. Teresa of Calcutta, whom I had been developing a devotion to during the past couple of months. A few hours later, the surgeon came out and told us that Jeremy was awake, alert, hungry, and doing great. He also told us that, based on his condition, he had no explanation as to how he had survived. We knew both how and why, and we praised God for sparing his life yet again.
The road was not easy, but it has been the best path in life that I have ever experienced. Tyler and I were baptized at the Easter Vigil on April 8, 2023 by Fr. Jim. Here we are, almost a year later, and what a time it has been. I cannot express how much it means to me to have both of my adult sons on this path to God with me. I have felt so bad for many years because my boys didn’t have all of the same opportunities other kids had because I am an older parent and my life went off course on more than one occasion. My boys have God now. We pray and go to Mass together, and I know they are safe from Satan as long as God is their chosen path. Being Catholic is an amazing journey, the means to the greatest destination, and it is amazing! I have cried, and continue to cry, a river of tears of joy as I continue on this path to God. St. Max, Dave Brunsman and his family, and the entire St. Max community have given us a home, a place where we know God is with us.