I Am Catholic

About the Book

I Am Catholic: The Paths We All Take presents short stories that depict the daily struggles of Catholics making their journeys through disappointment, doubt, and fear. They discover anew the strength God gives through faith and the resolve he stirs up in them to know, serve, and love him. Hilary De Freitas has crafted stories reflecting the riches of Catholic piety and worship, revealing the internal struggles Catholics face in practicing their faith, and drawing the reader into finding common ground with the stories’ characters. This collection’s twelve stories enter into the rhythms of life that arise from Catholic worship and prayer and view those defining moments as windows that reveal the riches of the faith and their response to life’s challenges. In “Prayer,” for instance, Jessica observes, “Like most other people I know who pray the Rosary, I started off because I had petitions to make. … I was praying for the souls of the faithful departed in my family, as that year we seemed to be ‘losing’ a lot of family members. The loss was hitting our family very hard. Many times I wasn’t praying for those who had passed but for those who remained.” If your life presents you with roadblocks to cultivating a deeper faith, then the stories in I Am Catholic: The Paths We All Take will offer you the encouragement that comes from following someone who has walked a path through the dark times and come to a deeper and renewed practice of the faith.

About the Author

Hilary De Freitas was raised in a Catholic family, strayed from her faith, but then returned home to the Catholic Church through her search for the truth. A wife, mother, and business owner, she volunteers for Birthright of Memphis and has served as a catechist and a mentor in the schools.