Denver Catholic

36 AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2025 | DENVER CATHOLIC Her response stunned him: she, her husband and three children had become Catholic. Within minutes, she had found a local Catho- lic church for Jim and encouraged him to attend Mass. That morning, Jim walked into a Catholic church for the first time in four decades. Waiting for him was his second encounter of the day with Christ crucified. "There Jesus is with his arms stretched out, nailed to a Cross, and I just felt love beyond what you can imagine. I bawled like a little baby — you know, embarrassed myself," Jim said. The church was St. Thomas More in Centennial, where Jim would soon meet Mary Anne. MARY ANNE'S SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE Meanwhile, Mary Anne was living an answered prayer. In 2003, she was facing a future on dialysis, already having been on dialysis for five years. One day, on her way out of the unit, turning to God, she prayed without anger, resentment or expectation: "Lord, I don't ever want to come back here." She was honest with God — she wanted to be done with dialysis. The very next day, Mary Anne was called to receive a kidney transplant. "Every day is a new day: a challenge and a blessing. And I was given a second chance at life, which is incredible," she said. Mary Anne experienced God's grace through the Christ-like love of an 11-year-old boy. "I received a letter from his mother years later," Mary Anne explained. "She shared that she knew immediately what to do about his organs. He would have given them away himself. He was a boy who wanted those in need to be happy." That self-gift resonated with Mary Anne, especially since she had just professed to live a similar surrender through the Secular Francis- can Order the year before. "It's just a spirituality that strikes my heart," Mary Anne said. "You profess to live a life according to the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis, who walked every, every step with Jesus." A parishioner at St. Thomas More, Mary Anne found herself surrounded and supported by a strong parish community amid her trials and walk with Jesus. Through it all, she's learned that God answers prayers, even if in surprising ways — whether her quiet plea to leave dialysis or to have someone to go to dinner with. Both times, God gave her far more than she expected. FOLLOWING THE HEART OF CHRIST TOGETHER In the seven years since that first date, Jim and Mary Anne slowly recognized what they both already suspected: this was the love they had been praying for. Christmas 2023 brought an unexpected gift. Knowing Jim had a knack for picking out beautiful jewelry, she offhandedly mentioned she wanted a ring with three stones. "Father, Son and Holy Spirit, right? Because my knuckles are getting bigger! So, I just wanted something to fit my ring finger just right," Mary Anne said. "I opened the package from his jeweler. I thought, 'Wow, Jim, this is too big! I just wanted three little stones.'" Two questions followed. "Well, will you wear it?" "Will you wear it forever?" Mary Anne's answer was a resounding "Absolutely." They began marriage preparation soon after. With no need to discuss the typical topics of child rearing and Natural Family Planning, the couple homed in on the heart of the vocation: the call to love like Christ. For Mary Anne, that call meant embodying Jesus' generous heart. "I had a friend who talked with me about this a long time ago, and I have this picture that she drew of a heart with my hands," she recalled. "Through the heart, your hands come out to the other person, right? Isn't that 'reaching out' to the other love?" Now happily married, Mary Anne still finds herself learning to love like Jesus. "Being single for decades, I'm learning to think differently. It's not all about me anymore. It doesn't have to be the way I want it to be, even though it's really hard," Mary Anne said with a laugh. "It's wonderful having someone else to serve, to be with, to pray with, to love." "Isn't that 'reaching out' to the other love?" M A R Y A N N E

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