{"parish":{"localizations":[{"locale":"es","slug":"st-john-fisher-chapel-university-parish-es"}],"seo":{"metaTitle":"St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish","metaDescription":"Eucharistic testimonies from St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish","metaImage":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/furrow/image/upload/v1654882069/i-am-here/220607_IAH_CVR_FB_CRD_01_58dbc6076b.png","alt":"220607_IAH-CVR_FB-CRD-01.png","width":1200,"height":630},"metaSocial":[{"socialNetwork":"Facebook","title":"St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish","description":"Eucharistic testimonies from St. John Fisher Chapel","image":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/furrow/image/upload/v1654882069/i-am-here/220607_IAH_CVR_FB_CRD_01_58dbc6076b.png","alt":"220607_IAH-CVR_FB-CRD-01.png","width":1200,"height":630}},{"socialNetwork":"Twitter","title":"St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish","description":"Eucharistic testimonies from St. John Fisher Chapel ","image":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/furrow/image/upload/v1654882069/i-am-here/220607_IAH_CVR_FB_CRD_01_58dbc6076b.png","alt":"220607_IAH-CVR_FB-CRD-01.png","width":1200,"height":630}}],"keywords":null,"metaRobots":null},"name":"St. John Fisher Chapel University Parish","location":{"city":"Auburn Hills","state":"MI"},"diocese":{"name":"Archdiocese of Detroit","slug":"archdiocese-of-detroit"},"cover":null,"stories":[{"title":"“That experience of love…I just anchor myself to it”","author":{"name":"Shelly Propson Tyshka","age":null},"slug":"shelly-propson-tyshka","featured":true,"cover":{"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/furrow/image/upload/v1675438259/i-am-here/Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e.jpg","provider":"cloudinary","width":2784,"formats":{"large":{"ext":".jpg","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/furrow/image/upload/v1675438260/i-am-here/large_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e.jpg","hash":"large_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"large_ShellyT-25-2784x2000-dae7a35.jpg","path":null,"size":56.92,"width":1000,"height":718,"provider_metadata":{"public_id":"i-am-here/large_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e","resource_type":"image"}},"small":{"ext":".jpg","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/furrow/image/upload/v1675438261/i-am-here/small_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e.jpg","hash":"small_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"small_ShellyT-25-2784x2000-dae7a35.jpg","path":null,"size":18.69,"width":500,"height":359,"provider_metadata":{"public_id":"i-am-here/small_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e","resource_type":"image"}},"medium":{"ext":".jpg","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/furrow/image/upload/v1675438260/i-am-here/medium_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e.jpg","hash":"medium_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"medium_ShellyT-25-2784x2000-dae7a35.jpg","path":null,"size":35.8,"width":750,"height":539,"provider_metadata":{"public_id":"i-am-here/medium_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e","resource_type":"image"}},"thumbnail":{"ext":".jpg","url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/furrow/image/upload/v1675438259/i-am-here/thumbnail_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e.jpg","hash":"thumbnail_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e","mime":"image/jpeg","name":"thumbnail_ShellyT-25-2784x2000-dae7a35.jpg","path":null,"size":5.24,"width":217,"height":156,"provider_metadata":{"public_id":"i-am-here/thumbnail_Shelly_T_25_2784x2000_dae7a35_548686517e","resource_type":"image"}}},"alternativeText":"ShellyT-25-2784x2000-dae7a35.jpg"},"excerpt":"

The Eucharist makes all the difference to me. Years ago I contemplated leaving the Catholic Church. By the grace of God I was introduced to St. Pope John Paul II's writings and Catholic radio. When I truly realized the gift of the Eucharist — of being able to receive Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity and that He was truly present with us on the altar through the sacrifice of the Mass — I felt an intense pull back to the Church. The thought of walking away from the Eucharist felt like walking away from my ability to breathe.

We had struggled with infertility for a couple of years. You think that it's going to be so easy getting pregnant and then when it's not so easy, it really is a cross to bear, because you feel like God has forgotten you. I kept thinking, “Oh, I must be doing something wrong. What am I doing wrong?”

I felt like I was failing in some way or undeserving of being a mom. Every month I wasn't pregnant I would experience a wave of anxiety and sadness, and it felt like the cycle would last forever.

While on vacation in Marco Island, I went to a Lenten healing service. I walked into church crying because I felt God had abandoned me — that I just wasn't good enough to be blessed with a child.

I sat in the pew with my mother and father, and the priest began to walk around with Christ in the monstrance. This was my first encounter with the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

A nun was praying and she started to pray for moms and moms-to-be, and then she prayed for all the women who desperately wanted children but who were unable to conceive. At that moment, the priest stopped directly in front of me and turned to me holding the monstrance. I felt a rush of heat wash through me, and in that moment I knew God loved me and had not forgotten me. More importantly, He wanted me to know that.

I got pregnant within a month of that night, and I thought, “Oh, I’m pregnant! This is the answer to prayer!” But I suffered a miscarriage at around 12 weeks. To experience the joy of getting pregnant only to lose my first child was so heavy and heartbreaking. God did not heal my infertility in that moment but I knew deep in my heart that He loved me and always would. The night in Marco was about God and his love for me because He knew I was going to need it as a moment, to draw strength from in the future.

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