Back probably about seven years ago, we had some really bitter cold winters here. Temperatures were going to 14 below at night.  I was getting deeper into my faith and I had been listening to Fr. John Riccardo’s podcast, Christ is the Answer, for a few months. I knew he was the pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Plymouth and so I looked online and I saw they had an early morning Mass on Tuesday mornings at 6:30 a.m. and I thought, ‘yeah, I’ll go to that one.’

I wake up that morning and I'm under my covers and it's bitterly cold out. It's 14 below. It's cold and I had set my alarm to get up at 5 a.m., to get showered and drive over there right in time for 6:30. 

I kind of didn't want to get out of bed because it was cold and I’m nice and toasty under my covers. After laying there for 15 minutes I thought to myself, Christ died for me. I can get my rear end out of bed,’ and I got up and went.

Mass was great, but what I didn't expect was that they were going to do Eucharistic adoration at the end of Mass. 

Father John knelt down, and underneath the altar there was a big wooden case. He opened it up, pulled out the monstrance, put it on the altar and then put in the Blessed Sacrament.

Everybody in the church knelt down at that moment and all of a sudden, tears just started streaming down my face. 

I felt completely loved, top to bottom, and it was just such a beautiful experience. It lasted maybe a minute or minute and half. I didn't want it to end. I don't even know what happened, but I knew I was loved for who I am, as I am. Just unconditional. It was powerful, but I didn't really expect that at all.

You know, we carry a lot of things around with us, but I just attribute it to the fact that I was there. I didn't go to Mass because I was feeling some despondence or despair or anything like that. I kind of think that, because I pushed through and got up, even when it was super cold, even though it was not convenient or comfortable, He responded in that way. So I would know that He's real.

I didn't know you could have an experience like that.  I told several people, close friends of mine like, ‘Hey, this happened.’ And I told my children. 

One of my kids was skeptical and said, ‘Are you sure it just wasn't something you read about, and that's why that happened?’ But I didn't even know that that could happen. God's real. He's in the Blessed Sacrament. It’s not just a piece of bread up there. 

I started looking online and saw that this type of joy was something that was kind of common. And they talked about that when you profess your love for God that He comes back at you with His infinite love. All I was left with was that I know this experience happened, and I know it was real. 

The way I felt loved was just overwhelming. And at that point for me, Christ in the Eucharist became real. The fact that he's in the Eucharist became real, because you just wouldn't have that type of experience on your own.