Hang on, Steve.

Paul Lakeland writes that one of his students ("Steve") had his faith shaken by Lakeland's class on the sexual-abuse crisis. I want to say, "Hang in there, Steve; you'll make it."

I am a seventy-six-year-old cradle Catholic. When I was a sophomore in a small public high school, Martin Luther only rated two or three sentences in our history textbook. The teacher knew that I was a Catholic, so he asked me if I could find out more about Luther and report the following Monday. Our school was so small that we did not even have encyclopedias, and I did not know where to go for information. We had no public library. So I decided to ask our priest after Mass on Sunday. The priest was an old German, and when I made my request in the sacristy, he exploded, saying, "That's a closed subject. We don't talk about it." He chastised me severely and called me a bad Catholic for even asking the question. How's that for a young person having her faith shaken?

For years the whole incident festered in my mind and heart. I remained faithful to the church, and learned to find God wherever I could. Over time I forgave the old pastor, and I have directed RCIA in my parish for eleven years. So to Steve and all the other young people: Don't give up on the church. You'll make it. I did.

TERESA MOTTET

Richland, Iowa