What is this knocking, what am I hearing?

“Christ in the City is what made me know that I can live out the faith for the rest of my life.”

Published on: December 17th, 2012 — 1:08 AM / OBS: North America

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music by: Josh Garrels, Nathan Johnson & The Cinematic Underground, The Album Leaf

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DENVER, CO, USA — Hailing from Cali, Shaina Stein grew up in a very diverse all-American city called Stockton. She was raised a bit outside of town, in a fairly privileged background, in cherry tree country. It was in Stockton, that Shaina was able to first ponder the notion of God and religion in her youth. This questioning as a child led to a couple interesting side stories in Shaina’s journey, the first being that she baptized herself when she was very young, keep in mind, her family had strong Jewish roots. And the second story transpired when she asked her mother to buy her a pair of cross earrings with her birthstone in the middle on a class field trip to the Catholic missions in California. (more below)

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The fact that Shaina was being raised in a Jewish household when she was asking for crosses and baptizing herself, made Shaina wonder… what is God telling me, why is he knocking on my heart so often? Eventually, the desire to know Christ built upon Shaina’s Jewish roots. It must be noted here that Shaina Stein’s family, many of them, died under the Nazi’s during World War II. Thankfully, a few escaped the grasp of the Third Reich and fled to America. Growing up in Stockton, the religious based conversations in her family often centered around their cultural identity as Jews. Discussions on the concept of God and religion were not prevalent in Shaina’s life until high school, when this young lady with a last name of ‘Stein’ decided it was time to discover the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ.

Although she could not receive the Eucharist at her Catholic high school’s Masses, she told her peers that someday I want to receive Him, body and blood, soul and divinity. Before making the leap to attend college at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Shaina made the courageous step to become Catholic first. When sharing her story, one discovers the wisdom and providence in her decision due to the cultural pressures awaiting all college students in Boulder; which unfortunately sway many students away from their foundations upon which they, and their families, have built their lives.

After four amazing years at the University of Colorado, where the St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center invited her in with loving arms, Shaina decided after graduating that it was time to serve Christ through the lens of inner city Denver, specifically with the homeless. She found her hope and strength to live out the Catholic faith with conviction with a young apostolate in Denver known as Christ in the City, led by Yvonne Noggle. It was a year of service, prayer, and human formation that launched Shaina to a new level of intimacy with Christ. Watch the story from today and you will see Shaina in action for Christ; simply going about her day with purpose, love, and prayer for all whom she encounters on the streets or in the shelters.

Learn more about Christ in the City by clicking on their logo above.

OneBillionStories.com Contributor - Seth James DeMoor
@SethJamesDeMoor — 303.709.3804

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YESTERDAY’S STORY

READINGS FOR 17TH DECEMBER 2012
First: Genesis 49:2, 8-10
Psalm: Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4ab, 7-8, 17
Gospel: Matthew 1:1-17

ROSARY: JOYFUL MYSTERIES
1. Annunciation
2. Visitation
3. Nativity
4. Presentation
5. Finding Jesus in the Temple

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