Learning Not to Miss the Point

In a way, each person is his own mystery novel—living out a journey and writing a story that takes effort to see and understand.

It’s easy to miss the point of somebody else’s story. It’s easy to miss the point of our own.

Yet, what this generation is looking for is an acceptance that affirms their value and believes in their potential—they want to be seen and they want to be known. They want their story to be read and for it to matter.

In enters Ashley Pontius, a seventeen year old on a journey, making choices that are shaping her future. She’s known what it feels like to be misunderstood, and yet she is determined to follow the dreams in her heart.

April 3, 2010 was one of the most important nights of her life, the night she officially became a member of the Catholic Church. The decision to convert was not an easy one, and she honestly shares that, “This year has been insane, for better and for worse. When I decided to convert I lost a lot of respect, friends and support. I was treated differently. I was pitied a lot.”

The opposition did not stop her from following her heart. That evening at St. Mary’s in Hagerstown, Maryland she stood up in front of the congregation to publicly profess her faith, receiving the name Saint Maria Goretti, the patron saint of “chastity, youth, teenage girls, poverty, purity and forgiveness.” This woman’s accomplishments reflect Ashley’s own dream of bringing life and hope to her generation.

“This is the most important day of my life. I would give it all up again just to have this moment. I would go through it all again just for this one day. There's no going back. It reminds me of getting married. You don’t want it any other way, but forever doesn’t seem so humanly possible but you got to believe in your heart that you want it and that it exists,” Ashley shares a few hours before the service.

This journey started two years ago, in a mandatory driver’s ed class where two students invited her to come with them to church. In recounting her first encounters with Catholicism she says, “I started hanging around the Catholic Church out of curiosity, but then realized it was something more. I was searching for a life of meaning and I found it in the Catholic Church.”

After battling deep bouts of depression and hopelessness, she believes God brought her a community of friends in the Catholic Church to push her closer to His heart and His plan for her life.

Despite the people who have harshly judged her decision, Ashley is happy with the choices that she’s made. While many have missed the point behind her passion, she is not giving up. “Hope taught me how to hang on for the long haul,” she says as she reflects on all that God has done in her life.

It’s easy to miss the point and judge another when you stay on the surface. It takes effort to get into the heart and find out what is inspiring each person’s journey.

Ashley Pontius’s story proves that the discovery is well worth the time.