My name is Mary Sampey and I am humbled and grateful to be your new Youth and Young Adult Minister here at Christ the Divine Shepherd.  I am very much looking forward to getting to know all of you and to work together to build the body of Christ and form a community of missionary disciples. 
      Although I am familiar with this area, I live in the small town of Dunbar (if you know where Uniontown and Connellsville is located, it is between the two).   I have been married to my husband, Andrew, for almost 13 years.  Just last year, Andrew decided to become Catholic!  Together we are the proud parents of Ava (age 11), Noel (age 9), and Andrew (age 7).  Our children attend Catholic school, and as a family, we are active members of St. Aloysius in Dunbar.  I am a Cantor and Eucharistic Minister and our children are Altar Servers.  My husband often leads the Rosary before Mass and is already a very strong Catholic prayer warrior. 
    I have been Catholic my entire life, and never considered not being Catholic.  I was so interested in religion at a young age that I decided to major in Religious Education in College.  I currently hold an MA in Catholic Theology from Franciscan University, as well as a BA in Theology and a BA in Religious Education from Saint Vincent College.  That all sounds fancy, but the truth is, as a young person, I knew a lot ABOUT God and the Church…but I didn’t KNOW God.  I didn’t have a relationship with Christ.  I had the knowledge, but the heart was lacking.
      It took almost 22 years of my life for someone to ask me, “How is your relationship with Jesus?” At that time, my first thought was, “A relationship?  Why would God want to have a relationship with me?”  Honestly, it took a really long time for God to humble me in order for me to realize that I desperately needed Him.  I give Him all of the honor and praise for not giving up on me. 
     Once I decided that I needed to live my life for Christ and not for myself, everything that I had learned in school finally made sense.  It all clicked.  I finally understood WHY we follow the commandments.  I finally WANTED to attend Mass and receive Sacraments.  I finally DESIRED to pray.  I finally understood WHY I am Catholic.  I had fallen in love with Christ and the Church, and now everything I KNEW made me want to radically change the way I was living for the love of my life. 
    We can know all there is to know about the Church, but if having a transformational relationship with Jesus is not at the center, then what we have learned means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  My mission for the last 13 years as a full-time lay minister has been to form relationships and to lead all whose lives I touch into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ though Word and Sacrament, service, and fellowship. 
    Jesus sent the disciples on MISSION.  The purpose of Church is to fill us up so that we can GO OUT and be Christ’s hands and feet in a broken world.  I invite you to be a part of Christ’s mission as we form, teach, empower, and equip the body of Christ to GO OUT in the world and set the world on FIRE with Christ’s love!  Thank you for your warm welcome and may God bless you!

Christ’s peace and our Mother Mary’s love,
Mary Sampey