By DIANE SCHLINDWEIN
Managing Editor

MARYVILLE — At 94 years old Lois Reising always felt close to God, but now in her senior years she feels most at home in the Catholic Church. This past Feb. 25, she received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and holy Communion from Father Rob Johnson and became Catholic at Mother of Perpetual Help Church in Maryville. 

Reising says getting involved with the Catholic faith was awhile in coming. “I guess you can say it was something that kind of gradually happened,” she said, explaining that she was formerly active in an Evangelical Reform church that eventually closed. As time passed, she began regularly attending Mass with her son, Greg Reising and with her adult granddaughter, Laura Bettorf, and Bettorf’s family. 

Laura Bettorf, who grew up at Mother of Perpetual Help Parish and still is a parishioner there along with her husband and sons, says she remembers one particular time that she believes was an important moment in her grandmother’s conversion.  “I wanted to pray with my mom and my grandma wanted to be involved with that prayer as well,” she said. “That was the first time she made the Sign of the Cross, and I definitely think that was a turning point in her moving toward the Catholic faith. I think that the Holy Spirit was involved at that moment in helping to open her heart to our Lord and to the faith.”

Bettorf, who calls her grandmother “very sweet” and “one of my best friends” says she attended OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) classes with her grandmother and took on a lot of responsibility in teaching Reising about the Catholic faith. Reising’s son (and Bettorf’s father) Greg Reising was her formal sponsor. 

Reising recalls that when Father Johnson told her she could wait a few months to decide about joining the Church, she replied, “You know, Father, I am 94 years old, I might not have much time considering my age.” She added that she is very impressed with the Catholic faith of the younger people she has met through her parish.

The mother of three sons and the grandmother of four, Reising usually attends Mass at Mother of Perpetual Help. She often goes with her granddaughter’s family, but if they are traveling with sports teams etc., she drives herself to church. When Reising visits Greg, who lives in Ava in the Belleville Diocese, she attends Mass with him at St. Ann Catholic Church in Jacob. 

Reising is humble yet fairly matter of fact about the path that led her to the Catholicism —and said she continues to grow in that faith. “I’m happy to be back at church and feel right at home, but there is so much to learn, still,” she said.  “I know the good Lord put me here to learn something. It all worked out really well.”