1.0Center for Leadership Excellencehttps://nccumc.org/leadershiprich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="5lXKpKF9m9"><a href="https://nccumc.org/leadership/2024/03/an-encouragement-for-march-5/">An Encouragement for March</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://nccumc.org/leadership/2024/03/an-encouragement-for-march-5/embed/#?secret=5lXKpKF9m9" width="600" height="338" title="“An Encouragement for March” — Center for Leadership Excellence" data-secret="5lXKpKF9m9" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); //# sourceURL=https://nccumc.org/leadership/wp-includes/js/wp-embed.min.js </script> https://nccumc.org/leadership/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2022/08/Encouragements-Featured.jpg720404One of my most formative spiritual moments as a youth was entering a Catholic church for the first time with a dear lady (friend of the family) attending mass. Our families were on vacation together. My family is Protestant. Her family is Catholic. Devout in her faith, Saturday night mass was on her schedule, even on this trip away. I had not been to mass much outside of first communion celebrations or weddings. I didn’t typically attend church on Saturday night. I was told I wouldn’t have to dress up, so I tagged along willingly.