Kenton Pagel
I grew up as the oldest of three boys, and when I was young, we attended a Methodist church pretty regularly. As I got into middle school and high school, we started going less and less, so we only went on Christmas and Easter. After that, we didn’t go at all, so it’s no surprise that my brothers are now atheist, and my parents don’t have strong faith.
I went to college and got a degree in engineering within four years, and I have run several marathons, so I thought I could get through any tough situation by myself and didn’t need God’s help. I married my wife, who is a devout Catholic and went to Catholic school her entire life, preschool through college, so I had some seeds planted in my heart along the way. Throughout this time, there had been a lot of family drama, so I realized that I can’t fix everything or get through everything alone, I actually do need God.
Before COVID, my wife and I would go to Mass, but I would not take part in the Eucharist because I wasn’t Catholic and I didn’t believe in that part. As time went on, we had two kids, and then the pandemic hit. During the Easter Vigil of 2020, my wife and I were watching Mass on YouTube. About one hour into it, I asked, aren’t they going to start wrapping up soon? She replied that the vigil is actually a couple of hours long! When they got to the consecration, I thought to myself, Catholics can’t really believe the bread and wine really are the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
This thought led to some Googling and online Reddit discussions, which led to a book by Brant Pitre, “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper.” After learning Jesus’ teachings through the eyes of a first century Jew, the Eucharist all of a sudden just made sense! This was the catalyst that led to learning other Catholic teachings that also just made sense, like Church authority, faith with good works and the saints.
Jesus’ teachings on the Eucharist are pretty clear: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (Jn 6:53–56).
Pagel, 32, is married to Samantha and has two children, Aurora and Harrison. He and his family are members of St. Joseph of the Lakes, Lino Lakes. Pagel is a member of the Knights of Columbus, works as a software engineer and also enjoys running marathons while raising money for Team World Vision.
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