Karol Mauss
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ABOUT ME
I have been living in Washington State for 43 years. I met my husband, Tom, at the University of Iowa and we married in 1970. We have two children, a daughter and a son who between them have given us seven beautiful grandchildren. Tom and I are recently retired and enjoying our beautiful Puget Sound area by boating, bicycling and traveling. I have had four vocations in my life: a wife, a mother, a hematologist and a licensed mental health counselor. Living in Gig Harbor, we travel across the Narrows Bridge to St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church at least three times a week for church activities.WHY I AM CATHOLIC
The short story of my conversion from a Methodist upbringing is that Tom was raised Catholic and I converted before we were married. At the time, I had no great passion to be Catholic—I just wanted us to be of one faith. In 1983 our family experienced a crisis and Tom and I both turned to the Lord and our Church for answers and healing. One of our experiences was becoming members of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. We were motivated to study our faith, Scripture, and Catholic doctrine, in a much deeper way. Thankfully, our children were young enough that they also became very involved with our growing faith and commitment to the Lord.HOW BEING CATHOLIC SHAPES AND ENRICHES MY LIFE
I once heard a Catholic priest say he was “Catholic to the bone.” I hope I am evolving in that direction. My path has been a Catholic path since the ‘80’s. I earned a Master’s Degree in Christian Counseling and become one of a few Catholic counselors in Western Washington. I also became very involved in prolife issues. I have been blessed with ten godchildren over the years, from mentoring and befriending women in crisis pregnancies. I am also a post-abortion counselor. Even in retirement, I am still using the gifts the Lord gave me to bring compassion and purpose to hurting women. I love the Mass and am very blessed to assist in whatever way I can in the Liturgy and Adoration. I truly have a peace and trust in God that comes from the great gift of faith He has given me; and the instruction and guardian of that faith is the Catholic Church. I am deeply grateful that the Lord led me to Tom who led me to my Catholic faith. One of my favorite Bible verses in Ruth 1:20: “Your people shall be my people and your God, my God.”