Like Daughter, Like Mother: A daughter's love for the Church inspires her mom to join

As a young bride, Amy Huntington Cupp always knew she wanted a strong faith practice to be at the center of her family. Little did she know then that twenty years after her own conversion to Catholicism not only would she witness her mom, Mary, joining the Church but she’d also be her sponsor. 

And while their faith journeys had them arriving at the same destination, their journey getting there was markedly different.

Remembering her initial motivation to become Catholic, Amy chuckles as she explains, “Well, I thought [my husband] Greg’s Catholic, so I’ll just be Catholic. I don’t think I had a clue what I was getting myself into.”

The couple, who married in 1995 and now have six children from (nearly) two to 19, met on a blind date. Both had small town roots — Amy grew up in Three Rivers and Greg grew up in the small farm town of Mendon. His connection to St. Edward Parish, the local Catholic church, ran deep as his grandfather was one of the farmer’s who donated stone from the family farm to help build the current church.

Amy joined the RCIA group in the fall of 1997 and was confirmed Catholic at the Easter Vigil service in 1998 when (then) Father (now Msgr.) Thomas Martin was the pastor. The RCIA leaders at St. Edward’s at that time were Bob and Adele Shook — popular pillars of the Mendon community and, in particular, the parish where they were volunteers.

Amy tears up as she recalls the beautiful witness and inspiration of Adele, who passed away in 2015 (Bob passed away in 2008).

The weekly sessions were led by the Shooks in the days before electronic media. They relied on their notes outlined on a yellow legal pad.

“Adele was so faithful,” Amy adds. “She would talk and I’d just listen.”

Amy remembers faithfully attending each week’s RCIA session and “taking it all in,” she says.

She continued to grow in her faith — attending the Ministry Formation program through the diocese, alongside student Kurt Lucas (who would later go on to lead the program for the diocese).

It was when Amy was pregnant with her third child that she faced some challenges accepting the Church’s teaching on Natural Family Planning.

“Practicing can be a lonely feeling,” she adds, noting that it’s counter-cultural to today’s popular messages. “At first I followed the teaching just because I was supposed to,” she admits. “but through my journey I’ve come to trust in God’s plan for me and His love for me. But it’s not always easy to trust!

“It’s a struggle every day. So I rely on Him to help me. And that’s why I’m thankful for the Catholic Church. There’s no other place I can go that I can be closer to Jesus than in the Eucharist. I need His strength and courage and grace to be who He created me to be.”

And she wanted her mom to share in that same gift she had found in her faith.

So each year Amy would work it into a conversation with her mom that RCIA classes were starting up at the parish. And each year Mary would give a noncommittal nod — the equivalent of a “oh that’s nice” response.

Until the fall of 2016, Amy once again reminded her mom as she had done every year, and this time her mom said yes.

And, while Amy’s nudging certainly helped, Mary credits her grandson Wyatt, whose question gave her the final push to check out the RCIA group.

“Wyatt asked me one day, ‘Grandma, where do you go to church? And my response was, ‘Oh, here and there, nowhere in particular.’ And he answered, ‘Why don’t you just come with us then?’”

Mary explains that she always felt that faith was important and had grown up attending Protestant services in her hometown. She was present for all her grandchildren’s sacraments. And, while she admits she was initially drawn to becoming Catholic because of her grandchildren, now, “It’s definitely for me.”

When speaking about what she most loved learning about the Church, Mary says, “I liked that [the Catholic Church] was the original Church and we can follow it all the way to today. It is the Truth.”

An aspect of the Mass that Mary appreciates is learning more about the Scripture readings through her pastor’s homily. “I like the homily’s connection to the readings. I always learn something new.”

Today Amy and Mary are frequent fixtures at the parish. Both are catechists for the religious education program; Mary teaching 6th grade and Amy teaching 2nd grade.

Mary, as a new Catholic, feels like her students know more than she does. And even though she was no stranger to education, having worked in the Three Rivers school district for more than 25 years, she was leery of teaching the faith.

“However, Lyn [Wilson — the director of religious education] doesn’t take no for an answer,” she jokes.

Meanwhile, Amy has lead the parish’s Vacation Bible School for the past 16 years and is also a lector and Eucharistic Minister.

And how did Amy feel when her mom finally gave her the “thumbs up” for RCIA? “It was awesome,” says Amy with tears in her eyes, “I wanted her to have what I have.”

Mary and Amy both share that they feel closer to each other now that they share their Catholic faith. They encourage others to emphasize the “inquiry” in RCIA.

“That first courageous step is to check out the RCIA program,” says Amy. “If you then decide to become Catholic, just know that it’s a journey. You will grow closer to Jesus as you continue on your journey together. One small yes can lead to so much more! Trust Him,” she says and then adds,

“Once you know, you can’t say no.”