3 minute read
Meet Parishioners Susan and Bob Miller: Living and Serving with Hearts Full of Gratitude
For several weeks this fall, due to health issues, Susan Miller was laid up on the couch. She was not only miserable because of her physical limitations, but she was also feeling miserable because she was missing her friends at church – especially her best, eternal friend, Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
“There is nothing like being able to go to Mass,” Susan says. “I just can’t imagine starting my day without Mass and the Rosary. To me, it is like a drug, and when I was unable to go this fall, I felt like I was going through withdrawal! My husband, Bob, was able to bring me Communion on Sundays, which was the only thing that saved me!”
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However, even though the Eucharist is near and dear to Bob and Susan these days, it wasn’t always that way.
“We were both raised Catholic but we had lapsed in our faith and were previously divorced,” she says. “We had successful careers and to us, Sundays just meant time to sip wine by the pool and gamble online. Every now and then we would talk briefly about going back to the Church but the annulment process was tedious and we were adamant about not paying several hundred dollars for it.”
By God’s infinite grace, Bob and Susan courageously overcame many obstacles and returned to the loving arms of the Catholic Church in 2009.
“I was an alcoholic and I had tried absolutely everything to quit drinking — from inpatient and outpatient services to stints in detox facilities, therapists, and AA meetings, but nothing was working,” Susan says. “One Sunday we were out running errands and Bob said, ‘Hey, why don’t you go to church in the mornings before you go to work?’”
As soon as Susan took the first leap of faith and entered our parish doors, abundant blessings and graces began to flow into her life.
“Even though it was such a large cathedral, it had such a small, comfortable feeling,” she says. “I was so nervous to return to the Church after being away for over 30 years, but Fr. Gino and the parishioners were so welcoming and kind. I immediately started coming to church almost every day! The doors were always open, the chapel and library were so wonderful to visit, the priests were always available, and the sermons were often just what I needed to hear.”
Amazingly, by regularly receiving the sacraments, praying the Rosary often, and becoming an integral part of our parish family, Susan was freed from her addiction to drinking.
“We were at the end of our rope when it came to my drinking,” she says. “After everything we tried, it is incredible that the Catholic faith was what healed me in the end. After being at Christ the King Parish for about a year and a half, I was finally able to give up drinking and it seemed effortless compared to what I had tried before. Who knows where we would have ended up without our parish staff — I would probably be dead and Bob would probably still be a wandering, lost soul — and we will always be so grateful to them.”
In fact, gratitude has so overcome their hearts that Bob and Susan have chosen to make our parish the major beneficiary of their will.
“It is the least we can do,” Susan says. “Besides, God gave us everything we have. We feel that Christ the King Parish ‘saved’ us, and this is the way we can give an ultimate ‘thank you’!”
Since she retired, Susan has enjoyed helping out with various volunteer ministries, such as Christians in Community Service. She also spent time assisting Director of Advancement Katie Shepherd in our Parish Office. She and Bob are currently founding a ministry named Mutts on a Mission, which connects persons in need to therapy dogs that can offer them emotional support.
Bob and Susan Miller with Chloe
