The Sunflower Selah Returns

Hi Soul 🌻 

After a long season of quiet, The Sunflower Selah is returning.

Over the coming months, this newsletter will become a place where I share my journey through Byzantine Catholic catechesis as I prepare for Confirmation and a season of formation in New York, USA.

Many of you have followed my spiritual journey over the years, mainly on @bloombeyond, but for those who are new, here's the short version.

For most of my life, I have been a seeker of Truth. Like a Sunflower, turning and growing towards the Light.

My journey has taken me from atheism to years of searching through personal development, psychology, self-actualization, coaching, meditation, and various spiritual traditions. Despite many meaningful experiences and accomplishments, I often felt a persistent longing for something deeper — something that no achievement or philosophy seemed able to satisfy.

In late 2022, after a serious scooter accident in Mexico, where my foot got a crucified mark on it, everything changed.

That experience became a profound turning point in my life. Through it, I encountered God's mercy in a way that renewed my relationship with Christ and awakened me to the spiritual reality within and without. What began as a personal conversion gradually became a desire to understand Christianity more deeply and to root myself in the historic faith of the Church for the salvation of minds, hearts, and souls.

Since then, the Holy Spirit has guided me through charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity, into the writings of the Church Fathers, Church Mothers, and into a deep exploration of both the Orthodox and Catholic traditions. I have been on countless pilgrimages as led by the Holy Spirit. The pilgrimages that recently have impacted me the most have been visiting Sainte-Baume (France), Sinai (Egypt), and Fatima (Portugal).

Over time, I became convinced that the Catholic Church is the Church founded by Christ and completed a Roman Catholic catechism journey. As I became familiar with the Catholic Church, I realized it also has Eastern rites, that still are in communion with Rome. I found myself drawn toward the Christian East — its contemplative spirituality, sacramental vision of creation, emphasis on theosis, and deep rootedness in the ancient tradition.

That search eventually led me to the Byzantine Catholic Church.

Through what felt like a series of providential encounters, I discovered Mother Natalia from Christ the Bridegroom Monastery and began spiritual direction with Fr. Michael O'Loughlin. I most recently visited St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in New York, fell in love with the community, and began catechetical formation with Fr. Edward Cimbala.

This fall, I will be relocating from Oslo, Norway to New York, USA for at least a semester to immerse myself more fully in the life of the Church, participate regularly in the Divine Liturgy, and continue discerning God's call for my life.

Alongside all of this, I have continued my studies in Clinical Psychology. Yet through prayer and discernment, I have sensed that God is inviting me into a season of deeper formation — one dedicated primarily to growing in faith, learning the tradition, and discerning vocation before continuing forward.

And so, beginning today, I would love to invite you to walk alongside me. Below I’ll be sharing how you can follow along, the catechism schedule, and my reflections from the first introductory meeting I had with Fr. Ed to begin the Byzantine Catholic catechism.