She Lost Her Sight to Violence, But Found Her Vision in Christ: Cristal’s Testimony of Faith
- Guest Contributor
- Sep 9
- 3 min read
Surviving trauma and a traumatic brain injury, Cristal came to find true peace and real forgiveness in Jesus Christ and his Church.
By Catriona Kerwin
For Cristal, life has been punctuated by immense suffering: she was abused greatly, suffering multiple traumatic brain injuries, and is now blind because of her trauma.
Yet, even amid this suffering, she is a beautiful example of Christ's merciful love to all those she encounters, especially her new friends from Christ in the City.
A young adult formation program, Christ in the City equips missionaries to “know, love, and serve the poor.” As the missionaries interact with people experiencing homelessness or housing instability, they begin to see unique expressions of the face of Christ in each person they encounter.
As the missionaries visited another friend at a group home for patients with traumatic brain injuries, they first encountered Cristal. She was eager to talk to them and asked why they visited their other friend, but not her. The missionaries recognized that they were being invited into a new friendship and visited her once or twice a week from then on.
Cristal quickly found a place in many of the missionaries’ hearts.
“Cristal is one of the biggest joys to be around. She’s just an incredible person,” said Fintan Sullivan, a missionary alumnus. “We’d keep showing up over and over, to show her we really love her.”
As the missionaries continued to visit Cristal, they learned more of her heartbreaking story before she came to the group home.
“She had some really hard life struggles. She doesn’t always remember because of the trauma,” Sullivan explained.
After establishing trust with the missionaries, she recounted the story of years of abuse and trauma before coming to the group home where she met Christ in the City. The injuries she sustained left her blind, with multiple traumatic brain injuries.
“People made me blind,” Cristal recalled, “I was just so angry.”
Cristal came to Denver from Michigan, injured, blind, traumatized and angry. Her sister found the group home as a safe place for her to recover. Initially hostile to the staff and other residents, Cristal almost had to leave the group home.
“What made me change was almost getting kicked out of here,” she shared.
Over time, Cristal came to a place of peace and forgiveness.
“It took years,” she explained.
She now greets staff, residents and visitors with warm welcomes and smiles. As they got to know her, the missionaries were amazed at how Cristal grew to love and trust again after such tremendous suffering. She truly was an example of Christ’s merciful love.
When the missionaries had been visiting for about a year, Cristal surprised them with a request. Sullivan shared: “She just told us one day, ‘Can I become Catholic?’”
“I always wanted to be Catholic; my family is Catholic,” Cristal explained.
Sullivan and another missionary, Miriam Marcantel, asked Sam Schultz, the missionary outreach coordinator, whether it would be possible for Cristal to complete the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) in the group home. Together with Christ in the City’s chaplain, they worked to construct a personalized program for Cristal. For months, Fintan and Marcantel would spend time with Cristal, praying and preparing her to become Catholic.
“I’m proud of the missionaries, Fintan and Miriam, who truly went to the margins of society to find that one lamb that God desired to bring home,” Schultz told the Denver Catholic.
As they instructed her in the faith, Sullivan and Marcantel found their own faith strengthened by her witness.
“She would latch on to truths of the faith,” Sullivan noted. Even after all that she suffered, Sullivan was amazed that “she has total trust in God the Father.”
This past Easter, Cristal was confirmed into the Catholic Church at Holy Name Parish in Sheridan.
“It was fun,” she shared, smiling at the memory.
For Cristal, a close relationship with God is at the core of being Catholic.
“It’s like a friend … like talking to my Dad,” she said, noting that she also enjoys praying the Rosary.
Her joyful presence a fixture at the group home, Cristal continues to be a witness to hope and joy for those around her. She visits regularly with her family, neighbors and Christ in the City missionaries, continuing to witness to God’s love to all those she meets.
