My faith journey has been one full of ups and downs. I was raised with a good Catholic foundation, but when I left for university it was difficult to keep the faith amid so much secularism. I slowly stopped going to Church and without God in my life I found myself depressed often. I was quick to anger or feel sadness. I tried to find joy in all the wrong places, turning to alcohol and physical relationships for comfort.

In my final year at university my sister joined me at the school and encouraged me to attend Holy Mass with her. There we met other young Catholics who, over the course of the year, taught us of the deep, intimate, and personal love Jesus has for each of us. The pain and loneliness I felt in my heart began to disappear and was replaced with joy. I knew then that Jesus was what my heart had been searching for. Making a commitment to put Him at the centre of my life was easy, because I understood that He would never abandon me and will always love me unconditionally.

Since then, my relationship with Christ has continued to grow. I now pray the rosary every day, and as a result, Mary has helped me grow closer to her son, and has gentled my heart even further. Now that I have allowed Christ into my life, the material things I used to be focused on are not important anymore, the struggles that would upset me are not as upsetting, I am not as quick to anger and joy comes mores easily. I realize now that challenges are not as consequential as I thought, because I understand that everything that happens in this life is part of a greater plan. God is able to use me now as a voice in His mission to share the Gospel with the world and I am so excited to see what else He has in store for me!