My personal faith story

Last year, I was asked to write an article to share my faith experience. For those who do not know me, I was baptized two years ago and now I'm officially a Roman Catholic. This reminds me a question posted by one of my friend by asking “Do you think God really exist? What makes you think that God really exist in your life”? You might recall this statement in those exorcism movies that showed on the big screen of a cinema. Well, don’t get me wrong! I’m pretty sure that this person asks me out of curiosity, not because he is possessed by the evil one, in which,  we believe it as ‘Devil’.  My answer to him is just simple and short! “Yes, I truly believe.”  You might be wondering what makes me believe that God really exist in my life (perhaps in everyone’s life for that matter)? With the sophisticated technology that we have in this modern world, we can do things on our own! Do you think we really need God in our life? Do we really need to rely on His grace? Perhaps, we often missed the greatest gift that God has given or planted in each one of us- the seed of faith! Yes, in today's modern world, we might hear all sorts of questions from people, people who do not know Christ! People who prefer to do things on their own.  

Come back to the question that what makes me really think that God is important in my/our life? What makes me think that Catholic is the religion or faith that I’m looking for in my life?  In order to address all these questions, today I’m going to share with you the story of my faith, the faith that I can find the fullness of truth about God.

Throughout my 18 years of life, God is never my priority in life. If I would to rank, I guess it will be the last. Study will be my first choice in life. No study, no hope! No good result, I’m bound to death! Thank God, God is full of mercy! Just like what the picture of the divine mercy speak to us, it shows us God’s unfathomable divine mercy, it show us God’s love to the human race. I should consider myself have a good achievement in my academic life.  Thank God for His endless mercy. Unfortunately, I failed to recognize that was God’s blessing, living in the world of blindness. After my academic life, I'm blessed! I start to realized that something is missing in my life. Undoubtedly, I have a very good family, caring parents, and good friends surrounding me. So what is missing in my life? During that time, I couldn’t figure it out! Now, I know the answer. The answer is God. I know the thing that I missed in my life is ‘God’. The inner peace that only God himself can give it to me. Just like the bible says:  Peace be with you! I give you My peace; not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled; do not be afraid (John 14:27) I still remember when I read this verse, I truly inspired by it. I can really feel the love from God. I can feel the peace of God in me. Well, you might think that I’m exaggerating. But, this is what I felt when I read this verse from the bible. However, it does not immediately draw me near to the water of baptism. In other words, I m still searching! I’m still searching who is God. Who is the creator of the whole human race?

During the process of searching, I read many religion books; books that can lead me the way to find my creator. Finally I came to a conclusion that, only Catholic, only the Catholic Church that reveals or shows us the fullness of truth about God. One might argue, why catholic? Why not other religion? Please don't get me wrong! It does not mean that other religion is not good, or they are the false gods! The word fullness here refers to the fullness truth that reflects about God. Why I’m sure that God’s truth is truly reflects in the Catholic Church is because of the teaching of the church, the living word of Christ which truly reflects the situation in this modern society.  We can also see the private revelation to a young saint, Saint Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, where a 14 years old peasant girl admitted to her mother that a “lady(Blessed Virgin Mary)” spoke to her while gathering the firewood with her sister and a friend. Many more miraculous events take place around the world and these events are solely recognized by the Catholic Church. Of course, as a catholic, you are not bound to believe it because that is not the deposit of our faith. But, aren’t these revelations by the supernatural power telling you something?  Indicating something in life?

 Well, you might find those arguments does not make any sense by saying the Catholic Church is the religion that reflect the fullness of truth about God. Often, we forget about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Sprit that guide us in our life, the Holy Spirit that teach us the truth about God. If you are a free thinker, you might question me by saying “not the Holy Spirit is the one who guided you in life, but your own self-conscious”. We tend to forget that God is our creator, without Him, nothing can be done. You might think that you can do things on your own without relying on God’s grace, God’s power! Trust me; you will never go far in life!

Today I’m glad that I got a chance to share with you my faith, my catholic faith, which encompasses the fullness of truth about God.  God is never far from us. He cares for us! He loves us! When we are facing difficulties in our life, He is always there to give us grace to overcome the obstacles that we face in life. Do not despair nor become despondent! Do not doubt your faith, the catholic faith, because the Catholic Church contains the fullness Christian TRUTH, it covers the Catholics Church’s unbroken history, the four marks of the truth church, the sacraments, the purpose of life and more.

 So now, do you believe in the ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, and APOSTOLIC church?