“In all those years of confused ideas, of being very lost and feeling as if there was no truth, I had never understood why God created us… but suddenly… I understood in an instant that I had been made out of love, because God had loved me and wanted to spend all eternity with me…”
Young Sydney-sider Jess shares her story of how she went from being raised in a practicing Catholic family in rural Victoria, to almost losing her faith completely, to dropping everything in pursuit of Christ through formation, Adoration and community life.
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Jess is a lay member of Sydney’s Immaculata Community and is completing studies in Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
As millions of pilgrims prepare to gather in Rio for World Youth Day 2013, let us pray particularly for those who are far from God, that they may experience His extraordinary grace in this time.
Official WYD 2013 Prayer
Oh Father, You sent Your Eternal Son to save the world, and You chose men and women, so that through Him, with Him and in Him, they might proclaim the Good News of the Gospel to all nations. Grant us the necessary graces, so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the joy of being the evangelists that the Church needs in the Third Millennium may shine in the faces of all young people.
Oh Christ, Redeemer of humanity, the image of Your open arms on the top of Corcovado, welcomes all people. In Your paschal offering, You led us, by the Holy Spirit, to encounter the Father as His children. Young people, who are nourished by Eucharist, who hear You in Your Word and meet You as their brother, need your infinite mercy to walk along the paths of this world as disciples and missionaries of the New Evangelization.
Oh Holy Spirit, Love of the Father and of the Son, with the splendor of Your Truth and the fire of Your Love, shed Your Light upon all young people so that, inspired by their experience at World Youth Day, they may bring faith, hope and charity to the four corners of the earth, becoming great builders of a culture of life and peace and catalysts of a new world.
Amen !
