My Spiritual Journey

In a few days I will be leaving for Arete Academy - Asia, a training program aimed to equip delegates to fulfill their God-given calling with character and excellence. I knew about this opportunity just a week before the application deadline, but still tried to apply. After a month, I received an email that I got selected as one of the 40 delegates! Wohoo! It must be God's will!

I wanted to share with you one of the essays I submitted for the application. I like this most as it describes my spiritual journey.

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I was born and raised a Catholic and went to Sunday mass with the family regularly. My mother is a very faithful woman and always led us to the Church, the sacraments, feast celebrations, Mama Mary and the rosary – while I aimlessly followed. Even though I didn’t really make an effort to learn about my faith growing up, I would consider myself a good daughter, knowing that I had loving parents. But everything changed in 2010 – my spiritual journey halted when my parents got separated. My lukewarm faith went cold, and I closed myself off from everyone, including God and my family.

I swore to “be free” and live the “YOLO” (You Only Live Once) life. I turned to what the world offered: lust, too much alcohol, greed, and bad influence. Despite losing meaning in my life, I still have this desire of helping the youth and making a difference in their lives. I applied and got accepted as a facilitator for youth development programs and I worked hard to improve and rise to become a senior. I had an amazing profession, financial stability and the capacity to make my dreams come true. I thought I had achieved all of this success and happiness on my own, and that I didn’t need God anymore. Where was He when my parents separated anyway? I thought I was living the life and even showed this off to everyone on social media.

This craziness went on for a while, but I slowly realized that it was an escape. I knew that when I went home, I still had to face my woundedness. Although I was professionally stable, I had forgotten the reasons for seeking success in my field and helping the youth – I lost my sense of purpose. With all my despair, I hit rock bottom and I finally ran to adoration and confession. I experienced God’s forgiveness, after repeatedly denying Him – an encounter that still gets me overwhelmed. I realized that it was Him who gave me everything and kept me intact despite all the woundedness in my life.

After accepting God’s love and mercy, I decided to spend more time with Him and listen to His purpose and calling for me. In 2016, I quit my job to join a six-month spiritual formation for young adults. The program provides an opportunity for young people to live together in community and be formed as missionary disciples. It helped me grow in prayer, fraternal charity, vocation discernment and boldness to go out on mission.

My renewed faith urged me to respond to God’s limitless blessings and unbounded love for me; to be bold enough to express my gratitude for all He has given me by making my talents grow; and to return His grand gesture by glorifying Him through my actions. It was during this time that I met Pure Heart Philippines. Pure Heart Philippines, a Catholic young adult movement that started in 2014, is dedicated to forming missionary leaders to protect Filipino values, preserve the culture of life, and build a civilization of love in the Philippines. Inspired by the teachings of the church, we go to schools and organizations to share with the youth about sexuality, true love, and God's amazing plan for our lives.

I felt the need to help the youth in this area, especially after experiencing this confusion in my own life. After finishing the six-month spiritual formation, I joined Pure Heart Philippines in 2017 as a full-time missionary.

On November 2018, I took up the role as director of Pure Heart Philippines. There were moments in my leadership journey where anxieties came up and doubts just crushed me. I constantly beg God for help in this role, always praying and clinging to Him. God’s love for me and everyone who have been part of it has made this ministry work. My faith has helped me to lead by following and listening to Him. Faith has helped me know that I am still God’s beloved even if I fail and it has given me courage to continue using my talents God gave me to bring change in this world.

Faith has reminded me that I am only God’s instrument in this world for people to encounter Him. And even though there’s a lot of work to do, I’m confident that God has my back and that He is with me every step of the way. Every day, I pray for the youth we still have to reach – just like me, these young men and women want their lives and dreams to matter. I pray for them to encounter God’s love and mercy through Pure Heart Philippines and have the freedom to pursue God’s calling for their lives.

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Arete in ancient Greek is a term describing excellence. I am excited to learn from the mentors and fellow delegates of the Arete Academy - Asia and I pray to keep aiming for arete for God! I ask for your prayers!

*Arete Academy - Asia will be on August 11 - 16, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand.