Receiving Jesus allows Him to live in me, that I may grow in friendship with Him. In the Church, He is present inside the tabernacle, and I communicate with him through adoration and silent prayer. He will speak to you when you are willing to listen! 

By reading scripture, I have encountered Him in his moral teachings so that I may be able to imitate him and to know. St. Jerome once said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ,” From this I realize that we must recognize His presence through scripture as it is Him and He is the Word of God and His presence through scripture is a concrete way of knowing Him. God created earth, the air, and the skies, in which I encounter Christ every day. In every breath, every blink of an eye, I recognize the beauty of His creation. I strive to see Jesus in every stranger, sick person, and prisoner. In every encounter with a person that is hungry or thirsty, I consider it an opportunity to humble myself to help the less fortunate. In them I see Him present.

I would like to thank my parents for being the first one to inspire my faith and who also brought me to worship and volunteer at my parish. At Our Lady of Peace, I began by attending catechism classes and, through them, I received my First Holy Communion and my Confirmation. Father Brian, our pastor, has positively influenced my faith by giving me wise advice. 

Recently, I volunteered to help my parish’s summer camp, which is called ‘Summer Oratory,’ where I assisted a seminarian. Spending time with many of the seminarians opened my thinking to their humble and docile lifestyle. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which I try to live each day. My parish involvement and my faith have made me strive to be more like Jesus every day. By God’s grace, I seek to do my best in everything I do, whether it be school or chores; I wish to make my parents proud and strive to be with the saints in heaven.

To my peers growing in their faith every day, I want you to know that God gives us the spirit of power, love, self-control and the Holy Spirit within us allows us to be humble and compassionate. Understand that mistakes are normal. God wants the best for us and part of that is learning from our mistakes. As educator Jaime Escalante once said, “Life is not about how many times you fall down, it’s about how many times you get back up.” 

Getting up after sinning, being humble enough to admit that we were wrong, then going to confession is what we all should strive to do. In my experience, through confession, I receive His grace and mercy.  God knows we are not perfect and wants us to grow in this world, so we get ready for the paradise he has for us, after we take on his teachings and put them into action. Together, we should never forget that our salvation depends on repentance, receiving, and remaining in Him!