We have only 14 days more of 2016, and I usually get quite emotional during this season every year. There is no way to explain it with my words properly all my feelings, but I would like to share this with you all some memories from 2016, and Finland.
| I moved Finland, at the beginning of the year just a few months after I became a Catholic officially. It was a big shock of changes for me, as I used to have a Catholic environment but not here. However, I’m still grateful that Lord sent me here (yes He sent me here and I didn’t plan it, see the picture above about my reaction). I learnt and I shared a lot, the most important thing is that: Finland brought me closer to God. Parish Life |  What it feels like when God says: "I have a plan for you." Photo: @thebestchristianmemes |
I want to share first my parish life in Turku: I feel home here!
 | It is amazing that there are plenty of activities in the church, the Sunday’s coffee, father Peter’s info course, Bible studies, etc. The youth group changed my life here totally, where we pray together, and hang out together. So I call it: the parish’s group. It is resembles a big family because the age range is much wider than the one that I had in Spain. And it gave me opportunities to be a sister and take care of my siblings. |
WYD
Secondly, the World Youth Day in Poland. I was supposed to be here only for five months due to my exchange semester. But God knows how to make things, so I became a member of Finnish group in the WYD.
I still remember that I was having a conversation with a friend and we said: “It's amazing that here is full of youth and all of them are Catholics!”.
Every day was a pilgrimage, a day full of prayers and sharings. We experienced the Polish hospitality and union of the Catholic Church. The internationality of our group made everything special. We were around 40 people, but there were at least ten different nationalities.
I still remember that, once, we prayed the rosary with each mystery in different languages. While other groups from other countries are only people from that country, we were people from around the world and living in a family. I think only the Holy Spirit can do things like this. Thank you all for the nice time!
Every day was a pilgrimage, a day full of prayers and sharings. We experienced the Polish hospitality and union of the Catholic Church. The internationality of our group made everything special. We were around 40 people, but there were at least ten different nationalities.
I still remember that, once, we prayed the rosary with each mystery in different languages. While other groups from other countries are only people from that country, we were people from around the world and living in a family. I think only the Holy Spirit can do things like this. Thank you all for the nice time!
Stella Maris
The last memory I want to share, and also the most recent one, is Stella Maris. Both the Youth Festival and the Youth Weekends.
When I was a teenager, I used to belong to an evangelic group. It helped me a lot since during poverty I only cared about my stuff and not God’s stuff. Somehow we always need to share and get together to become stronger.
When I was a teenager, I used to belong to an evangelic group. It helped me a lot since during poverty I only cared about my stuff and not God’s stuff. Somehow we always need to share and get together to become stronger.
| We are alone sometimes, at school, at work, on a train or a bus. We may only meet 1 Catholic per day, and it makes us feel lonely and weak. But spending time in Stella Maris made me think: “Yep! I’m not alone! All these young people are like me! I should become the salt of the earth and the light of this dark (literally, during these months) society!”. Then, every time I get back from Stella Maris, I’m encouraged again and charged again to face my “real life”. |  |
I always wanted to become a missionary, and it was planned for my gap year after my studies. But God knows how to make things happen. I found lots of examples here in Finland, and Father Gianni is one of them. His Passion surprised me and made me think my life and vocation again. Giving is more than receive, and I feel more myself (what God wants from me) serving others during the youth weekends. As you see, sometimes you don’t need to planned everything in this life because He will lead you there.
Now it's your turn!
To sum up, I’m grateful and felt extremely blessed be here, and I can share all this with you. I hope it wasn't so long for you, now I think it should be your turn, I would like to invite you to share with us your piece of memory. Thus, I prepared the following surveys where you can write down your story and I will collect some of them alternatively for the next blog article! Please feel free to write and thank you very much!
Share your memories of your parish
Share your memories of WYD
Share your memories of Stella Maris
PS. Let me know if you are in any of the pictures I have posted and would rather I took them down!
Share your memories of your parish
Share your memories of WYD
Share your memories of Stella Maris
PS. Let me know if you are in any of the pictures I have posted and would rather I took them down!
About the author
 | Yiran, or Maria Micaela. Born in China as a Protestant Christian but baptised in Spain (2015), being the only Catholic in the family. I came to Turku as an Erasmus exchange student and I stayed for my MSc studies. I'm also a participant of the Youth Weekends at Stella Maris. Cooking, running and photography are my hobbies. |
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