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 |
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
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
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”. |
Now it's your turn!
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. |