“I am 22 yrs old and I am a cradle Catholic. I attended catechism in SFX till confirmation, so I felt I was familiar with Christ. So growing up, I never felt there was a need for my faith to be an important part of my life. I also felt that I was just one person in this world and struggled to comprehend if God could know me personally. I also felt unworthy due to my sinfulness. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I first heard about Awaken through my parents and they highly encouraged me to sign up. I was curious but slightly hesitant as I felt distant from God and too far gone, but finally decided to give it a shot. ⁣⁣⁣I came into the retreat closed to what the Lord could do for me. However as the retreat progressed, I slowly started to open up. During a healing session, I was able to let go and surrender, and with that, experienced great healing and love from the Lord. He told me I was not alone and he loved me for who I am. He assured me that he knew exactly what I was going through in life, that he saw beyond that and still took me in. ⁣⁣⁣⁣

That moment changed the way I saw everything. After experiencing how personally Jesus loves me, I desired to start building this r/s with him. I started to attend daily mass, joined a parish youth community and became more active in church. As I started to build this r/s with Jesus, he slowly healed and challenged me in many areas of my life. I slowly began to feel the freedom to accept myself for who I am – a beloved child of God, and freedom to love others. This freedom I received gives me indescribable joy and hope. Although I have had periods since then where I struggled and doubted, I knew I was never forsaken and that Jesus was always by my side. ⁣
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So how will you respond to Jesus? No one is too far away from Jesus and that He meets you where you are. If you feel that you are curious to know more about this person of Jesus and what he can offer you, I strongly encourage that you take courage and give Jesus that chance. You will not regret it.”⁣