I was born and raised Catholic, but at 17 I began shopping around different religions in search of faith. I felt I had one foot in the Church and one in the world (far from God), so I began searching for a youth group that would bring me closer to the Church. 

I was attending a Christian church when a friend invited me to some talks at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Vancouver. I didn’t think much of them then, and I sure didn’t know what role the catechesis events and the Catholic Church, through the Neocatechumenal Way, would play in my life.

I attended the catechesis one night, without high expectations, since I already went to church and was Christian. But that evening, I felt something calling me to keep going until the end. I was intrigued by Neocatechumenal Way families who had left their countries with all their children to come to Canada, to bring me a profound message, the Good News: that Jesus Christ loves me, died for me, overcame death, and freed me.

It was there that the Holy Spirit opened my heart to really hear this message, that God loves me, and loves me even with my past and day-to-day life that I did not love. Even though I was looking for a youth group, God was calling me to a community of Christians, of all ages.

Through this community in the Church, God allowed me to know him for myself, to experience his love and resurrection over the many deaths in my life. He gave me difficult experiences and, at the same time, the eyes of faith to see his merciful love. 

At 19 I went through an eating disorder, a time during which God gave me the grace to reconcile with those closest to me, and reconcile with the past I had always rejected.

And it continues. God has me always leaning on him through the events in my life, whether it’s a dangerous pregnancy or my lifelong illness. But in all the trials, he gives me the strength to go through it and most of all the conviction of his love. And it all started with one catechesis.

Today I bless God for what he has done in my life, and because of this I am happy to go forth and spread the good news. The catechesis is always an event where God is passing and he can use it to touch anyone at any time; all we need to do is open the door of our heart just a crack and God will do the rest. He will provide; he always does.

Catechesis events are under way at Blessed Sacrament in Vancouver (Mondays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.), Canadian Martyrs in Richmond (Tuesdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.), and Holy Cross in Burnaby (Mondays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.) Anyone can join on any night, so there’s no problem if you haven’t caught the first few nights. Each catechesis will continue until Dec. 1. 

Everyone is welcome to come and listen – young and less young, Catholic and not yet baptized. Mandarin translation is provided at Canadian Martyrs Parish in Richmond, and babysitting is provided at all locations during the talks.

We also have seminarians from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary evangelizing and going out happily to share the good news of the Gospel to all parts of the Lower Mainland.

Kamila Arroyo is a member of Blessed Sacrament Parish, Vancouver.

For more information about the Neocatechumenal Way, contact Vincent Tourvieille at 604-303-0130 or tourvieille@shaw.ca.


福音改變了我的一生

我是在天主教家庭出生長大的，但在17歲時，我開始自己在各種宗教裡尋求信仰。我當時覺得自己一腳踩在教堂裡，一腳踩在世界中（遠離天主），所以我開始尋找一個青年團體，以使我更接近教會。當我的朋友邀請我參加在溫哥華聖體天主堂Blessed Sacrament Parish舉行的這些道理宣講時，我那時正在參加一個基督教教會。我並沒有考慮太多，而且我實在沒有想到透過這個新慕道之路，道理宣講和天主教會會在我的生活中扮演什麼角色。

由於當時我已經去過教堂並且是基督徒，我並沒有抱著很高的期望地去參加了一個晚上的宣講。然而, 那天晚上，有聲音在呼喚我繼續前進，直到最後。那些帶著所有子女離開祖國, 來到加拿大的傳教家庭讓我很感興趣; 他們來是為了給我傳達一個深刻的信息，即好消息：耶穌基督愛我，為我而死，戰勝了死亡並釋放了我。在那裡，聖神打開了我的心，使我真正地聽到了這一信息：天主愛我，並且即使在我的過去和我常常不滿的日常生活中, 祂也愛著我。雖然當時我正在尋找一個青年團體，但天主仍在呼召我加入這個各個年齡段的基督徒團體。透過教會中的這個團體，天主讓我真正地認識了祂，經歷了祂對我生命中許多死亡情況的愛和復活。祂給了我艱辛的經歷，同時給了我能力以信德的眼光去看祂的慈愛。19歲時，我經歷了飲食失調症; 這段時間裡，天主賜予我恩寵，讓我與最親近的人和好，並與我一直拒絕的過去和解。而天主沒有停在這邊。天主讓我在生活中發生的一切事情中依靠著祂，無論是在高風險懷孕時還是在我擁有一生的疾病當中。在所有的考驗中，祂使我有能力去渡過，並且最重要的是對祂的愛的信念。一切就是從參加一次宣講開始。

今天，我為了祂為我所做的一切而讚美天主，正因為如此，我很高興地出去傳播好消息。道理宣講一向都是天主會經過的時機，祂可以隨時來觸碰人們的心，我們唯一要做的就是打開心靈的門，一小縫隙也好，其餘的一切都由天主來做。祂會賜與一切所需，祂一向都這樣做。

道理宣講目前在溫哥華的Blessed Sacrament Parish（星期一和星期四，晚上7:30 PM），列治文的加拿大殉道聖人天主堂Canadian Martyrs Parish（星期二和星期五，晚上7:30 PM）和本那比的Holy Cross Parish（星期一和星期四，晚上7:30 PM）進行。任何人都可以從任何晚上開始加入，因此，即使沒有趕上前幾個晚上也沒問題。這次宣講將持續到今年12月1日止。歡迎各年齡的人，天主教徒和尚未受洗的人一同來聽。列治文的加拿大殉道聖人天主堂Canadian Martyrs Parish提供中文翻譯，而宣講期間所有地點都提供免費嬰孩看護服務。我們救主之母修道院Redemptoris Mater Seminary的修士也在傳福音，並高高興興地出去和大塭地區各地分享福音的好消息。我鼓勵大家來聽聽！


Related: