Miscellaneous
Suzy, from the UK: "After WYD Rome I went off to uni and rebelled. At the time I felt I was asserting my independence and finding out who I was, and I think all that time I was just lost. I was very lucky in that I had family and friends who prayed a lot, and I'm eternally grateful to their prayers and at the time I'd have hated to admit that. It just so happened that 6 or 7 years later, I went to work in a place where I had some Catholic colleagues. I was very objective about the experience and I said 'Well, OK, I don't practice but these people are good people.' As I worked with them, I just saw something in them that made me realise that they had something; a lot of people I knew were good people but these people had something else that made them see a value and a dignity in the human person that maybe other people didn't see. I slowly observed their behaviour and got to know them and became good friends and gradually that took me back into the Church. From there, I very suspiciously I suppose would go and sit at the back of the church. Then one day a friend of mine said 'Come on, Suze, come and say the rosary.' And I was like 'No, I haven't said the rosary in years.' She was like, 'Come on, come on.' So I went off to a church and prayed the rosary and I'd have to say that that probably was what brought me back. From then on I just felt that, if nothing else, I could maybe attempt to say the rosary. Slowly Our Lady worked her way back into my life. From there I guess I began going to the Sacraments, I went to confession, I started going to Mass regularly. It's been years now since then and I've never looked back. I actually went to the more recent World Youth Day in Madrid a couple of years ago and it was really interesting revisiting that event after so many years of maybe being lost. The World Youth Day really is a great opportunity because you realise that all those times you think you are on your own, that common culture is against you, that society is against you, that you can't express what you believe for fear of being hailed an extremist or a conservative, that actually there are hundreds of thousands of other young people out there who share your faith and have a joy. Ultimately the Catholic faith is nothing to be ashamed of, it's nothing that restricts you, it's nothing that lays down any rules, it's simply showing you how to be happy." Music by aniel Weatherley. For much more, visit Totus2us.com - dedicated to Our Lady, it is inspired by Blessed John Paul II, Papa Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Totus Tuus (All Yours) was JPII's motto to Our Lady.