It wasn’t until the church was silent, and we kneeled in front of the altar, and the Priest raised the host above his head, that for me, time stopped, as the Lord of the Universe revealed Himself to me.

When the first talk began, the speaker got my attention. He told me about the love of God. He said that a simple ‘yes’ to Christ will change your life forever. He continued, “Today is August 15th. Run to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and be free. Make today the day you said ‘yes’ to Jesus.”

I felt God’s personal love for me for the first time in my life! I learned that the Father is always waiting with open and merciful arms for me whenever I fall down, ready to help me back up and that there’s no sin He won’t forgive me for.

Their devotion was a witness to me of the Lord in front of me. The deacon spoke with such authority and love and sincerity that it made me want to believe. Something in my heart said yes to God that day.

“The wonderful thing is that being consecrated to God I fall in love all over again each day. Each moment God is calling me deeper, higher, closer to Himself and I am always discovering something new about myself and my relationship with Him.”

“So right then and there, I wholeheartedly chose to put Jesus at the center of my life, and to embark on the journey to know Him personally. I was filled with wonder and awe . I was so excited to get to know Jesus. I realised that I could know Him, just as I saw my parents and siblings did.”

“Through this experience, I learned that there will always be room to grow. As stagnant as we may get sometimes, it may feel like there’s no room to move forward. But it’s crucial to remember to leave our hearts open to growth.”

“The faith study culminated with my decision to make God the centre of my life, and it was followed by an event called World Youth Day (a gathering of Catholic young adults from all over the world). Both of these radically changed my relationship with God.”

“We were invited to place Jesus to be the centre of our lives and encouraged to stand to make that commitment firm. With streams of tears running down my face, I stood. I invited Jesus to be at the centre of my life in front of Jesus in the monstrance. I prayed like I never prayed before.”

“I am learning every day to trust in the Lord, make small acts of surrender to His Holy Will, and choose the joy He offers. You know what saves me every time? Simply, FAITH.”

“I had looked at my life and knew that I was constantly rejecting His invitations. I went to confession for the first time since my first one and that’s when I made the decision to accept Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour.”

“Nine years ago on Corpus Christi I had a conversion. I experienced Christs true presence in the Eucharist and asked a friend after mass how to become Catholic.”

“I said yes because I knew that I couldn’t do it without God. I had tried and failed. I wanted to experience a love beyond sin, beyond mistakes, beyond pain. Saying yes would change everything, and it was scary, but I knew He would guide me through it.”

“Indeed, it was another and more finalized “YES” that had marked the trinity of “yeses” that solidified that my heart, mind, and will were surrendered to God despite my own faults and failings.”

“Who am I? “You are MINE.” Am I loved? “More than you could ever know.” All my life, I had been seeking my identity, my worth and meaning in all the wrong places. For the first time, 6 years ago, I found out- I AM BELOVED.”

“Some people have profound moments of prayer that convince them to join the church, but for me, it was more intellectual. By nature I am a skeptical person, so I think God reached out to me in a different way.”

“I had no other explanation for why this crowd of 1.2 million teenagers were silent other than the fact that for those few hours they were sitting, standing, and kneeling face to face with their Saviour.”

“There were some nights, when I didn’t have anywhere else to go, I’d find myself sitting alone in the church, watching the tabernacle. I knew that His presence was there in the Eucharist somehow, and I was able to find peace there.”