Bea Marie B.

Samar 1G Ph "My Journey of Faith" My journey started on the day that I was born and will end when I die. When I was still an infant, the first indication of my faith was my baptism. I was cleansed from the Original Sin and started anew. When I was a kid, my faith about God was really strong because his was the time that I was taught about how to pray, about his wonders through storytelling or by reading The Bible Kids edition. I was really fascinated by Him so I knew that no one could be much greater than Him. I can never recall a memory of me when I was young asking "Who is God?", "Where did he come from?" and etc. I guess my faith in Him is really strong during that time. During my elementary years, this was the time when I had a better understanding of my faith since we were taught Christian Living Education. I was taught about the longer prayers, the traditions, the sacraments, the beatitudes, the hardships of the early Christians and such. My faith got stronger but there came an incident that weakened my faith in Him. It was when my father died. As a child, it was very hard for me to accept that he died so I kept asking God "Why?" I never really got the answer or maybe because it was vague that I didn't notice it. Still, my father got to see me during my Communion. The years before my communion, I was really curious about it. It was the only thing I look forward to during the mass. I would always ask my father or my kuya about how the "Body of Christ" would taste and they would answer me with "You'll know it when you receive your first communion." or "It tastes like bread?" Since I was very excited with my first communion, I remember the times when I was practicing/playing with my cousins. We were recreating the scene of the communion during the mass and we would use the loaf of bread as the substitute. My faith during this time was shaken but it still remained strong. It was one of my sources of strength at that time. This was the years of my life where I learned that everything happens for a reason. During high school, I get to experience learning in a new environment. I studied in Abu Dhabi, UAE and it was the first and only time that I attended a non-Catholic school so I got a bit of culture shock. Adjustment period was hard since I would no longer hear the Angelus during 12 pm or having School Holidays because of the Feast Days or something else. I realized that teaching CLE or Religion was not prioritize there since the subject wasn't even part of our curriculum. We only had a subject close to it which was Values. I guess since I was in a Muslim country and most of my classmates have different religions, it would be disrespectful and rather forceful to the others if we were taught about Christianity. During this time, my Sunday obligations turned into my Saturday obligations since we have class from Sundays - Thursdays. I regularly came to the church with my mom during the first few months but then it became frequent since she has work and I was afraid to go to the church alone and before I knew it, it wasn't part of my priorities anymore. When I was a Junior, my mom enrolled me into a Catechism class in the church. It was my ticket for my Confirmation since the school doesn't hold retreats for those. I regularly attended the class for a month and a half, I think, but then I stopped because it somehow clashes with my responsibilities in school so that's why I was never confirmed. When Junior year was about to end, I brought my "Saturday obligation" back into my priorities since I was now more familiar with the place and I had friends to go with to the church. My last year in HS was pretty much the same, I would regularly listen to the mass. I guess this was the time when I was completely overwhelmed by the new life ahead of me that I somehow forgot one of the most important part of my life, My Faith in God. But still I managed to regain it before it gets totally lost. Now that I'm studying in The Royal and Pontifical Catholic University of the Philippines, I am learning on my faith again. I am trying to recall all the teachings when I was in elementary which is not easy since its way back but still I'm glad that I could be close to God again through this institute.