The only thing on my mind was to be closer to God

IMGrpBy Vivian Lee

Before I arrived at Medjugorie, I wanted to see how it would be to attend masses everyday. When I got there…the only thing on my mind was to be closer to God.

I believe the Eucharistic Adorations were one of the many highlights of my pilgrimage. It was through the peaceful music that I felt touched by the presence of God. I just didn’t want to leave at all because no matter how tired I was, I felt so attached to God that I didn’t feel the need to sleep.

My friend asked me if I would climb the cross mountain with her. So I promised to go with her without any doubt and also told God that I will walk the walk with him…barefooted. As I’m going up the hill, I realized that life is full of choices and no matter which path we take…God is there to guide us. No matter if we picked to walk on the sharp stones…God seems to compensate us with some flat stones afterwards and that’s how life is. As we face the daily challenges in life…God grants us the strength to be joyful and the courage to believe in our abilities.

I finally see a glimpse of why people would say “Suffering is a blessing” because it is through that moment that we turn to God and give everything to him…that’s when we surrender to God. Essentially, that’s what our Lord Jesus Christ wants us to do in our daily journey. He wants us to walk with him barefooted without any distractions. He does not want us to be distracted with all these materialistic things. On my way down the cross mountain, I put my shoes back on. But I realize that my path with my shoes seemed to be a lot more slippery and difficult to get a grip. And through this’I had another insight. I had previously thought that shoes would be better to climb this hill but the path with shoes seemed to be harder than being barefooted. I think God wants us to realize that our path full of sufferings is more rewarding than living a life in luxury. So my path with the shoes was God reminding me that my sufferings weren’t that bad after all. You might think that your suffering is so great at that moment but once you look back at it…It’s not so great afterall.

Coming back to Toronto, I was forced to see people getting angry, frustrated and impatient about earthly things again…I really want to be back to Medjudorie to feel the peace again. It was definitely a rewarding experience that strengthened my faith and also learned one of the many things that I must show my faith through my love and actions by serving others. I hope God will continue to guide me through my spiritual journey as I strive to make a difference in everyone’s lives.