From atheism to faith

A single moment was enough for the Lord to wake me up to reality, to convert me from non-human to human, from dead to alive, from unbeliever to believer. He woke me up to the reality of His existence both in my life and in the lives of others around me. A wonderful reality, but also frightening, because I realized how many sins and mistakes I had made before Him.

Before conversion, I can say that I was a rebellious man. Rebellious, first of all, against the Church of God. I blamed the priests, the customs established in the church, the number of churches built (you know the slogan: "We want hospitals, not cathedrals" - a big mistake!), etc. Something that I am still ashamed of now, discovering how much beauty there is within this Church and how much love and truth is shared among its parishioners. Of course, there is no forest without droughts, so you will say that you know someone who does not behave like a true Christian, although one is given. Or that you read a news story about a priest who committed some great sin. Let's stop judging, because we are all human, convinced that each of us tries to do good, although we do not always succeed in this, or we simply do not know how to do it.

Also, before conversion, I was committing a lot of sins, believing that they were normal things that everyone around me did. Justifying myself that it was normal for me to do them too, I had fallen into the mire of sin, not knowing how, and that I had to cleanse myself. It took me 5 years to eliminate, one by one, with the help of the Lord, almost all these ugly and unpleasant habits before the Lord, from the passion for smoking and alcohol, to judging other people, etc. The cleansing continues until death, so the path is still difficult and full of surprises, because our nature is fallible, and the spirit of this world attracts us like a magnet.

Now, after 5 years, I have managed, I say, to instill in me a rule, which I try to follow. This rule consists of guarding my mind, daily prayer, going to church (at least once every 2 weeks), confessing and receiving communion (approximately every 40 days), keeping the fasts prescribed by the Church, helping others whenever I have the opportunity (by others I mean especially my family), etc.

I thank the Lord for being with me every day and for showing me in so many ways that He loves me. I pray to Him that each of us may return to Him. Let us ask for forgiveness before Him and forgive those who have wronged us or are wronging us. Let us let ourselves be carried by His will both within us, in our hearts, and externally.

God help us!

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