Testimony of faith. Loneliness brought me closer to God

Testimony of faith. Loneliness brought me closer to God

I grew up in Madagascar in a very remote rural town, where there were only two options: going to public school or to the Catholic school, which had a much better reputation. Even though I was Protestant like my parents, they decided to send me to school there. In any case, we rarely went to worship, it was mainly out of habit. It brought me closer to the Catholic Church. At mass, I sang the songs with so much enthusiasm! This bond was strengthened when I entered the Jesuit college in Fianarantsoa: I felt at home there, attracted by the importance given to community life.

When I was 14, I asked to become a Catholic. My parents had no objection. On the other hand, I wasn’t very diligent in class, more focused on my next mistake or on football rather than doing my homework… But in final year, a meeting with the father director turned everything upside down. I was furious after yet another exclusion from class and he, calmly, asked me to behave more responsibly. To my surprise, he then allowed me to return to class. I then understood that he was there to accompany me. “There really is something different about these Jesuits,” I thought. After this click, I obtained my baccalaureate with honors! My family was proud. But I had to move away from her to continue my studies in Antananarivo, the capital. I was living away from my loved ones for the first time. I felt lost, I no longer had any bearings. Did I really want to study economics? I felt the need to continue speaking with the father director of the Jesuit school and to visit him several times a year. I also got closer to a comrade, a diocesan priest. Together we shared prayer many times.

Solitude brought me closer to God. My faith intensified, it became indispensable. At that moment I began to have an intimate dialogue with the Lord. Until then, I idealized him a lot, I only felt his presence in good times. I finally had a realistic vision of my relationship with God, especially when I left my country for Reunion, then Paris. In good times and bad, he is always by my side. Since then, I have enjoyed every moment of life.

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