Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home Youth

Transformed by the love of Jesus

byStaff writers
5 December 2010
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

YOUNG Polish Catholic Aneta Graczyk has experienced “the truest kind” of love.

“I discovered that Jesus is true love,” she said after a recent pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, Italy.

“He remains faithful to us and always stays by our side – even if we never give him the time of day, He is still there patiently waiting for the opportunity to sit quietly with us and fill our hearts with that overflowing love he so desires to give.”

The 25-year-old who grew up on Brisbane southside said she hadn’t always allowed herself to appreciate God’s love.

“After school I didn’t get the score I wanted for university so I applied for TAFE,” she said.

“I kept to myself, though on weekends partied with all my school friends.”

Following “an unhealthy relationship” Aneta “felt so low” she thought “Jesus can never reach me here”.

“I didn’t even feel like a Catholic any more, so Sundays (Mass) were out the window too,” Aneta said.

“Once again I was trying to fix things on my own.”

Realising Jesus “was the only one” who stayed with her, Aneta drew on “a special grace”.

Related Stories

Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

Cardinal Joseph Zen appears in court in Hong Kong on day of prayer for China

15 killed in Texas school shooting

“My parents, though travelling to Australia three years apart (when they migrated from Poland), both met John Paul II at the airport on the very day their flights were departing,” she said.

“It feels like a special grace was poured out on my family – holding hands, looking into the eyes of such a great and holy man, as he uttered a personal prayer from his heart that our family would be united again, twice.”

Knowing Jesus “was trying to woo” her back, Aneta went willingly, trusting in this “special grace”.

Years later and following “a beautiful conversion” during World Youth Day 2008, she then served with the National Evangelisation Teams in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.

Life in the spotlight of God’s love is more fulfilling these days for the young woman whose Italian highlight was “walking on the same roads that St Francis walked”.

“I have my relationship back with Jesus – though it always existed, my earphones were in and I didn’t hear,” Aneta said.

“The pilgrimage shook up the very foundations in my heart,” she said.

“I discovered things in my heart that I never knew about and Jesus was calling me to make choices – to continue to live in pain and hold on to past hurts or to allow Jesus to flow in like a rushing wind and heal me.

“I felt like my spiritual journey was following the same descriptions of my physical journey from Rome – the history, the concrete, the marble, the harshness, the joys and sorrows, being in awe.

“(To) Assisi – the calmness, the stillness, the soft light, the greenery, the beautiful views and the deep breaths.”

With certain faith and growing knowledge of the Church, Aneta greets a well-lit future.

“I have come to believe that Jesus is the lover of our souls,” she said.

“He wants the best for us (and) He is perfect in every sense of the word so how could he not have the greatest plan for us?

“Our thoughts and feelings are limited, but not Gods’ – His imagination far exceeds anything that we could ever think.

“We have desires in our hearts that were planted by Him.

“What better person to see the great plan for us and make everything fit perfectly into place, thus exceeding our expectations?”

 

ShareTweet
Previous Post

A tale of morality through horror

Next Post

Historic day for miracle Samuel and the Mater

Staff writers

Related Posts

Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north
News

Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

25 May 2022
Hong Kong
World

Cardinal Joseph Zen appears in court in Hong Kong on day of prayer for China

25 May 2022
15 killed in Texas school shooting
News

15 killed in Texas school shooting

25 May 2022
Next Post

Historic day for miracle Samuel and the Mater

War of words

Prayers urged for Sudan

Popular News

  • 15 killed in Texas school shooting

    15 killed in Texas school shooting

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • US bishops applaud San Francisco prelates pastoral response to Pelosi’s decades of abortion advocacy

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • From a humble start Albanese is sworn in as new prime minister

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north
News

Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

by Staff writers
25 May 2022
0

Pope Francis’ delegate to Australia has found time for sightseeing during a busy trip to Far North...

Hong Kong

Cardinal Joseph Zen appears in court in Hong Kong on day of prayer for China

25 May 2022
15 killed in Texas school shooting

15 killed in Texas school shooting

25 May 2022
Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

24 May 2022
Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village

US bishops applaud San Francisco prelates pastoral response to Pelosi’s decades of abortion advocacy

24 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping