Finding The Love That Satisfies

“Life is not about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep on moving forward,” – Rocky Balboa.

We all know, in our own different ways, how true this is. Life can hit hard! For me, it all started in grade 7. I experienced some severe bullying, every day my lunch was stolen, I was called names, and made fun of. This caused me to question who I was, who I was meant to be, and where I was heading. Eventually, I started looking for the answers to these questions through other people and all that the world had to offer me. When I did not find the answers that I was looking for I became extremely angry and I took this anger out on those around me like my parents, my brothers and sisters, and my teachers. By the age of 15, my actions led to me being expelled and suspended from two different schools. I followed this destructive search for meaning for the next twelve years of my life.

Until one day my father invited me to accompany him on a mission trip to Uganda. This trip opened my eyes to the fact that the source of all love, joy, and peace was Jesus. I experienced God in the simplicity and beauty of the people of Uganda and this encounter with God changed my life. I quickly came to realise that I could not let this encounter with God go to waste. It needed further action on my behalf. After a conversation with a friend I felt as though God was calling me to serve with NET to share my encounter with the young people of Australia

When I joined NET I did not feel ready, or qualified, and there were many other people God could have chosen for this task. But He did not choose them, He chose me! and I had to respond. I was scared, frightened, and I felt ill-equipped, but I said yes and trusted in his plans. This decision was the greatest decision I have ever made. NET was the experience and perfect challenge that I needed at that point in my life. Throughout my year with NET with all the different experiences on ministry, I felt a tug from God calling me to the priesthood, so I decided to take a leap of faith and entered the Holy Spirit Seminary in Brisbane the next year.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux sums up my journey beautifully. He says, “It is stupidity and madness to want always that which can neither satisfy [and] even diminish your desire.” The things of this world were never going to fully satisfy my deepest desires, only God can. Moreover, despite all my searching for meaning and love, it turns out that Love was seeking me. God who is Love, peace, and all things good truly desired me just as I was.

God has transformed my life in miraculous ways, and NET was one vessel that He used for this transformation to occur. An example of His work in my life is how I have gone from a high school drop out to being in my fourth year of formation at the Seminary, I’ve completed a bachelor’s degree in theology, and now currently studying a masters.

Through my relationship with God, I have learned that “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”. When life dishes out a quick flurry of hits (which it constantly does) our success is found in how we respond. Do I give up? Or do I get back up and fight to keep what really matters at the centre of my life, Jesus Christ our Lord and King!

Isaac Falzon

NET Alumni | National Team 2016 | Seminarian