Mike Souza
Hey everyone! My name is Mike Souza, and I am from the Boston area. I am very blessed to have been raised in a Catholic household with parents that have such a strong faith. This enabled me to have a good grasp on our Catholic traditions which I have an even greater appreciation for today. However, I have not always been in a forward motion when it came to seeking Christ. In my later high school and early college years, I allowed myself to slip into sin and my faith fell at the waist side. My priorities became going out on the weekends and having fun with friends rather than growing in my relationship with God. I still managed to get to mass on Sundays and pray on occasion, but I did not progress further in my faith. It took a worldwide pandemic to pull me out of the hole I dug myself. The rest of my junior year of college was done remotely where I started spending a lot more time with my family at home. I began to reclaim my roots and spent more time praying again.
After readjusting to being back at home, I got a text from an old childhood best friend. He had messaged me a long paragraph about his re-version back to the faith and how he wanted to get together. I had not seen or heard from him in over 3 years. I was shocked by the message and immediately set up a time to meet. He had come by my house a few days later and my family and I were very excited to see him. Looking back, I could tell he had the Holy Spirit burning inside him because all he wanted to talk about was his encounter with God. After hearing his story, I was inspired, and it struck a chord with me. I knew that our Catholic faith was not something to be taken lightly. God had put him back in my life for a reason. We began hanging out on a regular basis and rekindling our friendship, only this time it was centered on Christ. He had been preaching to me the importance of praying the rosary. I was familiar with the prayer from praying it with my family. However, I never thought I would have the time to pray it every day. My friend had convinced me of the power of the rosary and why I needed to pray it consistently. I took it to heart in awe of his zeal and wisdom on the matter. From that point forward, the rosary has truly changed my life and who I have become as a man. Mother Mary has drawn me closer to her son Jesus and helped break any chains that I was struggling with.
There were many fruits that came from this encounter including Ruck and Rosary and a young adult rosary group at my church. Both ministries have been growing and all because of the intercession of Mary. May we all continue to strive for holiness and never lose faith. God bless and thank you all for taking the time to read my story!