Testimony of a Prodigal Son

The following is a testimony by a close friend of mine, which I have known since secondary school. Because of the fact that I knew him for such a long time and was with him when he experienced the miracle, I can vouch the authenticity of his testimony. His testimony gave me much encouragement and I pray that it is the same with you too.

God bless.

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I have a story to tell. But before that, I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I am a 20 year old guy whose been a somewhat lapse Catholic for most of my life. I didn’t read the Bible and didn’t really pray that often either.

In my teenage years, I always regarded religion as something unimportant, not real. I thought of it as a hoax made up by man, giving man a reason to make war and conquer other nations. Basically, I did not have any faith in any religion at all. Call me stupid or ignorant, but that was how I thought when I was in my teens.

Although I did not have faith, I somehow still favoured Catholicism above all other religions. Catholicism gave me a sense of being ‘chosen’.

In later years though, when I started working part-time in a shopping mall, I got to know this girl working there. As time went by, I began to fall in love with her. Before I knew it, I had started a relationship with a non-Catholic girl - a 20 year old Malay girl, to be exact. She was the first love of my life and I was her first too.

We really treasured each other deeply. Life was great when we first fell in love – the happiest yet saddest moments of my life were with her at that time. She was very, very nice to me and I believed that no other person of the opposite sex (apart from her and my mother) would ever treat me so well. I was very much attracted to her beauty and her personality. At the time, all I could think of was her. I did not want to lose her. I did not really mind converting to Islam for her, since I was of the opinion that all religions are man-made anyhow. For your information, Malaysia has a law forbidding Moslems to convert to other religions. Those who marry Moslems are required to convert to Islam.

I was prepared to do anything just to be with her as I was very much in love. The only thing I worried about was my family’s disapproval. I even went so far as to plan to ‘disappear’ from my family after completing my studies just to be with her.

But deep down in my heart, my conscience was pricking me, and I felt like something was not right. I needed a definite answer. I needed to know for certain that God really existed and that religion was not man’s creation. At the time, I was Kuala Lumpur (KL) pursuing my degree, yet continuing my relationship with her long distance.

When I was in KL, I contacted a good friend of mine. He told me about this camp organised by Lifeline College & Young Adults Ministry, and he invited me to sign up. At the time, I was not really interested in the camp but my friend insisted that I should go. So, I went to the camp and it was great. I met many Catholic youths and made friends with them. But my ultimate objective was not so much to make friends as it was to make a decision.

During the camp, there was this part known as the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament – where Jesus is worshipped in the Eucharist. I was desperate for an answer and I lifted up a sincere prayer, asking God to show me a sign that He was real and if He really wanted me NOT to walk away from Him. I told Him that if I were to leave my girlfriend for Him, would He please bless her for me, PLEASE!!

It was very difficult. I could not bear to leave her and I asked God to give me courage and assurance to leave her for Him. I prayed very hard. From sitting on the floor to kneeling down before Him, I was desperate to know Him and I realized, that I felt really lost. I opened myself up to Him.

From where I was kneeling, I could see out of this tinted glass window to a wall. Everyone else was focusing on the Blessed Sacrament but something else caught my eye. I saw this image on the wall through the tinted window. At first, I could see the image of the Virgin Mary , then it changed to the image of Jesus, then back again to the Virgin Mary. It seemed to alternate between the 2 images.

I thought I was imagining it all, and wondered what was happening to me. I was really bothered by the images I saw. The last image I saw was the face of Jesus Christ carrying a cross with a beautiful crown on his head. At the time , I still did not believe that I saw those images - I thought I had imagined it all.

But my vision was confirmed by one of the speakers, known to have the gift of knowledge. He said, "There is one man in this room who did not have faith in Me , who thinks that I do not love him. Fear not, My child, for I have revealed My image to you tonight. Come with Me because I am your Father". When I heard that, I burst into tears. I was so touched, and I felt like a fool for doubting Him.

Finally, after so long, I came to my senses. I felt good. God really came when I sincerely sought Him. I finally understood that He was there all along. He is REAL. He is the Living God, and He is my king. I mean, how wonderful to know that a king would die for all of us at the cross, for all our selfish mistakes that our Father would not want us to repeat. How wonderful it is that a king would sacrifice Himself just for us. I mean, He could have left us in our sin, to spent eternity in hell. But because He loves His people so much, He willingly died for us on the cross to atone for our sins and save us.

And this is how I repay Him? By leaving Him for a girl? NEVER! I finally realised that I must not be selfish. He died on the cross and this is not how I am going to repay Him, not by leaving Him. People are trying to spread the Good News of the Lord and what am I doing, trying to kill the religion? What would happen if everyone were to be as selfish as me? Would there be no Catholics in the world anymore? Would God have then sent His only Son FOR NOTHING?

So…I decided to leave her. And I really did it the next day. I told her that I couldn’t be with her because I couldn’t afford to lose my religion. She understood and didn’t try to change my mind. But we were both sad...those times and memories we shared!

Yet, I did not regret what I did then. And now? It’s been four months already...I am still going strong with my life , trying my best to be a good Catholic. I believe that no matter what happens, the Lord is still with me. I’m trying to seek Him in everything. I believe that if I seek Him sincerely , He will always come to me.