2022 Winning Essay

Navigating Today’s World as a Catholic Woman

In an age where parties, rumors, and sin run rampant, it can be hard to focus on our eternal goal and our relationship with God. As a teenager about to begin a new, more independent season of life, the future often scares me. I worry about making virtuous friendships. I worry I’ll give into temptations I want to avoid. I worry that I’ll feel alone without my family around me. But as a Catholic woman, I know these anxieties can be quelled with one simple action: prayer. Praying as I let my burdens be heard and lifted, reminding myself that I won’t be on this journey alone. Listening as God reminds me that I have a friend, a provider, and a father in Him. I must not only practice and grow my faith but be an example to those around me and use the deliverance from my fears to show them what a life with God looks like. As I’ve matured, I’ve discerned that one purpose of my life is this: to love and be loved. As simple as it sounds, it entirely encompasses how I believe a Catholic woman should live, knowing God and sharing Him. It’s not always easy to bring someone to church or convince them to read the Bible, but it’s easy to love them. When I choose to serve others, whether in kindness or assistance, they’re being shown, through the Holy Spirit, a fraction of what it’s like to be loved by God. Demonstrating that no matter who they are or what their life looks like, they are loved. While I must humble myself in recognizing that it isn’t me that changes hearts, it’s the Lord, I can acknowledge my roles as a vessel for Him. Living as a Catholic woman isn’t always easy, but there’s no greater joy than knowing I’m being used in the way God has called me.

Mia Olson