God has been gently guiding my little boat along the stream, taking the greatest care of me despite my spontaneous actions, says Michelle Kelly
I want to begin by saying that God has been gracious to me. Oftentimes I fail to acknowledge His gifts and grumble over the difficulties in my life, but when I have the opportunity to reflect on things such as this, I can see His goodness in all the experiences and gifts that I have received. My story starts in County Mayo where I was brought up in a large Catholic family that frequented the Sacraments and taught us about God and the Saints. My faith came easily to me as a child – I was your typical zealous little girl with a fascination for St Therese of Lisieux (who I later chose as my Confirmation Saint… very typical!). However, my child-like faith and trust changed as I grew older and more aware of the world. As a teen, I started to take a personal interest in living out my faith and seeking like-minded friends to walk alongside. Although there were normal ups and downs in life, my faith was always a source of comfort and peace to me and something that I always strove to keep in the centre of my life.
Turning point
The turning point in my ordinary-enough story was actually the Leaving Certificate Examinations, but not in the way that you would expect! In approaching the Leaving Certificate, I lacked the certitude that my other friends had as to what career and college programs I wanted to pursue. I was open to many options, but not passionate about any of them. I settled on one career that I thought I might be suited to and awaited the Leaving Certificate results in relative peace. During this time, through an act of Providence, I was offered a full scholarship to a three-week course with a Catholic American College in Donegal, and I jumped at it! The Catholic College in question was Christendom College from Virginia, which hosts its St Colmcille Institute in Ireland for three weeks every summer. I jumped at the opportunity and had a wonderful experience with the group – I loved attending their liberal arts classes, witnessing their joyful faith, speaking with their professors, befriending the students, and seeing Ireland and its historic sites in an enlightened way.
My job as a Healthcare Assistant in Galway City gave me the opportunity to meet some of the sweetest and kindest hidden souls I have ever met”
After those three weeks, the Leaving Certificate results were released: I had scored five points less than I needed to get into my program, which really changed up my plans! Thanks be to God for those missing five points. Otherwise, the experiences, friends, and education that I received would be very different from what God had in store for me. As a result, I decided to take a year out to work and save while I would determine what career and study I wanted to pursue. My job as a Healthcare Assistant in Galway City gave me the opportunity to meet some of the sweetest and kindest hidden souls I have ever met. I loved meeting and caring for these people, as it taught me many life lessons through their suffering, joy, and faith. When I thought that my life was on track to apply for nursing, God gave me a gentle nudge in the form of an email from a friend. She encouraged me to apply to Christendom “just to see what would happen,” and so I did. To my surprise, I was accepted, and after my initial visit to the campus I felt definitively that I was meant to attend Christendom. Again, it was truly God who brought this all about, as He provided funding for me when there was no college funding for foreign students at that time, and He guided my hand in filling out the various visa forms and paperwork!
Growth
Christendom College has played a huge role in my growth as a person and particularly in my faith. It gave me authentic friendships, rich theology, incredible opportunities to travel and study, a love for literature and art, and so much more. I am indebted to Christendom and its professors and mentors for their formative role in my life, and grateful to God that He essentially handed me such a beautiful opportunity. It was the perfect place for me to learn more about who I am in God’s eyes, what gifts and strengths I have and how to cultivate them, and how to ‘restore all things in Christ’ per Christendom’s motto.
I was moved by people’s selfless generosity to support these mothers and their babies, and how faithfully all the Christians rallied behind our work and provided for our material and spiritual needs”
My time at Christendom came to an end in May 2023, when I was proud to graduate with my BA in Liberal Arts as a Theology Major and Philosophy Minor. I was further blessed to stay in Virginia for an extended period to work at a local pregnancy centre. This opportunity gave me many insights into the human person and helped me to cultivate an attitude of compassion and outreach to those who are struggling in a way that I had not experienced. I was moved by people’s selfless generosity to support these mothers and their babies, and how faithfully all the Christians rallied behind our work and provided for our material and spiritual needs. I finished working there earlier this year and returned home to Ireland after almost five years. I now work for ‘Pure in Heart Ireland’ as their General Manager. ‘Pure in Heart’ is a charity and community run by young adults who strive together to learn, live, and share the truth, beauty, and meaning of human sexuality. Our mission is to promote the integral development of each person with a view to draw more young people into a closer relationship with God, which is so needed in our society. Our culture dismisses these integral needs, but we all deeply need God, real love, and authentic friendships and community.
Guiding
Throughout my life, God has been gently guiding my little boat along the stream, taking the greatest care of me despite my spontaneous actions. Nevertheless, there are times where He has let me make my own blunders and capsize, or run aground, which can all serve as a reminder of my utter dependence upon God. This past year was personally a testing one for me, so by no means can I claim that everything is always rosy, and I am always 100% on fire for the Lord and my faith. Like everyone, my faith has gone through dry spots, but I know that God is there throughout, so it is easier to weather the storm. When the train tracks shift from where you thought you were going, it is comforting to know that God can bring good out of any situation and that He has a plan for your life. He invites us to freely respond to Him and to trust in His goodness. The gifts and experiences that I have received are a clear reminder that nothing of what I have done is by my own merit, but by His sheer goodness. Jump into the deep with Him, and He will keep you afloat: “The glory of God is man fully alive” – St Irenaeus