This past Easter, MiHwa Kim (originally from South Korea and now a teacher at St Joseph’s High School) was baptised and received into full communion with the Church. Here she shares something of that incredible journey that she has made, and how God’s light broke into the darkness of her Night. 

Religion is a manifestation of humans' spiritual needs. This was the succinct statement projecting my view of religion – that is before I found God.

I vaguely remember, in my early memory, the Bible and a small statue of Mary tucked away in the far corner of my Mum's dresser, safe from an open view and disapproving look of my Dad and Grandma. Having married to a family of fierce Buddhists, my Mum wasn't allowed to attend the church, nor show her Catholic faith. In my childhood, I had been aware of my Mum's faith and the suppression she had had to suffer, but it had never occurred to me, ‘Why?’ Over the years, my Mum's resilience and unwavering faith must have won over my Dad and Grandma as she started to attending the church (I think it was when I was in secondary school). Her belief and faith must have done something to me and my sister as whenever we faced a challenging moment or something important in our life, we always asked for my Mum's prayers. Why? I didn't believe in God, but why did I ask for my Mum's prayer? Deep down, I must have also believed that there is something that we, mere humans, cannot control but only God can.

I never had been a religious person, nor was I open-minded about faith. My motto in life had always been do my best, be resilient, be true to myself. Where there is a will, there is a path: I still believed in this until very recently. What, then, has led me to ‘suddenly' take up faith?

I think it is my Mum, her resolute faith.

Having moved to England straight after marriage, it had been incredibly challenging (at times depressing) to settle and start a new life on the other side of the world. I had no one. Nobody but my husband. I didn't want to let down my parents. I had to prove that my life in England is going to be as good. I don't think I could say that I was happy in the early stage of my marriage due to the isolation, but I knew that my Mum always invariably prayed for me: somehow it granted me unfounded confidence and vague optimism that all is going to be well.

Throughout the harrowing period of my recent cancer diagnosis and treatment, I have come to realise that I’ve always needed a bedrock that keeps me from falling into darkness. How incredibly easy it was to just despair and succumb to the misery! No. I knew I was going to be cancer-free one day. I knew that I wanted to be thankful for what I have. I knew that somehow this vague ‘faith’ I sensed spreading in me was going to help me to become a better person. I guess it was just natural that I felt the pull to Friday morning’s Mass in school when I returned to work. My Mum really wanted me to be baptised and received into the Catholic Church, and I also didn’t want to lose the faith beginning to sprout within me. With Father Philip’s recommendation, I started to attend the Alpha course in September 2023 in which I truly utterly felt what it means to forgive myself. The Journey to Faith sessions with Father Philip, Barry and Lisa have also helped me to embrace the meaning of love and hope from our Lord.

On the blissful, blessing, beautiful night of 30th March, I was baptised at the Easter Vigil. The myriad of emotions coursed through my mind, among which the most prominent feeling is peace. I feel as if I have anchored in a land that I have been sailing towards – the land of peace, gratitude, forgiveness, faith and love.

I once viewed that religion is a manifestation of humans' spiritual needs. Now, I believe that Christianity is the infallible evidence of God’s love of us.