ItalianoHrvatskiEnglishFrançaisDeutchEspañolPortuguesePo PolskuSlovakia     

 

Maroš

I’m Maroš.  I’m 36 years old, and I live in the brotherhood of Cenacolo Community in Slovakia. The Community for me has become the place of hope. I entered years ago thinking that the only thing I cared about was getting rid of my addiction. I, too, come from a family where, since childhood, I lived difficult problems because my father was an alcoholic. I was really ashamed of it. Growing up I away from them, and I felt a lot of anger towards my father. I couldn’t accept and forgive him after he left us. But as time went by I became like him.  I was selfish and only cared about myself.  I had my own family, but addiction was the only thing I thought of, and my son suffered the same things I had suffered.
It was a miracle that I entered the Community. I was deeply disillusioned and angry with life and myself.  Sadness and a sense of void consumed me. I was not sure the Community would be able to help me. I used to look at it as useful period to stop with drugs and to get close to my family, but in the guys around me, I saw what I what I was missing: the joy to live, light in their eyes, honesty and sincerity in sharing their experiences, so I felt I wanted to become like them.
During the first months of Community, remembering what I had done to my family and to my son, I felt really guilty.  I was convinced that Adam, my son, would never forgive me.  He was the only reason to live, the strength to quit with addiction. The thought of him helped me to stay in the Community even in the hardest moments. Prayer made me feel again a man loved by God and by those around me. Many times, while praying, I felt close to my son, and I felt him close to me. God’s love forgave me before I forgave myself. The friendship and the patience of my “Guardian Angel,” the guy who helped me at the start of my walk, struck me so much that little by little I started to open up in a loyal and sincere way. The confidence of the Community, and of the guys around me, made me feel strong.  This made me believe in myself more and made me want to be true. 
A few months later I received the gift of becoming a “Guardian Angel” for a guy who had just entered the Community. It was like growing up my son. I understood all that Adam had lived because of my selfishness. From then on I realized I was able to love and to be a good father.
During my walk I understood that addiction was not my only problem.  It was only a way to release the pain I had inside. I decided I had to give a new meaning to my life. The Community helped me to rebuild myself on solid values and allowed God’s mercy to enter my life.
An important period started for me, the most important one, because I had to fight to choose between good and evil.  Suffering, I learned to accept my cross and carry it, surrendering to God and accepting His will. I learned that in the hardest moments I  must be able to accept God’s will with confidence, being aware that He loves me as I am. In these years I have seen  how God has accepted my prayers, giving me back what I really cared for: my son and  a clean, sincere relationship with my family and with those who love me.
Today I can really thank God for all the graces I have received. The Community has always done the best to get me close to my son, who often comes to visit me in the brotherhood where I stay. I can experience and share with Adam all that I have learned from the guys. Today I feel I am a father able to raise him in a Christian life. I can listen to him and understand him. I can ask for his forgiveness, and I am able to forgive him. I feel I am a father who can support him in difficult moments. The life I’m living makes me feel satisfied and, what’s more, I feel that God, through the Community, has brought forth so much more in my life than anything I could ever imagine.
I thank my mother for her prayers that supported me since I entered. I thank Mother Elvira for all that she has done for us, because she gives us the possibility of living a true life. 
I’d like to thank the Community that gave me the cahnce to meet Jesus Christ.  He has changed my life!

Print this pagePrint this page