Free trips to Sydney for World Youth Day have been won by Angela Pyke, Nicole van Heerden and Sam Harris for their entries in the essay competition sponsored by the New Zealand group of Regnum Christi, in conjunction with NZ Catholic newspaper. The theme for the essays was "Christ in my Life". Here are the winning entries:

Nicole van Heerden (Auckland)

There are a few topics that are particularly difficult to write about when you know that other people will read it. That is if you want to be truthful. My Feelings is one such topic, but I wager that one of the hardest of all is to write about Christ in my life.

Its not that the topic is intensely personal it is, but personal things are often the things we can waffle on about best of all. Rather, I find that trying to describe the way in which Christ acts in my life, helps me, guides me, gives me strength and performs miracles in my life is almost impossible to convey to other people in the same magnitude that I feel it myself.

But how else can I explain my particular place in history? Or the many small events and miracles I have been blessed with? The way that seemingly unremarkable things influence the way I think, learn and view life remain strong evidence to me of the presence of Christ in my life.

I am not an extraordinary person. I am neither extraordinarily poor, nor extraordinarily rich. I was not born with any deformity that I have had to overcome, nor have I had to overcome monstrous social problems to reach the point in life I am at as I write this today.

In fact, I have been blessed with a healthy mind and body, a wonderful family, a lovely family home, and all the wisdom, guidance and advice I could possibly wish for. I suppose, then, you could say that I have been extraordinarily blessed by the Lord to be living in this particular moment in time throughout all of history; to be in this particular social situation; and to have the particular opportunities I do.

It is perfectly true that I feel extraordinarily blessed to be living in a time and place in history with hot running water and maple walnut scones. This may seem a peculiar way to view life, but how else can I explain the fact that this is the point in time at which my life is unfolding? Who else can I thank for everything I can take advantage of and enjoy but Our Lord Jesus Christ?
I also find that there are many small marvels, small miracles, and blessed occurrences in my life that can only really be explained as Christs presence in my life.

My birthday, for example, is on the feast of Fatima and its no secret that my mother thought she would never have children again before I was born. I therefore see Christ as inherent in my very existence my coming into being.

At primary school, I used to think What if I had never come to live in New Zealand? and What if I had never met the kids I called my best friends?. I also thought how lucky I was to be in the very year I was at school (I couldnt see myself as friends with anyone above or below my year!) Though perhaps I was not lucky at all perhaps I was simply blessed.

More recently, although it may not seem so miraculous to you, my university timetable coming together as it did also seemed quite miraculous at the time (with a bachelor of arts, you choose your own course of study with very few required papers).

All these things seem rather, well, unremarkable now that I write them down. But the thing I cannot perhaps convey to you is the quiet assurance I feel deep down, like some deep sort of truth I have struck upon, or just finally come to recognise; that these things can only really be explained by the presence of Christ in my life.

Of course, this all leads to some rather perplexing questions: Why do I live at this particular point in time, in these particular social circumstances, with the particular opportunities I have in front of me?