
In this Jubilee Year, one of Pope Francis’ 10 hopes is for youth and young adults to experience the joy and beauty of living the Gospel. Four young adults share the stories of their unique journeys to finding hope and fulfillment in God.
Stylist finds mission in unexpected way
Caitlyn Smith is a hair stylist who shares the Gospel through the ministry of listening. Between mixing hair dye and texturing layers, she provides a listening ear and a soft place to land for her clients.
But the 26-year-old didn’t always recognize the impact of her role.
“For a long time, I felt like my job didn’t really matter,” shared Smith, who grew up in a Catholic home, but wandered away from the Church. “I was one of those personality types that needed to learn things for myself, and sometimes the hard way.”
As she prepared to be a hair stylist in high school, she had no idea that the Lord was pursuing her heart and that He had a unique mission for her within this call.
Smith eventually began to sense something missing in her life. It was the vibrant faith life of her friends that led her back to the Church, and she now serves on a parish youth ministry team at St. Timothy Parish in Mesa, Ariz.
“I don’t know if I’m equipped or I’m the right person or qualified, but the Lord just made it really clear to me that this was where He wanted me.” Her words apply to her role in the parish and the salon alike.
“I’ve been proven wrong that my job doesn’t matter,” Smith continued.
Since her career began, Smith has listened to countless clients with compassion, sharing her faith experiences along the way. Smith’s advice to others is to be attentive to your gifts, even if they don’t fall within the typical “Church sphere.”
“Try to focus on what you enjoy, what you desire and the places where you feel really lit up,” she said. “Ask yourself, what is it that brings me joy and how can I use this? That’s how you’re going to be the most fulfilled in your life.”
Catholic dad lives his faith out loud
Every person has a unique journey of faith and for 36-year-old Ivan Zovko, free pizza, a Protestant best friend and Catholic improv have all played a significant role.
As an Anti-Money Laundering Trainer by day and a proud husband and father to a 10-month-old son, Zovko lives the Gospel call by trying to be a light to everyone around him.
“There’s truth and beauty to the faith and I just want to be able to show others like, hey actually having a family and living for God, it’s a real thing that you can actually do,” he shared.
Raised Catholic, Zovko never took his faith seriously until he was invited to the ASU Newman Center for free pizza. He was drawn into the joyful community and began to discover the Church in a new light. Around the same time his best friend, who is now a Protestant pastor, started asking him questions about the Catholic faith that he didn’t know the answers to.
The combination encouraged Zovko to take a deep dive into Catholicism for himself, and it soon became a core part of his life.
“It helped me intellectually understand the faith and grow more into it. I began to realize, this is truth, this is real.”
Now, Zovko strives to be an example to others in his work life by being a joyful witness who is open about his faith. “We’re the billboards for everybody,” he continued. “People look at us to know what it’s like to be a Catholic.”
He also recently joined a Catholic improv group. As someone who loves to make people laugh, his advice for others is this: “contemplate the things that you’re already kind of naturally inclined to because those can be signals to what you could be called to.
“Be attentive to what God is showing you. It always goes back to Him.”
Mental health coach spreads healing and joy
“We are all called to be missionaries, we’re all called to be like apostles and bring Him wherever we go.”
For Isabella Bryant, it’s through her role as a trauma informed coach at a Catholic counseling practice that she brings Christ to all who walk through the door seeking help and accompaniment. The 25-year-old shares God through her joy, by being friendly and by trying to engage in meaningful conversations.
She also enters into time spent with her clients through intentional prayer.
“I ask the Lord before every session to just give me the grace and wisdom to be His healing instrument.”
Bryant has personally experienced the impact of counseling, which has played an instrumental role in her walk with the Lord. “When I was 21, I moved into a house with a group of Catholic women, and I started going to therapy regularly,” she shared.
The healing of her heart and “letting God into those spaces” led Bryant to choose the Catholic faith for herself. “Once and for all, it was like, I’m in this and there’s no going back.”
She acknowledges how stressful it can be for young people to find their place and purpose today with so many options. Her advice to others is to work on your relationship with God. Seek to hear His voice and ask for the grace to sense how the Holy Spirit is working in your life.
“He will lead you. He does have a plan for your life. He’s so gentle that we just need to be able to learn how to listen to Him speak to us in that space,” she shared. “He also gives us very tangible and very obvious gifts and talents.”
It’s when we lean into these exact spaces that we find our mission field.
Accountant adds fatherly love to the workplace
“Welcome home, your Father misses you.”
These are the words the priest spoke to 27-year-old Eugene Sepulveda when he returned to the sacrament of confession after years away from the Church. Expecting a harsh response, it both surprised Sepulveda and was the doorway into a deep encounter with God’s love like he had never experienced it before.
This was the moment he realized “how truly our faith is a gift.”
Growing up in a Catholic family and going to Mass regularly, Sepulveda drifted away from the faith in college. His new friends and pursuits didn’t lend to a Catholic lifestyle, and although he was embracing his newfound freedom, he still felt an emptiness.
It wasn’t until he met a friend who was practicing her Catholic faith that things began to shift. “She wanted to see me grow,” said Sepulveda. “She was like a breath of fresh air.”
It was this impactful friendship coupled with the powerful homilies and reverent Mass celebrated at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix that brought him back to the faith, which soon began to spill into his everyday life.
“If we truly believe in the God of love, how do I, as a person who believes, act?”
Sepulveda strives to use his gifts and skillset for the glory of God in his daily work as an accountant. But for him it’s more than just numbers. He has personally experienced the care of the Father, and he strives to bring the love he encountered in the confessional to his coworkers.
“I just kind of, in a sense, show Christ through the love of the Father by treating people as if they were one of my own kids, even though they could be older than me,” said Sepulveda.
He encourages others to find their mission and their purpose, ultimately using their gifts in service to others. You never know how your own words or acts of kindness could be the very doorway through which others encounter the deep love of Christ.
Co-written by Catherine Mulhern, lead staff writer for the Office of Communications and Jennifer Ellis, the content and strategic partnerships manager for the Office of Communications.