The journey to New York and the unexpected encounter of discovering God beyond Catholic beliefs. 

By Samuel Adeleke 

From the rave club to the altar, Samuel Walsh, a 22-year-old Irish man, has come a long way, He was born into a Catholic family and studied biochemistry at UCD.  

Although he has always been passionate about science and biology, he made a big switch to sales and business. 

He has always been interested in sports and trained in taekwondo, football, and hockey when he was younger.  

Walsh had a much stronger desire to know God beyond just a household religion. “I grew up as a normal Irish teenager not knowing God,” he said.   

“When I got to college, things got ramped up, I started partying a lot and got surrounded by the wrong crowd 

“I remember I had just finished my school leaving certificate examinations when my friends and I started smoking throughout the week, and it grew from there,” Walsh said. Not only did Walsh develop the habit of smoking weed, but it also became a gateway to many more. 

Things got worse when Walsh started his first job. “My manager was a DJ, and he invited me into the rave scene, and as a naïve teenager, I joined and started taking rave drugs and was also consumed with the lust for women.” 

While Walsh believed he was fulfilling his desires and turning fantasies into reality, he soon faced an internal spiritual conflict that brought awareness of his identity. “I felt terrible, I was going away from myself and going down a way that leads to destruction,” he said. 

However, the change that this awakening would bring about didn’t occur until Walsh spent a summer holiday in the USA. “Two years ago, there was a visa that allowed Irish students to spend a summer abroad, and my friends from college and I flew to New York and worked as bartenders for the summer.”  

“As young Irish guys in New York, we were enjoying ourselves, smoking and partying,” he said. 

One day in New York, Walsh had an encounter that would change his life. “I met this young woman in a smoothie shop. She asked what my name was, and then asked, ‘Do you believe in God?’” Without hesitation, she started mentoring Walsh in Christianity, faith, and the truth of God’s word. 

“That was a light I had never felt before, a moment I clung to, and at that point, everything just fell into place.” “I felt this need and a calling to step into the light.” He said. 

With this calling came the need to move from darkness and from the friends who wanted to pull him back into that world 

“It was difficult, but God really provided me with light to step into, and I am eternally grateful for this,” Walsh said.  

“It was truly an inner knowingness and an inner certainty placed in my heart and in my soul by God, an alignment I couldn’t turn down,” he added. 

Although Walsh acknowledged that he had a religious inclination growing up with his dad being Catholic and his mother a Protestant, he said, “they were just labels, they were not practicing at all, my dad used to when he was a child, but not anymore.”  

But Catholicism was also deeply woven into Irish life, shaping not only people’s beliefs but also their cultural identity. “The Catholic Church was the government back in the days. They controlled everything, so they had a lot of power.” Walsh said. 

“Catholicism never interested me as a child; that’s why I never touched religion because I saw it as slow and boring, but when I first heard about Christianity in New York, it was like a fire, a spark of energy, this flow of the Holy Spirit that I’d never felt before.”  

“While Catholicism involves a lot of traditions and rituals, Christianity is very relationship-centered,” said Walsh. 

Walsh, who was concerned about how his parents would react to his shift from Catholicism to Christianity, was pleasantly surprised by their reaction.  “They were surprised because they never expected it, but they were happy for me.” 

 By extension, Walsh’s friends began to see changes in his personality.  “I used to be very arrogant before Christ, but afterwards they saw that I acted and treated them differently,” he said.  This in turn prompted a change in his friends, some of whom have started going to church themselves.  

Not only did Walsh start attending church, but he also joined a Christian community on campus, where he continued to grow his faith.  

This community gave him the opportunity to share his testimony of newfound faith in just two months into his journey, in front of about 100 people.  

“I was nervous, but it was a great opportunity and a moment to express what God has done in my life,” he said. 

From sharing his testimony to just 30 people, Walsh was also allowed to preach during communion in his church in Tallaght and to the larger young congregation at St. Mark’s Church in front of 2-300 people.  

“From there God has just been taking me from step to step and I think that’s how he works” he said.  

“If he can trust you to speak in front of 30 people then he can trust you to speak in front of 300 people but you must not jump the steps.”  

With such great momentum Walsh has experienced in such a short time, from raving in the club to becoming a spotlight on the altar, he has been enjoying the presence of God that has humbled him and kept him grounded.  

But “Christianity is not all rosary, it is a difficult journey that brings hardship, slander, and persecution, but we are grateful that we have the grace of God through Christ, which helps us get through it and be victorious,” Walsh said. 

While Walsh mentioned that he will not shy away from an opportunity to explore Catholicism as an adult, he said, “young people trapped between the Catholic traditions and Christianity as a way of life, should read the word of God, seek counsel from older Christians, and not be afraid to explore different churches.”  

“Find a group of Christians or mentors who can guide you along your path. If you try to search for God on your own, you might find reasons to fall off.” He added. 

Walsh saw the church as a wonderful community.  

“The church is one of the most welcoming places on earth. When I am in church, I feel this overwhelming sense of welcome around the church, and now I call it my second family because that’s what they truly are,” said Walsh. 

For Samuel Walsh, the trip to New York was more than just a summer vacation; it was a moment when he encountered the light of God’s word, a time that helped him understand Christianity beyond tradition and gave him the chance to share his testimony. He now invites others to see that same light by sharing his story.