This year is a "thank you" to our Lord for the innumerable graces he has showered on me.

There are many reasons why I decided to give a year of my life to God. I am twenty-three years old and I have studied in a Legionary school my whole life, was a member of ECYD and four years ago incorporated to Regnum Christi. Even though I had a decent spiritual life and had participated in some different apostolates I still felt as if I hadn´t really done anything worthwhile for Christ, that I hadn´t truly surrendered myself. Therefore I decided to leave my family, my hometown and my friends so I could go and give the best I had to offer to our Lord, my time, a year of my life. This I believe to be truly worth it and that giving a year is something that transcends into eternity.

Another reason that I found very inspiring was the call that all Catholics have to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." I see this year as a "thank you" to our Lord for the innumerable graces he has showered on me: creating me, calling me to the Catholic faith, redeeming me and so many other very important personal graces in my life, such as giving me a wonderful family, excellent friends, an integral education and the gift of good health.

I believe that it is extremely important to make use of each moment of our lives to dedicate ourselves to the things that transcend, that are eternal, God´s things. We can not waste our life on worldly things that are only good for a few moments before we die. Life is so short, a blink of an eye in comparison with eternity. Therefore I am very proud and happy to be able to help our Lord in his most important work: the salvation of souls.

Marcelo Margáin Zambrano was born in en Monterrey, México. He is an industrial engineer and is currently working with boys and young men in Río de Janeiro, Brazil.