Daniella Le Blanc is a JAR youth from Panama who has just fulfilled one of her life’s big dreams: becoming a doctor. Her story involves a Religion teacher, many hours of study and prayer, an unforgettable WYD, an encounter with Pope Francis, and a community that taught her that faith can be joyful, fun, and shared.
There are moments that last only a few seconds but end up staying with you forever. For Daniella Le Blanc, one of those happened in January 2019, when Panama welcomed thousands of young people from all over the world to celebrate World Youth Day.
Daniella was also participating in WYDAR and on January 22nd—her birthday, in fact—she received a gift that was hard to beat: the next day, she would have the chance to welcome Pope Francis upon his arrival in the country.
The plan was clear: when Francis passed in front of them, they would try to give him a WYDAR bracelet. And it worked. Daniella managed to get close, hand it to him, and share a few moments with him.
“For me, that moment was much more than the excitement of meeting the Pope. I experienced it as something that deeply strengthened my faith and allowed me to feel God’s presence in my life in a very special way.”
That young girl probably couldn’t imagine then everything that would come next. Because meeting the Pope was an unforgettable moment, but the real challenge would begin upon returning to daily life.
A faith that was already growing
Daniella’s story with God had begun quite a bit earlier. Since she was a child, she also had another clear dream: she wanted to be a doctor. Medicine didn’t appear as a last-minute decision, but as a vocation that grew along with her.
On her journey of faith, there was one especially important person: Rubiela, her Religion teacher during high school.
“More than teaching me about God, she inspired me to know Him in a personal way and to build a true relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Through her testimony, Daniella began to discover that believing in Jesus was much more than knowing things about Him. It was about opening her heart, trusting, and allowing Him to enter into her decisions, her dreams, and her concerns as well.
That seed kept growing, and the Panama WYD was an especially intense moment. There, she experienced a young, joyful, and universal Church. But how could she make sure all of that didn’t just stay as a memory of a few incredible days?
For Daniella, the answer had three letters: JAR.
JAR: when WYD becomes a journey
“After that Panama WYD and meeting Pope Francis, JAR was what allowed that experience to be more than just a beautiful memory.”
If WYD had allowed her to contemplate a Church made up of thousands of young people from all over the world, the community taught her to discover that same Church in the small things.
“WYD made me experience the joy of a living, young, and universal Church, but it was in JAR where I learned that this Church is also built in the small things: in a community, in a meeting, in shared prayer, in a conversation, and in the accompaniment of other young people who, like me, are trying to follow Jesus.”
JAR thus became more than just a group to attend. For Daniella, it was “a journey of faith and, above all, a place to belong.”
The community has also taught her that faith doesn’t depend solely on the moments when you feel God very close. You have to learn to persevere when those same emotions aren’t there, to keep seeking Him when doubts appear, to celebrate joys together, and to support each other when difficulties arrive.
“Living my faith in community has concretely changed the way I relate to God. I’ve learned to seek Him not only when I need something, but also to thank Him, listen to Him, and let Him transform my life.”
And with that, her way of looking at the Church has also changed.
“Perhaps one of the most beautiful things I’ve discovered is that the Church is much more than a place or an institution. It’s a family. It’s real people who walk with you, who pray for you, who listen to you, who correct you with love, who celebrate your joys, and who stay by your side when things don’t go as you expected.”
Jesus also enters the faculty
After WYD came one of the great challenges of Daniella’s life. She finished school and, a year later, began studying Medicine.
For six years, Jesus was also there among notes, exams, hours of study, and days when her strength seemed to run out. Before every important exam, Daniella prepared by studying, but also by praying with her family.
During that journey, she made a phrase attributed to Saint Augustine her own: “Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you.”
Over time, she learned that faith isn’t about asking Jesus for everything to turn out exactly as you want. “More than just thanking Him for having answered my prayers, I thank Him for having accompanied me in each one of them.”
And after a lot of hard work, the moment she had imagined since she was a child arrived: Daniella finished medical school. What’s more, she did it at the top of her class.
“Today I know that achievement didn’t start the day I got the news. It started much earlier, in every prayer I said with my family, in every time I put my worries in Jesus’ hands, and in every moment I decided to trust Him even without knowing what the result would be.”
Now it’s time to heal
Daniella no longer dreams of becoming a doctor. Now she is one. And she wants what she has learned during these years in her relationship with Jesus and in community to also transform the way she practices medicine.
“I want my profession to also be a way of serving Him: that my hands can be instruments for healing, that my words can bring hope, and that I never forget that behind every diagnosis there is a person who needs to be heard, understood, and accompanied.”
Seven years have passed since that Panama WYD. Daniella still remembers the moment she managed to give that WYDAR bracelet to Pope Francis, but today she knows that the most important part came after.
“WYD and WYDAR showed me the beauty of a young and universal Church; JAR taught me to live that Church in community, in everyday life, and on the journey.”
And perhaps that is the best way to summarize what has changed since then. Daniella went from being moved by a Church made up of thousands of young people to discovering that she herself is part of that Church and that she can live it every day.
Because, as she herself has discovered, “faith doesn’t necessarily have to be quiet, small, and personal; it can also be joyful, fun, and shared.”
