Rejoice in the Lord Always!

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

 As St. Paul tells us, we must rejoice in all situations. If you had asked me last year if I would be rejoicing over waking up at 5:45 in the morning to prepare for a retreat, I would have said you were crazy. However, this was my attitude as my alarm clock greeted me. Joining SPIRITUS has helped me realize that sacrifices are necessary for the sake of sharing God’s love with others. He has given me the grace to rejoice even when I do things that I find unpleasant- like waking up very early in the morning. I am able to find joy of participating in the mission of SPIRITUS, which is to ignite the faith of Catholic youth. Jesus commands us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19),and being a part of SPIRITUS allows me to follow His request. Throughout retreats I have seen students who were originally closed off become more open to to speaking about their faith. Our small group discussions help the youth think of concrete ways to live out their faith and become more aware of the need of God in their lives.

 The joy of the Lord is my strength as I make more sacrifices for the sake of this ministry. The past couple weeks have been exhausting, with continual training and several retreats under my belt. But because God has filled me with His love through prayer and daily Mass, I have found that it has been a happy, joyful, and fulfilling exhaustion. Even when I am weak- when I am unable to reign in unruly students or am overwhelmed with the numerous sessions I must prepare, God gives me the strength to go on. I know that God will continue to bless myself and the rest of the SPIRITUS team with His joy and love as we continue to share the Gospel with all we meet.