Do It Anyway

Many times we get discouraged when we try to do the right thing because oftentimes it is met with anger, resentment, envy, etc.  I know that this happens to me when I try to evangelize on SPIRITUS.  I know it has happened to me when living in community that sometimes my actions are viewed differently oftentimes with impatience and resentment then what I intended.  Even on retreats, some of the youth will judge you as a fool which hurts, however does that mean that we stop pushing forward? Do we stop following in Christ’s footsteps? NO!!! Remember What Would Jesus Do. People mocked Him yet He loved them anyways. The soldiers beat and tortured Him yet He forgave them anyways. People turned away from Him when His teachings were difficult to grasp yet He called after them anyways. Do we give up when the times get difficult? No. If we are supposed to be Christians aka Little Christ’s then we need to also act like Him. Here is a great poem to meditate on by Mother Theresa who did walk in the footsteps of Christ:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

Those Sweet Attachments

It is the second week of Lent and we are slowly but surely making our way closer to Easter and the Resurrection of our Lord! This year I decided to give up sweets (i.e. chocolate, cookies, ice cream, etc.) and limit my TV intake to at most 1 hour a day. (This second one is more to keep me from binge watching on our day off.) I've given up sweets many times before for Lent, like most of us I presume, so I didn't think I was in for that big of shock to my system. Man was I wrong. I don't think you realize just how prevalent sweets are on SPIRITUS. Whether it's donut Sunday after Mass, or someone baked brownies for Bible study, or people decide to go out for pie on Pi day, they are EVERYWHERE. In fact just today we got an e-mail that one of the SPIRITUS board members bought us a bunch of Girl Scout cookies AND other desserts that would be delivered to us one at a time over this week.... Seriously?! It also doesn't help when all you want it just a little something sweet to round off your meal. Just one Hershey Kiss that's all I ask!

While this "suffering" has been slowly torturing me, it has also been extremely humbling and eye opening. There have been sooo many times when I just feel that deep craving for chocolate but I'll have to keep telling myself no or I'll try to fill the desire with something else. This is unhealthy. This is an attachment. This is what it's like to be addicted to sin. No I'm not saying chocolate is a sin BUT when you're attached to something it is so deeply rooted in you that you don't even realize how much power you've given it. With this power it is able to change your perception of it. It no longer looks like sin but rather something normal and routine in your life. It now becomes abnormal and uncomfortable when you try to go against the sin. That is what's scariest, when sin and virtue switch places without you even noticing.

This Lent I'm working on my attachments and perceptions of these attachments. This includes the obvious attachment to sweets and TV but I'm also going even deeper. I'm trying to recognize those ideas, points of view, and ways of doing things that are so routine and normal for me but may actually be holding me back. It's when we realize what our attachments are that we can then determine why they are there and if they are healthy or not. My challenge to you this Lent is to take a look at your own attachments, reflect on them, and start detaching from the areas that are either holding you back from a greater good or are leading you into temptation and sin. By doing so you'll not only set yourself free from these things that have grown to control you but you will also be opening up a lot more room for God and the things HE wants you to be focusing on.

"Even when the goals we are aiming at are excellent in themselves, attachment to our own 'wisdom' may be a seriously bad obstacle in the way of docility to the Holy Spirit."
-Jacques Philippe, In the School of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is with us!

Hello Everyone! God is good!

I can't believe how fast the week has gone by! I kept thinking I knew what the topic of my blog post would be, and then I would get this nagging feeling that I should wait. Retreats have been so awesome and Holy-Spirit-inspired lately! I can feel Him working more and more through us as we become more open vessels for His divine will. I truly believe, more than ever, that we have the perfect name for our ministry: SPIRITUS. Yes. Every day the Holy Spirit is here, whispering to us, loving us, inspiring us.

Is anyone else excited that we started lent? I know people usually see it as a somber time when they are tempted in the "desert" of life. But, the way I see it, we're all in the desert all the time. Lent is the time when we slow down a little, reflect more, give up things we t-h-i-n-k we need but really don't need, and take on extra tools to help us conquer our temptations and start over with our spiritual/religious lives. I see it as a time to actually bolster my resolve to be a better Catholic and to go deeper in my faith. This makes me joyful.

So what does that have to do with the mission of SPIRITUS? Everything. SPIRITUS is an amazing place to serve and live because we have the opportunity every week to grow our own faith in formation and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. This week we watched "Mary of Nazareth" as part of our formation and we met with our spiritual directors on Thursday, right after the start of lent. If that wasn't enough to set our spirits on fire for the Lord, reconnecting us with the humanness of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, lent started and we began to pray and fast on Wednesday. I know I struggle to accomplish everything I've set out to do, but God takes us back lovingly and encourages us never to give up on growing closer to Him! I can attribute my increased zeal and inspiration during my talks to the Holy Spirit primarily, but also to my prayerful mindset of trust to even ask the Holy Spirit in the first place.

Since Ash Wednesday, I wake up when my alarm rings and pray morning offering. If you've never prayed a morning offering before, I encourage you all to start now, not because it is the special time of year where we do so, but because it might just change your life! You might start and never stop. A morning offering is a simple, short prayer where we offer up our entire day, with all of its struggles and small triumphs, setbacks and joys, to Jesus (and, if you want, through Mary's Immaculate Heart). I find it gives me the mind frame right from the beginning that I CAN conquer this thing called morning (I've never been a morning person), but that I also have God on my side all day; no matter what happens, God is going to be doing His part to make something beautiful come out of it. Our desire to please Him does please Him. We must believe that with our whole hearts, because he loves us SO MUCH. You would cry for joy if you knew how much He loves you.

I am abundantly grateful for the opportunity to be on retreat last weekend and this weekend and to attend the Feminine Genius conference at St. Pius Church in Appleton. I thank you all for your continued prayers and support because we are storming the heavens with them, and I am here to tell you that the Holy Spirit is listening and He is giving this ministry good fruits. Children are challenged, stretched, loved, changed because of the time they spend with us, all by the grace of God.

We are keeping you all in prayer too! May God be on your minds and your heart and bless you this Lenten season.

With Christ's peace and fortitude,

Emily

Try something new!

           We started off Lent on Ash Wednesday, receiving ashes on our foreheads to humble our hearts and to help remind us of where we came from. This is a season of humility and sacrifice where we prepare ourselves for the coming of Easter:  Christ's Resurrection. It is also a time to help us grow into the men and women that God has made us to be.  This season helps to remind us that we are not yet who we are meant to be and though we are all sinners God has redeem us.
            Lent gives us many opportunities to realize that we cannot just rely on ourselves.  Only through God's great grace and our trust in him can we become the person that we are meant to be. This is the season to try something new, to help us grow.  Here are some possible suggestions:  going to confession and Mass more often; reading a spiritual book and the bible; going to Adoration and spending time with our Lord talking to Him and letting Him change your life.