Today at our team meeting we each shared a bit about our Easter breaks. Sarah, Arthur, Mitch, Brianna and I went down to the Community of Saint John to celebrate the Triduum with the Brothers and Sisters. The community was super hospitable and we felt right at home. It was a blessing to be able to pray, rest and meet solid young Catholics and families.
We pray you are all having a joy-filled Eastertide! Always remember:
We are the Easter people and Alleluia is our song! -Saint JPII
WOW! As the weather warms, it feels as though the whole WORLD is coming alive once more. I am loving it! I do not know if anyone’s favorite season is spring; but it sure is nice to feel the sun again, to see green again, to not have the air hurt your face… I could get used to this! This past winter the SPIRITUS team was having formation with Father Peter Mitchell and he talked about springtime being a metaphor for the spiritual life. I think we all know that feeling as we enter later into winter that “spring is on it’s way!” We know that it is coming and that it is only a matter of time; that soon there will be new life. The exciting thing about life is that God is doing something new RIGHT NOW! If you have not had a chance to check out Mother Mary Catherine’s online Lectio, DO IT NOW! I was reading the entry for this last weekend and it was exactly what I needed to hear: http://www.missionariesoftheword.com/mothers-blog/
God wants to bring our lives into the time of spring; so yes there will be times of winter, but we always know that following winter will come spring. This Season of Easter we will be in (are in?) is the time of Spring! God wants to bring us through the Cross to the Resurrection. And not just you and me, but the entire world!
“As the third millennium of the redemption draws near, God is preparing a great springtime for Christianity, and we can already see its first signs.” -Saint John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio
In His Mercy, God is making all things new; and as we enter into this year of Mercy, let us open our hearts to what God is doing in us, in the Church, and in the whole world! Let us come to Him and let Him make us new!
-Mitch
Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again - Narnia
When you going SPIRITUS there are a lot of things that we as team members get, clothes and a water bottle and a community that becomes family, but the one thing you do not get is a job description. When I signed up to join a core of young adult retreat ministers I had and idea what that meant, but I have never been much of a person for big moments, I really prefer to be behind the scenes. So the spot light of witnessing on retreat ministry has really been pushing me out of my comfort zone. Every big moment on retreat is a real struggle for me, and so the idea of getting up and talking in front of an entire congregation to spread the mission sounded kind of mortifying to me. I couldn't see the way to have small moments in a big parish, but as much as I have loved the interactions with students on retreats, some of my favorite moments of this ministry have been the one on ones I have had with people of all ages in the gathering spaces of churches throughout Wisconsin.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?” –Matthew 6:25-36
Praise the Lord! The Church is strong into Lent and already I can “feel the burn” in my soul…also my body, but I am loving it! We have such a beautiful time to really be brought closer to God, and even though it can be difficult, Lent is meant to be a season of Freedom [insert exclamation point…woooo!] Something that is such a prison for us is control; an unchristian desire for control fills us with anxiety, leads us away from others, and stifles our relationship with the Father. He [the Father] wants to give us everything, “He said to him, ‘My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” –Lk 15:31, but so often our gaze is fixed on what we want, the things we have to get done, how on earth we are going to make it through the next week, we miss the voice of our Father and all the blessings He wants for us. A great weapon against control is gratitude; I am so blessed to have my brothers and sisters on SPIRITUS who are filled with such a spirit of gratitude, they really call me on to a greater level of trust in the Father and a greater recognition of the many blessings I am receiving. Gratitude is so important to our relationship with the Father, in a sense gratitude feeds on trust and trust feeds on gratitude. This Lent specifically, I am talking the Lent of 2016…this year…right now, is such an appointed time to grow closer to the Father and grow in our identity as His Children. You and I are beloved Children of the Father, and Mary and Jesus want to teach us to enter deeper into our identity as Children of the Father, to be ever more His “little ones.” Mary is the perfect Model for us, as a true daughter of God she knew everything she had came from the Father, everything was a gift, and her Immaculate Heart was filled with trust and gratitude, so much so that she was completely given over to His Divine Will. My prayer for myself and the Church as we enter deeper into this time of Lent is for us to truly let go of control , to allow Mary and Jesus to teach us to be Children of the Father and to receive all He wants to give us one day at a time, to truly be His Children. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us! -Mitch
Back in December, my Spiritus teammates and I attended a Healing Mass with Fr. Peter Mitchell in Greenville. The Mass was beautiful and adoration afterword was AMAZING! But what really stands out to me from that night was the prayer time I got to have with one of the prayer teams. I waited and watched the various prayer teams, waiting for my turn as well as trying to figure out which one I wanted to pray with. I ended up going with a team of three women, they placed their hands on me and prayed. It was really beautiful, and at one point during their prayer, one of the women told me to look up, listen and then tell her what was the first thing to pop into my mind. At that exact moment, I had been starting to pick out the song being played by the band. It was incredible as I took a moment to just let the lyrics of the song “Oceans” soak in, speak truth to my heart, and truly become a prayer from my heart to the Holy Spirit. Since that moment, the bridge of the song has become a prayer for me each time I hear the song.
“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior”
Which then begs the question, do I trust God without any boarders, limitations, or any other type of restriction? Do I follow when he calls my name? Or do I let the wind and waves deter me from stepping out on that water to follow him?
I am so happy to be a part of Spiritus and it's incredibly important mission. In working with the students on retreats, I can tell that their hearts yearn for something more, and we just show them what it is that they are really longing for, whether they realize it or not. We create an atmosphere where they feel free to be themselves and can be honest at where they’re at in their faith without being judged. We meet them where they’re at and allow ourselves to simply be instruments of God’s love for them, because He takes over from there and I’ve seen what He can do with that. I want these students to know that they are enough for God, enough for Him to die for them, and to show them that their dignity and worth do not come from anything but their identities as children of God. Because I feel that so many people feel lost because they don’t see that and don’t truly believe that they are loved with a love so great that we can’t understand it.
These months with Spiritus have impacted me a great deal too, such as by helping me surrender myself to God and showing me just how much I really need Him. I quickly learned that I need to stop depending on myself, but to give myself over to Him completely each day, to rely on Him and on His strength to guide me because I can do none of this without Him. This has been a challenge for me sometimes, but I’ve been pushed to grow in so many ways, especially in my trust in God, trust that He knows what He’s doing and that He’ll give me what I need to do His work each day. -Sarah
We were blessed with a day off at the Dells! We had a great time swimming, feasting, playing games, adventuring and relaxing! Thank you so much to all that made it possible! We love you and pray for you daily!
SPIRITUS has had a significant impact on my life in many ways. I have grown tremendously in my walk of faith and I am extremely thankful. My relationship with God has become even more vital to my everyday life and I have seen how God has used me as an instrument in ways I did not even think were possible. God has taught me to trust Him. Period. I have been graced with blessings greater than I deserve and I praise the Lord always.
I have seen how SPIRITUS has impacted the students we have ministered to on retreat. I have seen students who come in to the retreat closed off to the entire experience and over time seen how the Holy Spirit has worked through them, enabling them to be filled with God’s grace and love. The SPIRITUS team has worked well together, in order to support one another in the ministry and as a result, been able to minister to the students and give of our whole hearts. -Maddie
