The Journey From The Head To The Heart

Here at SPIRITUS, we are so blessed to have an incredible network of support aiding us in our communal journey, as well as our individual faith journeys. I believe that SPIRITUS helps form our faith in such a way that we can better live it from the heart as opposed to the head.  Blessed (almost Saint) Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said that, ‘the longest journey a man must take is the 18 inches between his head to his heart.”  As evangelizers, it does not suffice to merely know about our faith.  We must also develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, as well as gain insight into how God is working personally in our lives.  In this way we begin to make that transition from living our faith in our head to living our faith from the inside out, from our hearts. 

--Spencer

Beauty

    One of my favorite things about Wisconsin is simply being surrounded by so much beauty. I love the outdoors, and I really enjoy spending our prudent days of self-care (what we call our days off) exploring the beauty all around us. Some of my teammates and I love hiking, so we have gone over to places like High Cliff quite a few times to adventure through the woods. Or other times some of us took the trip over to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, another stunning area of Wisconsin. Or I’m even recalling the nights that we spent at Camp Tekakwitha back in August, where I could look up at the sky and see more stars than I’ve ever seen before in my life.

    We are surrounded by all these breathtaking masterpieces created by God, and we so often take these little things for granted, everyday wonders like the sunset that go unnoticed. But God is so present in this beauty, and a lot of the time it is by exploring His incredible creation I feel closest to Him. Because this beauty truly reflects His glory. No matter how many times I see the sunset, no matter how many times I look up at the stars or watch the snow fall all around me, God never ceases to impress me. To bring my attention to these simple yet so profound works of art because He knows they make me smile. In the middle of a hike, I often take a minute and pause just to listen to the silence, hearing nothing but the birds or the rustling leaves, a symphony so beautiful because it was written by God Himself. Or when I get to the place with the perfect view, I just stop and soak it all in. And as I feel the wind rushing around me, hear Him whisper in it “See all this that I created? You are even more precious to me.” Nothing can compare to the feelings of amazement and wonder, and all that overflows me in these moments is gratitude to God for such beauty and for the opportunities to meet Him in His creation. 

   Throughout my time with Spiritus, I have certainly encountered God through the students on retreats, through prayer, and through my teammates, but another way that I am increasingly coming to experience Him is by just going outside and appreciating the nature around me. And something as simple as that is a prayer in itself.

--Sarah

A Prudent Day of Self Care

Being in SPIRITUS, we often get the question "Do you guys get any free time and if so what do you do?". Things to do around here are much different than what I have experienced from my last few years living in Portland, Oregon. Honestly though, nothing beats being in a beautiful community waking up every morning knowing that what you're doing has purpose by building God’s kingdom. However, even though we are extremely busy about once a week we do get a day we like to call our "prudent day of self care” a.k.a a "missionary’s day without a strict plan of where or what we need to be doing". On these days we like to do all kinds of different things but I think the majority would agree extra rest is a must.

We've had some pretty fun adventures on these days! I can’t lie,one of my favorite pastimes of SPIRITUS has been going to Culvers. As a native Southwestern Arizona girl I didn’t understand the marvels of a cheese curd and the exquisite taste of custard ice cream melting in my mouth!

#enoughsaid

Often one of the team members and I will go and hand out Divine Mercy cards and strike up conversations with the staff. Besides Culver’s though we often go on cool adventures to places like High Cliff for hiking or every now and then to a city.  On one occasion, half the team went to La Crosse, Wisconsin for Alexa's birthday, which was awesome! While we were there we went to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe! It was stunning and we even got to pray with a first class relic of St. Gianna Molla and St. Thérèse of Lisieux. During the day we also went up to the bluffs that overlooked all of La Crosse and you could even see three states from that spot! On our other prudent days of self care one of the main things a few of the team members and I do is go to the YMCA. Often we’ll work out but let’s be honest, most of the time we just love to use the hot tub because the winters here are FREEZING!

May God’s Blessings Be Poured More Abundantly Upon you!

In Christ,
Christen