To Know Jesus

"To know Jesus, to hear Jesus, to love Jesus, to trust Jesus, to obey Jesus, to share his life in the deepest fiber of our being, and then to serve him in his people -- this is our goal."  This quote was made by Cardinal Dolan in his book that is addressed to priests, but it is very relevant to every Catholic.  So many times in my life I have professed to know Jesus, to love Jesus, to trust Jesus and so on yet I am farther away on the path to heaven then when I first started.  I have studied about Jesus, but never really got to know Him.  I have talked about Jesus, but never really talked to Him.  Basically I have been going through the motions for most of my life.  

Thankfully, I came on SPIRITUS which has radically changed my lifestyle both physically and spiritually.  I am now on a daily regimen of morning and evening prayer, daily Mass and spiritual formation weekly.  Yes it was hard for the last 7 months facing the demons that have haunt me for trying to change my life since I have been in SPIRITUS, but with persistence and trust in the Lord I know that He is transforming me here.  I made a General Confession the other day where I divulged to the priest my whole life story and it was amazing though pretty nerve-whacking.  I feel a lot better and already on a better path.  I just say take it one day at a time.  Praise the Lord and let us follow the Cardinal's advice and strive to put Jesus at the center of our life.

Power of the Holy Spirit

So yesterday was my 2nd year anniversary of receiving the sacrament of Confirmation! How awesome, right?!

It's pretty wild to think that I've only really been an adult in the Catholic Church for the past 2 years even though I'm 23 years old and had a conversion of heart back when I was 18. It took me FOREVER to finally receive Confirmation.  But God has quickly transformed my life because I chose to be anointed by the Holy Spirit.

First of all, I would not be apart of SPIRITUS if it were not for the Holy Spirit. By the power of the Holy Spirit, I have been able to stand up to nearly 5,000 youth over these past few months and witness to each and every one of them about my faith. I have been able to pray one-on-one with them, praise the Lord, laugh, cry, and just go crazy. All of this was not normal behavior for me before I came back to the faith.

I was an extremely selfish person growing up. I did not care or think about anyone but myself and what made me happy. This way of living left me feeling empty and alone. Not to mention, I had given my heart to a guy way before I even knew was love was. After he left me, I felt even more empty and alone. I had no idea what to do, where to go, who to trust. I found myself at a crossroads--either fall back into my selfish ways or live for something greater. I chose the second path, led by the Holy Spirit.

I am not a saint, at least not yet :P, but one day I hope to be. Being led by the Holy Spirit with our the Catholic faith is the best way to achieve that goal. The "rules" and "laws" of the Catholic Church are a roadmap that will lead us to Heaven, if we chose to follow them. And of course there is freedom within this that people don't understand! Because God is Love, and love is free.

So before we enter into this Easter Triduum, I challenge whoever is reading this right now to give your life to the Spirit and see where He leads you. Yes, it's a scary road, but think of it as a roller coaster--it has it's ups and downs, but at the end of the ride, you want to hop on for another go.

May the Peace of Christ enter your hearts during this Easter season.

+JMJ+

Formation with the Bishop!

Thursdays are always one of my favorite days of the week here on SPIRITUS.  Every Thursday we have formation as a team, and on the first Thursday of the month we have spiritual direction.  Yesterday was exceptionally special for us!  Jared and I headed up to Green Bay for spiritual direction with Fr. Schuster.  (As an alumni of UWGB, anytime I get to go up to Green Bay I'm happy!)   Then we met the rest of the team at Old Chicago for dinner which was quite a treat!

The big event of the night happened after dinner, we headed to the diocesan campus to meet with none other than His Excellency, Bishop Ricken, who led us in formation about Pope John Paul II's encyclical Redemptoris Missio, or the Mission of Christ the Redeemer.  If I were to summarize what Bishop's message was in two words it would be easy...SAVE SOULS.  He talked about how each one of us is to bring the good news of Jesus to everyone we meet, not to water down information, or because it makes us a good person, but because they deserve to know the truth!  It was also awesome to just be in the presence of a Bishop, but also a man who is so personable and humble.  Being around Bishop Ricken inspired me so much.  I could tell that what he was telling us and teaching us, is not something he takes lightly.  He shared with us how Mass attendance has been declining 3% every year for the past several years, and this is something he is truly worried about, and something that he is actually working to change.  Again he is not trying to just fill the pews at Mass, he wants souls to be saved.

Bishop also talked to us about how much he supports our team, and how important he believes SPIRITUS is.  I did not expect to go into formation with Bishop Ricken and have him thank us, but that is exactly what happened.  I could tell that he genuinely cared about us.  He even went around the table and asked each one of us what we are thinking about where God is calling us in our future vocation.  Although many of us are still discerning, and do not yet know what our call is, Bishop Ricken told each one of us he would pray for us.  Knowing that our wonderful Bishop is praying for us, helped to re-inspire me to go out to inspire other Catholic youth! 

SPIRITUS Takes Part in Men's Conference at St. Pius X Catholic Church

On Saturday March 2, the men on the SPIRITUS team led high school students in a day of formation at the Men's Conference held at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Appleton, WI. The formation drew upon the theme of what it means to truly be a man of the faith.

I very much enjoyed listening to my brothers discuss three people that emulate being a man of the Catholic faith: St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Ignatius Loyola, and Blessed Pier Giorgio. My brothers discussed some important characteristics that define what it means to be a man of faith. These included sacrifice, courage, and mission.

The students were intrigued by the witness of these holy men. They learned about how St. Kolbe sacrificed himself by death through starvation at a Nazi concentration camp so that a father wouldn't have to. They learned about the life of St. Ignatius, his courage and willingness to endure great pain without complaint and his drive to become saintly. And they learned about Blessed Pier Giorgio's mission to attend to the sick and to live modestly even though he came from a wealthy family.

Furthermore, students learned about brotherhood and the importance of helping each other overcome the temptations and challenges in life, to follow God's path, and to be active in the faith. We all listened to Brother Mark's witness to the faith and how his strong faith today is rooted in the assistance of a friend from the past who really brought him into playing an active role in the Catholic Church.

For my part, I greatly enjoyed teaching students about the deadly sins and the virtues to help overcome them. With the help of my brothers, we made learning these virtues through special interactive activities really fun. And I can say first hand, the students thoroughly enjoyed it!

After a wonderful day connecting with students at the conference, I attended Mass with Brother Aaron, which was special in that the Mass was led by our very own Bishop David Ricken.

It is days like these that I give great thanks to God for the great blessings He has given me. It is truly a blessing to take part in such a wonderful ministry, and it is truly a blessing to be Catholic and to fully take part in the Christian faith, beginning with full participation in the celebration of the Mass.

A Day in the Life of the SPIRITUS Team: Sunday Edition

Sunday, February 10, 2013

This Sunday began with an early start next door at St. Mary’s for Mass at seven in the morning for Aaron, Callie, Michael and me. After Mass we headed back to Mount Tabor to get ready for the upcoming retreat we had that day. We had a Confirmation retreat here at Mount Tabor for the Confirmation students at St. Margaret Mary in Neenah. The chapel was booming with singing and praising God because they were over fifty students here with us on retreat. It was awesome! The day was filled with singing, activities, movie clips, witnesses from us SPIRITUS members and pizza! I hope the students left the retreat understanding a little better how much Jesus loves them and how they can be better disciples of Him, especially through the Sacrament of Confirmation. The retreat ended in the early evening which meant time for us to clean up Mount Tabor and put everything back into pre-retreat mode. We also took time to talk through the retreat and discuss what went well and also in what areas we need to improve for next time. After everything was cleaned up and discussed we said good bye to the boys and the girls had a low key night after the busyness of retreat.

I hope you have enjoyed our week of blog updates on the daily happenings of SPIRITUS! I've definitely enjoyed writing these posts, letting you know a little bit more about the ministry. God Bless! 

A Day in the Life of the SPIRITUS Team: Saturday Edition

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Finally a retreat day! Our weekends usually consist of retreats and today was no exception. Karissa, Julie, Robbie and Kate were still on retreat with the Fond du Lac crew from the night before and since there retreat was an overnight retreat they really got to connect with the students. While their retreat was still rocking, we had a retreat for 9th through 11th graders at Saint Katharine Drexel in Kaukauna. I headed to Kaukauna with Callie, Aaron and Michael to spend the afternoon and evening with eleven students. Although they were a quiet group we had an awesome time together and I think they learned a little bit about our faith life as a journey. I was lucky enough to talk to the students a little bit about forgiveness which is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. But I have to say that the best part of the whole retreat for me was the fact that all the students went to Sacrament of Reconciliation and received the mercy and love of Jesus in the unique and personal way that is only found in the confessional. Overall, it was a great experience in Kaukauna filled with movie clips, discussions about faith, confession, pizza and ice cream! The retreat ended late so after the retreat we all headed straight to bed.

A Day in the Life of the SPIRITUS Team: Friday Edition

Friday, February 8, 2013

Happy Friday! Another morning was spent at Eucharistic adoration, rosary and Mass at St. Mary’s in Menasha. After Mass, breakfast and Morning Prayer, we headed to a local coffee shop in Neenah, Shellattes, for our weekly book discussion. We read a book together as a team and get together once a week to discuss any insights we have gained from the book. Right now we are reading, “Interior Freedom,” by Jacques Philippe. Along with formation on Thursdays, having book discussion is a great way for us to make sure we are spiritually fed. When we give so much on retreats, it is important for us to make sure that our spiritual life is still being nourished.

The rest of my afternoon was filled with youth ministry! Every Friday afternoon from three to five we have a Drop-In for middle school students at St. Patrick’s in Menasha. At Drop-In we pray, eat snacks, do activities, plays games, and learn about aspects of the Catholic faith while having a ton of fun! This week the theme of our Drop-In was Sunday’s Gospel about being “fishers of men.” We talked about our need to spread Jesus’ message to others, sang a song about fishing and did a fishing relay race. The students seemed like they had a blast and I know the SPIRITUS team did!

As we arrived back to Mount Tabor after Drop-In, we had a quick team dinner together because there was a retreat later that night. A group of Confirmation students from Fond du Lac were on retreat with us from Friday night until Saturday night. Half of our team was on this retreat and they told me that the retreat was awesome!! I was not on this retreat but instead was on other retreats during the weekend.

A Day in the Life of the SPIRITUS Team: Thursday Edition

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Another snowy morning! This morning the whole team headed to St. Bernard’s for morning Mass. We try to attend Mass at many parishes around the area during the week which gives us a chance to meet many different people and be a presence at numerous parishes. After Mass, we headed back to Mount Tabor for Morning Prayer followed by breakfast before formation. Every Thursday we have spiritual formation where someone comes in to teach us about various topics related to the spiritual life or the ministry. Today we were lucky enough to have Sister Margaret from CYE (Catholic Youth Expeditions) come and lead formation for us. It is always a treat for us when she comes because she brings with her such a joy and peace and she is always filled with such insight! She talked about radical gratitude and the necessity of gratitude in the spiritual life. While it is easy to be grateful when things are going well, we must strive to be grateful during those times of suffering or when things are not going our way. God is goodness and He loves us with an overflowing love so we must trust in Him through good and bad.

I left formation motivated by Sister Margaret’s words! I then headed to lunch and then had a one on one with one of my teammates, Michael. It is important for us as a community that we stay connected with each and every member of the team. Sometimes with our crazy busy schedules we don’t get a chance to check in with every member of the team and see how they are doing. That’s why we do one on ones from time to time where you just spend time with a member of the team and discuss what is going on in your lives. It was great to catch up with Michael!

The rest of my afternoon was spent with Julie in Oshkosh at spiritual direction with Sister Anne Marie Lom. Each and every member of the team has a spiritual director that they see once a month. Spiritual direction is an opportunity for you to share with another person how God is working in your life and whatever is on your heart regarding your spiritual life and your relationship with God. It is really helpful to be able to talk to someone outside of the ministry about anything and everything related to your relationship with Jesus.

After we got back from spiritual direction, us girls spent the rest of the evening together. We had a delicious dinner followed by faith sharing. Every couple of weeks we, as a sisterhood, get together and discuss a topic about the faith. Tonight, we talked about humility. We had a really great discussion about the ways that we struggle with humility and used quotes from St. Teresa of Avila to help us find ways to combat pride in our lives. It is wonderful to be able to take some time out of our day as SPIRITUS girls to share together!

A Day in the Life of the SPIRITUS Team: Wednesday Edition

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

What I do on Wednesday mornings to start my day is one of my favorites. Some of the team has started going to St. Mary Central High School in Menasha on Wednesday mornings for Mass. They have an optional Mass every Wednesday morning at 7:07 called the 707 Zephyr Train to Heaven. It is there that we get to see some of the students that came to our Bible study on Monday and other students that we have had on retreat. It is also an opportunity to see our chaplain for SPIRITUS, Father Schuster…he always has awesome homilies! After Mass and chatting with students, we head back to Mount Tabor for silent prayer and Morning Prayer in the chapel. We are lucky enough to have a tabernacle right here in Mount Tabor so whenever I want to spend time with Jesus I can walk down the hall and see Him. One of the best parts of SPIRITUS is being able to live right upstairs from Jesus in the tabernacle.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was work time for all of us on the team. For me, that meant that I got materials ready for the weekend’s upcoming retreats and then I did one of my favorite tasks, stuffing Mass Appeal brochures. Throughout the year, we travel to different parishes and stand up in front during Mass telling parishioners about the ministry and asking for their support. While this may seem intimidating to stand up in front of Mass, I actually really enjoy this part of the ministry! After Mass Appeal brochure stuffing, the youth ministry team had a meeting to discuss and plan our upcoming event with the middle schoolers on Friday. Jared, Kate and I met with Katherine to talk about anything and everything youth ministry related.

This evening part of the team headed to St. John Nepomucene in Little Chute for two retreats, one for fifth and sixth graders and the other for seventh and eighth graders. Those students had a ton of fun with the crazy, energetic SPIRITUS team! Since we do many retreats, many times our team has to split into halves or thirds. This means that sometimes some of us are on retreat while the rest of us are off to prep any upcoming retreats or spend time in some much needed rest. Kate and I were not on the retreats tonight so we decided to head to St. Bernard’s in Appleton for their dinner in between Faith Formation classes. St. Bernard’s is the parish that I grew up in and my parents still are parishioners there so it was great to see my mom as well as other friends I have made there. After St. Bernard’s it was back to Mount Tabor to relax and head to bed.

A Day in the Life of the SPIRITUS Team: Tuesday Edition

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Today is our day off. Since our weekends are usually filled with retreats, our day off is in the middle of the week. Our days off are usually just days for us to rest so we are ready for whatever comes our way the rest of the week! My day off started with Eucharistic adoration, rosary, and Mass next door at St. Mary’s. It was then a snowy walk back to Mount Tabor for some delicious eggs for breakfast thanks to Kate! Most of the rest of the day was spent catching up on some reading, writing letters to friends and family, laundry, cleaning and other projects. One of the projects I spent time on was digging my car out of the pile of snow it was buried under. Oh, Wisconsin winters! My night ended by a much needed phone call with my roommate from college then dinner and a movie with my wonderful SPIRITUS sisters before heading to bed early.