Mr. Advent....bring me a reef!

Oooopsy! I meant Wreath! Happy Advent to everyone! As the Advent Season comes to an end and as Christmas approaches so quickly, let us not fade in our preparation for the King to come! What are you doing to prepare for Christ? This is the question SPIRITUS posed to middle school students at Holy Family Parish (Sacred Heart location) a couple weeks ago. In great fashion, Mr. Advent Wreath and his candles (Violet, Lavender, Rose, Purple) took the students through a comical skit learning about the components of Advent: the meaning behind the colors of the Advent Wreath and its candles, and what we can do in prayer, repentance, and preparation for Christ's birth. Following that, in typical manner, we broke up into small groups and discussed the meaning of Advent in our families and what gifts we hope to get from Christ. Then sent them forth praising and worshiping the Lord through music. All of this done in hope that they can really attempt to encounter Christ in a different way this Christmas Season.

But for the rest of us, as we prepare for Christmas- what gifts are you hoping for this year? And I dont mean the new XBOX game, or I-phone, or new pullover sweater...I mean what gifts do we want Christ to give us! As we reflect and prepare, we should desire to bring gifts of "gold, frankincense, myrrh" and ourselves to Him; we should also ASK Christ for a gift this Christmas, whether it is a greater desire to know Him, more of an open heart, strength in a difficult situation or relationship, or a miracle. We should not be afraid to come to him like Jairus who begged the Lord to heal his daughter.

Let us all enjoy the thrills and excitement of Christmas, but let us also bring the spirit of Christmas and Christ's love to our family and friends. SPIRITUS wishes you all have a jolly 'ol Christmas and a Happy New Year! Praised be Jesus Christ!

Peace to all,

Mark

Distractions or Means of Attaining Heaven?

At a recent Sunday Mass I found myself in a familiar dilemma - in an effort to avoid being distracted by the countless people between my seat and the altar, do I close my eyes and fix the eyes of my heart on the miracle that is taking place or do I attempt to keep my eyes open and fixed on Jesus during the consecration and elevation of the Eucharist? It was a reoccurring question in my mind, but in a moment of grace God gave me a new perspective on the other people attending Mass with me.

The Gospel reading on this particular Sunday was Matthew 25:31-46, the separation of the sheep and the goats at the final judgment. The Son of Man comes in His glory and tells those on His right "Come...Inherit the kingdom...For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'" The righteous then ask the Lord when they did all this and He replies, "Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me."

The Spiritus women had discussed this passage at a faith sharing night and we had talked about how we are called to minister to every person we encounter as if he or she were Christ Himself. This discussion and the homily combined to give new meaning to the people in front of me, to those who were "distracting me" from the Eucharist. Yes, these people can be distracting, but they are also my means of getting to Christ. It struck me that it is in serving and ministering to them, and in seeing the least of them as Christ Himself, that I may arrive at Christ, that I may grow toward Him and toward eternal life. Our eyes must be fixed on Christ, but only in a way that allows us to see the people and opportunities for grace that will allow us to get to Him. The people in front of me are not simply distractions that must be put aside in order for me to focus on Christ. Rather, they are my means of encountering Christ, attaining growth in virtue and, ultimately, attaining heaven.

The Shrine with the One and Only... Father Jewel

Last Tuesday, the 22nd, by the grace of God, SPIRITUS visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion. It was an afternoon of prayer, Mass, Confession and learning about the new Mass changes, followed by a special treat: a tutorial on the arts of beat-boxing and break-dancing performed by the one and only Father Jewel.

I don't know if anyone has ever seen a beat-boxing, break-dancing priest (who "threw down" in his cassock, by the way), but it was pretty sweet. It's nice to see how individuals with extremely different backgrounds, talents, and gifts can use them to bring glory to God. Father Jewel is a great example of how God creates every human being so uniquely, and of how each and every one of us is special and how we are made to share our unique gifts with one another. It was a great gift and honor to spend the afternoon at the Shrine. Father Jewel, thank you for inspiring us.

So, moral of the story: If you don't think your gifts and talents can be used for the Church to bring glory to God and inspiration to your brothers and sisters in Christ... Think again.

What is the New Evangelization? (Part 2)

Last time [see Part 1, below], I presented a few things that I learned in a conversation at St. Pius Catholic Church in Appleton that I felt really needed to be addressed here, in particular that older generations of faithful Catholics don't always understand what the New Evangelization is or why it is so important. I feel that a detailed explanation is necessary because the New Evangelization involves the whole Church. We all need to be committed to fulfilling the call put out by Blessed John Paul II, whether on the front lines as missionaries, catechists, and DREs or as prayer warriors and supporters of their efforts. SPIRITUS is just one of the organizations that carries out the New Evangelization directly every day, and we can't do it by ourselves!

In a nutshell, the New Evangelization is a fulfillment of the mission Christ gave the Twelve Apostles to "go and make disciples of all nations", but it focuses specifically on those who have already heard some part of the Gospel and have either lost it (the seed was choked out by weeds), never become rooted in it (the seed was sown on rocky ground), or had it snatched away before they could truly receive it (the seed was eaten by birds). The New Evangelization uses "new" methods that are actually straight from the Bible.

First, we as evangelizers have to find out where the people we talk to are. Just as St. Paul in Athens began his testimony by speaking to the Greeks about the true nature of the "unknown god" they already worshiped, we also meet the youth and young adults right where they are. The most common difficulty we have encountered in our work with teens isn't that they don't know enough of what the Church teaches (though to be sure, this is frequently the case); it's that they don't even think there's a reason to consider that God exists! We have to come to them in their doubts and show them that faith truly does affect our lives before they will even listen to what we have to say about God.

Second, we can't just force students to accept the truth. If we simply stood up and read them the Catechism, many would not understand it, and even those who did would not accept most of what we told them. Jesus recognized this, and preached in parables. Even to His closest followers, much of what He said was clear only after the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Like Jesus, we speak in terms that are understood and do not try to force students to learn what they aren't yet ready to comprehend. (That said, we are always faithful to the Magisterium of the Church and are careful to not give the impression that we believe in heresies when the truth is hard to understand.)

Third, we don't merely evangelize. We teach others to spread the Good News just as we have given it to them. St. Paul and the Apostles did this, fulfilling the Great Commission, and it is because of them that we have a Church today! We refer to this as discipleship, and it is one of the primary goals of our bi-weekly Bible studies (Inspire! and Teen Disciples).

I hope this post gives you a better understanding of the New Evangelization and why it is so critically important to the future of the Church. But also remember that the most important thing you can do for us as a SPIRITUS team and for the Church as a whole is to keep praying!

-Jared

What is the New Evangelization? (Part 1)

Last night, SPIRITUS dropped by St. Pius X Catholic Church in Appleton to attend Fr. Girotti's talk on his book A Shepherd Tends His Flock. While the talk was great and I would highly recommend his book (I'd buy it myself, if I had more spending money!), the most significant thing that happened last night for us was a great conversation we had with one of the other guests in attendance, a woman with a great love for the Catholic Church who had converted from Lutheranism and told us about several young people in her life with a great need to hear the truths the Church teaches.

This woman was looking for a place where she could send her son's girlfriend to learn about the Catholic Faith. She told us that there just aren't enough opportunities for young adults who have never heard the truth to learn it from the Church in a nonthreatening setting. RCIA is a fantastic place to learn about the Faith, but it's hard to convince a nonbeliever to go through a class that is designed with the idea that everyone who signs up for it is planning to enter the Church. And bringing a nonbeliever into Mass is tricky business at best, especially when there's a good chance that the homily is going to be about something other than basic apologetics; most nonbelievers or even Protestants would be more confused than enlightened by their first experience of the Mass!

What she really wanted was some kind of apologetics or catechesis class for adults who have neither a solid background in the Faith nor a desire to enter the Catholic Church at this point in their lives. In other words, this woman wanted to know where she could send someone who was merely curious about the truth.

The good news is that SPIRITUS now has a way to reach out to exactly the kind of person she described to us. It's called Inspire! and it's a Bible study for young adults. At Inspire! Bible studies on the first and third Monday of every month, members of SPIRITUS join other young adults in three locations (our home base at Mt. Tabor Center in Menasha, as well as locations in Green Bay and Fond du Lac) in getting to know Christ better by studying the Gospel of Matthew.

The bad news is that the woman we talked to had a hard time understanding how this would help her son's girlfriend learn the truths taught by the Catholic Church. After a Spirit-filled conversation, this is what became apparent to all of us:

1. There is a huge generation gap between the old and the young when it comes to faith and how we learn about it.

2. Old methods of catechesis aren't working on the younger generations.

3. This is largely because the youth are bombarded with so many distractions that make it impossible for them to recognize Truth when they hear it, distractions like media, materialism, and the pace of modern life. Youth and young adults today are trained to think in very concrete, rational terms. There is very little place in their lives for things they can't touch, see, and manipulate.

4. Young people are leaving and have left the Church in large numbers. They don't accept what they are told, but question everything. And if they don't feel that their questions are answered, they don't feel that they are being fed, and so they leave. Of course, many of them are trained to be so skeptical that they are barely willing to accept anything the Church says!

5. There is a huge need for what Blessed John Paul II called the New Evangelization, in which new methods are used to preach the Gospel to all peoples (particularly in areas where the Faith was once strong, but has now been weakened by secularization) in ways that they can understand and accept it.

6. The older generations of faithful Catholics don't always understand what the New Evangelization is or why it is needed.

It is this last point that I really want to address, and I'll discuss it in depth next time.

[To be continued]

-Jared

We are SPIRITUS!

I just wanted to give a small biography of who the new members of the Spiritus are so you can all know who is writing to you this year!!!  Here they are:

Erin Schuessler

Erin Schuessler is back in town for a new adventure with the SPIRITUS team, this time, as the Coordinator.  Along with my new role, I am also beginning classes at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado.  I am studying for a Master's degree in Evangelization and Catechesis.

Mark Rose

Hi! I'm Mark Rose and I am from Hudson, WI, which is on the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota. I received a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from UW-Madison, and am back for my second year. I'm ready to serve the Lord and experience the Holy Spirit moving in a powerful way to His young ones.

Kelly Weber

I'm Kelly Weber and I hail from Grand Rapids, Michigan, affectionaly known as G-Rap. Before joining Spiritus I spent four amazing years at the University of Notre Dame, graduating with a degree in Theology. I am excited to be a part of SPIRITUS and to see what God has in store for me here in Wisconsin!

Jonathan Tousignant

Hi! I'm Jonathan Tousignant from Pewaukee, WI. I graduated from Creighton University with a BA in Photo-Journalism. I am on fire in my faith and love working with the youth, with music, outdoor activities, auto-mechanics, and photography. I look forward to carrying out this great mission of Christ!

Trisha Flasch

I'm Trisha Flasch and I grew up in Mayville, WI. I graduated with my BA in Philosophy from UW Stevens Point and Master's in Religious Studies from Naropa University in Boulder, CO. I struggled with feeling proud of my faith when I was a kid so I am incredibly excited to learn, gro, and help our youth be proud of God.

Aaron Lang

Hi, I'm Aaron Lang. I enjoy playing volleyball, basketball, and basically anything outside that's active. I grew up in the Appleton area and have been graced by God to be given the opportunity to work with the SPIRITUS team. I am excited to start my path towards serving Christ.

Alexandria Lewis

My name is Alexandria Lewis, or Alex. I am from Sheridan, Indiana, and graduated from Franciscan University in Steubenville with a degree in English/Drama. After graduation I served for Lourdes Volunteers helping arrange pilgrimages to Lourdes. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!

Jared Cunio

Hi, I'm Jared Cunio. I joined SPIRITUS after graduating from the University of South Florida. I grew up in Titusville, Florida, about 15  minutes from the Kennedy Space Center. I am very excited about being part of SPIRITUS, and I am looking forward to seeing how God will help me grow this year.

Karissa Tousignant

My name is Karissa Tousignant from Pewaukee, WI. I graduated in Music Theory from UW-Waukesha with my Associate of Arts and Sciences. I love singing and playing Guitar and Clarinet. I worked with the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary to run summer camps for youth. I love God, my faith and I can not wait to share God with the youth.

Daniel Bayer

My name is Daniel Bayer from Middleton, WI. I graduated from Madison College with an associates degree in Liberal Arts. I recently returned from Spain where I attended World Youth Day. I hope to carry my enthusiasm from that experience to inspire the students on retreats.

I hope you can all share in our experience throughout the year and God bless you all.

Mark Rose

Grateful

As I knelt for morning prayer with my Spiritus team members in the chapel, I could sum up my feelings in one word: grateful. For each of my team members, for the sunshine spilling in through the stain glass windows, and for Jesus’ presence with us. Each day here has brought so many blessings and unlooked for gifts.

It is so true that when you give, more comes back to you. Serving as a member of the Spiritus team has brought new meaning to Mark 6:8-9 for me. “He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.^”

As a disciple in 2011 getting a staff through airport security might be a stretch. And ok, I might have been wearing about ten layers of clothing when I flew to Wisconsin because I couldn’t fit it all in my suitcase, so I stretched the “two tunics” part.

But I am blessed with the opportunity during this time in my life to live out the call to spread the gospel. Living as a Spiritus member, I have the perfect chance to experience the generosity of others. The warm bed I sleep in, the food I eat, and the homey facilities I live in are all gifts. From farm-fresh eggs to Brewers’ tickets, each day I am delighted by how generous the people around me are because I said “yes” to God’s call to serve the Catholic youth of Wisconsin.

So I wanted to say an extra-special thank you to everyone who makes Spiritus possible, to my team members who also set aside their plans to evangelize for nine months together, and to God for calling me here. I am so excited to keep giving and trusting in God to provide for the journey.

Alex

Blessed Again

Throughout this last week we, as Spiritus, have had the opportunity to lead 2 middle school retreats, a freshman retreat, a senior retreat, and a confirmation retreat. Although this week has been incredibly busy and although we have been cramming to prepare all our sessions I can not be anything but thankful for every moment I have been gifted with this week.

When I decided to join the Spiritus team I was not really sure what I was getting myself into but now after only 4 weeks I can not imagine being anywhere else. The young people that we have been blessed enough to encounter have already shown me how lucky I am to be able to do this ministry. So far we have been able to really connect with the young people and intimately share our experiences. I feel touched by how open and willing to explore with us the young people have been so far.

Each week I have the pleasure of looking forward to working with young people who are open and looking to understand their faith. I have the opportunity to share with young people what they have to gain by turning their hearts toward God.

Trisha

Spirit-Filled Week!

It has been one incredible week!

We kicked things off last Tuesday with an early-morning visit to Green Bay, where we attended morning Mass celebrated by Bishop Ricken. He gave us a special commissioning at the end of Mass and had time to pose for a picture with the team and share some of his wisdom (and fantastic stories about his life) with us. Then we ate some delicious breakfast and headed over to our next important destination for the day: Lambeau Field! That's right, I (and the other out-of-state team members) have now officially experienced the Lambeau Field tour!

The next day we experienced some intense prayer of a more charismatic variety, as we invited some of our friends to come and pray over us, asking the Holy Spirit to bless us in new and exciting ways to better equip us to handle the task ahead.

All of this, of course, helped us prepare for our first retreat: a Shine Retreat with 5th graders on Friday. The retreat was an awesome experience. The 5th graders are so open to Christ's love!

On Saturday, we were able to relax a bit and enjoy some team bonding time by attending a Brewers game. The Brewers lost by one run, but it was still an enjoyable evening, and as an added bonus we paid a quick visit to Jonathan and Karissa's house on the way.

Sunday was our first Faith on Fire, with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. It was a little intimidating to be in front of so many people, but the Holy Spirit was with us and they really got pumped up for Jesus! It was an awesome sight to see the kids all on their feet and rushing to the front to join our worship leaders on the stage during praise and worship!

Today the men went back up to Green Bay to attend a Project Andrew dinner. It was great to see Bishop Ricken and Fr. Schuster again, and also to meet Bishop Morneau and the other priests at the event.

I'm afraid that this is only a very brief summary of the amazing things going on at SPIRITUS, but we have our first Challenge Retreat for high school seniors tomorrow, and I need to get my rest!

-Jared

Gearing Up for Retreats!

Happy Labor Day!

I can hardly believe we're already into our third week at Mount Tabor! When I got on the plane in Orlando, Florida on August 21, I had no idea what to expect. I didn't realize that training would be so busy, or that the Holy Spirit would start pouring out such incredible blessings so quickly!

I'm loving Wisconsin, even though it's a bit of a change from what I'm used to. The weather cooled off a little bit this weekend, and it's a good reminder that I have my first real winter ahead of me. I'm pretty excited about this! (Snowball fights! Sledding! Hot Chocolate!)

Since arriving, the team has been pretty busy, as Mark already mentioned. But it's all for the greater glory of God! We've been training hard so that, when retreats start in less than a week, we will be fully prepared for the Holy Spirit to use us to ignite faith in Catholic youth!

Even though we have been working hard, it's been a great experience so far! I already mentioned that the Holy Spirit has been pouring out incredible blessings; the best of these has been the opportunity to participate daily in the communal prayer of the Church! From today's Morning Prayer: "One day within Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." (Psalm 84:10a). As a member of SPIRITUS, I get to spend every day in God's courts!

-Jared

Spiritus is BACK!

We're baaaaaaack!!!! Spiritus is back in action again, and we're all excited to kick off this New Year! The team has been training really hard to prepare themselves for an intense, epic adventure.

The team moved in on August 21st and we started the 1st week at Whispering Pines in Shawano, WI for our opening team retreat. This was filled with many different training opportunities which include: forms of prayer, aspects of the Catholic faith, community life, and discipleship. This week has been dedicated to learning about some of the Confirmation retreat sessions. The team has been doing a wonderful job preparing these sessions and practicing them. Most importantly, we have had plenty of time getting to know each other by: meeting one-on-one, having spontaneous van trips, participating in a ropes course, team bonding games (spoons, euchre, egyptian ratscrew, bananas...etc.), and so much more! This year is off to a terrific start, and I know this year is going to be great, filled with many stories and blessings we hope to share with you.

Now, each person is going to share with you all a little bit about themselves and how excited they are to start Spiritus...stay tuned!

Thank you all for your continuous prayers and I hope you remain connected to the Spiritus Journey!

-Mark

Check out photos from the SPIRITUS 2010-2011 year on our website and on our Facebook page! Praise God for an amazing nine months, and the many graces, challenges, and blessings of this ministry!!!

SPIRITUS Team 2010 - Impact

My heart was really drawn to SPIRITUS and I knew these 9 months would be a chance for me to say "thank you" to the diocese of Green Bay, my home diocese from which I received the gift of Baptism and the gift of my Catholic faith.  These past 9 months have brought about many unexpected blessings--from new friendships to a new confidence about my gifts-- and it has also introduced me to some challenging reflections.  I can't get over how much of a battle it is to minister to youth--how indifferent and ignorant so many are--and how there is always someone who needs me to fight for them and to pray.  I can't get over how much prayer changes everything.  When we pray for people, their lives change.  Through SPIRITUS I have begun to learn what it means to serve, to give, to rest, and ultimately what it means to be human.  The time spent on the team has helped me to see that we can encounter again and again our own tiredness, weakness, fragility, and incapacity, and yet find that God's strength enters this scene of our brokenness and brings about a strength and power that is not from us.  It is this strength which has enabled us to carry out, in obedience, our ministry.
-- Emily Pogue

Often when people do ministry, others applaud them for giving up their lives.  I did not give up anything to be here that would compare to what I gained.  SPIRITUS is a gift, not a sacrifice.  I have been immensely blessed.  SPIRITUS is a beautiful opportunity to see God at work in and through me, and in and through my team.  Whatever good we may accomplish is accomplished by God with our cooperation, and He blesses us by allowing us to work with Him.  SPIRITUS helped me learn more about myself, when I thought I knew it all!  It showed me how much I need God, how much I can still grow, and what I am truly called to, which is love.  I am called to love others with the same love God shows me, every day.  When I return to Minnesota, I won't be wearing my SPIRITUS black and khaki, but with the help of our Father's grace, I will still be living my call to love.
-- Marissa Evans

SPIRITUS has been a tremendous gift to me that will continue to unwrap for years to come.  In the last nine months, I have discovered its intimate union with our Lord’s heart.  It is a beautiful patchwork made up of many different people, each with very different backgrounds and very different personalities, but sewn together with the very same mission, to bring souls to Christ.  The Lord uses each of us, as imperfect as we are, to bring the message of His perfect love to the youth.  Drawing from His sacred heart, we are given the grace to serve in the evangelization mission of the Church.  Students encounter God in and through SPIRITUS and I am eternally grateful for having had the opportunity to serve!
-- Erin Schuessler

After quitting my sales/management position to join SPIRITUS, I felt a huge spiritual gap between selling furniture and saving souls, but I realized God wanted to give me as much grace as possible in order to make that transition.  SPIRITUS allowed me to become open to God’s grace and to embrace the call of Evangelization which can be summed up in a couple of ways: First, the discipline of a daily routine, centered around prayer and the sacraments, have re-paid numerous dividends in my spiritual life; second, being able to work with different kids all the time opened my mind to different ways of communicating and reaching out to multiple crowds.  Overall, my experience with SPIRITUS has boosted my own spiritual life along with increasing a desire for other people to know God.   This is why I will be back again to serve with SPIRITUS next year.
-- Mark Rose

Learning How to Love
Among the many blessings, challenges and graces of the past nine months, this is for me one of the most profound. SPIRITUS has given me the opportunity to love and experience love in so many beautiful ways. Through serving youth, through sacrifice, through the generosity of others, through simply being in God's Presence and letting Him love me... And it has been such a privilege for me to experience being a witness of God's simply by our presence and our willingness to give, and persevere through, nine months of service. Some of the most uplifting moments for me have been the unexpected encounters with people at the library, the Subway, the plasma center! ...  people in the community who are inspired and filled with hope through the love of God in us. I still have much to learn about love, and lots of growing to do. It is true that the closer we grow to God, the more we realize how much we really need Him! Praise God for humility! And that He loves us, weaknesses and all! Praise God for SPIRITUS, and this year of service and growth. Praise God that I am still learning how to love!
-- Katie Kolega

I came to SPIRITUS knowing only one thing: Divine Providence seemed to lead me to the program and that I had to follow.  This became apparent to me when I arrived in Green Bay on August 14th, 2010 and sat with Eden Foord at St. Brendan's Pub for lunch.  I suddenly had this realization that I was supposed to be here and despite many things, this realization never left me.  The impact of this program upon my life has been quite significant.  For now, I wish to state that increased self-confidence, improved public speaking abilities and the development of interpersonal social skills have been significant milestones for me.  For the students we saw, SPIRITUS has had many different effects one of which was to save the life of a retreatant.  This person now is dedicating their life to Christ and His Church.  I saw a demonstration of this that brought tears to my eyes and I thanked God for this conversion.  As the 2010-2011 SPIRITUS team members go their separate ways, we remain united in Christ and by the bonds that were formed during our time together.  Our experience will last a lifetime and I am grateful for this opportunity.
-- Kevin J. Symonds

My SPIRITUS “odyssey” so to say has been a delightful and exhilarating episode. For one reason, I like new challenges and so moving to Wisconsin from Baltimore was definitely going to orchestrate before me challenges ranging from meeting new people to adaptation to the frigid bone-chilling winter temperatures of the Midwest. However, I trusted in divine providence; I courageously gave myself to Him. It’s been such an experience I wouldn’t have envisaged when I was accepted to be on the team initially. At the point of my acceptance on the team, all that lingered and filtered through my mind was nothing close to the reality of my actual experience thus far. For me, Mount Tabor environment is conducive for a healthy human flourishing. The warm reception and acceptance that is readily available to me from the Director down the pecking order of the hierarchy at Mount Tabor, including all my SPIRITUS team members have fostered and kindled within me the presence of Christian love that we are all called to tend. I feel a sense of acceptance and appreciation of who I am and what I can offer.
-- Paul Nomsule

Here At the End of All Things....

After nine months of committing ourselves to God through the SPIRITUS program, team two has officially disbanded.

Here at the end of all things, there is a lot of sadness as we say goodbye to our comrades-at-arms, but we take hope in being together once more in heaven and for all eternity.

As to where we are going, I am happy to say that a "SPIRITUS Alumni" page has been established to keep people informed of how alumni are doing.

Meanwhile, below are some photos from the end of the year:

1) The team's last retreat was in Milwaukee and afterwards they went to a local park to hang-out:

They then stopped off at St. Stanislaus in Milwaukee where they prayed Vespers and took a group photo in the side chapel.

Afterwards, it was dinnertime and the team decided to have a tailgate party.  Paul and Erin had a lot of fun.

Doesn't Erin look slightly Anime in this photo?

2) On May 21st, the team had its end of the year luncheon, Mass and then party:

It was also the day before Erin's 24th birthday so at the luncheon, she received a cake.

The team and their family/guests also got to watch the movie during the luncheon.  The above is an abbreviated version of the ending credits.

For the audience's listening pleasure, Taylor & Sam Foord sang a piece from Phantom of the Opera before the movie was shown.

Then after moving to Mass at St. Bernadette's, there was another cake!!

The team received a certificate at the Mass...

...and a blessing from Fr. Don Zuleger.

PAH-TAY at the Center!  Marissa and her brother Bryce start swing-dancing!

From L-R: Marissa's Aunt, Mother, Father; Mark's Mom and Jenny Kampa (from team one).

From L-R: Jenny Kampa, Lisa Preizner, Mark and his Father.

The team was also able to have one last hurrah with the Teen Disciples!

 3) The final get-together was at Sunrise restaurant for Brunch in Appleton on May 22nd:

After brunch, everyone meets outside for final plans.

Then came the final goodbye at the Center.  The camera was officially returned by that point and so ended the official documenting of SPIRITUS team two.

It has been a blessing to serve on SPIRITUS. 

Thank you to all of our family, friends, staff, administration and benefactors!

-Kevin

Inadvertent Advertising

SPIRITUS got some inadvertent advertising today over on Catholic Lane dot com.

Take a look at the photo of Matt Maher & I!

-Kevin

Sneak Peek 3

SPIRITUS has its last Confirmation retreat tomorrow. I do not know if there will be enough time to post the third sneak peek so I am presenting it to you now.

Today is also the team's final day off. I've spent most of it putting the last major pieces of the video together. I am happy to say that the sacrifice is worth it and am quite glad I paced myself over the past 3 weeks or so. No less than 8 hours have gone into the ending credits alone.

BTW, Marissa, great job on the previous post!

I go now back to the cave that is my room.

-Kevin

Loving the Littles...and the bigger ones too

Peace to you, bloggers! God love you!

We've done a few 5th grade retreats lately, and one of the schools recently sent us thank you notes. Here's one awesome one from a 5th grader:

"Dear Spiritus,
Thank you so much for letting us come and learn about God. Before this retreat I used to wonder is there really a Jesus and God? Is God always with me? Now I know there is a God and Jesus, and God is always with me no matter what.
Thank you so much Spiritus."

Amazing, right? God is really working in these retreats, whether we recognize it in the moment or not!

I also had a good moment in a recent small group. I asked them how a relationship with God would change their lives. One boy said, "I would probably try to help my friend more." I asked him what he meant by that, and he told me that his friend's parents were not there for him, and he just felt alone and unsupported. I guess the guy figured out that knowing God is knowing love. I profoundly saw the love of our Father in that answer.

O man, two weeks left...less. God still has much in store for us. Praise the Lord for all that He has done, all the love He has poured out on us, and for the grace to SEE HIM!

Marissa

Video Teaser 2

Dear Friends & Family,

I am quite pleased to say that after a very late night/early morning video editing session, the Introduction to the video looks very promising. 

As promised, here is this week's SPIRITUS "End-of-Year" video teaser:

It is a menu screen and the audio is the actual file used on this menu screen...at least as of right now. 

Can you figure out who intones the prayer?  What will next week's teaser hold? 

Stay tuned!

-Kevin

Blog Update

I would like to bring attention to an update made to our "SPIRITUS Home Base" blog page.  A letter from the Holy See has been added.

The photo was not altered in its context but it has been cropped and a small stain at the top was edited-out.

The letter bears the watermark of the Secretariat of State, which can be seen in the photo, albeit darkly.

-Kevin

It's Coming...

The end of the year video is IN PRODUCTION!!!

The media committee of SPIRITUS has gone through an initial, and favorable, review of the video. I am happy to say that the essential structure is done and all that remains is fine-tuning and the addition of May's photos when they become available.

For those who cannot wait, I will be issuing one "sneak peek" every week. For this week, here is a little something upon which to feast your eyes:



I look forward to tantalizing you over the next couple of weeks.

The video will be shown during the luncheon on May 21st.

-Kevin

Some Team Photos

Hello everyone! This is Kevin and I'd like to write a short post about some of the happenings with the team. This past weekend a storm blew through the Fox Valley. Menasha and Appleton were affected and Mt. Tabor Center's roof took a beating. Pieces of the roof flew off and made a mess in front and even hit St. Mary's Elementary School next door:

On Monday, the team had dinner with friends of SPIRITUS, the Masons: Then the team had two events yesterday. The first was formation and lunch with Bishop Robert Morneau, auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay: The team then went over to the Foords' house for a cookout and surprise birthday party for Katie Kolega: John Paul Foord shared an important moment...with Katie's permission: Erin stole a few moments with the newest edition to the Foord family, David Anthony: I hope the above photos help you get a sense of what we've been up to when we are not on retreat. For retreat photos, please click here.

-Kevin Symonds

SPIRITUS Team Retreat

Hello Family & Friends of SPIRITUS!

The team has just returned from its team retreat at the St. Joseph's Formation Center of Catholic Youth Expeditions (CYE)!

The retreat offered the team a much-needed opportunity to rest, recharge and relax from its otherwise busy schedule.

The theme of the retreat was on Grace.  Miss Peggy Duemling, Women's Formation Advisor of CYE and former driver for Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, delivered the keynote addresses.  Miss Duemling focused upon Grace as Gift and offered words from Mother Teresa on the subject.  Photos were taken of the talk:

 Later that night, the team had a chance to unwind with some swing dancing.  This was Paul's first time getting into swing dancing and he did quite well.  Here is a photo of Paul & Katie:

On Friday morning, the team got to play a game of baseball outside on Frassati Field.  Here is a photo of Emily as catcher:

After the game, the team had lunch and an opportunity to see some calves at a local farm.  Here is a photo of Katie with Fr. Quinn Mann at the pasture:

At the end of the retreat, the team took a group photo with the CYE missionary interns (MI's):

Last but certainly not least, throughout the retreat there was Holy Mass, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and opportunities for Confession.  An audio recording of the O Salutaris Hostia during Adoration was made and is reproduced below for your listening pleasure (with added text-to-video):

As the team enters into the "home stretch" for retreats, please remember to keep them in your prayers.  Prayers are felt and appreciated.

-SPIRITUS

(Kevin Symonds)

Franciscan University Career Fair (Part Two)

Hello Everyone! Katie Kolega & I travelled to Franciscan University of Steubenville for the annual career fair last week. We left early in the morning (3:30 CST) on Tuesday March 29th and stayed until 8:10 a.m. (EST) on Friday, April 1st. The trip down was long but it was good time to talk with God and each other. I would like present you with some photos of our trip.

This first photo was taken after the 4:45 p.m. Mass. We ran into SPIRITUS-Alumnus, Nick Coombs who was at the University also for recruiting purposes with his new job in the Dakotas):



After the career fair (Weds., March 30th from 10-3), Katie had a little fun up at Egan Hall, including a celebrity moment outside the office of Dr. Scott Hahn:

For privacy reasons, I have blacked-out Dr. Hahn's contact information. Katie & I had the opportunity to talk in a couple of classes, briefly, about what life is like after Steubenville and share the work we do with SPIRITUS:

On Thursday the 31st, I took a photo of myself on the set of Franciscan University Presents: Then, on Friday morning, Katie & I had breakfast with my Household, the Brothers of the Eternal Song: All in all, we had a fun trip. Perhaps we will write individual blog entries about the experience itself.

A Challenge...

Peace of Christ to you! Thank you for your prayers--they have been needed and felt. Sometimes it can be very exhausting trying to show someone the beauty and perfection of God's love when they have had no experience of it thus far in their life, and have never really understood what the words "God loves you" mean.

This weekend I met students that did not necessarily believe in God. In fact, when I asked them whether they believed in God, they said, "halfsies". They told me they don't really know if He is up there--He might be, that would be nice, but there's no way to know if anything in the Bible is true. The Passion could be totally made up after all, they said--it seems kind of crazy to claim that the body disappeared. And then to say that Jesus ascended makes no sense at all, because what is it to ascend into the clouds? That's totally weird.

What was I thinking this whole time? Praise God that they can be honest, and praise God that they aren't faking belief right now. But what work we have to do as a Church! These kids are asking questions and challenging our belief because they are longing for them to be answered. Let's do it! Let's answer their questions, and let's encourage them to keep asking! Let's challenge them, because you know what? They like it, and they want it. They are tired of being told that "we can't get into this" or "this is too deep". If we're not willing to go deep and challenge them (and ourselves), we'll lose them...

During the challenges activity, one girl named her own body as a challenge for her, because it was the wrong type for professional ballet dancing. If only she could know that her identity was more than ballet dancer--that she is a precious, beautiful daughter of God whether the dance company acknowledges that or not. Let's not let them go through life like this, thinking that they were created wrong. No more! Let's share the truth--that God calls us to accept His unconditional, self-giving love, and when we do, we find the real, lasting joy that we were meant to experience.

Praised be Jesus Christ.

Marissa +AMDG+

Franciscan University Career Fair (Part One)

Katie & I are at Franciscan University of Steubenville for the career fair this week! Please pray for us. For my part as an alumnus, I am thoroughly enjoying visiting my old stomping grounds. Seeing old friends is just what the doctor ordered! -Kevin

Missionaries and Storms!

Woooooo POW! That’s right, we totally did drive 91.4 miles in a crazy-icy-snowy-hail-lightning blizzard Tuesday night! And thanks be to God, we all made it back safe and sound! “Frost and chill, bless the Lord. Ice and snow, bless the Lord… Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord!” (Daniel 3:69-73) We have lots to praise and thank God for, and it was a great test of our trust in Him – and each other!

I know lots of you are praying for us, and we are soooo grateful for your love and support through prayer! Thank you! We have been giving several Mass appeals lately, where we get up in front of the entire congregation at Mass and give a schpeel about the amazing things God is doing through this ministry, and then ask them to join in our mission through prayers, spreading the word, food, and/or financial support!... =) I actually find it kinda invigorating to stand up at the ambo in front of all those people – slightly more formal than speaking on our retreats! I like to tell them about how Jesus commands all of us as His disciples to “proclaim the Gospel to all nations” (Mark 16:15), but that they don’t necessarily have to go to another country, or give retreats for nine months, or even give financially. We can all be missionaries in a very important way simply by praying! Praying for missionaries and evangelizers like Spiritus and for the young people we encounter and minister to and love through our retreats. I think that sometimes surprises people. Hey, YOU are a missionary too!

So keep ‘em comin’! =) Pray especially for inexhaustible and unrelenting zeal in these next two months! Your prayer is powerful – omnipotent – and cherished! There have been many bumps – and blizzards – along the way, but through these I continue to learn that I am weak, God is strong; that I want to have the answers and be in control, but God is all-knowing and all-powerful; that we must be open to His mercy, His grace, and keep trusting that He will lead us through the storms… slowly, surely, triumphantly!

Happy Solemnity of the Annunciation! Fiat!
~katie =)