Going in Peace

Wow! It has been an amazing, incredible, awesome year here at SPIRITUS!

We ended our year, fittingly, on Pentecost, a great day to be sent forth. Our final numbers for the year are 5,263 youth evangelized on 149 retreats. But we also led several Bible Studies throughout the year and reached a lot of youth through our Youth Ministry at St. Patrick's Parish in Menasha, so I can confidently say that SPIRITUS reached over 5300 youth this year! Praise the Lord!

As I look back on a great year, I can't help but be thankful. God has really blessed me in my second year on the team, and I have grown a lot from the new challenges and opportunities that come from being a Servant Leader. However, it's also time to look ahead!

I'm very excited about next year because I will be returning to serve as Coordinator for SPIRITUS Team 5!

We will actually have two different teams next year, one at Mt. Tabor Center in Menasha and the other focused on Youth Ministry at Resurrection Parish in Green Bay. Our Mt. Tabor Center team will continue with Youth Ministry at St. Patrick's, and we're looking to reach even more youth through those efforts in the coming year. I will be in Green Bay, launching our ministry there.

Before all that starts up in August, things might be a little quiet here, as Team 4 has now dispersed. However, we are still in the mission field! Rachel, Karissa, Julie, and Callie are all involved with Totus Tuus, a summer Catholic youth program, and Robbie is walking across America with Crossroads. I'll be returning home to Florida to get some much-needed rest (and to really brush up on some spiritual reading--Blessed John Paul II's Theology of the Body!).

I'll be ready to hit the ground running when I return in August. Until then, Peace!

P.S. We are still looking for two more men to join SPIRITUS Team 5. If you are a faith-filled man between the ages of 21 and 29, please prayerfully consider embarking upon a great adventure of evangelization and personal growth!

A Pentecost Send-off

Today not only is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, it is also the first official day of SPIRITUS being over for the year.  We had our end of the year Gala yesterday and it was a beautiful way to close the year.  Pentecost weekend is a fitting time for this Gala, because we tell the story of Pentecost on every confirmation retreat, and how the disciples were given courage and direction from the Holy Spirit to be sent forward to share the good news of Jesus, which is what are all called to do.  

Tonight Rachel and I went to the St. Maria Goretti house for a Pentecost party.  Fr. Jewl and his brother Fr. Joseph from the Fathers of Mercy were both there, as well as two sisters from the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal.  It was so beautiful to see these four religious living out their vocation with such joy! We started talking about how all women are called to be spiritual mothers no matter what your vocation is.  As we were about to leave one of the young sisters came up to Rachel and I, and said she would pray for us, and not only that but asked what she could pray about for us.  This was so touching to see her compassion and joy radiate from her in such a sincere way.  This was the perfect way to end my year here on SPIRITUS because it helped me to reflect on the year.  Tonight has helped me to see how much I have grown, but also has given me another guide and role model to look to in the faith; to be around everyone who comes to the Goretti House, so that when I leave I can look at my encounters with them as Jesus working through each one of them to share His love to me and everyone they meet!

God Bless, and have a wonderful summer!

Little Graces from Above

     As I reflect on the Spiritus year and all the students that I have encountered, through retreats, bible study and different events, I realized that God showers us with so many graces each and every day. One event that brought geart joy to my heart was during a middle school retreat. As the students were coming in, one of the students became super excited when she saw me. I realized that she had participated in the Totus Tuus program that had taken place this past summer. The joy that her excitement brought to me was beautiful. She had encountered the love of God this past summer and that experience was still alive in her heart.

I also had the chance to encounter Gods grace through a night of Praise and Worship. Gods presence truly comes alive for me through music. On this particular night I had the privilege to be prayed with by our coordinator. That was truly a grace filled moment as the love of God flooded my heart.

Weather it be from a student or a teammate God is constantly showering us with little graces from above. As I serve the Lord through this ministry I have learned that I can touch peoples lives, but people can touch my life more then they know. So go out and share a smile with someone today, you never know how much grace that might bring to one person. 

God Bless!

Unexpected Graces

God just pours his grace out on all of us here at SPIRITUS each and every day. My teammates have already shared many stories of how they've experienced this. But God also likes to give us little moments of grace in the times and places where we least expect it. A couple days ago, as we neared the end of our annual "secret" vacation, a group of young guys walked past the table where I was sitting. The last guy in the group walked up to me and asked, "This might sound kind of strange, but do you do church camps or something?"

It turned out that he was on one of our retreats last year! He said we did a great job and to keep it up. He also said that what we do has an impact, and it sticks with people. I don't think he has any idea what an awesome grace this brief conversation was for me. One of the toughest things about our retreat ministry is that we rarely get to see the fruits of our work, so receiving this kind of affirmation (especially in such an unexpected place and time) was the perfect way for me to cap off a great vacation.

Graces From Above

As I reflect back on these past couple of months on SPIRITUS, I am in AWE of God's endless grace.  God gives us graces each and every day, sometimes we just have to pay close attention.  There is one moment that stands out the most, it happened during a confirmation retreat during 1:1 prayer with a student. The student was struggling with letting go of the past, and a broken heart. As we invited the Holy Spirit to be part of our prayer, I felt a sense of peace and calmness. Moments before the retreat ended, she came up to me and proceeded to share her experience. "You remembered when we prayed, I felt a sense of peace overcome my being, I think it was Jesus Christ." I didn't know how to respond, I was in awe, just smiled. I believe that, that was a glimpse of His love, a miracle in itself, He comes and meets us where we are at with our wounds takes them to the cross. 

Even though several of the teammates' have said it, I'll say it again, SPIRITUS is with out a doubt a grace in itself. In every aspect: prayer, community living, spiritual direction, learning and growing from formation, seeing the youth on retreats and bible studies. It gives all of us who come to SPIRITUS, team members and youth a voice. On SPIRITUS I found my voice, this ministry has made my heart come alive, for that I am eternally grateful.  

Ha, God did it again. :)

          Discerning God's Will for your life is a tricky business.  Every-time you think you have it figured out God pulls a fast one on you and flips everything Topsy-turvy.  There I was on my way studying to be an actor a few years back when all of a sudden through a period of a Crisis of Faith I was pushed by God into a study of Theology and with a lot of twists and turns ended up on the SPIRITUS team.  It has been a wild ride especially this last year with this team.  All I can say is that it is only because of the grace of God that I am here today.  Granted I have my ups and downs and I am not perfect by any scale of the imagination, but I know that God if fighting for me.  Being here is not by happenstance, but because God knew that I needed to be here so I can grow in my relationship with Him.  I still have no idea what God wants to do in my life.  Instead of a pull to something that most people get I feel like I am being pushed somewhere.  Where?  Good question, I have no idea.  Until then I strive to be accepting of where I am at today and not to worry about tomorrow.

         Like I said it is only because of God's grace that I am here today instead of some other place that would not be beneficial for my soul.  Just look at the graces that He has given me throughout this year alone like a chance to talk about Him on retreats, 1 on 1 prayer (which by the way is still pretty weird for me), friendships with my teammates, caring staff, the joy of living in WI, and so many other things.  I have grown so much in many areas, but for me one of the biggest graces that God has given me is being able to speak in front of thousands of youth granted not all at the same time (Yikes!!!) but nevertheless speaking to the Youth.  Before I came here, I was very intimated by the Youth thinking that I can never relate to them and all that they would see is some clumsy adult trying to be young or that they would think I am foolish.  Over this last year, my heart has changed and I see these youth as little men and women who have their own unique personalities.  All of them are striving to find that joy that will satisfy them.  And it is this notion that I am part of a ministry to bring even a glimpse of that joy into their hearts that has filled me with a sense of peace.  I am no longer intimated by the Youth.  Yah, it is still scary to go up every single time and give my presentation and witness or do some acting in front of them.  I just take a deep breath now and give it all to God and surprisingly enough I actually get along well with the kids.  Who would have thought?  This ministry is not about me or any of the others, it is about glorifying God and making His name known throughout.  Pray for the ministry that it can continue to grow and pray for each one of us that we can grow deeper in our relationship with God so we can be the fire to ignite the world.

Moments of Grace

I believe that the greatest moments of grace are often left unseen. This is by God's design because He wishes to bless us through our faith in Him. SPIRITUS has brought many moments of grace that I will never see the fruits of, but every once in a while, God reveals something to me that is nothing less than a beautiful gift.

One of these gifted moments came to me in the fall. Our team was overbooked on a Monday and we ended up putting in 17 hours of retreats, traveling, and Bible study. Despite the long hours, God graced me with an unsuspecting energy to lead the Bible study discussions. I had wonderful interactions with  the teens, but after it was over, I really didn't know how everything went. Two weeks later, we were at Teen Disciples again, and a student came up to me and told me that the previous meeting was the best experience she has had with SPIRITUS (and she loves SPIRITUS!). At that moment, I knew that I could never truly begin to know the full impact we are having because such knowledge may rest only with God.

Dear St. Anthony...

On SPIRITUS, we encounter MANY moments of grace, which is so awesome and so apparent by my other teammates' posts, but this past week, I experienced a moment of grace through the intercession of a particular saint:

Saint Anthony!

We had our team vacation down at the Wisconsin Dells early this week and as we were leaving, of course we all made sure everyone had everything. Now, this whole time, I tried not using my cell phone. I put it in my purse and there it stayed for 48 hours, roughly.

I did take it out once or twice to make sure I didn't have any missed phone calls. But, I wanted to practice detachment and just enjoy being in the presence of my teammates. After we checked out of our room, we loaded everything back into Jimmy (our big, white van) and spent a couple more hours at the waterpark.

I brought a bag with me that had some essentials items including my purse that had my phone in it.  I spent the afternoon relaxing by the wave pool. I had my ipod and I thought I checked my phone during this time.

Well, we were about 45 minutes in Jimmy driving back to our headquarters and I go to check my phone. So I open my purse and my big, red brick of a phone is not in there. So I started digging through all my stuff. Michael was sitting next to me and suggested I pray to St. Anthony (who has helped me with lost items before in the past!) so naturally, I did.

I continue to look and I could not find my phone. I was determined I left it in the hotel room or back at the waterpark so I called the facility and spoke to the person in charge of lost and found. They said nothing was turned in and took down my information. At this point, I was frustrated, but if I lost the phone maybe I should accept it and practice detachment. After all, our parents didn't grow up with cell phones, how hard could it be?

So I offerred it up to the Lord. I told him that if I couldn't find my cell phone and if it was completely lost, I wouldn't go looking for a new one (also, I can't afford a new phone). This was after praying to St. Anthony.

We keep driving and whatnot and I decided to pick up the stuff around my area and lo and behold! The big, red brick is literally sitting right next to my leg!! I screamed a little bit and then proceeded to tell everyone how much of an idiot I was seeing as how my phone was sitting next to me this whole time!! Michael then chimed in and said, "No! It was St. Anthony!!!"

So I am not cell phone-less. St. Anthony is amazing and detachment is NEVER a bad thing, especially when it comes to technology. Oh, and I've appreciated the moment of grace God granted to me in that moment!

Grace from Prayer

God’s grace has been abundant throughout my life, and especially noticeable while I have been a part of SPIRITUS.  One place on retreat where His grace is especially present is during prayer, and particularly when I have the opportunity to pray one on one with students.  This is a time where I get to have a conversation with an individual student and then to just pray with them.  Often times we will pray with the students from our small groups and I feel so blessed and awed at the openness some people have, even when they start the conversation with I don’t really trust people, or I don’t like talking about myself to people.  I know that God is working within them when they start to tell me things that they have never told anyone before.  Prayer is a time for them to open up and not to just tell me, but to tell God, and to just ask for help. 

Recently I had a specific one on one prayer that was very much filled with grace.  I was praying with an eighth grader who was so stressed out.  She came up to pray with me and when I asked what she wanted to pray about she told me about all the pressures she faces to succeed in everything she does, and how she is already worried about college.  She walked away with relief because she was finally able to talk about everything.  It was so wonderful to see that desire within her to continue to do all she was doing but also to have a closer relationship with God. It’s moments like this when I remember that I am so lucky to be here, because God is able to work through all the students I meet to show me himself and His love.