From Ministry to Life

Hey guys, long time no see! (or long time no "post" in my case...)

BAM. SPIRITUS IS BACK IN ACTION. We have been back in full force since Christmas break, and our ministry for the youth continues onward with more retreats and "Faith on Fires" filling up our weeks and weekends. To describe this second half of ministry, God desires many hearts indeed. Our schedule is a bit busier, but with that comes joy and enthusiasm for doing His work and being able to reach even more students. Coming back from my home among the hills, good ole West Virginia, I'm also excited to work with my teammates again. I'm ready to give and grow in the ways God calls me to in this second half.

Being home for break, I realized something about SPIRITUS. In dedicating nine months of my life to youth evangelization and ministry full time, I noticed I've somewhat succeeded in fulfilling the universal/vocational call for everyone to go out and spread God's love and word. This call is part of the essential mission of the Church, both clergy and laity, to evangelize. I see me living this out not because I am in ministry, but because this ministry has overflowed into my everyday life. Being on SPIRITUS has strengthened my desire and comfortability as an evangelizer, a vocation/call we all have as Christians. My break really attested to this fact on more than one occasion. I'll just share one example here...

My sister a few months back mentioned that this guy we went to high school with was considering becoming Catholic. Hearing his name, I recalled his personality- popular, fun, and very smart. In fact, we were in a philosophy club together for a time. This guy wanted truth and answers. Anyway, apparently he had started to go through RCIA but then had dropped out. Keep in mind that I knew who he was but I didn't really know him personally...

Over Christmas break I saw him at mass one Sunday towards the back. I remember turning toward my siblings and saying, "I really want to talk to this guy. I will talk to him even if he leaves early and I have to kinda rush out with him." (great mentality right?) My brother responded with laughter, "You're going to convert him aren't you."

I didn't convert anyone, nor was that really a goal of mine, but what did happen was this. I found him after mass and just started talking, without any clear idea of how to even start this conversation. I was willing to put myself out there on the line, and in doing so it opened up a door for real conversation about the faith. It seemed like he genuinely appreciated my open invitation for dialogue in the future as a friend. Now, we are facebook friends, so who knows. Maybe there is a conversation in the future.

I share this story not because "I'm doing my job as an evangelizer," but because over break I noticed a change in myself. Doing SPIRITUS and ministry has made me more comfortable sharing the faith. It's a real part of my life that I desire to share with others. What was cool about this incident over break was that I didn't really care so much about how I would appear to this person or what I would say. It just became something I wanted and a natural part of who I am. In the end, SPIRITUS is showing me that no matter where I am at in life or what I'm doing, there will be opportunities to share the love of God. This is what faith is really about- having it impact your life so significantly that not sharing your joy and God's love becomes impossible.

Till next time, God bless! :)