Holy Spirit

 If you know anything about my faith life, you probably know I am obsessed with the Holy Spirit. Every Catholic tends to have their "thing" they gravitate to. All the saints had a devotion to something... Well my heart lies with the Holy Spirit (which is no surprise to me considering the Spirit is literally the love between the Father and Son - so why wouldn't my heart want to be there?) The way I see it, when it comes to my spiritual life, if I am listening to the Holy Spirit, can anything really 'go wrong'? And let me just add into this mini speech that SPIRITUS means spirit, the breath of God. If I let the breath of God guide me, I think I should have some good understanding on what to do considering He created us all with His breath. 

Beyond my obsession though, I am writing about the Spirit because it is so good to me. I am in a deep love, a trance of grace, whenever I allow myself to melt into the Spirit's embrace. How beautiful is that? In this ministry the Spirit is so powerful. During retreats it is so amazing how I can feel the Spirit there, so excited to work through each team member (as well as the students themselves). 

 From one vessel of God to another, allow the Spirit to lead everything you do. Listen when you are being called on, and do not shy away. God calls you for greatness, not fear. Speak His words to others! 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law - Galatians 5:22-23

I pray you may come to know the Spirit as I have, to me there is no better love,

Layne 

This light gave me a glimpse of the very truth that all my efforts to bring souls to know the mercy of the Lord are very pleasing to God. And from this springs such great joy in my soul that I do not know whether it could be any greater in heaven, Oh, if souls would only be willing to listen, at least a little, to the voice of the conscience and the voice - that is, the inspirations - of the Holy Spirit! I say "at least a little" because once we open ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit, He Himself will fulfill what is lacking in us.

- St. Faustina's Diary, 359

Humble generosity

"What do you have that you haven't received? And if you've received it, why do you boast as if it were yours alone?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

All our gift are from God, why not give it back to Him by doing small or big acts of generosity for him? Are we all not children of God? Do we all not have Christ in us? Then let us show God our love for him by loving others. Will this not in turn make us realize how small we really are and how much bigger God is?

Doing things to make us feel as if we are better than others or to be seen and praised is not what our minds should be thinking. Our minds should be thinking how can I give back to my Lord, who has given me all these beautiful gifts and talents?

"Jesus' whole life, his way of dealing with the poor, his actions, his integrity, his simple daily acts of generosity, and finally his complete self-giving, is precious and reveals the mystery of his divine life." - Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis

LET US IMITATE CHRIST

By the Grace of God

It is now Tuesday after what was possibly one of the busiest weeks of the year. Needless to say I was stressing out a little… a lot a bit. The week was busy enough as it was, but it was the weekend I was dreading. The whole ordeal felt a little like a roller coaster with the peak above the clouds. I was strapped in for this ride, and there was no getting off. Every inch closer to the top, the more worried I became that I couldn’t do it. Then Friday came along…

I woke up to Robbie knocking on my door asking me if I needed to be up. I looked at the clock and to my dismay found out that I had slept through my alarm. The thrill ride that was this weekend had officially started it’s fast decent downwards. With the help of God I was able to get dressed and to my school visit only 1 minute late. That’s when I remembered who I was working for, who my true boss was. I almost forgot in all my stress and worry that I had God on my side. The pit in my stomach had almost immediately disappeared. The downward spiral of the rollercoaster had flattened out, and I was excited for the rest. For all the sharp turns, the loops, the jerking of the rollercoaster slamming you into your friends.

With God on my side I had the courage to face this! I trusted that he would get me through this. After the school visits I had an overnight retreat and I was the Team Leader (the team member who makes sure everything goes off without a hitch, and fix something if it does go wrong.) I was worried that I wouldn’t be good enough, that I would mess everything up looking at this weekend beforehand. I started praying that God would give me the skills necessary to do such an important job. While there were a couple of loops; I was able to throw my hands in the air and enjoy it more than anything. I left that retreat with a smile on my face. Energized for the next retreat early in the morning.

That Sunday morning started off rough to say the least. I had forgotten important papers for the retreat, I couldn’t find the projector, and I slipped on the slick ice outside (my shoulder still hurts from that *sad face*). I was being jerked back and forth in the coaster car, and I knew immediately that I was under some sort of spiritual attack. So I prayed. I prayed for joy, for energy, for laughter, and that the Lord would protect us all on our retreat. He did just that! The retreat was just as fun and enjoyable as the first one! I don’t want to toot my own horn, but toot toot dang it! I was getting compliments on my talk left and right from the students and chaperones. After the retreat had ended Chelsea and I went straight to UWGB to set up for mass, and to socialize. The lord even granted me energy and joy during this. After UWGB I was finally done. But I still ended up hanging out with teammates until Midnight!

 I had done it! The restraints on the roller coaster were lifting, and I was off the ride. Unbelievably I made it through, and I had a huge grin! I forgot that I had God on my side, I let this weekend look bigger than God… I didn’t have faith at first. Then I turned to him. I trusted him. I asked him to help me through this. He not only helped me through this, but he got me through with a smile on my face and laughter in my heart! I was able to ride this roller coaster of a weekend, I was able to survive it all, but only by the Grace of God.