It has been one heck of a week here at SPIRITUS; traveling to retreat locations, meeting a lot of young people, listening to raps about Saint John Paul II (Giovanni Paolo!), and spending sometime at the Salvatorian cottage in Calumetville. Right now I feel a lot like Patrick (see above photo for more details); a little run down. Sometimes the business of the world can get overwhelming and it becomes easy to lose our sight, to stop "seeing things the way God sees them," and to get caught up or tangled by the little things of life. That is why I love the Gospel of the Blind Beggar; " 'What do you want me to do for you?' He replied, 'Lord, please let me see.' " When life gets overwhelming it is really easy to "wrap up in ourselves" and lose sight of the Gospel, but it is precisely in these moments (when we feel like Patrick) where God can do the most work. In the times when we are very aware of our dependence on Him for everything, amazing things happen. I have had some of the best experiences on retreat this past week, even though I had no idea what was going to happen or how things would turn out and felt like panicking more than once; we can be assured of God's answer whenever we call on Him in sincerity and truth. FOR ALL OF YOU WHO FEEL OVERWHELMED; take courage! Trust in the Lord, let the psalm response from yesterdays (11/17/15) Mass saturate your own heart, "The Lord upholds me;" also, watch this video from Father Mike Schmitz (it is some "hot sauce"). Viva Cristo Rey!
