A Journey From The Head To The Heart

These past months have been an amazing journey; a journey with community, a journey of faith.  Here at SPIRITUS, we are so blessed to have an incredible network of support aiding us in our communal journey, as well as our individual faith journeys.  Above all, I believe that SPIRITUS helps form our faith in such a way that we can better live it from the heart as opposed to the head.  Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta once said that, ‘the longest journey a man must take is the 18 inches between his head to his heart.”  As evangelizers, it does not suffice to merely know about our faith.  We must also develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, as well as gain insight into how God is working personally in our lives.  In this way we begin to make that transition from living our faith in our head to living our faith from the inside out, from our hearts.

--Spencer

What Makes You Happy?

Even missionaries have off days. I think the weather of winter was seriously starting to get to me as blue skies and warm breezes began to remind me of my freedom-seeking desires to be outdoors and the overflowing happiness I receive from the simplicity of nature.

On top of that, my life routines became just that…routine. And the hum drum became even more accepted as “just life” as I started to stay up a little later, eat the extra cookie, and avoid that conversation I knew I needed to have with a friend…you get the idea. I think it’s fair to say we’ve all been there? Ergo, I had to make some changes.

I confess, I didn’t find this picture till just now so I didn’t explicitly use this method on myself but I did pray with these very things to solve my dilemma. I was craving a fuller life and not achieving it in a way that met my expectations.  Truth bomb, doing “holy things” (whatever that means) is not enough to be happy. I know I already knew that and I think you do too but my actions told me some part of me was still missing the point.

So here is my two cents. Have you reevaluated what makes you happy recently? Are you seeking it? Are you settling for less? Now is the perfect time for me to rediscover my Lord, my Happiness, again in human things like hikes and above all in spiritual encounters like adoration. “The glory of God is man fully alive.” (St. Irenaeus) As I dive back into a real life of joy and happiness I hope you may find the courage to do the same. To God be the glory! 

Peace in Christ, Theresa

Last Sunday, I woke up to a beautiful day. The sun was just rising, as I started getting ready for our in-house retreat. I was excited (and a little nervous) for my first team leading experience! However, as the students started trickling in the door, something seemed a little off. This seemed more apparent to me as I started talking to the students.

"Hey, how are you guys doing this morning?" I asked with a smile

"Good." The students at my table replied.

My voice changed to empathetic. "Tired?" 

"Honestly, we don't even want to be here this morning. Nobody does." One girl voiced and the others nodded in agreement. 

I was completely taken aback. Nobody had ever been this honest about their upset. I was a little concerned that the students weren't going to be open if they felt this way; so I did the only thing I could think of. I prayed to the Holy Spirit and Our Lady; and it is amazing how they worked in them. 

All of our small group discussions went over time, because the students wanted to keep talking, most of the students in my small group saw the "Passion of the Christ" movie for the first time and were hit by it, and there were a lot of tears during one on one prayer (tears of healing). By the end, students were thanking us and their evaluations were great.

Truly, when we put everything in God's hands, all worries, the Lord takes care of everything. I thank God for all of these students and gift of this lesson. Praise be to God!

--Tina

Fun, Faith and Fellowship

One of the biggest blessings that I have received in being a youth ministry intern as well as a member of our SPIRITUS retreat ministry, has been the unique opportunity I have had to cultivate a lasting relationship with the youth of St. Patrick's in Menasha. It has been an invaluable experience to be immersed in the day to do operations of the church, but beyond any doubt the best part has been planning and running monthly youth nights where our teens come together for service and fun community building! It is so powerful to see the members of our youth group come together to support the community while building a vital Catholic support system. 

I am so thankful to get to be a part of this growth!

--Susan

The Impact of Our Love for Jesus

As the months pass by and the number of retreats continue to rack up, it is only natural to want to sometimes switch to “autopilot” every now and then while on mission.  With that said, I am reminded of an encounter that I had with a student while on retreat with the confirmation class of St. Raphael’s parish in Oshkosh.  This young man, who happened to be in my small group, was taken back by the level of sincerity and devotion that myself and my teammates had in regards to our Lord and in regards to living out our Catholic faith in today’s world.  I remember him saying how his retreat experience reached a turning point after watching a clip from the movie, The Passion of the Christ.  After seeing how deeply this film moved one of my teammates, he said, “it was at this point that I was faced with a reality check.  I never knew someone could be that devoted to Jesus like your teammate was.”  

Looking back on this particular encounter, I am reminded of just how much of an influence our devotion to Jesus can have on the youth who we serve.  I am reminded that to be on mission is much more than a job.  To be on mission is a whole way of living, a state of being, an attitude.  An attitude of gratitude, since we are bolstered by all of the loving support from so many different people.  To be on mission for my Lord, Jesus Christ, is to be so in love with Jesus that those around me come to see Him when they encounter me.  I believe that is the underlying meaning in the prayer of St. John the Baptist when he says, “He must increase, and I must decrease.”  May the Lord help us to fall so deeply in love with Him that we may radiate Christ from every cell in our body.

--Spencer

Master it is good that we are here!

I sometimes wonder what it must have been like to be one of the disciples following Jesus on simply a normal day, one of those days that aren’t recorded in the Bible.  I ponder in anticipation, as I think to myself and my companions “Is Jesus going to share another new sign today?”   But what if it is a day where it appears as if nothing extraordinary is going to happen?  Perhaps today we are just to walk where Jesus wants to, and maybe not even hear Him speak?  Do we walk in silence then? Perhaps, or as the day goes on and it appears that there will not be an extraordinary sign, I find myself speaking with those around me; we are discussing the extraordinary thing we saw Jesus do just the other day.  Sometimes though I find that after such conversation, I am disappointed that nothing seems to be happening today!  But just when the day appears to be complete, Jesus stops and motions to the sky.  He has led us to a clearing so we might catch a glimpse of the simple yet majestic sunset reminding us all of the glory of creation.

                On those days when we are not on retreat here at SPIRITUS, I find it much the same.  Since we are not on retreat it seems we will not witness Jesus encountering and healing a young person that day; as we often do when on retreat.  Usually then we are excitedly talking about the most recent retreat, and one such encounter, amongst ourselves before seeing to our daily preparation and duties.  That often leaves me then left to walk where Jesus wants to the rest of that day, and strangely some days it seems I find myself disappointed.  The other day was one such day.  But as I was finishing entering responses from the young people from one of the retreats I had helped lead, I came across one last comment.  In response to what would you tell others about the retreat, one young person had written this, “I wish I didn’t have to leave.” 

This comment led me to Peter’s words during Jesus’s transfiguration on Mount Tabor, “Lord it is good that we are here.”  So much so Peter wanted to build tents, safe meeting places, for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses.  At the end of walking with Jesus that day, he pointed out to me how He provides this safe meeting place, or tent, for young people during SPIRITUS retreats that I and my teammates are so blessed to be a part.

-Zachery

Lord, I Need You!

The song, "Lord, I Need You" by Matt Maher is one of my favorites. I listen to it almost every day because it brings me such peace. The Lord gives me comfort through the lyrics because they touch my soul. It's amazing how the Lord speaks to me through music. I love singing that song to the Lord. 

Enjoy the song, dear friends! :) 

--Maddie

Thank You, Volunteers!

As we were working on our spring appeal mailing, stuffing hundreds of envelopes and getting everything ready to be sent out, I realized yet again how grateful I am that there are so many wonderful volunteers that support Spiritus in different ways throughout the year. Seeing all these people dedicating their time to help us with tasks like the mailing, which for most people is probably a tedious task and not how they would typically want to spend their free time, showed me how lucky we are to have these volunteers. From people helping Janette out with preparing meals on retreats, to those who donate food to feed our hungry team, to all the other ways that supporters have assisted us, these small acts of love go a long way. So I just want to thank everyone who has given their time to help support our mission in any way! It certainly does not go unnoticed!

--Sarah

SPIRITUS Formation

As most of you probably already know SPIRITUS is a ministry aimed at reaching the young people of Wisconsin through running retreats for various parishes and schools, but what some of you might not know is that the secondary mission of SPIRITUS is to help form the young adults on the team into fired-up young leaders.  One way we are formed into leaders prepared to lead the future generations of Catholics is through what we call “Formation”, now I know that is not the most clever of names but it helps us team members remember what we are there for.  During the week we usually have Thursdays as our days of Formation, we do not run any retreats but we have speakers give us talks about various topics.  The speakers are usually priests around the diocese but we also do have laymen and women give talks as well. Two Thursdays a month we have what is called Cor Jesu in Green Bay and young adults in the area are more than welcome to attend, and what we do at Cor Jesu is listen to an hour long talk and then have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour.   On top of the talks, the SPIRITUS team reads different books throughout the year that we discuss typically on Thursdays as well.  These books are typically more spiritual in nature and help us to connect our prayer lives with our ministry is some respect.  The formation aspect of SPIRITUS is not just limited to a talk or two a week and discussing a book once a week.  Through living in community, running retreats, interactions with students and D.R.E’s and most importantly prayer are the other ways in which the members of SPIRITUS are formed into the young adult leaders that the Catholic Church needs at this moment in it’s over 2000 year history.  As we continue to be formed please keep us in prayer and know of our prayers for the people of the Wisconsin whom we come in contact with.  God Bless!

-Mike

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! In the past two years I have been trying to build the Kingdom of God by preaching about the Lord’s Love and Mercy. I have experienced an adventure of a life time, seen the Love of God interact with the Children of God of all ages in incredible ways! But the most amazing and beautiful and unexpected thing happened as well in me. The Lord built His Kingdom in my heart! And He continues to do so! Every day my realization of the Lord’s Love for me grows. I see Him Loving me in the sacraments we get to partake in daily, in the formation we receive, in the interactions of my community and the students on retreat! The Father’s Love is so dangerously beautiful it often makes my heart beat so fast it almost hurts! And when I fail or fall or am going through times of feeling distant, I am touched gently in reembrace of the Prodigal Son, for I am a wandering soul constantly being beckoned to come closer like a child being encouraged to take his first steps to his father!

May God bless you and hold you close,

Arthur Richardson

Living the Works of Mercy

Recently, Students at my parish have been cooking meals for the homeless shelter. Each Sunday a different grade with there families is invited in to help with the cooking. We have had 8th -11th graders and the 11th graders actually cooked the meal at the shelter! This is a wonderful way for our students to live out the works of mercy in this jubilee year. It a has been a fun time and time for us to build community as a parish!

--Brianna

Little Reminders

Wednesdays are typically weird. The Youth Ministers are off at their parishes for youth ministry and everyone else is scurrying around to get ready for the evening Faith on Fires, mini retreats for Faith Formation classes. However, March 2^nd was an especially crazy Wednesday. We had four Faith on Fires (FOF) for a Catholic Elementary to Middle school in Little Chute and then some of us had another FOF in Horicon about an hour drive away. I was blessed to be on all five retreats that day, getting to interact with over 150 students that day! To my surprise and amazement, the day went incredibly fast and went very smoothly.

That evening at the end of our last FOF, I was saying my goodbyes to the students when one of them came up to me for a hug. He was a great kid and had participated throughout the retreat. Something urged me to give him the rosary bracelet that I had been wearing that evening, so I did. The look of complete surprise and utter joy on his face was more than words can express. And when he found out that he could pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, which he had just learned on the retreat, his face just started beaming.

The look on that little boy’s reminds me why I am here on Spiritus and just how much of an impact such a small action can make for someone.

God bless,

Mikayla