SPIRITUS Team 8

SPIRITUS Team 8

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Christopher West hit me to the Cor

This is a prime example of God’s will and how everything falls into place when we keep our hearts pliable. SPIRITUS attends formation every Thursday, the different speakers (priests, religious, etc.) are typically scheduled months in advance.

At a retreat the other week, a fellow teammate noticed publicity for an upcoming speaker, Theology of the Body guy, Christopher West. Thursday evening was the date and there was nothing on the schedule for formation. That never happens. After getting approval by prostaff, we made the trek to hear Christopher West present on God, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. His message is based off of St. John Paul II’s writings on God’s plan for creation. Theology of the body is meant to help us better understand what we’re made for and who God is calling us to be. The presentation brought new perspective to my understanding of the body and its biological and theological meaning.

After the talk, a few members of the team and I got in line to have our books/memorabilia signed. Mentioning a few things that struck me, and asking a question or two from his presentation- lead to an all-out pep talk about not settling and how Mary’s yes changed the whole world and our’s can too.

The following Saturday, he had a day-long retreat in Fond du Lac and invited us. I figured it was a distant dream because our mission is primarily scheduled on the weekends. Fortunate (Holy Spirit) circumstances were already in progress though, as Anna Haiar (a fellow teammate and friend) and I were not scheduled for retreats that weekend. That never happens. We got permission to attend, bought our tickets, and went to spend a day diving into the Cor Seminar, an extended version of the session we attended just days earlier. I’m so thankful we received the opportunity to go and accepted!

The stars aligned and we didn’t even have to try, thank you God. I like to think that’s how he works sometimes. He just showers you in gifts, that couldn’t have worked out better. I realize that most of the time he puts desires in your heart and you have to work your butt off trying to accomplish them, but this time was different. It was effortless in that all we had to do was keep our hearts open, and drive to our destination (notebook and pen in hand).

It truly was a beautiful grace.

-Elizabeth Senkyr

Note: Less than a week after these events, I got his latest book, Fill These Hearts, from my spiritual director. God wink. ;)

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Wisconsin Dells!

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This past month the SPIRITUS Team was blessed with the opportunity to grow closer in community and have a wave pool full of fun by taking a vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. The Wisconsin Dells is a must-stop town for tourists, bringing in thousands of tourists each year, as it is the home of hundreds of indoor and outdoor waterslides and rightly earns its name as, “Waterpark Capital of the World.” The team and I were able to embark on the epic adventure that the Wisconsin Dells held in store for us by not only riding on some of the fastest slides that the Dells has to offer, but also by growing closer together in community as we laughed and screamed down our way down all the slides. A team favorite that had us all full of emotion was called the “Dueling Mammoth” at the Wilderness Resort; this raft ride allowed for six of us to ride down together through the dark twists and turns of the slide. Another ride, and my personal favorite was called “The Hurricane”, a ride that drops you down into a funnel which then shoots you back-and-forth until you reach the bottom. Overall, between the slides and the company, I am so thankful for the opportunity to spend time in community with the people of the community. Not only was I able to learn more about each one of my fellow team members, but I also was able to find out who has the loudest scream!

     -Anna Haiar

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Enjoying some smoothies together!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Lent and the Transforming Power of Suffering

Far too often in our ministry we come across young people that are deeply and profoundly suffering. They come into retreat with very appropriate and reasonable questions of: “Why do good people have to suffer?” and “You seem so joyful. Why?”

Suffering is such a mystery. I always make sure when these questions arise to remind them that God does not desire us to remain in suffering. He does not want us to be in pain. He is LOVE! There is so much to say, but I want to leave it simply as that. He is love.

Remember to ask Him, most especially in those moments of darkness and despair, “What are you trying to show me?” He is always speaking to us, most intimately in those moments when we are given the grace to share in the cross with Him. Saint Therese quotes “Everything is grace!” Indeed, all of our suffering has the capability of being transformed into a beautiful resurrection.

Abandon all to Him, even the sufferings...most ESPECIALLY the sufferings! He loves you. You are loved. If you are struggling with your Lenten resolutions or maybe haven’t made one yet, let it be this: surrender your miseries, longings, fears, brokenness to Him. Place it at the foot of His cross and allow the Holy Spirit to transform you.

“Although temptations are strong, a whole wave of doubts beats against my soul, and discouragement stands by, ready to act. The Lord, however, strengthens my will, against which all attempts of the enemy are shattered as if against a rock. I see how many actual graces God grants me; these support me ceaselessly. I am very weak, and I attribute everything to the grace of God.” (1086, page 406) -St. Faustina

-Alexa Harbor



Sunday, March 19, 2017

Listening in Prayer


Sometimes on our retreats we do a thing we call one on one prayer. By that we mean that we create a safe space to speak with individual youth and ask them about what’s on their heart, and then do our best to bring that to God in prayer and listen for how he might guide us. Sometimes this is a powerful moment. Sometimes it’s not.
I remember once recently when one on one prayer was powerful. For context I had been thinking about how it would helpful for me to try to listen more in prayer. So this particular day I decided to listen more deliberately in our one on one prayer.
One of the youth came for prayer; let’s call her Lucy. I asked what she would like to pray about, we talked a little, and then we opened up to prayer. We put ourselves in God’s presence, brought up a couple things that Lucy wanted to pray about, and asked for God’s help. And then I said to Lucy, “Why don’t we take thirty seconds and just listen.”
I didn’t hear much. Or really anything. The image of a present wrapped in wrapping paper came to mind, but that was it. I was going to offer that to Lucy and say, “Hey here’s this image that came to mind; if it helps it helps, if it doesn’t it doesn’t.” But then I thought, maybe I should ask Lucy first if she heard anything. So I asked her.
She said, “Yeah, it kinda felt like God was telling me that it’s going to be ok.”
That struck me deeply, especially since the phrase “It’s going to be ok” has come back to me many times this year in my own prayer. Suddenly telling her about the image of the present seemed much less important. It seemed like I really didn’t need to tell her about it. So I didn’t. Instead we thanked God, put ourselves again in his hands, and closed the prayer.
What’s my takeaway? I personally have been reflecting on how God uses me as an instrument, and how he’s working on deeper levels than I expect.

-Peter Schmidt

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Esto Vir!










     Be a man! (or for those who prefer the Latin, “Esto Vir!”) is a phrase that many males hear throughout their lifetime, many times before performing some activity deemed to be masculine such as shooting a deer or participating in belching contest. Not every instance in which this phrase is uttered is contributing to the building up of a truly masculine culture, but in many cases causing the masculine culture to be viewed in a superficial way; for example a MAN is a big, strong man who wears flannel, sporting a big beard, who watches sports, works on cars, and is fluent in the language of grunting. In order to combat the American culture's view of what it means to be a man, the Catholic Church has been putting on men’s conferences to communicate to Catholic men what it really means to be a man. In the Diocese of Green Bay this conference is called Esto Vir or the Man for All Seasons Conference. It takes place yearly and brings many big name speakers to come in and speak about what it means to be a man in the Catholic sense; recently the conference brought in Fr. Larry Richards, Matt Fradd, and Green Bay Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy just to name a few. This event draws around 1,000 men from across the Diocese of Green Bay to come and join together to learn how to be a man of faith.
The Eucharistic Procession

     This year a few of the SPIRITUS men were blessed with the opportunity to attend the Esto Vir Conference and provide a breakout session for the middle school guys that were in attendance and run activities, give talks and pray with the students. It did not stop there, right after the middle school portion of the conference all the men participated in a Eucharistic procession with Bishop Ricken leading the way with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. I had the opportunity to hold the canopy during the procession and even though we had to fight some strong winds trying to take the canopy away and some cold, cold, hands it was a beautiful experience to have 1,000 men following the Blessed Sacrament in prayer around downtown Green Bay. Another memorable moment that occurred during the conference was the “leadoff” speaker, Fr. Larry Richards. Fr. Larry did not pull any punches during his talk, but called the men in the room to pray and to love, stating that the only way we can know how to be a man is to look to Jesus in the scriptures, and to be in relationship with Him through prayer and love of those around us.


     At the end of the day, we left very inspired and it was a good reminder of our goal in life as men, and that is to follow Christ and to lead others to Him. Now we have the challenge of going into our ministry and letting everyone we encounter know of the Lord’s great love for them and most importantly to never stop praying because if we do then we run the risk of allowing our ministry to be fruitless. This conference was a great “pick-me-up” in the midst of a hectic ministry of putting on retreats and doing youth ministry. I go forward with great hope and love for our Church and all I can do is hope that I do not get in the way of Christ carrying out His mission through SPIRITUS.


Pax,
Mike
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Adoration at the Conference


Sunday, March 12, 2017

Taking a Break for SPIRITUS

As I enter deeper into my year of service with SPIRITUS, I can’t help but reflect on how my life has changed. A year ago if you asked me what my year to come would look like, I would have said taking classes. Instead I am in Wisconsin giving a year to the Lord to learn, grow, and bring others closer to him. When I told people I was taking a year off of school many assumed school got overwhelming and I needed a break. To be honest, I did need a break but not because my grades were regressing or school was becoming overwhelming. I needed a break to recenter myself in Christ. I was getting so caught up in making my school’s requirements that I was losing sight of why I was in school.
SPIRITUS has brought things back into perspective for me. Everything we do here revolves around faith and our relationship with God. It is a much needed reminder that everything we do at all times should be directed towards him.The lessons I have learned here will not transfer to my transcript but they will transfer to my life. No matter what career we have we are called to bring others closer to Christ. This year has given me the opportunity to do just that. How to relay God’s love is a lesson I will never tire of using.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” -Philippians 4:13

-Gemma Cowan


Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Putting On God’s Armor

I have come to appreciate much more our uniform here at SPIRITUS.  At first I saw it more as simply our professional attire that makes the team easily visible while on retreat.  I saw our black t-shirts and khaki pants or blue polos as sort of home and away jerseys.  I remember great excitement in suiting up, similar to that of taking the field for the first time but this excitement can easily wear thin, and I began to overlook the great privilege of wearing the bird on the blue (I allude to the birds on the bat if you are a St. Louis Cardinals fan like myself).  
Recently though I took a good look again at that bird, the dove, representing the Holy Spirit and I am reminded that it is God who has clothed me in this uniform.  Every time my SPIRITUS teammates and I put on those black shirts we are claiming that we are willing to fight and die for Christ Jesus.  We are putting on the armor God has fashioned for us.  I am reminded of the following words of the apostle.
Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6: 10-17
Most importantly, I am reminded to pray to the Holy Spirit for His guidance and direction, to let Him form our strategy and call the plays, so that I may bring the abundant love of Jesus to all I meet that day.
“With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones” Ephesians 6:18

May we always remain in the Love of Christ,
Zachery Feldker

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Sunday, March 5, 2017

Catching God Winks



Sweet silence. Finally, we had gotten to the best part of my day: Adoration. I had the best view, I could see Jesus perfectly between two of my teammates, each sitting a few rows ahead of me. It was quiet, peaceful, and...quiet, it was quiet. Ahhhh… Just as i was settling into my pew and thanking God for affording these small luxuries, it happens. The two teammates who had been sitting perfectly far enough apart in order for me to have a clear view of Jesus in the monstrance both started fidgeting.

“AHHHHHH!!!! No! Wait! Stop! I can’t see Him!” The words tied to my tongue, unable to escape. Instead of disrupting Adoration for everyone else I decided to noiselessly slide slightly to the left in order to regain a clear view. The momentary crisis had passed and I could begin praying. Phew! That was a close one, or so I thought, but then it happened again, and again...and again.

After restlessly scooting my keester all the way to the edge of the pew I also reached the end of my patience. “Lord, what do you want from me? Can’t I have any peace?” At that moment it was like the heavens opened and an angel of the Lord descended majestically, kind of like a Michelangelo painting, to give me a clarifying and epiphany inducing bop on the head.

Inwardly there developed a sudden case of the giggles, but being that I was sitting in Adoration it was reduced to a silent chuckle. The silliness of the situation finally sank in; the three of us were slowly wiggling closer to Jesus.
-Annastasia Eftink

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Prayer in SPIRITUS!

     Spiritus Ministries is a great place to continue learning more about our Lord Jesus, His holy mother and the life of the saints. Every day we have mass and adoration. I love going to mass because I encounter the presence of God in my life. During mass I thank God for the gift of this mystery. When we have adoration, we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and personal devotions. At this moment, one of my closest devotions is to pray to the Sorrowful Mother of God. I found out that this prayer can help people to discern more about the mystery of salvation in humanity. During this time, I also pray for the peace in the world and for an increase in vocations, especially for priesthood and religious vocations around the world. I thank Spiritus Ministries for giving me the opportunity to continue learning more about the mystery of salvation, the beauty of our catholic faith, and the invitation to share everything we have learned in our catholic faith with the youth in the State of Wisconsin. Spiritus Ministries is a community full of faith, love and respect- it is a community committed each moment to share the joy of the lord!

     -René Abrahan Martínez