What the father does His Son will do also

Recently I had an opportunity to return home and visit with my family.  While there I was blessed to once again spend time doing one of my favorite activities, visiting the neighborhood pond with my father and fishing together.  While our pond is quite small and at this particular visit was very full of debris in our favorite fishing hole, I have grown to simply enjoy more and more these times with my Father.  At first, we were using different techniques; I used a crank bait and my father a plastic minnow bait.  After several casts without any action, my father reeled in a good sized bass.  Then after moving to a different hole to release his catch, we decided to change locations.  My father encouraged me to make the next catch and I rigged up a pole for a plastic much the same as his.  He helped remind me how to attach the bait and fish this technique. Then we continued our endeavor.  As I now fished I watched how my father gently raised his pole up and down with slow cranks to give the bait simulated action, and then I began to follow his example.  After a few more casts, I got a great big hit, set the hook and after a great leap out of the water reeled in one of the largest bass we have ever caught at the pond.

            As we continued to fish, I remember these words from scripture coming to mind: “I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing.”  I began to realize that my father and I were living out the scripture together in that moment, as my catching fish was a result of watching my father. As I think of this scene from scripture, I am reminded of Jesus, the Son of God speaking about the Father; “For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these.”  

I too am a son of God, and so God the Father will show me His great works, but how am I to see what my Father is doing?  Thank-God for the revelation of His Word, Jesus, the Word made flesh, the Son of God who shows us the example of how to listen to the Father and seek His will. As Jesus a few verses later says, “I cannot do anything on my own...I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” Jesus was obedient to the Father’s will, made known by a constant attentiveness to the love of the Father.  

I greatly desire this attentiveness to the Father, to see what He is doing, and to seek His gracious will. Sometimes though I feel it impossible to see what the Father is doing in the same way as I see my dad fishing, for I recall these words, “Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God”, and find myself asking Jesus much like Philip, “Show us the Father.” Jesus then  reminds me “If you know me, then you will also know my Father” and “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Thank God for the Gospels! Here is a reliable place where I can always find Jesus and watch as he does what He sees the Father in heaven doing! And as I come to know my Lord and Savior more in prayer, as I know Jesus, I will also know His Father, our Father! And I can ask for the grace of Jesus’s attentiveness, so that as a beloved adopted son, I too can see what my Heavenly Father is doing just as I watched my father fishing.

May my father and I always remain in the love of Christ,

Zachery

Praying at Planned Parenthood

     Recently, a few of the team members and myself decided to spend the day down in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The day was filled with smiles, laughter, and good food as we stopped for Chick-fil-a for lunch and met up with some friends at a local coffee shop. However, the day was also filled with sadness and pain as we made the stop at one of the six Planned Parenthood locations in the area. I myself have never prayed outside of Planned Parenthood and was filled with nerves as we pulled up to park. However, Gemma, a fellow teammate, has been praying outside Planned Parenthoods back in her home state of Oregon for the past few years. Gemma came not only prepared with knowledge of the laws we were to follow and local resources to help the women, but also ready to lead us in prayer. During our time there we prayed a Divine Mercy Chaplet and four Rosaries, one Rosary for each of the mysteries. We began praying while standing outside the building and then decided to kneel as we continued to pray. Soon an employee came to close a curtain that no longer allowed us to see through their glass doors and into the building. It was in that moment that God showed me the power behind getting on our knees and praying. No matter what barriers they put between us we continued to pray for all those at the clinic: the women, nurses, and doctors who we saw walking in and out of the building throughout our time there.

     We saw dozens of people walk by us that day, and my heart pains for each one of them as they have never realised the true love that exists all around them and is given to them each and every moment of every single day. After spending time outside Planned Parenthood I know I will be back to pray as my heart has been changed and any fears I had have been washed away. Till then I will continue to pray for them, for their hearts and minds to be turned back to the true, the good, and the beautiful.

     -Anna

SPIRITUS: A Year in Review

As Team 8’s mission year comes to the close the retreats are few are far between, the weather is warming up and the SPIRITUS day becomes more open ended.  With this less strenuous schedule a perfect opportunity presents itself to reflect on this year of service, to search for more “nuggets” that the Lord might want to give.  There are many aspects to SPIRITUS: community living, formation, retreat and youth ministry, benefactor meet and greets, recruitment trips etc.  I would like to share with you all just one “nugget” from this year in two of these aspects.

I will start this review off with community life.  Those who know me would all agree that my calling in life will not be in a large community setting and some might say that a community of 15 is not large but let’s just say that to some that is more than enough.  With all this in mind I would say that this year's community helped me to grow in ways I did not expect to grow in.  We had good times and we had some rough patches, but within both those times were graces. One of those graces was that I learned what it means to give love freely in those moments that are hard to love the person in front of you.  Often times loving freely means forgiving those who have harmed you or simply doing the dishes for your teammates when we are running around trying to prepare for our various ministries.  Ultimately in our lives as disciples we are called to love those in front of you and let me tell you community life is a great time to practice loving.

 The second grace I would like to share with you is from the ministry dimension.  The thing that stuck out to me most when thinking about ministry this year was the relationships I made in my youth ministry internship and how evangelization is really about making and fostering relationships with those we meet whether on retreat or in the parish setting.  Our proclamation of the Gospel is far less effective if we do not have a relationship with those we are ministering to.  The youth of the Catholic Church are in dire need of good relationships with Catholics who are striving for virtue and holiness, in SPIRITUS this has provided an awesome opportunity to give that to the youth in Wisconsin, and from there we have been able to see the fruit of the same youth coming into deeper relationship with our Lord which is of course the best of all relationships in their lives.

This year has provided me a lot of growth humanly, spiritually and relationally.  I will always be grateful for these two years of service with SPIRITUS.  May God bless you.

Pax,

Mike

Reaching the End

It is incredible to know that team 8 has already eight months igniting the Catholic faith with children and young adults in the State of Wisconsin through SPIRITUS Ministries! It has been an amazing opportunity in my life to share the gospel of the Lord in the State of Wisconsin. The people of Wisconsin are kind and friendly, they are very welcoming! When I go to each parish, I can see the love they have for SPIRITUS Ministries. Parishes and schools are grateful for what the ministry has brought to their places: “The Joy of the Gospel.” I want to thank everybody who has been praying for each one of us during this time, your prayers have meant a lot to our ministry! Let’s continue praying for our ministry, for each person we encounter in every retreat.  Our Lady of Good Help, Pray for us!

-René Martínez