Day 48 of IMPACT | June 20, 2015
At the beginning of every formation session on Saturday mornings with IMPACT, the floor is open and we are invited to share 'glory stories' with the rest of the team. This is a way of acknowledging everything that God is doing in our lives, but also as a way to celebrate the wonderful things that are happening on mission and the blessings that we, as a team, are experiencing on a day to day basis. It is truly a beautiful and humbling experience to be able to hear the experiences of the other missionaries and at times, to share my own in celebration of what God has done for me.
It has been continually spiritually dry for me over the past few days (maybe even week), but it was truly so uplifting to see all the ways that God was working in the lives of the missionaries around me. Many of the stories left me in a state of awe and wonder at what the Lord can do and just how good He is to us.
Listening to glory stories are so wonderful for me and my own life. Sometimes, when I feel like God isn't working in my life, He truly is - just that He didn't choose to be as visible as He was in some other situations. These stories, however, are so inspiring to me and helps affirm for me the fact that God is indeed working, even though very often we don't notice it or see it.
These moments of consolation are so valuable and treasured, and I am so thankful that I am able to get them from such a good Lord. My hope as I continue to learn and grow is that I will be able to use these moments of consolation as boosts and as motivation during times when I feel desolate, alone, distant or unmotivated.
God is working during IMPACT, and He is doing incredible things (as He is God!) I am so proud to be able to simply be a part of this and let God do incredible things through me.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
When the Spirit has other plans
Day 44 of IMPACT | June 16, 2015
Leading Discovery in a parish is a completely different experience than leading Discovery on campus. For one, it is definitely a large humbling experience to lead Discovery to older parishioners. It is also an inspiring experience, to be able to demonstrate how much God is working in the young Church (and for that I am truly thankful).
Everyone who knows me knows that I am a huge planner and always have a certain idea of how a certain lesson should run (especially Lesson 4, which we did today, and Lesson 5, the huge-ultimate-crazy-Jesus-is-amazing-be-the-centre-of-my-life lesson, which we're doing next week). Although that kind of mentality and planning works very well on campus, especially since on campus there tends to be more participants that are quieter and more reserved, it doesn't quite work as well in parishes (well, at least in my parish). On campus, sometimes discussion needs to be expanded in a certain way so that it fits within the hour time frame: however, in my parish, the opposite is true - discussion has to be cut short in order to fit the time frame (especially since many parishioners are running to other places or heading to bed early after).
Going in with expectations with Lesson 4 is something I naturally did tonight - after all, Lesson 4 of Discovery talks about Jesus being our Saviour and it's an incredibly important lesson to build up to Lesson 5 next week. Obviously, like every week, discussion was not going the way I wanted to go: there were tangents, people who didn't understand the questions, people who jumped ahead of where the discussion was going, and some who felt like they couldn't talk. It was every small group leader's nightmare!
However, it is in our trials that God creates good. While I was frantically trying to steer conversation back towards the topic (especially the Bridge, c'mon!), legitimately good conversations were taking place and the Holy Spirit was truly working. Obviously, God had other plans for Lesson 4 tonight. After the lesson, some of the parishioners walked up to me afterwards to remark about what a great lesson it was and how much they enjoyed the conversation: the same lesson that I saw as not going as great as I hoped.
The words of one of the CCO staff, when he was talking to me about mission back in February, always ring through for me: I need to plan, yes, but I need to plan to an extent that there is still room for the Spirit to move and work. I think I'm guilty of doing this so often - planning so much that I know what I'm doing, but I don't know what the Spirit's doing, or if the Spirit has a chance to do anything at all.
If He works anything like today all the time, He even turns the bad, the uncomfortable, the sad experiences and makes something good out of it. Ultimately, even if I feel like my words are not reaching people, they probably aren't - it's the Spirit that moves and changes hearts, after all.
Leading Discovery in a parish is a completely different experience than leading Discovery on campus. For one, it is definitely a large humbling experience to lead Discovery to older parishioners. It is also an inspiring experience, to be able to demonstrate how much God is working in the young Church (and for that I am truly thankful).
Everyone who knows me knows that I am a huge planner and always have a certain idea of how a certain lesson should run (especially Lesson 4, which we did today, and Lesson 5, the huge-ultimate-crazy-Jesus-is-amazing-be-the-centre-of-my-life lesson, which we're doing next week). Although that kind of mentality and planning works very well on campus, especially since on campus there tends to be more participants that are quieter and more reserved, it doesn't quite work as well in parishes (well, at least in my parish). On campus, sometimes discussion needs to be expanded in a certain way so that it fits within the hour time frame: however, in my parish, the opposite is true - discussion has to be cut short in order to fit the time frame (especially since many parishioners are running to other places or heading to bed early after).
Going in with expectations with Lesson 4 is something I naturally did tonight - after all, Lesson 4 of Discovery talks about Jesus being our Saviour and it's an incredibly important lesson to build up to Lesson 5 next week. Obviously, like every week, discussion was not going the way I wanted to go: there were tangents, people who didn't understand the questions, people who jumped ahead of where the discussion was going, and some who felt like they couldn't talk. It was every small group leader's nightmare!
However, it is in our trials that God creates good. While I was frantically trying to steer conversation back towards the topic (especially the Bridge, c'mon!), legitimately good conversations were taking place and the Holy Spirit was truly working. Obviously, God had other plans for Lesson 4 tonight. After the lesson, some of the parishioners walked up to me afterwards to remark about what a great lesson it was and how much they enjoyed the conversation: the same lesson that I saw as not going as great as I hoped.
The words of one of the CCO staff, when he was talking to me about mission back in February, always ring through for me: I need to plan, yes, but I need to plan to an extent that there is still room for the Spirit to move and work. I think I'm guilty of doing this so often - planning so much that I know what I'm doing, but I don't know what the Spirit's doing, or if the Spirit has a chance to do anything at all.
If He works anything like today all the time, He even turns the bad, the uncomfortable, the sad experiences and makes something good out of it. Ultimately, even if I feel like my words are not reaching people, they probably aren't - it's the Spirit that moves and changes hearts, after all.
Friday, June 12, 2015
Are we giving up fighting the good fight...?
Day 40 of IMPACT | June 12, 2015
Today I was able to spend some time with my team and one of the parishioners at our parish for lunch and some wonderful discussion. As I haven't blogged in a long time, I wanted to take some time and write some thoughts that I was thinking during our discussion.
One of my favourite quotes is from Pope Benedict XVI when he said that "the world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness." Isn't that such a powerful and moving passage? Indeed, much of this world offers comfort. Avoid sensitive topics, stay at home, keep to yourself, stay with familiar surroundings, don't ask questions. There is such a large complacency in the world, and I am guilty of this as well, much apathy. No one cares about anything! Everyone is perfectly content with living in their own little bubble, and constantly striving to do things that will get themselves praise, reward, affirmation, and a feeling self-fulfillment. It's a world driven by me, myself, and I, and a world where God and others seem like distant afterthoughts. "Yeah, I'll help them out if I get something back. I'll go to Mass if I have time. I'll be nice to them if they're nice to me." Where's the initiative, the selflessness, the stepping outside of oneself?
We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)!!! I am still just starting to fathom what that could possibly mean. God created us to love, to give of ourself to others, to mimic his own sacrificial love. We are created in His image, and with a plan! God doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't say "just kidding" and then take back what he just said or did previously (I often do that, for those who don't know). God doesn't make mistakes. He has wonderful plans for all of us, plans that show that He truly has our best interests in mind (Jeremiah 29:11). God doesn't set us up for failure and He certainly isn't malicious to put us in a bad situation that His grace cannot provide a way out of. That's not our God. Our God is love. Our God IS love. Deus caritas EST.
Surely we are meant for more than this? Surely we are meant for more than 10 likes on Instagram, or a cover photo that nobody saw, or a status that nobody commented on? Surely we are meant for more than an ad on TV, on billboards, that convince us that we should be someone else? Surely we are meant for more than just staring at a mirror wishing we were just that much thinner, that much darker, that much taller, that much more beautiful, that much more handsome, that much more muscular?
Truly, are we giving up? Are we getting tired, are we getting complacent? Are we stopping our fight, discouraged at the world for what it's become? Are we giving up sharing Jesus because there's no one that we think would appreciate us for sharing our faith? Our cure for spiritual cancer? Our source of joy and peace and love and life?
We are constantly fighting a spiritual battle in this world. We are fighting a battle that a certain evil one wants us to lose. We cannot afford to stop fighting. We cannot cease our prayer. We must not lose sight of God, we must continue to desire Him and choose Him every single day of our lives. It's so much easier to do the alternative, yes. (Like, MUCH easier.) But what is life without something to fight for? What is life without someone to sacrifice for? What is life without someone to live for?
Are we living at all? Maybe it's time we stop being comfortable and start being great. Maybe it's time we finally come to life with the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Today I was able to spend some time with my team and one of the parishioners at our parish for lunch and some wonderful discussion. As I haven't blogged in a long time, I wanted to take some time and write some thoughts that I was thinking during our discussion.
One of my favourite quotes is from Pope Benedict XVI when he said that "the world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness." Isn't that such a powerful and moving passage? Indeed, much of this world offers comfort. Avoid sensitive topics, stay at home, keep to yourself, stay with familiar surroundings, don't ask questions. There is such a large complacency in the world, and I am guilty of this as well, much apathy. No one cares about anything! Everyone is perfectly content with living in their own little bubble, and constantly striving to do things that will get themselves praise, reward, affirmation, and a feeling self-fulfillment. It's a world driven by me, myself, and I, and a world where God and others seem like distant afterthoughts. "Yeah, I'll help them out if I get something back. I'll go to Mass if I have time. I'll be nice to them if they're nice to me." Where's the initiative, the selflessness, the stepping outside of oneself?
We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)!!! I am still just starting to fathom what that could possibly mean. God created us to love, to give of ourself to others, to mimic his own sacrificial love. We are created in His image, and with a plan! God doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't say "just kidding" and then take back what he just said or did previously (I often do that, for those who don't know). God doesn't make mistakes. He has wonderful plans for all of us, plans that show that He truly has our best interests in mind (Jeremiah 29:11). God doesn't set us up for failure and He certainly isn't malicious to put us in a bad situation that His grace cannot provide a way out of. That's not our God. Our God is love. Our God IS love. Deus caritas EST.
Surely we are meant for more than this? Surely we are meant for more than 10 likes on Instagram, or a cover photo that nobody saw, or a status that nobody commented on? Surely we are meant for more than an ad on TV, on billboards, that convince us that we should be someone else? Surely we are meant for more than just staring at a mirror wishing we were just that much thinner, that much darker, that much taller, that much more beautiful, that much more handsome, that much more muscular?
Truly, are we giving up? Are we getting tired, are we getting complacent? Are we stopping our fight, discouraged at the world for what it's become? Are we giving up sharing Jesus because there's no one that we think would appreciate us for sharing our faith? Our cure for spiritual cancer? Our source of joy and peace and love and life?
We are constantly fighting a spiritual battle in this world. We are fighting a battle that a certain evil one wants us to lose. We cannot afford to stop fighting. We cannot cease our prayer. We must not lose sight of God, we must continue to desire Him and choose Him every single day of our lives. It's so much easier to do the alternative, yes. (Like, MUCH easier.) But what is life without something to fight for? What is life without someone to sacrifice for? What is life without someone to live for?
Are we living at all? Maybe it's time we stop being comfortable and start being great. Maybe it's time we finally come to life with the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
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