More Than Co-Workers

Hello technological world!


Since my last blog post, a lot has been happening in my life and the life of all Netters on the road this year! After leaving Beauce, QC, my team headed straight to December retreat, where we met up with the NET staff and members of the two travelling teams - a really wonderful reunion! The retreat was approximately three days in length, and was fairly relaxed. We had a lot of prayer time, socializing, reflecting, and preparing ourselves for our departures for Christmas break. After December retreat, everyone was given just over two weeks for Christmas break to spend with family and friends. I went back home to Ottawa during this time and had a really amazing time visiting with family and friends who I hadn't seen in a number of months. Once Christmas break had ended, the three teams joined together again for a week of training. This training consisted of a lot more work than December retreat, but it was fruitful nonetheless. Our team had meetings and listened to talks pertaining to our youth ministry over the next couple months, as well as debriefing on the past few months. We said our goodbyes to the other teams and staff, and returned to La Beauce.


Having the opportunity to see all the staff and other teams was really amazing! Although we missed the other teams (shout out to the iNFUSE Teams- Weyburn, Yellowknife, and Swift Current! We love you all), it was so good to reconnect and hear stories from the lives of the other ministries. Both December retreat and January training reminded me of how much NET is really a family. Oftentimes, people hear about the ministry and the fruits of the teams wherever they may be, but there's also another really amazing aspect to life as a NET missionary: fellowship. 

Allow me to explain. When you're praising God with dozens of other young, like-minded Catholics, the air is filled with love and the atmosphere more alive than you ever thought possible. There are times when God's presence is so strong that we can't all help but smile and raise our hands higher. NET is both a community and a family all at the same time. Throughout these past few months serving on NET, I have found lifelong friendships not only on team, but with the members of other teams and staff members, too! 

I remember when I arrived at music training back in August I felt overwhelmed and scared. However, within two days of being there, I realized that my life was going to change. The people surrounding me were young Catholics who didn't hide their faith. For the first time in my life, I was with people my age around whom I didn't feel the need to impress or win their attention. This extends beyond NET, though. The Catholic community is thriving, and NET gives hope to people that this is the case. A wave of young Catholics are rising up and evangelizing the world, one relationship at a time. Catholicism is a family; we are brothers and sisters in Christ. 


God bless you,
Rebecca 
Les équipes NET (Lisa, Josée, Andrée-Anne, Sara, Matt & Zak)

Christ in the Midst of our Fallibility

I know a God that loves me for who I am and not for what I do. I know a God that despite my fallibility will love me perfectly to my dying day and into eternity. I know a God that is merciful, just, compassionate and steadfast. I know a God that turns my miseries into grace.

Sometimes I get so caught up in my own misery and suffering that I fail to see how much God has His hand in all of it. That despite the dryness I feel in my faith, or how bad my day is God is still present to me and right beside me. I often fail to see that when I am having a terrible day and we have a youth event in a few hours that God gives me the strength to minister to the youth, the strength to smile and the willingness to let the youth minister to me. By His grace and His grace alone maybe that night he will allow me to place a spark in a youth's heart that will one day turn into a blazing flame for Him, our God. I fail to recognize that in the mornings that I desperately want to stay in bed because I am exhausted, God gives me the grace to get up, put a smile on my face and get through the day. Despite my miseries, God's grace is abundant and always will be.

"He Converts our miseries into grace and makes salutary medicine for our souls from the venom of our iniquities." ~ Searching for and Maintaining Peace

I am fallible, so I will many times fail to recognize the grace that Christ pours out on my life, grace that will be abundant if I trust in him and the love he has for me. But despite my fallibility and misery, Christ works together to make something good, to make something beautiful.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." ~ Romans 8:28

Christ will never ever leave me or you even in our imperfections and miseries!

"I will never fail you. I will never abandon you." ~ Heb. 13:5

Ashley

iNFUSE 2

Where ever you are, be all there!

        And the final leg begins! I think I can speak for most when I say that January Training was very much needed. Especially because I for one needed some transition period coming back from the warm Australian temperatures, the busy Sydney routine, the heavy influences of secular culture and a dose of what life would be like outside the crazy, fulfilling and defining NET lifestyle and to refocus on ministry.

        Our supervisor Sarah Masters, delivered an amazing and inspiring talk on relational ministry during training and she delivered it with so much conviction that by the end of it we were all on fire to be so freaking relational to everyone; as in ev-er-y-one! The talk definitely reminded me of how we only have now to ‘move’ people toward Christ and with the now poses the question, “What are you going to do about it”?

         Are you going to put your fears aside to chat to the cool kid at school and be fearless when speaking about Christ? Are you going to love your team and keep them accountable through Crucial Conversations? Are you going to sacrifice your sleep to stay up and chat, play and love host families? Are you going to be persistent in loving the student who only ever gives you one word responses? Are you going to be open to new experiences? How much are you ready to sacrifice to keep this mission alive and bring Christ in the center of everything? The teams only have 5 months to be as open as ever to the Holy Spirit and have Him do His work through our unworthy hands to somehow reach the people He wants us to reach. 5 months!! I do feel the pressure - I want to be so intentional and invested in the community and my team that by the end of it, I want my heart to literally break with having to leave.

       Abandonment and faith have definitely come up in prayer which was no surprise after that talk. NET Missionaries commit a period of their life to do something bigger than themselves and the truth is, in that time, life at home continues to move forward without us. We are called to ‘surrender’ from the get go: surrender our struggles of not being within the comfort of home, of not building on careers, of putting a hold on studies, of being without family. Because to do our Father's will completely and wholeheartedly calls for us to surrender anything and everything that may be holding us back from being completely present in the here and the now. His will begs us to refocus our attention on Him everyday, to surrender everything we have, want, dream, desire and take a firm grip on this beautiful thing we call faith! So wherever you are, surrender and be ALL there!

God bless,

Joy 

- iNFUSE 1, Swift Current SK

Last Words

I recently heard the testimony of a man who had just come through a terrible, life-threatening ordeal after being in a vehicle accident. As he described his experience, the only time he began to tear up was when he said that he had had to say his potential last words to his children and his wife. He said he wanted them to know more than anything that he loved them, that they were the first and primary vision in his mind as he was in the accident and prepared to enter a dangerous surgery. I sat and marvelled at this man, thinking, What great love a father and husband can have! And then the thought struck me, that if humans are capable of such love even in immense suffering, then several things must be true:

• First, that Jesus, as both God and Man, has a profoundly unique love.
• Second, that Jesus died on the cross out of this love so that we would have the opportunity not to lose eternity with Him through our sin.
• Third, that Jesus has 'last words' of love, so to speak, that He wants us more than anything in the world to know as true, and therefore must have revealed in His greatest act of love: His death.

Jesus' Love as God and Man

Every human has the ability to love, and that love, as shown in countless examples throughout history, as well as the testimony I heard, is a very real and passionate love. Jesus showed this love, too, when He wept over His friend Lazarus' death (John 11: 32-36). Because He was fully Man, Jesus did experience a human love, but He is also fully God, and so His love far surpasses anything that a human being is capable of. That kind of power behind a very real bond makes Jesus' love for us the one thing that can save us from sin, from ourselves.

Love's Sacrifice

One of the ladies on my team said something so beautiful once, closer to the beginning of my year with NET: "God died for you because He could not imagine an eternity without you." Because of the loving and powerful bond between God and mankind, Jesus came as both to be the sacrifice necessary to re-establish the relationship broken between them. Without His humanity, Jesus could not have suffered, but without His divinity, He could not have risen and conquered. As both, Jesus was able to give all of it away to spend an eternity with you. His love was so great that, this being the only way that Jesus could save you, He took that cost, because He weighed your eternal life as more important than His. This was truly His greatest act of love, ultimately the pinnacle of His life.

Last Words

When people die, it is said we see our life flash before our eyes. I prefer to think that Jesus didn't see His own life as He was dying for three hours on the cross; He saw your life. His hunger to have you with Him in heaven was what ultimately gave Him the strength to continue to the end of His suffering and make His sacrifice. With you as His purpose, as His vision, He not only died but rose for you. So what does He want us to know, more than anything in the world? What are His last words to humanity? to me? to you?

I don't know.

Every human has trouble believing in His love. So many people do not believe in God simply because they do not believe in Love. Perhaps what God wants us to know is that He loves us. Maybe that is all we really need to know to trust Him to love us no matter how far we are, to trust Him to run and meet us wherever we are at.

His last words are, "You are just as beautiful, cherished, and special as you were on the day I conceived the thought of you in My Mind." But it is our choice to accept that love. We can respond to these words of challenge and affirmation by choosing to live for Christ, and perhaps our own last words to Jesus will be just as beautiful and affectionate as His to us.

Peace and blessings,

Encounter Team 2

How great is our God!!

Our team is back together after great Christmas holidays. Over the holidays I went to see the mountains for the first time. I was awestruck at the amazing size and wonder of the enormous mountains. How great is a creator that created such marvellous and massive things.

On the first night of January training our team van broke down. What a blessing this is! But seriously… Although it caused for a bit more planning and trips to host homes throughout training, God gave our team an extra three days to spend with the wonderful community of Wetaskiwin, AB. Our host homes there graciously welcomed us into their daily lives and allowed us to become part of their families. We had to rely on them for pretty well everything especially because we did not have a car. Their generosity was very profound and appreciated by our entire team. 

Our team is excited to be back in Yellowknife and continue the work of the Lord here. We have arrived to lots of snow and cold weather. We are back in the office, but not for long. Some of our team is journeying to more northern parts of the Northwest Territories, where we will have the opportunity to change the lives youth in remote and distant communities.


As for now thanks for reading
God Bless
~ Ben Mombourquette

  

A Warm Welcome!

So our team is back in Swift Current, Saskatchewan to continue the rest of the year. This is the time of year that we're all thinking about what we’ll be doing in the fall. We are discerning the idea of another year on NET or on staff, among other things.

For myself at this point I do not feel called to do another year with NET, but I’m not sure what I am being called to and it scares me. Why does it scare me? Because I know that these next 4 and a half months are going to fly by and I’m afraid that I won’t have a decision when I leave here.

I know that if I plan on going back to school, then I need to apply now, but how can I apply and not know what I want to do or where God is calling me? My family tells me to do the ‘smart’ thing and I want to do the ‘right’ thing, the thing that God wants for me, yet I don't know what that is just yet. Many of us don't know, but I have faith that God will lead us where we are called, and I trust that He will make it possible.

For right now, I need to be present. We have been back in Swift Current for a week now and it’s been amazing to be back in touch with the parish, community, and the youth. We've missed being here, it’s our second home. We may not have a ‘home’ here in Swift Current, but the community is so generous and makes sure that we have a place to stay.

I've been really surprised and humbled to see the smiles on the community and youth’s faces when they see us. I expected them to be happy we were back, but I didn't expect them to be as excited as they are, it’s amazing. Our team feels so loved and welcomed here in the Parish and we are looking forward to spending the next several months here. When it comes time to say goodbye, we will be very sad to leave but also joyed to see the changes in the youth and Parish, and to look back at all the times we've shared together.

Until then, we are very ready to continue our mission!

God bless,

Hunter

        - iNFUSE 1, Swift Current SK

The Friend I Want to Be

I'm ridiculously selfish.

 I know it, Jesus knows it, and sometimes I think everyone else in the world knows it.

Friday's Gospel reading (Mark 2:1-12) made me see just how selfish I can be.  It's a pretty well-known one, with four friends of a man who's paralyzed bringing him to Jesus to be healed, only to find that He's surrounded by people and they can't make it through the crowd.  They make it happen, though, by going up on the roof, making a hole in it, and lowering their paralyzed friend through the hole right in front of Our Lord.  Jesus sees their faith and has mercy on them... and while He does that, he shows mercy to the scribes and all the doubters who don't understand just who He is.

When I was reflecting, I was thinking about the paralyzed man and how blessed he was to have friends like that.  Friends who will not only care about him enough to bring him to be healed, but go through all kinds of difficulty to make it happen.  Really thinking about it, each of these four friends had their own lives;  their own families, frustrations, joys, doubts, sins, and struggles.  I'm sure at one point or another, at least one of these men thought "why am I doing this? When is it my turn to meet the Saviour and have my sorrows healed?"  Who knows how far they had to travel to bring their friend to Capernaum?  And the whole way, they had to carry him on a stretcher. Through sand.  Probably some windstorms and intense heat.  These four men were so selfless!!

Picture it:  they carry a man for who-knows-how-many miles.  They're starving, exhausted, and dirty. The paralyzed man is tired and so grateful.  They finally, finally, arrive at the house where Jesus is rumoured to be, and they find a crowd of people so big that there's no chance of being able to bring the man to Jesus before He'll need to leave for the next town.  I don't know what is going through the minds of the four men at this point, but if it were me, it'd be "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??!?" with probably more than a few mutterings under my breath.  But thank the good Lord I wasn't one of those men.  So.  They realize that it's going to take some thinking outside the box to get this man the healing he hopes for and deserves.

Then one of them figures out that if they can just get on the roof and find some ropes or something of the like, they can make a hole in the roof and LOWER him in!  Again, I'd be all "ugh.  This is the WORST", and again, praise the Lord I wasn't there.  But these men are determined.  They agree, and then somehow make their way up on to the roof.  THEN they have to figure out a way to bring the stretcher up with the man on it.  Hopefully they allowed themselves a little breather before creating the hole in the roof.

Next: tearing a hole in the roof.  I'm sure that task was mere peanuts compared to the amount of work done leading up to this point.  If the roof had been straw. Just think about how weary their arms must have been at the moment.  Meanwhile they're not even sure if Jesus will DO anything to help this friend of theirs.  Was he even their friend??  Did they just meet him somehow in their travels and decide to help?  I'm sure by the end of it, they were all close friends... they'd HAVE to be after this kind of trial together, right? Once they figured it out, they just start to lower their companion into the room, aiming to place him right in front of Jesus, who is right in the centre of the mob.  Most likely fearing some sort of outcry at their audacity of making their friend priority one, their arms shake under the weariness of travel, weight of the stretcher, and fear of ridicule.

The beautiful Sharon Leyne and her bridesmaids.  It was such an honour to celebrate her and Colm's big day

Finally, their friend is lowered to the floor, and Jesus notices him and the four on the roof and says "My child, your sins are forgiven".  So exciting!  But what does that mean?  The five of them were probably hoping for a bit more; for some healing action.  But Jesus doesn't leave it at that.  To show the scribes and the doubters present that He is actually God and can say things like that, He says "..get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home..."

Can you even imagine how amazing that would be?   The man probably wobbled uncontrollably as he got up, then needed stability as he walked out of the house.  The four friends were probably jumping off the roof and dancing for joy as they took turns holding their former paralytic friend up as they all walked home together.

I don't think I'll ever be as selfless, giving, and loving as these four men were.  But it really made me realize that it's something to be mindful of when most of the time I'm comparing my own struggles with others' victories and joys and saying "when is it MY turn?" and "it must be nice to have things work out for you".

Jesus, give me the grace to recognize the victories you've given me in my own life, no matter how insignificant they may seem.  Show me how to carry friends and acquaintances to Your side when they need me to, without counting the cost.  Let me be one of these four to those around me. 

Who are you in this story?  An onlooker in the house?  The paralytic himself? One of the doubting scribes?  Read the Gospel story again, and see what Jesus is trying to teach you by healing this man and his four incredible travel companions. 


You are all in my prayers!
~Jocelyn Arnott

Staff from a few years ago.  Being able to work/play/live/laugh/love with this group
is a pure gift from God.

PS- Thank you to my two NET teams (2002-03, 2003-04) for being the "four men" to me. And to the staff and netters ever since; I don't know if you realize just how much I appreciate the selfless love and joy you bring into
 my life.