The Beauty of Life

"I went across the garden one afternoon and stopped on the shore of the lake. I stood there for a long time, contemplating my surroundings. Suddenly I saw the Lord Jesus near me and he graciously said to me, 'All this I created for you, my spouse, and know that all this beauty is nothing compared to what I have prepared for you in eternity.' My soul was inundated with such consolation that I stayed there until evening and it seemed to me like a brief moment." (St. Faustina)

Have you ever sat outside, awestruck by the sights around you? Or seen a photo that hit you with its beauty? Or maybe taken a walk, and realized the beauty of everything you saw? I recently read the above quote by St. Faustina and was struck by the simplicity, but profundity of the passage. It's true that Heaven must be more beautiful than anything we've ever experienced. When I'm struck by quotes such as the aforementioned, I often wonder how one could even begin to fathom the beauty of the eternity that awaits us. I think about Heaven and the prospect of being there one day. It's true that the subject of death can be frightening and a lot of people aren't comfortable with the subject, but it's the elephant in the room. I often feel as though everything in our lives (from the materialistic perspective, at least) serve as distractions from reality. Although we don't have all the answers on life itself, we search for diversions to keep us from seeing the bigger picture at hand. 

But there's something is us that desires beauty; that is drawn to beauty as we experience it, and want more. Every person on this planet is living life, searching for a beauty, a satisfaction to fill the need for something greater. 

Although I personally haven't seen all the seven wonders of the world and most definitely have not experienced the most amazing things there are to see on this earth, I have seen my share of beautiful moments, even this year. Some of these include, but are in no way limited to the following examples. A youth night where we have a time of prayer and I have the opportunity to play music, and watch people as they enter deeper into meditation and praise. Or maybe leading a small group where I see the thirst and openness to faith in the eyes of youth. Or having a discussion with one of the leaders here who has a desire to continue the youth ministry long after our team has moved on. Or even having the opportunity to sit back and listen to the youth band play, knowing how far they have come to reach this point.

God's beauty is all around us. I think the thing that makes it different or at times less evident for some, is our attitudes or perspectives. It's no secret that being a missionary is hard work, especially when I easily lose sight of the bigger picture or get stuck in the rut of a repetitive routine. But ultimately, there is a beauty greater than anything we know on this earth. St. John Paul II said it so clearly during his time as Pope:

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society.” 

God bless you.

Rebecca

Les équipes NET 

March Madness

For me and most people back home, March Madness usually refers to basketball, but this year, it has developed a completely new meaning.

With a lot of events to plan, the pressing thought of what comes next, and the weeks disappearing before our very eyes, the stress levels of each person on the team have massively increased. It seems like every day we get to the office, we all have a long list of things to do and a jam packed schedule. Being a Team Leader, there’s always something new for me to do. I sometimes laugh when people ask me, “hey, are you busy?” because it’s almost like my answer never changes. Even attempting to schedule different things like hang outs with the youth, or supper at one of the parishioner’s houses, it seems like there’s absolutely no free day or evening.

The other day during prayer, I felt really called to read in Luke. So I opened up my bible and found myself reading the story about Martha and Mary. Here’s a little run-down of what happens:

Martha opened up her home and welcomed Jesus. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside Jesus’ feet, listening to Him and all he was saying. Martha spent the majority of the time busying herself with serving and cleaning, as was the custom for women.

At one point, Martha gets really frustrated and asks Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.”

At that, Jesus replied, “Martha, you are anxious about many things, there is only need of one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

My immediate reaction when I read this was, “aw man, I’m the Martha.” *face palm* But after much more reflection and prayer, I realized that maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. See, I think both Martha and Mary are two very different examples of what we as NET missionaries, or even as Christians, can potentially act like.

I think we often busy ourselves with all of the things that have to get done so much that we forget to be present. Sometimes I find myself being like one of the sisters that would go to Mother Theresa saying “I don’t think I’ll have time to do my holy hour, I’m too busy”, to which she would respond “Then, you need two holy hours.” Martha lost sight of the opportunity she had to sit at Jesus’ feet and just spend time with Him, and we too, can find ourselves ‘too busy’ to give the Lord our time.

On the other hand, Mary was so lost in Jesus, sitting with Him, listening to Him, just being with Him. It is so beautiful that she humbly gave Jesus the simplest, yet most meaningful gift: her time. I know I find that I feel the most loved when people spend time with me. The times that I feel close to God are when I just spend hours with Him in the church, or in prayer. I sometimes can get so caught up in prayer that I end up losing track of time.

              When that happens, I, like Mary, lose sight of my responsibilities. If I just sat in the church all day and didn’t do any sort of planning for youth nights or writing talks, it would probably be complete chaos when it came down to it, or there would be no youth night. Just like if Martha had not been there to do all of the serving, nothing would have gotten done because Mary would’ve been lost in conversation.

Our ministry actually calls us to be both Martha and Mary. We have to be present with God and our youth just like Mary, but we also have to be responsible and serve like Martha. Even though I find it easier to be more like Martha, it’s not that I should just stop and be like Mary, I just have to find a balance of the two.

There’s a reason for every aspect of our ministry. All of the youth nights, the hang outs, student calls, anything relational. But also everything that’s behind all of that. Meetings, schedules, writing talks, advertisements: every single part matters. Without it all, we couldn’t effectively minister to the youth. We couldn’t bring souls to Christ, and that is why we’re here.

Even as March Madness settles in, with all of our events and busy schedules, when it’s easy to get caught up in ‘work’, but also when it’s easy to get caught up in just being present, I have to remind myself why I chose to serve God this way in the first place. To give someone the experience that was once given to me, to tell a lost soul about the love the Father has for them. To give God only a portion of what He has given me.

“I don’t just want to give God great glory, but the GREATEST glory.” –St. Maximilian Kolbe

              Blessings,
                      Kat - iNFUSE 1,
                      Swift Current, Sk

Saintly Bodyguards

Have you read or watched any of the Divergent series? If you haven’t, the tale is set in a dystopian society that attempts to segregate people into factions according to personality traits and desires. Sometimes, I wish that we could possess the traits of our patron saints just by merit of their patronage. For example, my patron saint is St. Francis of Assisi. Sweet! I should be able to live a simple life, rather unattached to material possessions, loving the poor and virtually an animal magnet (Noah 2.0), just because I am part of the brother Francis clan. Unfortunately, I have a long ways to go to be fully accepting of a humble lifestyle, and let’s be honest, I’m hesitant around puppies bigger than my sock. Fortunately, we still have the great example of our patron saints and the hope of their intercessory prayer!

                Our team is also fortunate to have patron saints, namely St. Vitalis of Gaza and St. Mary of Egypt. They are not exactly the most well-known individuals in the canon of saints, though I’m sure they have a wonderful positioning in heaven. I was surprised they were chosen for us. Surely, there was a reason for their particular selection. After research, I found there was a correlation between the two. Both of their lives testified to the beauty and importance of purity in our lives, albeit in a different manner.

                St. Vitalis of Gaza (died c. 625 AD) was a hermit that would use his wages as a labourer to hire prostitutes, offering them a night away from the job that took away their dignity, and instead offered them food and taught them about their great worth as beautiful women in God’s eyes. St. Vitalis was martyred by a Christian man who misunderstood his goings towards the brothel. At the funeral, many women came and testified to how the saint’s loving actions had enabled them to reform their lives.

On the other hand, St. Mary of Egypt (344 – 421) decided at one point to tempt the pilgrims heading towards Jerusalem with impure acts. From records it seems she almost treated it as a game. Upon trying to enter the church of the Holy Sepulchre, her heart did not allow her to proceed, feeling the brokenness within herself. She then gazed upon an icon of the Virgin Mary (Theotokos the mother of God) and felt great remorse and decided to live a life apart from worldly things and of penitence.

                It is vividly clear during retreats, by the questions posed to us and the interactions of students between each other, that there is confusion on how and why we should strive to uphold the dignity of our bodies and purity of our relationships. It is close to our hearts that we share the good news to the  youth we encounter, that God loves us and wishes for us to experience the beauty of His plan for us. We too struggle and have struggled with these truths in our lives. But it is in our testimonies that we witness to the youth about the precipice of a self-indulgent culture and the freedom of breathing in the breeze of choosing chastity.

                 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Mt 5:8

…and there can be no sweeter sight than to see God.

St. Vitalis of Gaza,

Pray for us

St. Mary of Egypt,

Please pray for us

-Francis Nowak

Semer des graines

La fin est le début de quelque chose d’incroyablement profond. Notre équipe est la deuxième équipe en Beauce, après l'équipe de l'année passée. Depuis le début de l'année, on savait qu'il n'y aurait pas d'équipe l'année prochaine et qu'on a besoin d'essayer le mieux possible de former du monde pour qu’ils puissent continuer l'apostolat jeunesse en Beauce. Ce travail est intense, mais Dieu le rend très possible.

Moi, comme responsable de la musique, j'ai commencé mon travail de former des jeunes en octobre lorsque j'ai commencé un groupe de musique pour l'apostolat jeunesse. Depuis octobre, j'ai (avec la bonté de Dieu) recruté un total de neuf musiciens et musiciennes pour ce groupe. La fin de semaine passée, ils ont joué deux chansons pour la messe jeunesse qu'on a eue - et c'était incroyable! Chaque semaine quand je les rencontre, ils sont remplis de joie et sont prêts à travailler fort. C'est vraiment quelque chose de voir comment le travail qu'ils ont fait depuis octobre est reflété dans la musique qu'ils jouent.

Cependant, ce n'est pas le cas pour tout le travail qu'on fait ici. Au début de l'année, je pensais qu'on verrait beaucoup de fruits et qu'on vivrait plusieurs moments de conversion et de puissance. C'est vrai qu'on a eu plusieurs moments tellement beaux, mais il y en a encore plus qu'on ne voit même pas.

On ne voit pas tout le travail que Dieu est en train de faire. Ça prend du  temps. Je vais vous donner une analogie pour l'expliquer :

En printemps, le monde aime faire pousser des fleurs et des plantes. Cependant, une personne ne peut pas contrôler ce qui arrive aux graines. La personne ne peut pas contrôler la pluie ou les tempêtes, les insectes, ou même la couleur qu’elles vont avoir. La seule chose qu'une personne puisse faire, c'est donner aux graines une base pour pousser, de l'eau pour grandir et du temps pour mûrir.

Voilà le travail d'une missionnaire. Nous, comme équipe, ne pouvons pas contrôler les éléments de la vie. Je ne peux pas empêcher les difficultés ou souffrances dans la vie des jeunes. Je ne peux pas forcer le monde à choisir le chemin que Dieu veut pour eux. Je ne peux pas les convertir ou contrôler leurs vies. La seule chose que je peux faire, c'est leur donner des  fondations dans la foi, de l’amour et de l’aide pour grandir dans une relation avec le Christ et du temps pour trouver leur propre cheminement. 

Que Dieu vous bénisse,

Rebecca

Les équipes NET (Matthew, Zak, Andrée-Anne, Lisa, Josée & Sara)

Quelques nouvelles de Les équipes NET en Beauce!

Bonjour tout le monde!

Les dernières semaines ici en Beauce ont été bien remplies! Le temps semble aller si vite, mais quand je repense à tout ce que nous avons fait, il semble que cela a été beaucoup plus long. Avec chaque événement qui se déroule, y compris de nombreux groupes jeunesse, des messes, de l’adoration, des petits groupes et juste passer du temps avec les jeunes, nous pouvons certainement voir un changement chez la jeunesse. Depuis quelques semaines, nous avons commencé une série de formation en leadership pour nos jeunes plus âgés qui espèrent poursuivre l’apostolat de la jeunesse après notre départ. Pendant ce temps, nous les avons impliqués dans les soirées jeunesse afin qu'ils puissent voir l’arrière du décor.

Jusqu'ici, tout va bien! Il y a en particulier quelques gars ici pour lesquels je peux voir leur cheminement, de différentes manières. L'un d'eux a assisté à un grand nombre de nos événements récemment et est même venu avec nous pour une retraite à Québec. Au début de l'année, nous le voyions rarement et maintenant il est vraiment ouvert avec nous. L'autre est un jeune homme qui partage ses joies et les luttes avec moi et qui nous rend souvent visite à notre bureau. Il m'a confié qu'il est nerveux au sujet de l'année prochaine pour la pastorale jeunesse, que cela ne dure pas après notre départ et à l'idée de perdre sa foi.

Nous avons beaucoup parlé de ce genre de choses ainsi que de beaucoup d'autres et chaque fois qu’on se projette dans le futur, on sait que cela va être bon et que Dieu a tout sous son contrôle. Il y a aussi des difficultés ici. Ça ne roule pas tout le temps en douceur. Mais ce que j’en suis venu à réaliser et ce que les jeunes comprennent aussi, c’est que chaque fois que le diable essaie de nous tenter, de nous conduire vers le péché, le désespoir ou la lutte, cela signifie généralement que nous faisons des progrès dans notre cheminement vers la sainteté éternelle. Et il y a certainement des saints qui sont en train d’être découverts dans la Beauce.

À la prochaine,

Matthew Handrahan

Et le reste de Les Équipes NET