Acts 29

This past Sunday we heard from Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5. Actually, the Easter season is when we hear from Acts of the Apostles each week. Acts of the Apostles is the account of the Apostles and their mission after the resurrection of Christ. In this book we hear the accounts of the martyrs, we hear Saul persecuting Christians, and we hear about the lives of the earliest Christians. 

It's a book that many people read as they start, say, a year of service. I can remember at the beginning of the year, Sam saying that her favorite chapter of Acts of the Apostles was chapter 29. I can remember sitting there and not thinking anything of it until one of the teens tried to find Acts 29 in the Bible. And guess what... it wasn't there. It literally doesn't exist. Acts of the Apostles ends at chapter 28. My mind was blown, because in that moment I realized that Acts 29 is the life of the modern day Christian, ie you and me. 

This little insight from Sam gave me a new appreciation for the Acts of the Apostles and for what we are doing this year. We are trying to live out this faith. So in turn, our chapter is still being written. We are Acts 29. 

In the lines following this weekends first reading, we learn that although the Apostles have been persecuted for preaching the Gospel, they continue to teach and proclaim the Gospel message that Jesus Christ is Lord. 

How can you and I live out this principle this week? To preach the Gospel always, with our words, with our actions, with our lives, even when it becomes difficult. 

Divine Mercy

This past Sunday, was the Second Sunday of Easter, more commonly known as Divine Mercy Sunday. The Church calls us to reflect on God's unfailing Mercy, his Divine Mercy. You may be familiar with this image:

Growing up, this image was in one of the side chapels at my parish. I never knew what it was or what it meant until I was a senior in High School and was introduced to the Divine Mercy chaplet and St. Faustina. This image was revealed to St. Faustina, a humble nun in the Convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland. The message of mercy is simple, the Divine Mercy website states:

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us – all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.  

What an incredible message? It's so simple, yet so profound, and looking back I can see why God chose to reveal it to the world. It's because our world so desperately needs it.

Pope Francis also recognizes this need, as he declared this year the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Anyone who has been to CYFM this year has been exposed to it in some way, as we have incorporated it into our programming. And what we have realized is how vital this message is to the Church and to our Ministry.

And so, this week, let us revel in God's love and his Divine Mercy. Let us always be reminded that he wants us to share in His joy this Easter season.

Jesus, I trust in you.

with love and gratitude,
Mary

The Easter Season

This past Sunday, the Church celebrated Easter! The Church is now in the season of Easter, and we are allowed to say the "A" word again! For the past forty days, we entered into the desert with Jesus. We have died with him on Good Friday, and rose with him on Easter Sunday.

How was your Lent? Was it fruitful? Did you take any of the suggestions that we put out on Ash Wednesday? How did you grow with the Lord? What are some of the things that you did during Lent that you would like to carry over into regular life? Maybe you set up a new prayer routine, or started volunteering in a new way. Lent is supposed to help us to become better Christians so that we can rise with Christ. 

Easter is the reason why we as Christians strive to live the way that we do. Check out the Resurrection accounts in each of the Gospels. Take some time and pray with these beautiful readings from scripture:

John

Matthew

Mark

Luke

Personally, my favorite account is from Luke. It's commonly referred to as "The Road to Emmaus," where two Disciples encounter the Risen Christ along the way. 

In this Gospel passage we hear about the two apostles who are walking away from Jerusalem to a place called Emmaus, about seven miles away. Mind you, this is right after the crucifixion. They don't know that Jesus has risen. The disciples are distraught, full of doubt and anger, and still Jesus comes into their midst. And the part of this Gospel that gets to me is that those two disciples have no idea that Jesus is the one who is walking with them. There have been so many times in my life where I have been distraught and did not feel Jesus with me. The Disciples go on this whole journey with a stranger who is bringing them comfort and friendship. It is only when he breaks bread that their eyes are opened, and they realize that it is Christ who has been with them all along. 

And what do they do when they realize they have encountered the risen Christ? They run back to Jerusalem to tell the others. 

"So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread."

The two Disciples were so filled with Joy when they returned to Jerusalem! That is how we as Christians today should be. We should be filled with Joy because we are the Easter people, as John Paul tells us. We have encountered the risen Christ and we are called to go back to Jerusalem, to spread this message of love with our lives. 

with love and gratitude,

Mary

A Reflection on College COP

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

-Albert Schweitzer

I used the quote above to begin my talk on this past College Capuchin Outreach Program (College COP) in January. I used it because it rings true for me, some of the best and happiest moments of my life were spent serving others. I learned what true joy was through service, and through that new-found understanding of joy I was able to learn more about God and deepen my relationship with Jesus, the ideal model for servant leadership.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend College COP last year as a participant, which was a really awesome experience itself, so leading as a CCV this year was like coming full circle. Last year my service site was St. Patrick’s Soup Kitchen and Newburgh Ministries. I really loved working with both organizations; I got to meet some genuine and inspiring people who are really passionate about their work and service. I was also privileged to have a fantastic team to serve with throughout the week which shared many great conversations and countless laughs. (Shout out to Kelley, Kim, and Shawna!) Through theological reflection in the evenings I got to unpack the day’s experiences; both my own and others’ through the lens of faith. I was able to recognize God in the people I encountered throughout the week, from the people I served, to the people I served with, and everyone on the retreat. Through attending CCOP I was able to grow in both my understanding of service and in my faith.

I expected this year’s College COP to be pretty similar to last year’s with the obvious exception that this time I would have the added responsibilities of helping run the retreat and lead a service group. However, this year I was challenged in ways that I never expected to be challenged. And in that sense I was also forced to grow.

My service site this year was Habitat for Humanity/ manual labor, which originally I was less than thrilled about. I must admit I didn’t want to do Habitat for a very selfish reason… I didn’t want to be out in the cold all week. But what is that saying about God laughing at your plans…? Also I know that often times I struggle finding God in the day during manual labor.  It’s so easy for me to get caught up in the repetition and monotony of the mostly physical work that I find myself not being present to God throughout the day. Anyway for the first two days of CCOP we worked at the Red House, the place where my community and I live together, our home. It was a definitely humbling experience! It was humbling because I was leading a group of college students who were going to be serving me (& my community and CYFM of course), and also because I was there to work and serve with them. Working in the Red House made me appreciate the work I was doing more and also appreciate our house more, even with all its cracks, drafty windows, that sticky and stained floor in the kitchen, and all its imperfections. It is a good house, full of friendship, laughter, and memories. My last day working at the Red House, I looked back to see a warm streak of sunlight coming in from the window illuminating the floor and freshly painted green walls in the chapel. I stood in the doorway and relished in the simple beauty of that moment, and I thought about all of the prayers that have been said in that chapel over the years. Prayers of our community and of past CCV’s. I thought about the all the prayers said in the mornings before work, at evening prayer before bed, and late into the night by restless souls. Prayers for all the teens and retreatants that have been ministered to throughout the years, prayers for discernment, for joy, courage, hope, and peace.  All those prayers were sure to fill up that little chapel.

Then the next two days were spent working with the Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Newburgh. That was also a challenging a humbling experience. I had worked with Habitat many time before, so I thought I knew what to expect. We arrived at the address we were given and found a house that was in complete disrepair. It was covered in filth. I felt dirty just standing there. At first I didn’t know what to think, I couldn’t even move, I was in shock by what I saw in front of my eyes. My next thoughts were of wanting to get out and run away from that place, but still I stayed, and as a group we slowly made countless trips in and out of the house clearing out dirt, trash, soiled clothes and furniture, broken drywall, and much more. As we kept working my thoughts turned to ones of questioning where God was in this situation. Where was God for the children who apparently lived in this house? Where was God among all the debris, mold, and stench? That answer didn’t come to me right away. When someone asked me in Theological Reflection where God was in all of that, I mumbled about God being in the hope that now Habitat is going to rehab the house for another well deserving family. Which is true, but what I realized later after much reflection with people much wiser and spiritually adept than I, that God was there. God was there in the people I was working with all week long, my service group and the Habitat workers, in their willingness to see hope and envision a better house and better life for another family. God was there in the midst of the filth, brokenness, and desolation that was that house, and even in the people who allowed that house to sink into such disrepair because God never abandons us. Even in our brokenness, even in our sin, and even in our shame, God never leaves us. He loves us through it all, and he forgives us. He wipes away all the filth and crud from our souls and washes them clean in the sacrament of Reconciliation. So God was in that house in Newburgh in the same way he was there in that small chapel in the Red House with the light streaming through the window.

So yes, College COP was just as great an experience for me this year as it was last year. This year I was put out of my comfort zone. This year I was challenged. This year I had to seek out where God was in my service, more so than last year. And I found Him.

This post was written by Amanda Bielat. 

Esopus

Last week the Cap Corps Volunteer community went on retreat to the Marist Brothers Center in Esopus, New York. A friar from the Province, Fr. Sam, gave the retreat to the five young adults.

The theme of this retreat was belonging. We explored contemplative prayer, poetry, and beauty. Our retreat began Tuesday evening and ended Friday afternoon. Each morning and night we had a "silent sit" or intentional quiet time. Our breakfasts and lunches were also had in silence. Each afternoon we had a couple of hours of free time, where we were allowed to relax, pray, or encounter Christ in reconciliation.  One of the most enjoyable parts of the retreat was our interaction with the full time volunteers at Esopus. During each of our meal times we were greeted with the same hospitality that we try to show our guests at CYFM. It was so nice to be on the receiving end of that grace though. The Marist volunteers have a blog too, you can check it out here.We had conversation at dinner, and some community time in the evening. We played games, had dessert, and tended to the fire in the living room.

Our introduction to contemplative prayer was through Thomas Keating and Centering Prayer. I found this practice particularly difficult. Although I am content with quiet, I often let my mind race and wander through parts of my day, my prayer life, and through past experiences. I usually end up taking one thing and thinking through it thoroughly, and not actually praying. This wasn't really what we were supposed to be doing. And for some reason, I couldn't actually focus on the point of centering prayer. Instead I thought about next year, and many other things.

To be honest, I probably should have taken the opportunity for "spiritual companionship" during free time. Rather, I took a shower, a brief nap, read for a bit, and took a walk down to the river.

As I approached the Hudson River, I couldn't get over the shards of ice that were floating along with the current, and getting left behind on the shore. It was kind of gloomy out. I say kind of because it was gray, but it was rather warm out, which made it bearable to walk around outside.

I couldn't get over how the ice resembled glass in appearance, but also in sound. The different pieces of ice clanked against each other, moving down the river, taking turns riding along with one another. It really was spectacular. On the way to dinner that night Fr. Sam and I spoke about how cool this was, but also serene and somewhat eerie. I think that this experience put me in a better place to reflect on beauty in the context of belonging.

We read poetry from Mary Oliver, Gerard Manley Hopkins, as well as others. I had never studied any of the poets that we read, but I was especially captivated by Hopkins use of language in As Kingfishers Catch Fire.

I say móre: the just man justices;

Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;

Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is —

Isn't it beautiful?! I never had the chance to study Hopkins, so I may be looking into some of his collected works in the near future... or when I have a chance to read (probably next year).

I think that the combination of contemplation, poetry, beauty, and a sprinkle of Laudato Si was beneficial for these Cap Corps. We spend so much time reflecting as a group throughout our normal (as normal as it can be) schedule. The quiet, although difficult for some, was nice. It was nice to spend that time with the Lord, in a more structured and relaxed way.

With love and gratitude,
Mary

Walking with St. Therese and St. Francis!

 As I sat down to write this blog post, I was looking for inspiration and there on my wall I saw my Tau cross hanging and surrounded by these inspiring quotes that came with my room!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…” This is something I am always working on and need to work on. My story of how I got to CYFM is a story of learning how to trust God and learning to let go of my own vision of how things should work out.

St. Francis and St. Therese are two of my favorite saints and their feast days were both celebrated this month! I find their stories inspiring and I have found Franciscan spirituality becoming a big part of my own spirituality.  St. Therese is known as the Little Flower and is often remembered for her little way. She was a Saint who did ordinary things in an extraordinary way. She would offer up little sacrifices as a prayer for others, and she would offer up her own suffering. She also had a remarkable way of looking at things. She could look at the most negative situation you could think of and turn it in to something beautiful! What I love about her story is she that it’s so simple. She had a deep love for Jesus and that was enough to inspire great things. She reminds us that we are all called to be Saints!

My journey to CYFM was not an easy one but I had St. Therese to remind me to look for the beauty in it all. By January of my senior year of college I had my next steps all planed out. I was going to be a missionary for an organization that had a very positive influence in my life. The mission of this is organization is to “Awaken youth to the power of God’s love”, and this mission spoke to my heart. I was packed and ready to go in July, but three weeks before the program started I got a phone call. I was suddenly unaccepted. I was crushed. I had felt so strongly called by God to be part of this missionary program and it was suddenly taken away.

I scrambled to find something to do with my year. I did not know what I wanted to do and was forced to truly rely on God for a plan. I found myself part of a Franciscan service program, Change a Heart.  I lived in Pittsburgh, I lived in community, and I served as a preschool teacher. There were a lot of ups and downs but over all I loved it. However it did not fill the desire in my heart to radically be living for Christ and to be using my story, my experiences, to lead young people to His love.

I began thinking ahead a searching for what was next. I applied to Hard as Nails Ministries, but by the time they responded to my application they were already full. I applied to NET Ministries, but I did not get accepted. I was beginning to question my desires to serve God, if this is what He wants me to do why isn’t it working out?  Then I found Capuchin Youth and Family Ministries.  I interviewed within a few weeks of applying and I was accepted before returning to Pittsburgh. 

Saint Therese was convinced of her vocation. She faced a lot of obstacles but she persevered. Because of her perseverance and because of the obstacles she faced she became a beautiful witness. Her witness gives me hope that even though my journey was challenging, I was still following God’s plan He has for me. 

Entering into my second year of service as part of a Franciscan service program I am beginning to develop a stronger sense of what it means to live in the spirit of Saint Francis.  Growing up I knew Saint Francis as the animal lover, and always thought of him as a peaceful guy. There is so much more to him than that.  Working closely with the Capuchin friars has helped me to see what it means to live out Franciscan spirituality. Saint Francis desired to become like those he served, he was not afraid to go against the grain, and he loved relentlessly. People said that when they met Saint Francis they felt like they were meeting Jesus himself. Saint Francis loved Jesus so much that he wanted to take on His suffering; he loved Him so much that he received the stigmata.  To live in the spirit of Saint Francis is to love Jesus so much that His desirers come before your own, to live in the spirit of Saint Francis means serving others with a joyful and a humble heart. 

As I live out my year as a CCV I hope that I can grow in Franciscan spirituality. I hope that I can learn from Saint Francis and be a witness of Christ’s love to all who I encounter.

Until next time,

-Sam