Vision for the Mission

These past few months have been focused (haha) on discernment for my life. I am constantly finding myself asking the question, "Lord, what the heck am I supposed to do next year?" I feel pressure from all sides to make a swift decision, and it's understandable. FOCUS needs to know what I am doing, so they can either find my replacement to lead the team at NAU, find a place for me at the Support Center, or a number of other things. My family wants to know when I'll be home, if I'm moving back to Denver, and what my life is going to look like. My friends are split down the middle. Even with all of this swimming around me, I am not allowing it to steal my peace. The previous two weeks have been hectic, stressful, and I have not allowed myself to be at peace while trying to make a decision. I no longer allow this.

I sat with myself in prayer the last few days and tried to find my passion. Yes, I am passionate about Jesus Christ. He is everything to me. I sat with my own heart, dissecting it to find what He laid upon it in order to find what He wants. I don't know any more what my life is supposed to look like, but I do know one thing: Evangelization is my passion. I rarely get worked up when giving a talk with the same passion and force unless it's about evangelization. I spent about an hour with some ladies who spent their time telling me that some people in their sphere of young adults are all about prayer and others are all about evangelization - as if the two are entirely separate. I see something happening in some hearts, and it scares me. There used to be a false dichotomy of people within the Church - those who were faithful and those who loved social justice. This did not and does not make sense; a very faithful Archbishop has been quoted saying, "If we do not take care of the poor, we are going to hell." He also stresses the need for daily prayer and an intensity within the Sacramental life. Here is my dilemma, people - Evangelization is VITAL. It is not an option, no matter who you are. If you are Catholic, you are called to evangelize. This doesn't mean you are called to be a street-preacher. This doesn't mean you are called to be a FOCUS Missionary, necessarily, but you are a missionary.

To evangelize is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her profound identity."

-Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi

I sit in prayer, and I become on fire for this mission of the world. "If you are would you ought to be, you will set the world on fire." -St. Catherine of Sienna. Why shouldn't I set the world on fire? "I came to set the world on fire, and how I wish it were already ablaze!" -Luke 2:49 Is it not written in the end of the Gospel of Matthew that Christ's final words to his disciples, prior to his Ascension, were to "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations." Wow, this isn't an option. It's beautiful, and the ultimate goal of prayer, to have the prayer life described by Blessed John Paul II, "This great mystical tradition...shows how prayer can progress, as a genuine dialogue of love to the point of rendering the person wholly possessed by the Divine Beloved, vibrating at the Spirit's touch, resting filially within the Father's Heart." (NMI 33) However, a fruit of this prayer, this relationship should be the bring this love, this prayer, this beauty, this GRACE to the lives of others. If we are not evangelizing, if we are not bringing the fruit of pure light into the darkness of our world filled with the Culture of Death, we are not truly fulfilling our lives as Christians, as Catholics. We are universal. We follow the Truth. We should bring that truth to others, and it is NOT EVER a choice. Yes, a choice of free will, but should not ever be a "I'll be prayerful or evangelical". No. This is a false dichotomy that the Evil One tries to play within the grounds of our minds and hearts. Do not believe it.

So, my passion lies in this - teaching others how to reach the lost. My heart was created for this. I don't know what that means for my life, but I do know what it means for the next few months - I am renewed in this vision:

We will pierce hearts on the NAU campus with the Gospel and bring students face-to-face with Jesus Christ so that they must make a lifelong decision and must lead others to do the same.

FOCUS at NAU Mission Statement

Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel has come!

The last few weeks, I have been spending time in my prayer and heart "preparing for the birth of the Lord". Really, it's a funny thing to think about - how does one truly prepare themselves for the birth of someone who has already been born? I've spent extra time in the writings of the Saints. I've tried my darndest to figure out the meaning of the "Coming of the Lord". See, I know that in a few short months I will be shouting from the rooftops about the Resurrection of the same Man who was just born this very morning.


I began to place myself, once again, in the lives of those who were placed on the earth before Christ was born. I want to sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel!" when I put myself there. The idea that these people had no idea where their redemption was going to come from (outside of these little hints from a crazy guy named Isaiah ;) ) is a completely foreign concept for the hearts of us who often fall into complacency! They continued to be actively seeking their Messiah, their Savior. They knew He was coming, and they didn't want to miss a second of Him. They begged God everyday for Him to be born upon the Earth and save them! There were people who remained in the temple day and night to await His coming. There was confusion, brokenness and so much fear. Wow - so it's like today! I had a small moment of great rejoicing in the coming of Emmanuel today when I returned home from my sister's.


I was very much looking forward to coming back to Denver for this Christmas season! I even drove in conditions I probably shouldn't have for about 70 of my 900 mile journey just to be with my siblings this very Christmas Eve (watch the Broncos play and have breakfast with my family). I came back to my parents' house where my car is still stuck out front in the foot of snow that the plow left for us to park in, and no one else home. It was a beautiful experience to sit alone on Christmas Eve. I walked to my sister's for a couple hours, and came home soon after to finish wrapping and prepare for midnight. I pulled open my laptop to play my new favorite Christmas songs - Brandon Heath's "Night Before Christmas" (which I blogged about before), Phil Wickham's "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel", and Francesca Battistelli's "You're Here", and jumped onto Twitter out of habit. I was trying to think of my Christmas Tweet to my friends on Twitter, when I looked to see what was trending. I was certain Tim Tebow would be on that list, and, alas, I was right. To my grandest surprise, there was something trending far more than Timmy tonight (despite his terrible showing of FOUR TURNOVERS) - Midnight Mass. Screaming "O, Come, Emmanuel" in my head when I drive past the Adult Stores, when I see the destitution of Flagstaff, when I think about the culture I live in everyday I walk on campus to bring Him to the students and the students to Him, suddenly was before my face. He's here! For a brief moment, the entire world stood still about 2000 years ago when a star appeared in the sky. Angels sang shepherds from their flocks to worship the tiniest and most vulnerable of people. More people in this world believe in the existence of angels than they do in the existence of God. People, the world was less shaken by Gabriel's appearance to Mama Mary, an angel coming to the earth to visit a human being and call her Blessed, than it was the birth of GOD. When I looked to see that more people were posting about Him, not just being born upon the earth, but that they had seen and received Him, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity just a few moments before was absolutely breath-taking. In that moment, joy was born again into my soul. In that moment, in my parents' basement, all alone on Christmas Eve, I found myself at a loss for words at the entire world standing still for yet another moment. The very moment He came down to experience humanity in humility.





REJOICE! REJOICE! EMMANUEL HAS COME TO YOU, OH ISRAEL!





The vulnerability of the Christ Child has brought me to my knees once again. He's here. So today, I hold Jesus in my arms. Today I bring myself to the manger stable, and I rejoice with my entire being at Incarnation. Happy birthday, beautiful baby boy, and welcome to this wonderful world You created.





"What came about in bodily form in Mary, the fullness of the godhead shining through Christ in the Blessed Virgin, takes place in a similar way in every soul that has been made pure. The Lord does not come in bodily form, for 'we no longer know Christ according to the flesh,' but He dwells in us spiritually and the Father takes up His abode with him, the Gospel tells us. In this way the child Jesus is born in each of us."


-St. Gregory of Nyssa - "On Virginity"

Well, I'm back...

I love the world; it's so backwards. Does anybody else notice this? We are currently celebrating Christmas as a world! Shoot, we didn't even get the turkeys in the oven before many stores, Starbucks and other retail areas had put up the Christmas decor. Wait, though, I'm Catholic! We still have Advent! How many of us will be sorry that Christmas is over on December 26th? Well, the Liturgical calendar has it right - we celebrate an entire 8 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS! Gotta love the idea of the octave!

This is all coming to me after listening to what is now most likely my favorite Christmas Song. Yes, I caved into the Christmas spirit a little early, as well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCitZPr2oD0 You should totally listen to this...





The Lord offered me the awesome opportunity to dwell more deeply on the mystery of the Incarnation through the Blessed Virgin through this song. I love the beauty of the Child Christ. How humble! This song really captures the confusion of the world - each of our lives, really - before the birth of Jesus. Frightened, hurt, frustrated, confused, lost. I don't actually want to dwell on the idea of conversion in relation to this song. Actually, I was granted a beautiful meditation on the Blessed Mother, herself.





Recently, a friend of mine gave birth to her first child. Because of the phenomena known as social media, I was able to see pictures of the beautiful baby girl before I could meet her this past week (Thanks for coming to Kona, baby Lucy!). I thought a great deal on the idea of birth - giving life. Then Advent happened. Whoa. Hey, world!! Mary is only in her 8th month of pregnancy - bun's not out of the oven, yet, kids! Kneeling after receiving communion one morning in the Newman Center chapel, I had an amazing meditation of Mary. I have always marveled in the idea of pregnancy and birth; I'm a woman who naturally has the inclination toward motherood! I have always loved the devotions to the Baby Jesus, like the Infant of Prague. It's beautiful to think of such great humility our Lord, our Master, and most importantly our greatest ally and Savior takes upon Himself! I have rarely spent much time thinking on the pregnancy of Mary. Ok, that's not true...but what a blessing Elizabeth had to place her hands the first Tabernacle - the holy womb that held the salvation and greatest gift to all of mankind! Instead of jumping the gun and holding the Infant Jesus in my prayer to prepare for His Birth (so backwards...so worldly!), I began to remember that she had to give birth first! The truth of patience is now before my face in prayer everyday as Mary and I both await the birth of her child! What was going through her mind and heart? "My Lord! I am so greatly pleased, but I simply cannot wait to meet Him!!" If she could wait the 9 months to bear the Savior for the entirety of humankind, I think I can wait one month with her to prepare my heart, mind, soul, mission, and most importantly LIFE for the coming of my King.





Since it's only halfway through the first of four weeks of Advent, I think there will be more to come on this meditation!

Katie

“My whole life I’ve looked at my faith as a code by which to live and eventually if I followed this code, I would be happy and satisfied. I thought I had a strong faith foundation but that foundation crumbled when I heard John Leyendecker’s talk at Focus Conference 2011. I heard of his strong relationship with Christ and Mary his mother, and realized that I did not have that in my life. I had never thought that a relationship with Christ was what I needed. I thought obedience was enough. During Dr. Reyes’s keynote, he spoke about how God gave us free will to obey him and love him. I thought that I had known this fact before and tried to explain it to others. So much more came out of it when he added that God will follow us no matter what we do; He will never give up on us. Faith seemed to become more of a journey with the Lord and not just obedience. Then came Chris Stefanick’s talk making all of us take a step back and look at what the Lord has done for us and how much he loves us. This made Dr. Reyes’s talk even more poignant because at that point I realized that Christ loves us so much that he will follow us on our journey through life. In one weekend my faith changed from being simple obedience to God’s Word to a journey with the Lord where I can have a relationship with my Creator and where I can run to him with any need that I have.”
-Katie, Freshman

Megan

“During a short talk with a FOCUS missionary, I was caught off guard by an offer to attend a FOCUS conference in Denver after the first of the year. I have attended Catholic Conferences previously when I was a teenager and was familiar with these big talks that are so intense and give you the feeling that you are on top of the world, and you are a changed person. Then reality hits and it’s back to the same daily life of sin and suffering. I am now a junior in college and have been distant from the church for about 2 years. As I sat there with the opportunity to take on this ‘Conference’ once again, I thought about how I did not want to take this scholarship away from someone who would be on fire for God after the conference more than I would be. As I thought about it, I made a promise to God; I will not use this experience for my own self happiness but to gain something more. What I did not expect was to fall in love with Christ in a way that changed my heart forever. I opened my heart to God, and He came into it with a purpose, a purpose to love me and take me on this pilgrimage that will be life- long and lead me to the kingdom of heaven. By the Grace of God, I have been able to see the light through the FOCUS conference, and I will always thank that one person God put in my life to encourage me to take a chance - one that will never be forgotten.”
-Megan, Junior

Student Testimonies

"The Newman Center has definitely been a highlight of my first year in college. It has, first and foremost, helped increase my love and knowledge of God through the bible study and has played a key role in helping me develop a strong faith. I’m especially glad that NAU’s campus is a FOCUS campus. The missionaries were extremely helpful in getting me involved and helping me feel comfortable within the community. Not to mention the FOCUS conference was an amazing experience and helped affirm my faith. Without the help of FOCUS and the Newman Center I can’t imagine how much more of a different person I would be. Especially in college when it can be hard to find people who have the same ideals, morals, and behaviors as you do when trying to live a Catholic life. I’m very thankful for all the people I have met through the Newman Center as they help keep me strong and remind me of God’s love for us as his children."

-Alejandro, Freshman

New Post Coming Soon!

The Adventures of Arizona are coming soon! Keep your eyes open for the excitement that is my life in Flagstaff!