I left the GS Vacation with a longing for more...

Last night I watched a movie named Courageous and it struck me that this one police officer was able to find the positivity of the reality around him even when his daughter died and his friend was caught stealing from evidence, when I don’t see it and I seem to have a perfect life. This along with the G.S. Vacation made me look at how I have been living and question what I was doing and whether it satisfied me or not. This was my second vacation and I went to see old friends and have a good weekend more so than to learn about myself and understand more about reality and my needs. During the vacation I roomed with four amazing individuals and they began to open my eyes to something I had shut myself off from. I began to look at what I had been doing with my life and whether it satisfied me or I just did it because it was cool or it would stop me from being bored. I began to understand the needs I had, and to realize that I alone couldn’t fulfill my needs because I desire what is impossible. I began to learn more about myself and others around me and about the inexorable positivity of reality. I left the vacation with a longing for more and a desire to learn and develop a relationship with Christ. These events help us to see what fulfills our need and our desire for more.

~ Chris B. , GS student

Hope within the Darkness

In the beginning, I was young...he was handsome. he said I was beautiful, smart, worthy of love...make me feel that way. And so we were married, walking joyfully together down a church aisle, our union blessed by God.

The came the angry words...the verbal tearing apart...Now I was made to feel ugly, unintelligent, unworthy of any love, God's or man's.

next came the beatings...unrelenting violence...unceasing pain. I shouldn't stay, but this is my husband...promised forever. he says i deserve it...maybe I do...if I could just be good. I feel so alonge...doesn't God hear me when I cry out silently as I lie in bed each night?

Finally came the release, the realization. It's not me...it's him...I am worthy of love, God's and man's. One spring morning, my heart was filled with hope and with fear now only of starting over on my own. And so again I walked...down the hallway of our apartment building...never agin to be silent...never again to live with that kind of violence, to suffer that kind of pain.

- A battered wife (Excerpted form "When Home is Where the Hurt Us," Christopher News Notes, no. 326.)

Last evening at PROOF, the High School youth were invited to listen to a guest speaker share her story of a high school relationship that turned into a marriage with domestic abuse. The speaker shared about the warning signs of an unhealthy relationship with one of the main signs being control over the other person. She also talked about how a person who experiences domestic abuse doesn't have a specific profile and it can happen to anyone. It's an incremental process that breaks a person down. The hope for the evening was to plant the seed of what is and is not a healthy relationship, the resources available to get help and how we are called to treat every person with love, worth and dignity.

~Angie Slattery

The Source of True Happiness

During our small group meetings, we talked about confirmation’s effects and purpose. We reflected on how the sacrament is related to our eternal happiness.

We talked about how God created us to be happy and that we can only find true happiness in God alone. St Thomas Aquinas’ discussion on those things in which man’s happiness consists helped the class to understand why man finds happiness in God alone. Not wealth, honors, fame, power, health, pleasures or created goods truly make us happy because it is impossible for any created good to make us happy. It is God alone who is the source of our true happiness because He created our souls to find happiness in him alone.

Instead of helping us attain true happiness, our society many times encourages us to seek happiness in sinful ways. When we fall into sin, we turn away from God who is the source of our happiness.

Confirmation binds us closer to Christ, it increases the Holy Spirits gifts in us, and it perfects our bond with the Church and gives us special strength of the Holy Spirit necessary to live a fully Catholic life. It increases our love of God and neighbor and strengthens us so that we are free to follow Jesus’ commands to love God above all else and to love and serve our neighbor as ourselves, even when it is not easy.

~ Reflection from Terry Smith's Confirmation small group

Insight from Small Group Discussion

In our small groups as went around sharing how our past week went, one person shared her frustration with a classmate. Her classmate had done a literal interpretation of a Bible story. Her frustration grew when trying to explain to her classmates how the story was not meant to be taken literal. Others in our small group could relate. Some had shared disagreements with their parents, friends, etc. How often frustration in our relationship with others has been the result of incorrect information or feeling misunderstood? Perhaps this week we could look at seeking understanding and patience to hear what those around us have say.

~ Anne Baron & Collin Kelley's Small Group

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Tonight we spent time examining the gifts of the holy spirit. We looked at courage, knowledge, wisdom, right judgment, reverence, wonders & awe in God's presence and understanding. We spent time discussing them and each person took time to think about and share which was their strength and area they wanted to grow.

We also discussed the importance of understanding your gifts and using them for the good of God. We talked about how using these gifts is a key way to show God how we appreciate the gifts He gives us. We read a booked called, "Strength Finder" which talks about how using our gifts can be a key part of a happy and joyful life.

~ Reflections from Greg Sherman's Small Group

November 2nd Friday: Rock Climbing

Rock climbing is a lot like life. Sometimes you stumble and fall backwards, but you always have a crowd of people cheering you on; you just have to listen for them. On November 11th, 9 young people from our parish went to Prairie Walls Climbing Gym. For two hours we climbed up the rock walls and repelled back down. I think it was a way for all of us to bring out some of the qualities that we didn't know we had. Some of us could make it to the top in no time, others took twenty minuets for one wall. But the cool part was that everyone got to the top of at least one wall. There were times we had to help each other find the right rocks to step on or grab a hold of; other times all we had to do was say "good job" or "keep going". It was hard to see how close you were to the top and having that one person remind you of how little you had to go was extremely reassuring. It's weird to think that a leisurely activity can teach us the value of having someone there to keep you going. But then again, God works in miraculous ways; He can teach us things in ways we would never expect Him to, we just have to keep ourselves open for opportunities that just might show up in unexpected activities.

-Anonymous

Wisdom Gained from an Angel Tree Christmas

Being able to see a group of kids make a difference in a family's Christmas is priceless. Being able to be apart of it is different. Buying presents for a child that you could possibly never see is something that is worth it. After helping shop for the kids, getting the party ready, you learn that these gifts mean more to them than you could imagine. Being at a party that may only have 1 kid show up at is sad, but changing that kid's thinking and attitude is great. Many kids who come are silent at first. Getting them to play games, laugh or color is a challenge. When they talk, its almost like they are suprised about the people around them. This year, I was happy to be able to have a child open up and have fun. All of us had fun and enjoyed seeing him open up presents. I have seen kids that are so happy that they got a present from a parent that they haven't seen in a long time. I've learned that giving your time to a little group, could mean a lot to others. I also learned that what you can give is far better than what you can recieve.

~Hannah Schwieters, 12th Grade

Hannah has helped with the Angel Tree Christmas party for four years. Angel Tree Ministry is a service project youth involved in PROOF participate in each year. Youth donate money and purchase gifts on behalf of imprisoned parents. Then, they host a Christmas party for these families.