Legend of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

This week, the Gold Team is at the parish of Forty Martyrs in Tuscola, IL and St. John the Baptist in Arcola (pictured below respectively, outside then in).

I'm not sure I had ever heard the story of the forty martyrs, but it's pretty interesting. Here's the story as found on a holy card I found in the church:

"About 320 A.D., Roman Christian soldiers ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods refused and were exposed naked on ice in a lake, tempted by a warm bath nearby. One renounced his faith, entered the warm water, and died. A guard nearby had visions of angels giving them precious gifts. Moved by the Holy Spirit he removed his clothes and died with them."

The week has been pretty great so far! The team's a little tired, but there have been many moments through the week where I feel as though God is picking me up and encouraging me onward. Adoration this week was spectacular...gotta love spending an hour with Jesus in the middle of a crazy hectic week!

Sorry for the short post. I was hoping to do more, but it's almost prayer time and I'm a little tired. Pax!

Hello, Paris!

Okay, sure, it's not quite as exciting as Paris, France, but it's a start, right?!

The Gold Team for Totus Tuus 2011 Springfield just arrived yesterday at our new digs in Paris, IL, still located in the very eastern part of our fine diocese/state. Paris is a town of about 9,100 and was founded in 1823 (I think that's what I read on the sign on the way into town?). This week, the three other missionaries and I will be serving the parishes of St. Mary (pictured below) and St. Aloysius (which is a smaller, rural parish nearby).

If you can't tell from the pictures, the architecture of the Church is astounding and fairly unique to our diocese (at least what I've seen of it). St. Aloysius was similarly beautiful, albeit in a less sweeping way. St. Al's is apparently (from what Father told us in the car ride over to Mass at 7 am this morning) the oldest running parish in the diocese, having its start in a log cabin built in 1817 as a part of some diocese in Kentucky. They're located only about 5 miles from the border to Indiana and we actually crossed the road which marks the border between the old United States and Indian Territory. A nice little piece of history for this morning!

After a long day of playing on a jet ski, swimming, and cooking out (with the girls' host family) at Twin Lakes, we settled down for the evening program, preceded by a performance from a band consisting of four of the kids who were coming to the program. The parish provided pizza and they provided the music...a nice way to get the kids to come out and participate! It must have worked, as 27 people ended up being our final tally for the night program (only about half that were previously registered I think...). Praise God! I'm feeling good things coming out of this parish!

Mary, Mother of God and St. Aloysius, Pray for us!!

Goodbye, Robinson!

So for the first week of Totus Tuus, the eight missionaries made ourselves at home in Robinson, IL, welcomed so kindly by the parishioners of St. Elizabeth (church pictured below) and Our Lady of Lourdes.

The families we met were incredible and having the two teams together in one parish was an amazing experience. We all bonded so well that it made it very difficult to want to separate for our next 6 parishes. But that's the essence of our mission!! Gotta spread the love!

Before we left, we had the great blessing of spending Friday night with one of the host families, whose son happened to be turning 9. I think it was probably one of the funnest nights I've had in quite a while. We laughed and laughed...mostly about the goofy stuff that we do to get kids to open up to God...but it made the union and family into which Christ calls us seem so tangible. It was an absolutely beautiful thing.

Yesterday afternoon, as we were driving to the new parish, the girls read the note that the high-school aged daughter of that family had written to us. She explained how seeing a group of excited, college-aged kids who were so willing to be goofy was all it took to get her to "want to be Catholic for the rest of her life." I was so floored by her note. While I certainly don't seek or hope for those earthly consolations, I believe that God does indeed provide them for specific reasons. I know that in the difficult moments of this summer, I'll be able to think back to how I, through God's graces and talents within me, have helped to draw her closer in union with Christ and His plan for our salvation. And sometimes, a small consolation like that is all we need to take up our cross and carry on...

Training Complete--Now on to the Real Stuff

Wahoo!! Totus Tuus training is officially complete. After a whirl-wind week full of lots of learning and bonding, my seven teammates and I are finally fully commissioned little portals of evangelization!

Can I just say that BroomTree retreat center in Irene, SD is like a little slice of heaven? I very much enjoyed my week there without internet or other worldly distractions (not that we'd have much time for them if they were present).

Here are the cabins that we called home for a week:

And a picture of Sts. Isidore and Maria chapel just on the other hill! And it's inside:

And the lodge where we trained:

Also, there's just something about spending a week with complete strangers in a strange place that brings you together. The eight missionaries on the Springfield team are basically best friends now, despite the fact that we've only known each other for about 10 days. Here's my team (it's the only pic I have of all four of us right now...bear with me. Long story short: scavenger hunt requiring awkward family photo):

My mission this week leads me to the beautiful little town of Robinson, IL. Not too small and not too big. St. Elizabeth's and Our Lady of Lourdes (in Oblong, IL) are the Catholic Churches we are serving this week, and I'm very happy to be here! Tonight, the parish surprised us with 14 junior high and high schoolers that showed up, when only 5 were registered! Here's to starting the summer off right!

And So It Begins!

Totus Tuus started today!!! I'm actually really pumped about it, despite the fact that I was so busy this past week that I couldn't even think about the fact that it was starting up.

Now that I've had adequate time to reflect on what I'm getting myself into (again), I'm really very excited to be started with it again! The other team members seem pretty awesome, and I'm really pumped for what the summer has in store!

We're staying tonight at the Chiara Center in Springfield, IL, which is attached to the convent of the Hospital Sisters as well as a gorgeous chapel. It's pretty awesome and very hotel-like. Personally, I miss the Villa Maria, though...

Also, Deacon Brian Alford gets ordained for the Diocese of Springfield on Saturday!! I really wish I could go, but alas I'll be in South Dakota for training! Speaking of which, I leave at 8 am...time for bed!

Busy Times!

After departing the funeral on Monday, my family and I drove up to Champaign to collect the rest of my things from my college apartment. The trip was pretty quick, but not without its trials. Only twenty minutes into our return trip, the alternator of our truck decided to cease and desist, making all battery-run devices in our vehicle a precious commodity. We discovered (oddly enough) that at slower speeds, the alternator seemed to charge the car battery sufficiently for a short time, so we simply pulled over periodically to ensure that the fuel-injector (which runs off the battery) wouldn't stop giving our vehicle fuel (as is required for a car to move). This worked well...until we reached Decatur, where we had cleverly called ahead to an AutoZone to ask if they had a new alternator for us to purchase. We were in luck! They did...

And so as soon as we pulled off the exit, the truck died. Aww yeah. Long story short, dad thumbed his way to the AutoZone (still 5 plus miles away from us), while mom and my brother and I stayed in the car to explain to a curious police officer why we were pulled off the road in such a precarious place. An hour and ten minutes later, we were well on our way back home. We had some good jams going the entire way, too; gotta love family sing-alongs!

Today was a bit more chill. I spoke this morning to a local parish about Totus Tuus, hoping to increase the number of enrolled students for this summer. The parish coordinator and I moved from classroom to classroom, delivering a slightly-modified spiel to the un-suspecting children. Hopefully it served its purpose. It got me pumped up at least...

I'm also in the process of moving everything from the back of my truck to my bedroom. It seems like things expand in volume when they have to fit into smaller spaces. To thwart this problem, I've engaged in a battle with the things of my past, attempting to convince them that I no longer need them and that they'd find better rest at a trash dump than in my closet and under my bed. It's a process, and one that I probably don't have time for, but it's on its way.

Tomorrow I only have to finish that epic project, pack for Totus Tuus, and write about 30 thank you cards. Oh, and pick up my friend from New York at the St. Louis airport (yay!). And meet some friends for lunch. And do some banking. And maybe even sleep some before starting Totus Tuus bright and shiny on Thursday!

Heh...what can I say? I live a busy life, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Sometimes, being on the brink of so many exciting things is just, well, exciting.

--

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called. ~A.A. Milne

Death and Hope

On Monday, the family and I attended the funeral of my uncle's dad (Bill Fite). It struck me as I was sitting in the small country church that I wasn't very phased by death. After all, for Christians, death is only the parting of our spirit from this material world. What lies in store for our soul (given that we've lived a life worthy of our call to holiness) far surpasses what we could ever get from this earthly life. Of course I was sad to see the passing of a man held so dear to his family, but I couldn't help but be hopeful that Bill was in a far better place than I was, sitting in that little creaky church. All that saddened me was seeing the sadness of the family...perhaps they, too, would find hope in Christ's conquering of death. But at the very least, it's always a little hard to cope with never being able to see someone again. What completely wrecked my composure was seeing his great-grandchildren (about 7 and 4, give or take a couple of years on each), who certainly did not understand the circumstances. Their tears were sincerely hard to witness, but the family support was beautiful.

An aside: at the wake, the four-year-old was pulling on the bottom half of the casket, determined to look over the edge of it (but only succeeding in making several people anxious that the thing would topple over). Upon asking the child what he could possibly be doing, he replied simply: "I want to see where the other half of grandpa is." Kids just say the darnedest things...