WOW, what a weekend!

That is all I have say about the weekend.  "WOW, what a weekend!" This year at UMKC we hosted a local retreat for out student leaders. I am going to honest with you and let you know that we are not in any means expert at hosting retreats. Each of my teammates has something special to offer the students. If it's in their ability to get people excited or in a prayerful mood.  We have been praying to Our Lady of Perpetual Help to protect us. 

My two favorite highlights of the weekend were Ready, Set, Go and Outreach.  Ready, Set, Go, was a talk assigned to an employee of the diocese.  She is a dynamic individual and more than willing to preach the truth to anyone she meets. She was doing just that this Saturday morning at Planned Parenthood that she was not able to make it on time for her talk.  So the Holy Spirit guided me to lead the talk about the Go Gospel.  One of my favorite subjects to talk about.  We cannot give what we don't have.  I lived a life of mortal sin and I was personally attempting to evangelize my peers, but nothing was working. It's because I was not providing Jesus to them, I was providing my sinful self.  If we want to evangelize other souls, we need a clean soul.  We need to be cleansed. It's only through the sacrament of confession and true repentance can we bring souls to Christ.  

But guess what, even with a clean soul we will not necessarily bring others to Christ. We need to know how to influence others. One of the biggest mistakes we make is being rude without even knowing it. Such as: timeliness, not giving them our full attention, distractions, not listening, making side track remarks, ect.  We need to talk to others like we are talking to Jesus.  Yes, that is right, talk to everyone you encounter as Jesus. The lady in the elevator this morning to the man ahead of you in line for lunch, treat them as Jesus. Now that is something to pray about for Lent. 

The outreach was amazing... here is an excerpt from my newsletter. 

"We split the student leaders up in groups with a missionary and told them go have fun! My group tried to have conversations, but it’s hard trying to make small talk and plug in our Savior in the conversation.  We met a couple who had promise rings and I talked to them about the importance of chastity and keeping God always number one in their relationship (plus words of encouragement and thanks for their witness). We also ran into some girls that were just at the mall to meet some boys, we tried to convince them that Jesus is the best boy to meet; I know the Lord will bring fruit through that conversation.

Here is excerpt from a student I have been discipling for quite a while now named Tiffany Bell and what the weekend meant to her!

“FOCUS student leaders had the opportunity to spend the entire weekend away from campus growing in relationship with one another and our Lord.  We were able receive the Sacraments and spend time in prayer as well as hear talks by our missionaries as well as other FOCUS staff members.  The retreat fueled me for the semester, reminding me of what is truly important as I live my life as a college student.

By attending and leading a FOCUS Bible Study, I am able to spend time in fellowship with other Catholic students learning about God's plan for our lives.  Events hosted by FOCUS have given me the friends that I need to support me in my struggle to live a holy life as a college student. Discipleship with Jacqueline as helped me to grow deeper in my spiritual life, giving me the tools to strengthen my prayer life as well as help others along their journey.  The work that FOCUS has done here at UMKC has truly changed the way I live my life.