Young Adult News

August 2024 Edition

The Games Have Begun!

The Olympic Games can capture our attention as we watch people who have trained for years compete against each other for the title of best. Regardless of your sport of preference, the energy and commitment of the participants is so focused.

Saint Paul talks with Timothy about running the race, keeping the faith and capturing the prize God has in store for him and all who are faithful to Jesus.

Consider how your training is going - do others recognize you as a follower of Jesus?

Sharing from a Young Adult who attended the Eucharistic Congress

Thanks to Sister Val’s connections, I was able to attend the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, fully sponsored by a kind Catholic donor. Sister Val knew I lived in Indiana, so it was a short drive for me to get there. From the moment I began my drive to Indy, God was already in the works. I didn’t know it yet, but the theme for Friday was healing. I have a few wounds of my own, but I thought I’d just have to learn to live with them. They are my cross to bear. However, upon arriving at Congress on Friday morning, my very first speaker session was with Dr. Mary Healy and Fr. Mathias Thelen. They led an incredible meditative prayer session for 10,000+ people and encouraged us to ask Jesus to heal our wounds. This moment set off what would become one of the most spiritually enriching experiences of my life. “Healing” quickly became the theme of my entire weekend. As I prepared to move across the country for my dream job just a few days later, this weekend truly represented an entirely new beginning for me. The healing that I experienced was nothing short of God’s hand at work in my life, from the new friends that I made, to the old friends I encountered across the city. I will never forget this experience. And to anyone who is struggling with wounds or facing a big new chapter in life, bring your wounds to Jesus, and that’s where you’ll begin to heal.

~Patrick Lehe

Ignatian Family Communities Begin!

Our Online Family Community begins September 22, 2024.

Jesuit Connections is partnering with Goodfaith to offer an online family community inspired by Ignatian Spirituality, beginning on Sept. 22.

Family Matters is a year-long program for families with children ranging from infants through high school. Together, we will explore faith through prayer, service, discernment, and community building.

The program and online platform include:

resources for self-led family activities and projects,
virtual community meetings to interact with other families,
online small group discussions,
mentors to accompany families throughout the journey,
spiritual direction for parents,
materials offered in both English and Spanish.

Click on the link below for more information and to register.

Ignatian Family Communities Begin! — Ignatian Young Adult Ministries (ignatianyoungadults.org)

Christus Ministries Caritas 67 Retreat

It was a privilege and a joy to serve on the retreat team for Chirstus Ministries Caritas 67 “Discover Love Anew,” a retreat focused on important and significant relationships - with God, yourself, and others. Christus Ministries has been helping young adults develop a prayer life, a discerning heart, a collaborative way of serving, and a connection to parish life, for the past twenty years. Caritas 67 was held June 27-30, 2024, at Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside, California. There were 47 retreatants who participated in the weekend, and I was a small group co-facilitator and gave one of the talks.

The retreat includes individual and group prayer, daily Mass, talks, shared meals, time for reflection, Reconciliation, relaxation, and fun. I highly recommend this retreat experience and the other excellent retreat offerings and events Christus Ministries offers. For more information and for their schedule of retreats and events their website is: https://www.christusministries.org/

~Sister Val

Young Adults Participate in Gethsemani Pilgrimage

We had shared that a Young Adult Pilgrimage to Gethsemani was being offered. The idea came from the young adult retreat planning team and was well received. For those of you unfamiliar with Gethsemani, it is a Catholic monastery located in Nelson County, Kentucky, near Bardstown. Founded in 1848 by monks from Melleray Abbey in France, it is part of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, commonly known as the Trappists. The abbey is the place where Thomas Merton was a member.

Our group gathered on the morning of June 29 for an opening prayer, and to reflect on what a time of pilgrimage is and what each hoped to gain from the day. Each received a booklet with prayers and readings to use throughout the day.

Because it was the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the monks had a later Mass that day, and we were able to take part in it with them. We were also able to meet with Brother Luke, learn more about the monastery and have a little tour. It was very gracious of him to spend time with us.

Each person could choose how to spend a few hours in the afternoon - opportunities were available for celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation, hiking to the Gethsemani statues, visiting the Welcome Center and Gift Shop, and spending time in prayer in church. Our shared reflection time before leaving was a graced time, noting how God had been encountered during the day.

~Sister Ruth

Synod on Synodality

Placing Jesus at the centre of our lives requires some degree of self-emptying. In this perspective, providing a listening ear means being willing to ‘decentre’ oneself in order to leave space for the other. We have experienced this in the dynamic of conversations in the Spirit. It is a demanding ascetical exercise that obliges each person to recognize his or her own limitations and the partiality of his or her point of view. Because of this, it opens the possibility of listening to the voice of the Spirit of God that speaks to those beyond the borders of the ecclesial community, and can initiate a journey of change and conversion. (16.c.)

A webinar with Father Timothy Radcliffe, OP was recorded by Liturgical Press entitled, "A Spirituality of Listening: Friendship in Fractured Times." The link is below.

Liturgical Press Webinar

Discernment for

Religious Life

Are you wondering about a call to religious life? The Sisters of Notre Dame Vocation Team is working with many women interested in exploring this call and learning more about discernment. If you want to be added to a list of faith sharing, retreats, and other opportunities for discerners, contact us at vocations@sndusa.org.

If you have not yet had a chance to listen to Sister Kaitlin Morse's interview on religious life, the link is included here again - BECOMING A NUN IN MY 20s w/ Sr. Kaitlin Morse, SND | EP34 (youtube.com)