Profound Wisdom

A message from Bishop Fulton J. Sheen...

"If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches in the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church which is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and of never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of bigotry, men say must be destroyed in the name of GOD as men crucified Christ and thought they had done a service to GOD. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He called Himself The Truth. Look for the Church which is rejected by the world as Our Lord was rejected by men. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its Voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. But only that which is Divine can be infinitely hated and infinitely loved. Therefore the Church is Divine."

24 hours to practice patience

Team picture after the wedding

Mikey, Paul, (Carlos - honorary member), Linda, Anna, Laurie and Megan

After a usual Friday at work, Corinne took me to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport for my 7 pm flight to Chicago-O’Hare, and then from Chicago to Newark for Linda and Chris Allen-Poole’s wedding. I quickly made it through security in less than 10 minutes, and then sat and read until my flight. However, when I arrived in Chicago, all plans were off – due to a computer glitch with Air Traffic Control and the FAA, coupled with bad weather on the East coast – ALL FLIGHTS out of Chicago to the East Coast were CANCELED!!!!!

I proceeded to get in a line of approx. 300 + very angry people who all needed to get on a plane to the East Coast tonight –this was going to be a problem. As I was standing in line, I also tried calling the rebooking number – and the soonest they could get me to Jersey for the 3 pm Sunday wedding was 10:30 am on Sunday. That wasn’t going to work! After many phone calls and waiting in the rebooking line until almost midnight – I was able to get a confirmed seat on a flight to St. Louis for 5 pm Saturday night, and then be routed to Newark at 10:30 pm to arrive in Newark at 12 Midnight – just in time for the Sunday afternoon wedding. Because the flight that didn’t leave Chicago until dinner the next day – I was required to sleep somewhere - - - and of course, all of the area hotels were totally booked from all of the canceled flights that had arrived sometime in the afternoon. So the city of Chicago provided us wayward travelers with military cots and blankets all lined up in the K Terminal. As we walked down the airport – I thought to myself – “this is quite the adventure, I wonder what else will happen?” I spoke too soon.

We arrived to the cot area, and I found something you might picture in a refugee movie, hundreds of cots lined up with people scattered everywhere. I grabbed my blanket and pillow and proceed to find the safest resting place. I parked myself between a young women talking anxiously on her phone and a sleeping elderly couple with their cots pushed together. I figured this would be safe. To ensure none of my belongings would be stolen, I put my backpack on my back, and used my purse as a 2nd pillow. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep. 1 am came and went, 2 am came and went, I think I fell asleep for a moment, and then it was 4 am – all of a sudden, whistles were blowing and men were yelling that it was time to get up. The airport opens officially at 4 am and Chicago doesn’t want a bunch of wayward travelers sleeping in their terminals during business hours. And so we were up. Hundreds of travelers wandering around looking for somewhere to sit or lay until their flight. I found an outlet, charged my phone and laid on the ground for a little nap. This time I fell asleep. I managed to get myself on stand by to get into St. Louis sooner, in hopes on getting on a standby flight from St. Louis to Newark sooner – and I got on! I was into St. Louis by 12 – only to wait there until my 10:30 pm flight to Newark. Stand by was totally booked, and the earlier flight was overbooked – so I kept my original ticket and submitted to God’s perfect will – practicing patience in the airport, and being joyful about it.

I arrived safely in Newark around 11:30 pm Saturday night – exactly 24 hours after my originally scheduled travel. Megan and Mikey picked me up promptly, not wanting me to wait one more second in the airport, and my bag was not lost! It was fully intact sitting at the top of a very large pile of luggage.

We got to the hotel, visited with one another for a while – hung out with Linda on her last night as a single woman – listened to Mikey play the guitar, and prayed together just like the good ol’ days. Linda and Chris’ wedding went smoothly, and was so beautiful! Chris even composed all of the Mass parts! That’s talent!

It was such a blessing to be with some of my team mates that I would so it all over again in a heart beat – even knowing ahead of time what was to come. Though a year has gone by since many of us had seen each other – the bonds are so strong. The Lord has kept us together through the beautiful body of Christ – brothers and sisters.

Team Dance Off!

Pretty flowers!

Pretty Ladies!

Home Team 05- 06 - - - I LOVE YOU!

Let your love for one another be intense

"Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. "

1 Peter 4:8

As this year come to an end for the 06-07 NET teams I supervise, I want to honor them for their outstanding service. These 18-25 year olds have dedicated 10 months of their life to put on retreats for 6th-12th graders all over the United States. They have put their lives on hold in order to spread the Gospel and challenge young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church. They have traveled in a van every day, sometimes for hundreds of miles, stayed over with different host family every night, exhausted themselves putting on high energy retreats 6 days a week, and managed to love one another very well in the process, being a witness of love to people all across the country.




To Sarah K., Jonathan F., Jenna, Sarah G., Gineal, Emily, Melinda, Robbie, Andy, Jonathan S., Juan, Sara, Nathan, Lindsey, Matthew, Alissa, Andrew, Kaylene, Danielle, Nick, and Meaghan - I am blessed to know you, and honored to be your supervisor. Thank you for all of you hard work and dedication!

Team 5 in Ohio on our 1st Supervisor visit

Team 6 on our 3rd Supervisor visit in Kentucky

Posh sunglasses

Kathy, Lala, and Anna - trying on sunglasses outside the Cheesecake Factory in Minneapolis. We thought we looked pretty cool - clearly!

For the beauty of the earth

Sara, Corinne, Anna, Chad, Kyle, and Brian - Covenant Heights Retreat Center - Estes Park, CO

After Easter, a few other supervisors and i were able to go to Colorado to put on an interview weekend for people interested in serving on NET next year. After the interview weekend, we headed up to the mountains to get back to our roots and put on an overnight retreat for 30 8th graders. The young people were so open to the Lord working, and because they had gone to school together since 1st grade, they were all very open and willing to share. The retreat center in the mountains made all of us, and the young people appreciate how wonderful our God is to us! How blessed are we to have a God who created all of this for US! Alleluia!

To be thankful, and faithful

Recently i have been doing a novena of thanksgiving, and it has shown me how ungrateful i have been...simply because i think i am too busy to thank God, or i just forget about it, move on with my blessings and assume God will continue to provide. The Novena end with the story of ten lepers who were healed by Jesus, and only one - the Samaritan - came back to thank the Lord.

Let us always remember to thank the Lord for everything he has given and taken away - all comes from the hand of the Lord.

Luke 17:11-19

Continue to Move

As i was on a retreat this weekend in Southern Minnesota, the best advice i received was to keep moving. The Lord can't steer a parked car - so continue to move. I find that especially helpful at this point in my life, and during the season of LENT - Move closer to the Lord, in all you do. He will put up road blocks if you are going the wrong way, but as long as you are moving, seeking His DIVINE WILL and growing in virtue, you are on the right path.

I pray the Lord will continue to guide you on the path directly to HIM!