Summer CEM POC Newsletter! The Ministries we Support

Recently, I wrote about the importance of evangelization and the call of every baptized Catholic Christian to share their faith with others. In this year, in addition to giving my supporters a snapshot of the different missionaries that we support, I'd like to showcase some of the ministries that the missionaries support in their work. For many Catholics, when they think of missionaries, they automatically imagine religious priests, brothers and nuns going to the furthest corners of the earth to feed and care for the poor. Mother Teresa of Calcutta is one of the best examples that come to mind. What people don't know is that in addition to works of mercy, these "missionaries" also help to encourage others to faith in Jesus. The Church challenges us to take care of not just the physical/material needs of the poor but also the spiritual needs.

With that in mind, we come to places like the USA where physical/material poverty is less pronounced than in other areas of the world. There is, however, a much deeper spiritual poverty here in more developed countries. We see it manifested through the sense of emptiness, broken relationships, and a lack of purpose or meaning in life. It can also be characterized by feelings of being stuck, powerless, or disconnected from God and others. The lack of a moral compass is just one symptom among many of this spiritual poverty. In recent years the Holy Spirit has raised up several new lay apostolates to confront this poverty and to help people to find

meaning and purpose in their lives through faith in Jesus. Most of these new apostolates employ young lay people who are trained to go out and meet people in different sectors of society. Please pray for them as they invest in the work of God’s Kingdom. “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.”

Focusing on “FOCUS”

One such apostolate is the ministry of The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (aka FOCUS). Recognizing the significant impact the college years have on a young person’s future, Curtis Martin the founder of FOCUS, started with just two missionaries at Benedictine College in 1998.

Later that same year, Curtis was blessed with the opportunity to meet Pope St. John Paul II and to share his vision for FOCUS: a chance for every student to know and feel known, loved and cared for by Jesus Christ. Encouraged and driven by the ministry of Pope St. John Paul II’s call to a New Evangelization and encouraged with steadfast hope to change the culture for Christ, FOCUS has forged ahead into the battlefield. FOCUS missionaries have spread the gospel message to tens of thousands of college students through on-campus outreach, Bible studies, discipleship, mission trips, national conferences and more.

Today, FOCUS continues to encourage young people to pursue truth and meaning in their lives, to invest in relationships with Jesus Christ and their fellow students. Their story is and remains the same: through God’s mercy, FOCUS missionaries continue to help young people go and share the good news to everyone they meet, bringing Christ to the world and transforming the world through Christ.

"This is a generation in crisis — of identity, of purpose and of belief. Faced with so many distractions, acts of violence, empty pleasures and a loss of faith in God, they are losing hope. For the sake of so many souls, the joyful message of Jesus Christ’s life and salvation needs to be shared, now more than ever."

Row 1: Joseph Terrones, Xavier Grah, Christine Joy Moran

Row 2: Yasmine Elsaadany, Giselle Bernabe, Kami Beliard

Row 3: Angeles Rosales, Brenda Manzano, XaverineCelia Moneboulou Mbazoa

In modern American culture, the word “LOVE” has lost its meaning. We “love” fast food, we “love” our pets and we “LOVE” our family members. I know that I’m not saying anything novel but it bears repeating because if we are confused about this word, we will be very confused in our relationship with Jesus who calls us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and strength”. As a Catholic, I find many people who “obey” God… reluctantly, who “serve” God begrudgingly and who “honor” God when it’s convenient. While all of these things are important to do, if they are done without love then they are missing the point and our faith becomes a chore rather than a joy.

Consider this, when a man pursues a woman out of a deep and abiding love for her... a love that is more than just emotion but that fights for her good and cherishes her presence, then the sacrifices he makes to win her heart are worth it because he longs to be with the one he loves. He longs to spend time with her, to help her and to delight her with gifts of affection. And if the love is reciprocated then the delights are that much greater.

This is, in fact, how our God views us. The Church describes the relationship she shares with Christ as one seen through the lens of a bridegroom and a bride. That’s significant and gives us a hint of the passionate love that God has towards us. No wonder He was willing to die for us — that is the kind of sacrifice that people in love make for one another. This is also why those kinds of sacrifices move our hearts when we see them portrayed in film or in literature.

So, while I’m convinced that God “LOVES” us in that way, I really wonder if we LOVE HIM in that way. So many find prayer a chore and yet our God longs to speak to us like a lover with his beloved. Not to mention that our service to God may seem like an imposition on our time or on our pocketbooks. I believe that at the core, the problem is with our love of God. We’re faithful in our church attendance but somewhere along the line we’ve forgotten our first love. This is what the Saints have shown us throughout history, and it has been their love of God that has set the world on fire.

As the summer comes to a close, I would challenge everyone to rekindle that love. Obedience is important, service is needed and the need to honor God is unquestioned but what He wants more is our hearts. These missionaries serve not out of “duty” but out of love. One day Jesus will return for His Bride with love and joy in His heart. How will we respond when that day arrives?

The Love Of God! A photo taken of me on a spring break mission with students from WSU. We’re pictured with the papal nuncio. This is what I do when I’m not fundraising!