Echoing throughout Oscar’s talk was the line “we all suffer differently.” He shared first about the suffering of his wife giving birth and his daughter having a headache. Then, Oscar reminded us that we never suffer alone. He described times when he sacrificed for his children and explained that his own sacrifices are nothing compared to the sacrifice that the Father makes for each of us. When God sacrificed His son for His children, He made the ultimate sacrifice. As Oscar says “God revealed Himself through the beauty of that cross.”
Grace – who is from Chicago – grew up in a normal stable, Catholic family. She always knew that God wanted to be in her life.
One time, while kneeling in Adoration at one of our conferences, she felt nothing. She thought that something was wrong with her, so she decided to just listen to the music. Then, a lyric from one of the songs spoke to her heart:
“If Your grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.”
With those words, she experienced an overwhelming sense of being in a large ocean, and envisioned the people all around her as waves crashing. She knew that God was with her, and with everyone else, even though she didn’t feel it. As Grace said so eloquently:
“The most important thing is that you are here with God, and He is here with you.”
Cooper began his talk by talking about some of his struggles to maintain holiness in a college relationship. He said that in discerning what to do about this relationship he talked with some friends. One of Cooper’s friends told him, “I am going to pray for you to be weak. In praying for you to be weak, I’m inviting Jesus to be your strength.” Cooper said that after this conversation he decided to end the relationship because it ultimately was not bringing him closer to Jesus. In reflecting on this experience he realized that he had been focused on making himself happy.
Discernment means to cut away from until knowing what is best. Discernment is between two good things, while temptation is between a good thing and a bad thing. God is always speaking to us and we need to make sure we are speaking to Him because authentic discernment comes through Christ.
Father Martin broke down the steps of discernment
- Acknowledging what we are experiencing in our lives.
- Relate it to where we are currently at.
- Receive God’s message and listing to what He has to say.
- Respond to what He tells us.
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