Today, we go home to people we love. God has given us a memory, an experience, an encounter with Him this weekend, but that isn’t only meant for us. It’s meant for the people in our lives.

We go home to a battle against sin, temptation, self-doubt, guilt. There are wars in our relationships, schools, homes, and hearts. God called us here like a boot camp, preparing us to go home and fight for the people we love.

During the Battle of Hacksaw Ridge, a medic named Desmond Doss single handedly saved 75 men by running back into the battle and asking God, “Please Lord, help me save one more.”

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What makes a “successful” night of Adoration? It’s you giving praise to Jesus. It’s you looking at Jesus and saying, “You’re the point.”

Love is a decision. God left Heaven for you. Jesus picked up a cross for you. He died for you. He descended into hell for you. He shows up at every single Mass, and He makes Himself so vulnerable that we can drop Him to the floor. What more can He do to prove His love for you?

Jesus is asking you to follow Him – to be His friend.

Are you willing to place your hope in Jesus?
Are you willing to stand for Him?
Are you willing to walk with Him?

When Jesus entered the room where His apostles were hiding after His death, He said, “Peace be with You.” In that moment, Jesus met them in the middle of their unrest and offered peace. He does the same thing for us in our lives.

The peace that Jesus offers is not influenced by the changing tides of this world. Without interior peace, we cannot handle the turmoil around us. We don’t have the ability to control the external chaos, but we can control the interior waters of our hearts. An interior calm helps us to weather the storms.

So, how do we do it? How do we cultivate peace within our hearts? Joel gave us some helpful tips to try.

• Embrace silence daily. Our world is full of noise, and noise stirs up chaos. Can you make yourself internally silent even when there is noise around you?
• Take time at the end of every day to reflect.
  • What are you grateful for in the last 24 hours?
  • Where did you see God show up?
• Audit your social media use. What you do online and how much time you spend there affects your interior peace.
  • How much of your time do you give up to social media?
  • How do you feel when you’re done?
  • Choose times where you are NOT going to be on your phone.
  • Are there accounts you follow that make you unhappy, angry, or anxious? Unfollow them!
• Why do you do some of the things you do – specifically the things that make you feel unrest?
  • Is it something that is healthy or unhealthy for you?

Joel reminded us that, “Interior peace is only possible through relationship with Jesus Christ,” so as we do these practices, do them with and in prayer. Lastly, know that peace in your heart is always possible, but it is only possible through God.

What are you afraid to give fully to God?
How can you live this moment of your life well? What about the next one? Remember, you don’t have to have the full timeline figured out now.

You can watch the live stream video of Joel’s talk by clicking on this link. Enjoy!

There’s a difference between believing in God and trusting in God. We might believe that God is real and that He is good, but do we trust Him? What keeps us from giving ourselves fully to Him, and how do we grow in trust? Those are the questions Katie explored in her session this afternoon.

We like to pretend we have control over what will happen next, but we don’t. Giving God the control – trusting Him – is scary because we don’t have control over what will happen when we do. What is He going to want me to do – or stop doing?

One way we can grow in trust of God is to turn to our Blessed Mother. As a baby, Jesus relied on Mary for everything. Making Himself completely vulnerable, He showed us that we can trust Mary to guide us, too. Jesus allowed His heart to be formed by Mary so that we would know that our hearts could be formed by hers.

“Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest and most perfect way of approaching Jesus.” – St. Louis de Montfort

Mary knows Jesus in a way no one else does. She carried Him with her, and she adored Him daily in her home. As Katie said, “Who better to teach us about Jesus than the one who picked Him up when He fell, who was first to hold Him after He was born, and who held Him in her arms after He died?”

This summer, Chika Anyanwu is speaking at Steubenville conferences for the first time! Before lunch, she shared some beautiful insights with all the ladies, providing a vision for what authentically restored femininity looks like.

She began by reminding us that we were created good. In the book of Genesis, Adam looked around at all the creatures and named them. He saw that he did not belong with them. That’s when Eve entered the picture. She was good, and Adam saw in her a companion. Eve’s first identity is in being found and being seen as good. As women, we claim that identity, too.

Unfortunately, one little lie about our identities can spread. We start thinking that because we don’t have the same gifts or life as other people, we aren’t good. In the same way that Satan planted seeds of doubt in Eve’s heart about the goodness of God, we doubt our goodness.

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