We thirst to be free, to be loved, for an authentic life. As we read in Romans 6, the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. How do we cast off the sin that keeps us in death? Jackie Francois-Angel’s talk on Sunday morning invited us to ask the Holy Spirit into our lives.
“God loves you.” We’ve all heard that phrase hundreds of times; we have probably all said that phrase. Kris Frank’s keynote address on Saturday night challenged all of us to look at God’s love with new eyes by pondering the cross.
Searching for Love
Kris shared the story of being in high school and not understanding God’s love. Instead, he sought love by figuring out how he could fit in with different groups of kids at school by wearing different masks. Despite learning how to fit in, Kris realized he never was really happy. We can all relate to Kris’ experience as we all find ourselves acting less than our genuine selves sometimes.
He is the sixth of ten kids. He runs 5 miles a day. He is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He likes cheering on the St. Louis Blues hockey team.
Meet Bishop Edward Rice.
Anyone meeting this bishop of the Diocese of Springfield – Cape Girardeau for the first time will be struck by how easy it is to talk to him. Bishop Rice truly has the heart of a shepherd. His humility and humor are a magnet for young and old alike. He has a particular heart for the young people of the Church.
With that prayer, Kris Frank invited us to consider more deeply who the Holy Spirit really is. Like many of us, Kris pointed out that he forgot about the Holy Spirit in his faith life when he was younger. The Spirit, however, is easily accessible and inviting the Spirit into our lives will change us for the better.
At Mass on Saturday, Fr. Mike Schmitz’s homily focused on the very heart of Jesus present in the Eucharist and challenged us as to whether we are willing to give our whole heart back to Him.
Lacking Heart
How hard is it to put our whole heart into things! Putting our whole heart into things means that we are risking our very selves. Fr. Schmitz noted that it is that very risk that prevents many people from living with heart.
