Jackie Francois-Angel began by sharing that she grew up as a cradle Catholic; she went to youth group and church faithfully on Sundays, but her faith didn’t really impact her life the rest of the week. It was pretty much all about her.
When she was 18 years old, she had a conversion experience at a Steubenville Youth Conference. After that she started attending daily Mass, reading the Bible, tithing, and asking every tough question she could about the Catholic faith. She quickly found out that the Church is not afraid of our questions, and the Church actually has some amazing answers. She also began the important process of giving God everything – including all of her gifts and talents.
Jackie gave us the opportunity to talk among ourselves about the gifts and talents we have, and reminded us that we can use them all for the glory of God and the betterment of our world.
Jackie also reminded us that although there are gifts and talents that we know of, there are also gifts that we have yet to discover. The most important thing is that we stay open to the Holy Spirit!
God is faithful, and He will bring people and situations into our lives to help us know where He wants us to be. One important tip for discerning relationships is to be honest about whether or not we are experiencing peace and joy, which are fruits of the Holy Spirit.
She called us to frequent Confession, regular reception of the Eucharist, and reminded us of the importance of practicing the virtue of chastity in all of our relationships. For some tips on “how far is too far,” you might want to listen to the full audio of this talk.
The bottom line is this: God wants us to experience the fullness of love. Let’s stay open to His will, friends. Come Holy, Spirit!
Quotables
“The church is not afraid of our questions.”
“Ask the Holy Spirit which gifts He has given you.”
“We can use our gifts and talents for ourselves, or we can use them for God’s glory.”
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