This morning as we gathered for Mass, Fr. Chris Martin shared with us times in his life where he did not feel like he belonged. Many of his stories took place outside of the country. Being 6’4 he often stands out, but one story in particular was when he traveled to Calcutta, India to teach with the Missionaries of Charity. Fr. Martin likened the Sisters to the Marine Corp. of the Catholic Church. Every morning, the Sisters would go to the trash dump down the street and pick up the children that had been thrown away and would bring them back to their house to care for them. He was amazed by their amount of charity and love and he did not feel as if he belonged.

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Marilyn from LEAD is a member of Immaculate Conception of Dardenne (ICD) Parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. She went to high school at Timberland High School in Wentzville, MO and this fall she will be a freshman at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.  Tonight she shared with us how she has experienced the love of God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

As a high school student, she went on a retreat with her parish, and while there she was filled with deep sorrow for her sins. She decided to go to Confession and felt a huge embrace from God – like a hug.

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Lisa Cotter shared her heart with us this evening as she told her testimony of finding where she belonged. She began by visiting her teen years and telling us of a “Jesus filled” Spring Break trip she took where she never quite felt like she belonged. Like many of us, she found herself asking “Where do I fit in? Do I belong here?” Upon coming home she found herself living in two separate worlds – her Friday night party world and her Sunday night youth group world. Two competing worlds which again left her asking “Where do I fit in?”

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They say that it takes a village to raise a child, and I think there’s some truth in that. But I can tell you for sure that it does take quite a crew of dedicated volunteers to put on a Steubenville youth conference!

Last weekend’s youth conference was staffed by 108 volunteers – and there are 112 volunteers staffing this weekend! When you consider that each volunteer is here in Springfield from at least 10 am Friday until at least 1 pm on Sunday, that means that over 6800 volunteer hours are put in each summer by amazing people devoted to making our conferences a positive experience for every teen and every adult who attends. And I couldn’t even begin to calculate how much time and energy and prayer that staff members of the Office of Youth Ministry and Franciscan University of Steubenville devote to these amazing events!

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Bishop Edward Rice of the Diocese of Springfield – Cape Girardeau, during his homily this morning, called to mind the desire we have to belong.  We have been reflecting on this all weekend, and Bishop Rice reminded us that we as humans have this desire to belong to something bigger than ourselves. For us as Catholics, we belong to Christ.

Bishop Rice pointed out that no one likes being an outsider and if we don’t feel like we belong to a group, we can feel unwanted and unloved.  He then reminded us of the sacrament that immediately brings us into Christ and his Church.  At our Baptism, we are immediately incorporated into the life of Christ.  Bishop Rice reminded us that we no longer belong to ourselves, we belong to Christ.

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