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.

Continue reading

During the session on relationships, Sarah outlined the ways that growing in virtue builds Christ-centered relationships.

Before diving into ways to build virtue, Sarah outlined what she calls the “emoticoaster.” It describes the pattern that a lot of people follow when they are getting into a relationship. She explains the journey from mental stalking to social media stalking to texting, flirting, and calling. Most people in the room raised their hands to say that they had seen someone riding the emoticoaster before. Sarah then walked through the many traps associated with the emoticoaster.

Continue reading

Chris Mueller began his talk with graduated seniors by asking the rhetorical question: “What comes next?”

He then let us know that it’s ok to not know what you are doing with your life. He illustrated this by mentioning an experience from his own life where he, at one point, did not know what he wanted to do. He tried out acting, teaching in a public school, teaching theology in a Catholic school, and then to making shows for Catholic families to watch. Chris then mentioned that we should not wait for the world to give us permission to be classified as an adult. He defined being an adult as: “Adulting is making mistakes and learning from them and then moving on.”

Continue reading

Oscar began his talk during our men’s session this morning by talking about how we men like to win. That’s true. He then led us in a baptized and very fun version of “All I Do is Win”.

Oscar mentioned how we can, sometimes, leave men’s session talks feeling like men are evil, bad people. However, he spent most of the time building us up, so that we can know that we are winners, loved by the Father.

The world tells us that we need to be strong, play the part, and not show weakness or emotions. But we are more than that…we are greater than that.

Continue reading

Nolan grew up as a “cradle Catholic” but didn’t feel like he knew God personally. At the age of ten, a lot of people he loved passed away, and he started getting bullied for being small. In response to these struggles, he turned to sins of impurity, but in so doing he felt a lot of shame.

Eventually, at a conference much like this – after the men’s session – he was given a chance to pray with one of the leaders. And this leader spoke the words of God into his heart…

The Father loves you.

…and all of those years that he had wasted were lifted off of his shoulders, and he felt like a new man.

I’d encourage you to listen to his whole testimony; if you do, you will be blessed.