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| Sophmores, Ashley and Taylor |
The retreat that I attended last summer changed my life! I knew the Holy Spirit was within me but I had no idea that He could be so powerful and active! The Holy Spirit is such an important aspect of our daily lives and faith journey, constantly leading us, how could He not be when we are reminded by St. Paul, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells within you?" (1 Cor. 3:16). We are temples of the living God who are called to give glory to God, "that you bear much fruit and become my disciples" (Jn.15:8). It is only by the Spirit, which was poured into our souls at Baptism, that we are able to love as Christ loves and to serve as Christ served; to be one with Him.
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| Me and my disciple Kelsey |
Jesus Christ won the battle but we are still fighting to bring all to completion, "that all may be one with Him." God chose to do this through His disciples, you and me, who have chosen to live our lives for the sake of His Kingdom. In order to do this we must recognize the power of the Spirit who rests in our souls and SET FREE THE GIFTS, baptism of the Spirit! Through our Baptism, the Holy Spirit resides in our souls, but in order for the gifts of the Spirit to be released we must ask Our Lord to set our hearts on fire, we must be willing to allow Him to use us as His instruments.
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him"
(Jn. 14:15).
I knew that I needed to get this retreat going at SDSU for our students! I asked Jen and Joseph to put on that same retreat for 45 of our students from SDSU and 45 of those students received Baptism of the Holy Spirit. We all have gifts that God has given us to use to help build up His Kingdom. We read in the book of Acts 2:17-18, "It will come to pass in the last days, God says, 'that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days and they shall prophesy."
Hear some of their personal experiences:
"I realized in a deeper way just how powerful God is, and I trust Jesus more with my future. I am just in awe of Him."
"I’m in more awe of His glory and wonder at His power. I’m thankful for His deep abiding love."
"My Relationship with Jesus deepened enormously. I have experienced the powerful healing and love of Christ in a way like never before. My love for the Eucharist has grown so much, I want to see Jesus in Adoration and receive Him everyday."
"I felt Him preparing me for more of Himself. I didn’t physically experience any manifestations of the Holy Spirit, but I knew He was working within preparing me for greater things down the road."
"God showed me how I need to know His Holy Spirit in order to know Him better. He also showed me that I already knew the Holy Spirit, but I just didn’t realize it. I prayed for an outpouring of joy and I believe He has been slowly giving it to me. I feel more connected and close to Christ. This semester I seemed to go throughout my day without Jesus except when I prayed and went to Mass, but now I have been able to live a life more integrated with the Holy Trinity."
" This weekend I experienced the Holy Spirit in a way and on a level that I never thought I would. I also feel that I learned to pray in a new way. I truly feel that my heart has been set on fire by the Holy Spirit and now rather than just knowing I should pray often, I desire to pray often!"
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| FOCUS Student leaders..havin a good time! |
" This weekend completely changed my life spiritually. I went from knowing who Jesus is and what he has done for me to feeling his love for me. I’ve never felt so loved by Him before. Before this retreat I was struggling with seeing anything lovable in me but now I know that Jesus loves me as I am more than I understand. And that is all that matters too. I can’t describe it exactly but it was a powerful and beautiful experience."
" I’m not afraid of being intimate with my Lord! I’ve learned how to pray. I was discouraged when no huge manifestation happened at the retreat, but that only lasted for a few minutes than I was so grateful and pleased."
"It showed me the importance of allowing myself to be weak so that my only strength and dependence is on Jesus. I experienced His might and love in a stunning way."
" Because of the healing service I was able to recognize the wounds of my past and how they have inhibited Christ’s ability to work within me. During this retreat I was finally able to let go and realize that my relationship with Christ is unique and that is okay."
"I was finally able to give Him my life. This has been something I had been struggling with and to finally be able to say, “I’m yours!” “I live for you!” It was so incredible."
"I felt little change emotionally, but did become somewhat aware of the destructive nature of my sin."
"I know that He loves me and that He’s already won the war!"
"Before the retreat, I was not even sure of God’s existence and had been too stubborn to let go or my rationality and give faith a chance. This retreat inspired me to give God a chance and start giving my live to Him once again."
"I found that He really truly does love me."
"He healed wounds in me that I thought I had dealt with and He showed me how He was there through all the pain I suffered."
"I always felt that Jesus was more distant and removed from me. Now I know that he is in me and I feel like we have a more intimate relationship."
"His love for each person is unique and because of this we all grow at different rates. We have different crosses to bear."
"My relationship with Jesus was deepened. I feel as if He is present when I am praying and can feel the Holy Spirit."
"Jesus is powerful even in His stillness."
"I finally forgave myself for a serious sin I committed last spring. I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit about me. I feel an unbelievable amount of love for Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lit a fire of love that I didn’t know I had for my fellow man."
Praise the Lord!
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support!
