Hunger for Christ - Prayer, Calling and Action

Since November is hunger and homelessness awareness month what better way to start the month than leading a retreat called Hunger for Christ. This was a bit differnt than most of the retreats that I lead because it was for college student and usually I work with middle and high schoolers, although the fun we had was more like kids.

What do giant leaf piles, skits, walking through the woods and campfires have in common. You guessed it, they all happened and lots more on this retreat. God was truly present in so many ways. Despite that I was leading the retreat it was a much more relaxed schedule than what we normally do. There were talks on what fills you up in your life, prayer, vocation, and ministry in daily action. Each talk gave me some insight on how to Hunger for what God wants us to do.

During our free time we made a giant leaf pile and had a great time jumping in the leaves. It started out that Nader was buried in the pile and Maureen didn't know it and was a bit sacred when she landed on top of him. The joke continued as Maureen was then buried in the leaf pile. Brother Lake came up and we asked him to jump in the leaf pile. Lake took a running leap into the air and landed in the pile of leaves, only to be surprised that Maureen was actually buried in them. You think it is over but not yet. Maureen gets buired a second time and Sr. Madeleine comes to take some pictures of us playing in the leaves. We ask if she would like to jump into the pile too. She says yes and jumps in to be surprised that Maureen is in the pile. Someone made the commet that Maureen should win an award for being jumped on the most in a pile of leaves. We all enjoyed the leaves and had a leaf fight as well. I found leaves on me even as I got ready for bed that night.

The leaf fights, and leaf pile was not the only fun we had with leaves. Nader started by making a leaf angel and so I made one too. What fun it was to hear the crackel of all the leaves around me as I created a leaf angel. This brought back memories of making snow angels last year when I was visiting CYFM during CCOP (College Capuchin Outreach Program).








Also duirng out free time in the afternoon we went for a walk to see the babbeling brook in the woods. I was not going to go because I didn't have shoes on but was convinced to still go. So I embraced the moment and walked barefoot through the multch, and stone down to the brook. It was a very freeing to feel the earth slide between my toes and knowing that I was in touch with God's creation, mother Earth. I did not cut my feet but rather I had a great experience. Yes the picture is of my bare feet standing on a rock, I took it to remind me that God will take care of us and sends people into our lives to help guide us on our path.





On Saturday night Pokey gave a talk on vocation and described three types of vocation, (1)the call to all people to be holy,(2) religious life, single or married life and (3)our career as a vocation.. He gave us a meditation on Romans Chapter 12 ( I urge you therefore brothers and sisters, by the Mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to god, your spiritual worship...) This helped to show us that God has a plan for us all and that we must use our gifts and talens where the world most needs them.

We had an hour of Eurcharistic Adoration and then went outside to enjoy the beautiful warm November weather as we sat and soaked up the smell of the campfire, and the crackel it makes. There was good conversation around the fire as well as some songs sung. We must remember as it says in 2 Timothy to fan into the flame the gifts the spirit has given us.

The next morning we celebrated Mass together and sent everyone on their way. Since the retreat was small I was able to connect with people and feel more like I was on retreat than giving it. Also, it was nice to be around college students again. May God continue to bless those on the college retreat and guide them on their journies.