Lay Witness Talk

On the weekend of August 15/16, 2009 lay witnesses spoke during the homily of every Mass on how answering God’s call through stewardship of time and talent has changed  their lives.  Below are transcripts of their talks.

• 5:00 PM -  Mike and Theresa Etcheverry

• 8:30 AM - Ron and Mary Holleman

• 10:00 AM - David and Geralyn Kaminsky

• 11:30 AM - Travis Hunt

• 1:00 PM - Humberto y Sylvia Urrutia

• 6:00 PM - Zack Bonzo

Mike and Theresa Etcheverry

I’m Theresa Etcheverry and this is my husband Mike. Everybody out there who knows me, knows I love people, and I love to talk,,,, but not in front of a crowd. So, when Mark Smith asked me to talk today, I was very tempted to say no, but, as you can see, the Holy Spirit had his way with me.

We moved from California in July of 2004. The first time we came to St Francis, I met Rose Campos. She is a very special person. We talked briefly, and afterward she gave me her cell phone number and told me to call if I needed anything. I felt very welcomed and definitely wanted to come back the next week.

In April of 2005 we moved from North Dallas to our new home in Frisco.  I felt in my being that I needed some inner healing. Since the Lord is the divine healer, I believed he needed to do a little work on me. The best way for that to happen was for me to go to daily Mass and Communion. Daily Mass is truly a “Life Changing” experience, and the Lord slowly changes your heart.

The first time I went to daily Mass, I met Victoria Ratchosky. She introduced me to some people and called me her new friend. WOW, did that make me feel good. We went into an empty room and talked for over ½ hour. I went home feeling a lot of Joy. Daily Mass is a small group of wonderful people. When I had my knee joint replacements last year, I knew I could depend on all of them for prayer and support. People from the church brought me Communion too. I couldn’t have asked for more!

Loving this community of St Francis of Assisi like I do, I wanted to get involved. I decided to be a sponsor for an RCIA candidate.  What a joy, and an incredible journey, to walk with someone toward full participation in the Catholic Church.

Something else I really love to do is to take Communion to the homebound, and to people in the Hospital. People are just waiting to receive Jesus, and to have a nice visit with you.

I met Deacon Carl shortly after we came to St Francis. While we were talking, I mentioned that I had received an Annulment many years ago. He asked me if I would like to help with Annulments here at the parish, and I accepted. Annulment can take a long time, but I truly love to be there for people, to offer support and encouragement. And when an affirmative decision is rendered, it is always a happy and joyous moment. We can always use help if anyone is interested in this ministry.

The Lord put us all on this earth to love and be of service to one another. These opportunities have given me wonderful ways to reach out in love.  I am very honored and grateful to be a member of St Francis of Assisi.  Now my very special husband would like to say a few words.

Like many of you, my job brought Theresa and I to Texas. In fact, I received an email from my boss stating that my job was coming to Dallas, and he hoped that I would come with it.

Theresa and I both agree that moving here was one of the best things that has ever happened to us. Not only have we discovered that “Southern Hospitably” is real, but it is alive and well in Frisco, and most especially here at Saint Francis. I do not believe I have even been made to feel so “at home” as I have been, right here. From the beginning, people offered support, information, and their friendship.

And what a wonderful place to be able to give a little back…with over 90 ministries, it isn’t difficult finding a cause to help out. Sometimes with money, often with time, and always with prayer. For us, it started with sponsoring engaged couples. This was something we did in Los Angeles, and is very dear to out hearts. But here at St Francis, it is much more personal. We get to meet one on one with the couples, facilitate their communication on subjects they may have not have thought to share, and in the process, share our experiences and encourage the couple to keep the lines of communication always open. If you have been married for 5 years or more, and believe your marriage has continually grown, we need you.

At our old parish in California, we had a men’s group called “Catholic Men’s Fellowship”. It is a Catholic group dedicated to uplifting, supporting, and expanding the spiritual lives of men. When we came here, I was looking for something similar when at the urging of some of my new St Francis friends, I joined the Knights of Columbus. This is by far the premier men’s fellowship group in the Catholic Church. The Knights were formed to render financial aid to members and their families. They also support the Church and community in an impressive list of activities.   If you’re a man over 18 and want to offer a helping hand to this parish, I am asking you to consider the Knights.

Anyone who knows me knows that if I get on the topic of food, I will talk your ear off. I love to eat, and I love to cook. I can express my passion with the Knights, but even more so with the Aids supper club. The first Sunday of every month, we meet here in the parish’s kitchen, to prepare meals for 3 aids homes. If you want a good laugh, come on in and help us prepare, cook, or serve the food. Do you want to help but can’t cook….afraid of knives or spatulas…you can donate non-perishable food and toiletries.

For Theresa and me, St Francis is a family we can come home to. It means loving and caring friends we have not yet met and a place where we can offer our talents. St Francis is a warm place in our hearts that we carry with us where ever we travel.

Thank you.

Ron and Mary Holleman

Ron: Hello, my name is Ron Holleman

Mary: And I am Mary Holleman and we are here this morning to talk about stewardship.  My parents taught me at an early age to serve, by their example.  When I was a little girl, we were part of a new parish that didn’t have a sanctuary.  The men of the parish spent many nights and weekends building our sanctuary.  Even though my Dad had five children at home, he served the parish by spending many nights and weekends helping to build the building we would worship in.

When I was in seventh grade, my teacher, Sister Matthew Anne, followed me out to the car after school to ask my mother for help.  The children of a poor family had visited the convent asking for help a number of times and Sister wanted to visit them.  Mom took Sister, along with all of us kids, to the home of this poor family.  This family, a mother with 7 children, lived in a two room rat infested shack.  Mother was not shy, she went right in, surveyed the situation, checked the refrigerator …it had one item in it, a jar of peanut butter.  Mom and Sister Matthew Anne spearheaded the effort to change the circumstances of this family.

My parents could have made the excuse that having five kids, they didn’t have time to serve the church… but they didn’t.  They served and taught all of us how to serve and I have done the same thing.  When our kids were young, I accompanied youth ministry trips to Juarez and Steubenville.  Ron and I have been an Engaged Sponsor Couple for many years and also served the diocese presenting at Engaged Encounter weekends and training couples all over the diocese to be sponsor couples.

We serve here at St. Francis together as an Engaged Sponsor Couple and coordinate the Monday night Bible Study.  I serve as a Lector, Eucharistic Minister, member of the Parish Council and I am chairman of the Finance Council.

Serving at church is a family legacy that I joyfully carry on.

Ron: When I think of stewardship, two things come to mind (1) What does stewardship mean to me? and (2) why to I do it?  First, what does stewardship mean to me?  Stewardship to me is having a servant’s heart. .  I remember the first time I served in the Catholic church.  I am a convert and once, before I joined the church, a priest asked my wife and I if we would teach CCD.  My response was “But I’m not catholic” and he said “that doesn’t bother me if it doesn’t bother you”.  We accepted and that was the beginning of my stewardship in the Catholic church.  Here at St. Francis, I coordinate the Bible Study programs, I coordinate the Sponsor Couple Program, Mary and I are a Sponsor Couple, I help stuff bulletins on Friday morning and I help facilitate morning mass.  So stewardship to me is service to you, the church.  In Matthew 20:28, Jesus tells his disciples that ‘The Son of Man who has come, not to be served by others but to serve’.  By being a steward I am trying to be like Jesus.  The other question I asked myself is “Why do I do it?”  My answer to that can be found in the book of John 21:15-17.  ‘When they had eaten their meal, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”  “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”  At which Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”  A second time he put his question, Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know that I love you.”  Jesus replied, “Tend my sheep.”  A third time Jesus asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was hurt because he had asked a third time, “Do you love me?”  So he said to him: “Lord, you know everything.  You know well that I love you.”  Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”  Many years ago Jesus asked me the same questions and I had the same answer as Peter did.  The reason I serve is that I love Jesus!     

David and Geralyn Kaminsky

DAVID: Good morning everyone.  I am David Kaminsky and this is my wife, Geralyn.  We have been involved with St Francis for many years now and official parishioners just over three years. We  are humbled and so very grateful to stand before you this morning – and we are constantly reminded that so much of our lives are a testament that God works in mysterious ways. I’ll step aside and let Geralyn do the talking.

GERALYN:  In high school I started in an outreach program volunteering with deaf and disabled children and young adults with Down’s syndrome, it was incredibly rewarding to help young people in their 20’s learn their alphabet. This “helping” set a path for me.

Our journey to St Francis started in 1993 when, as a single person, attended a Catholic church in Plano. I got involved in Outreach there and with our “mission church”, St Francis in Frisco, helping with Thanksgiving meals.  I started volunteering with the young Hispanic children teaching them English.  Who knew my life NOW would parallel that time in 1993?

Year s later I started attending daily Mass here and went to the occasional yoga and knitting classes. (I just have to say I LOVE our morning mass group!)    In 2006, we went to the Parish Office and “officially signed up”, not having time to get involved but would be good to be parishioners. I think Jim Smiley “sensed” I was going to complete the new parishioner form and secretly followed me into the office & asked me if I was interested in joining the Hospital Ministry. “YES! of course I am”, were the words that came out.  And now, several years later, the hospital ministry has been such a rewarding activity.  We GO to share Our Lord with patients but I COME AWAY with so many blessings. I’ve celebrated new babies, prayed before surgery, & cried over a diagnosis. At the hospital, Jesus IS there and He steps in and puts just the right words in my mouth at just the right time.

I then got more involved in the Book Club and other activities, meeting more loving and accepting people.  There was a sense of belonging and it continued through some big hurdles we faced and then more recently through my mom’s illness. I really wanted to give back so when David Utsler asked me to consider working with the Outreach groups, again I said YES!  (DO you see a pattern)?

We truly believe there are no coincidences in life - just things that God wants us to see and know and he always adds in His incredible timing.  In 2001 I went to Honduras on a mission trip simply because I could speak Spanish, thinking the practice would do me good, a "vacation" from work.  Well, God knows how the trip changed my life!  Gone were the thoughts that I should work more or make more money.   My goals changed and I really tried to stop micromanaging my life and let God be in charge.  I needed to help others and not just myself.  David and I started a nonprofit organization that would help needy children in Honduras, FOLN.  We chose to work with the malnourished, diseased and dying children of El Progresso Honduras.  They needed us.  Our vacations were now spent in the dirt filled streets with no air conditioning but at least we were with the children.  Little did we know that we would struggle from that point on with infertility.  Caring for 30 children in a permanent children's home became our mission in life. 

We were very blessed to travel to Medjugorje in 2007, called by Our Blessed Mother.  While there we received a phone call to help some children in Honduras in a totally different way.  We said YES and we went.  And in a bigger leap of faith, just one month later, we moved to Honduras - the third world - for what was to be a month or two.

We soon fell in love with three wonderful little children and saw firsthand the Christ-like love of others helping strangers, except we were the strangers.  We battled heat, rain, power outages, parasites, and even people dead set against our efforts. While here my parents talked to people at mass -including many we did not know - and relayed messages of support to us.  What a blessing that was and we are eternally grateful.

After nine months in Honduras we received permission to come back home, with the three children (twins Rosa and Alfonso were 4 and Wendy, 2).  So in July of last year we came home and became a family. They also immediately experienced the larger family that is St FOA. 

Yes,  they were welcomed  here  - during the on-hold  building campaign, the unknown  Pastor , a recession, yes – even with all that– the children were welcomed by both the Hispanic and  Anglo communities – and that is HUGE to us!!   This parish IS an extension of our family –and it should be yours too.    And, without the prayers of our fellow parishioners and the love and support of Our Blessed Mother and her son Jesus Christ, these children might  destined to a life in a children’s home or a life on the streets.  Yes, there still are medical issues, language issues, formerly “living in a group home” issues– it’s sometimes not easy but the children are here with us….thanks be to God!

What’s important in our lives now?  Connecting with others –slowing down and visiting.  We might not be as put together or well-dressed as we used to be but we appreciate our friends and family so much more.  We’ve tried to leave that old life of materialism and “gotta haves” behind.   Isn’t that what Jesus called his disciples to do – leave the nets and follow Him?   We NEED to help others and you know sometimes we are the ones that receive help --that’s how life goes.  To give AND receive.  

            What are we active in here? David is in the music ministry where he plays the trumpet and he is a member of the Knights of Columbus.  We try to attend daily mass – w/ 3 little ones not always possible – but will be with school starting! J   I  am part of the Hospital Ministry, Book Club and am the Outreach Commissioner for many wonderful ministries – the newly formed St Vincent De Paul Society, Respect Life Ministry (by the way, the kids love saying the rosary for the unborn babies at various clinics), Homebound and Nursing Home Ministry, the AIDS Supper Club, Caregivers Support Group, the Hospital ministry and all the other phenomenal ministries. I also serve on the Parish Council representing the Outreach Ministries.  

 So this weekend and next you’ll hear about Stewardship and what it means to share Time, Talent and Treasure.   David and I have a bit of Time, a bit of Talent --him more than me-- less Treasure now, especially with these three little ones.   We share what we can and we urge you to do the same. 

Jesus said “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me……you know the rest. 

Give a bit of yourself and get so much more back; share your joy and your gratitude.

And next week end, during stewardship sign-ups, take that step and sign up to be involved in one of the` 90+ ministries/events we have here at St Francis.  Just say YES . . .  .

Thank you and May our Lord and his Holy Mother continue to bless you and your lives.

Travis Hunt

Good Morning.  My name is Travis Hunt.  My wife, Melissa, and I have been parishioners at St. Francis for just over four years.  It is an honor to be able to share with you our personal story about being stewards at St. Francis.  Now, I know what some of you are thinking… Here comes the talk about giving more money to church, and while I would never encourage you not to give, let me assure you that this is not the subject of my talk today.  So with that disclaimer out of the way, you can take your hands off your wallets and focus back in on what I have to say.   Stewardship is the giving to God one's time, talent, and treasure in appreciation for what God has given to you, but what I have found is that in our giving of our time and talent that we are truly rewarded.   Today, I want to share with you the personal joy that has been brought to our lives by getting involved in this amazing parish community.

Our journey began as a search. …..   Two years ago, Melissa and I, along with Nathan Byers and former parishioners Rodney and Angie Alles, approached Father Tim about the need for a ministry focusing on young adults in the parish.  Our intent was two fold, one we had recently read an article stating that the vast majority of Catholics who leave the church do so when they are in their mid-twenties.  Second, we were both new to the area and were seeking to make new friends.  Father Tim immediately agreed that this was a great idea.  I will never forget the words that came out of his mouth next.     Similar to Donald Trump on the last episode of the apprentice, he pointed at us and said "You're hired… Thanks for volunteering…. When can you start?"  

If anyone here has ever tried to say no to a priest, then it will come as no shock to find out that just a few short months later, Melissa and I had become co-founders of the Young Adults of St. Francis.    The Young Adults group is centered on faith formation and fellowship.  Our target audience is parishioners between 21-35 years of age (and all those who still feel, act, or wish that they were 21-35).   We typically meet twice a month, once a month for social interaction and once a month for our faith formation series called Theology on Tap.

While we initially began our search seeking to make new friends, what we received was so much more.  When Melissa and I first joined St. Francis, the people that sat to our left and to our right were nothing more than familiar faces that we saw on Sundays.  After we got involved with the Young Adults, we began to associate names and stories to the faces around us.  What started as conversation over coffee has transformed into a complete sharing of our faith.

Scripture tells us that we are all members of one body in Christ, and when one suffers all suffer, and when one is honored, all rejoice.   From the experiences gained through stewardship with the Young Adults I can confirm this to be true.  I can remember back to one of our earliest Theology on Tap events.  Father Tim looked around the room and said, "It is great that you can all be here in celebration, but remember to be there for each other when life gets tough."  We have done just that.  We have celebrated the births of newborn children and have leant shoulders to cry on for the loss of the unborn.  We have rejoiced over promotions and helped others who have lost work.  I am truly blessed.  Not only do I have a wife that pushes me to become a better person, but through stewardship at St. Francis, we have found a group of parishioners with whom we can share the joy of Christ and that drive us to deepen our faith.  In a sign of support, many of those whom we have shared this journey with are in the room today. A sign of the community that we should all strive to develop with those that sit in this room .  We have laughed, cried and prayed with our fellow parishioners, all of which is a witness to what it is like to be in true communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ… something that by our very nature we all seek.

Six years ago I lost my father to cancer.  He was 52 years old.  One day, while visiting him in the hospital, I sat pondering what lied ahead for my dad.  He caught me in thought and said while pointing to his heart, "Son, what are you searching for? The answer is right here."  After his passing, I often think about those words.  What I have come to realize is that what we all are searching for can be found in this room.  It can be found on this alter and with the breaking of bread together.  Through the Eucharist we become one body and are given the strength that we need for our Christian journey.  But the mass does not end when we walk out of these doors.  We must share our Catholic faith with others.   

Next week is Stewardship Sunday.  When you leave from Mass there will be members from the more than 90 Ministries of St. Francis the Narthex waiting for you to take the call.  Here at St. Francis, we are blessed to have all different kinds of ministries for you to give of your time and talents.  We have community groups, such as the Young Adults and Women of St. Francis, Outreach groups such as Aids outreach and Homebound Ministry, Faith Formation programs such as our youth groups, as well as Hispanic and Liturgical Ministries.  I encourage you - from my own personal experience - to seek them out. Don't be afraid to get involved. The people that lead these programs are volunteers.  Volunteers that have heard God's call, or had a hard time saying no to a priest. Like Melissa and I, these volunteers know that good things happen when you share of yourself.  They know the deep-resounding joy that comes from being a part of God's work on earth.   The time and talent that the members of this parish give is what makes the community of St. Francis so great.  These ministries and the people that participate in them are the cornerstone for our church.  Can you give us a little of your time?  Do you have a special talent that you could share with all of us?  Are you searching for a deeper connection with the members of this parish with whom you break bread?   Quit searching… The answers to all our questions can be found right here. 

Humberto y Sylvia Urrutia

Buenas Tardes, Nosotros somos Humberto y Sylvia Urrutia.  El dia de hoy queremos comentarles nuestra experiencia de pertener a un ministerio de la Iglesia.  Nosotros decidimos participar en el MFC, y esperamos contestar  a las preguntas que algunos nos hacemos de como, cuando, donde y porque hacerlo.

Como? Ustedes pueden elegir de todos los ministerios que hay en la Iglesia el que se adecue a sus necesidades y expectativas de ayuda de cada quien.  Ya sea como catequista, en el MFC, ujier, ayudandado en los diferentes eventos , visitando a los enfermos, etc. 

Cuando?  Siempre utlizamos de pretexto  que no tenemos tiempo,  pero cuando realmente quiere hacer uno algo, buscamos el tiempo que necesitamos y Dios siempre nos ayuda a encontrarlo.  Tambien nos damos cuenta que luego perdemos mucho tiempo sin hacer algun beneficio a  alguien y preferimos ser un poquito egoistas y nadamas dedicarnos a nosotros.

Donde? Puede ser dentro de la Iglesia apoyando en la misa o en las diferentes clases que se ofrecen.  Tambien , si usted prefiere organizar, socializar  o donar su tiempo en la preparacion de diferentes actividades donde se necesita creatividad y manualidad como Festividades Religiosas.  A lo mejor le gustaria reunirse con un grupo de familias y platicar de diferentes temas para crecer tanto como individuo, en pareja  y  famila , pues  puede participar ya sea en el MFC o en los Encuentros Matrimoniales, etc.  Ahora, si usted es de la personas que realmente es muy ocupada y prefiere apoyar economicamente, tambien se le agradecera ya que hay otras personas que no lo pueden hacer de esa manera y mejor ayudan con tiempo o trabajo.

Porque? Bueno, nosotros pensamos que siempre estamos pidiendole a Dios que nos ayude en muchas cosas, pero nosotros no hacemos nada para ayudarlo a El.  Somos muy buenos para pedir cuando tenemos necesidad y a veces prometemos cosas que al poco tiempo dejamos de cumplir o se nos olvida, como  las promesas de cada fin de ano.  (Ejem:  Ahora si voy a bajar de peso y en Enero el gimnasio esta lleno y comforme pasan los meses perdemos el interes de nuestra promesa).  Por lo tanto , creemos que es una buena manera de ayudar a alguien y a Dios participando en algun Ministerio Religioso.

Nosostros escogimos el MFC porque Dios asi lo quiso, ya que nunca habiamos participado en algun ministerio .  En breve nuestra historia es que durante un tiempo le pediamos a Dios cada vez que rezabamos ,que nos ayudara en una situacion dificil en la que nos encontrabamos.  Un dia nos dimos cuenta que siempre pediamos pero no ofreciamos nada a cambio, entonces empezamos  a pedirle a Dios que tambien nos guiara a encontrar la oportunidad de ayudar a otros como El lo hace.  Un dia a la salida de la misa mi esposo me dijo que habia dado nuestros datos a los del MFC que se encontraban haciendo promocion para poder participar. (Es el dia que uno los ve a la salida y le corre ).  Yo lo vi  y le dije algo molesta, pero si yo no tengo tiempo (pensando en que soy ama de casa, trabajo y tenemos un hijo con sus respectivas actividades).  Pero le conteste, O.K. vamos a venir el dia de la junta pero no nos vamos a inscribir en nada.  Se llego el dia y la persona que se encontraba hablando en la junta de repente dijo  las mismas palabras que nosostros utilizabamos cuando le pediamos a Dios que nos diera la oportunidad de ayudar otros.  En ese momento pense, esto es lo que tengo que hacer para cumplir con mi promesa.  Cuando nos preguntaron si ibamos a participar, yo dije SI y mi esposo me volteo a ver con cara de asombro y despues cuando nos propusieron ser coordinadores tambien dije SI.  Al salir de la junta  mi esposo y yo nos volteamos a ver y nos dijimos:  Te fijaste las palabras que dijo la persona.  Humberto me pregunto, fue por eso que te decidiste, verdad???  A lo que conteste asi es, Dios quiere que ayudemos aqui.  Y de verdad, esperamos de todo Corazon poder estar ayudando a nuestras parejas asi como ellos tambien nos han ensenado mucho a nosotros.

Muchas gracias por su tiempo y ojala muchos de ustedes tambien se decidan como nosotros.

Zack Bonzo

            Its funny where you’ll be driven in life when you decide to let God take the wheel. Its funny how I can remember in the summer of 2006 saying to myself, “Just what kind of crazy person would want to go work in the summer heat in Mexico? What kind of lunatic would consider becoming a priest? When I’d drive past a church I’d think, “How could someone go to church every single Sunday?” These were the kind of questions that floated around in my head until the day God tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I’ll show you just what kind of lunatic would do those things.” Then he gave me a good shove towards the church and in two years handed me a mirror. But honestly, as involved in St. Francis as I am now, I feel twenty to thirty times more sensible than I did when I used to sit around at the house and play video games all day.

            For me, the key to stewardship is not going out and doing these great heroic deeds for the church, it’s about doing whatever you can, and always, at whatever pace, moving closer to God. It started with the high school lock-in in the winter of 2007. I went there thinking I’d have some fun, meet new people, maybe make some friends and all of those things did happen, but something even more marvelous occurred. God opened my eyes to the reality of his grace. The friends I made on that lock-in I will always remember and they will always hold a special place in my heart. Its always a moving experience to spiritually bond so closely and with so many people in one night.

            The next thing God called me to do was a program for youth called Mission Possible. It involves going out into the local community and helping the less fortunate families with things they may need, everything from mowing lawns to picking up trash off streets to collecting food cans from better-off houses to give to the food pantry. That also was, though it was stiflingly hot outside, an incredible experience. The spiritual, emotional, even physical value of doing charitable deeds for the poor is drastically underestimated in our society. Again, through these works, God reached into my life and revealed so much to me. But it was nothing compared to what He led me to next.

            Christ’s mercy always astounds me, and the revelation of its abundance in my life hit me like a dodge-ball to the face. The Mexico Mission Trip in the summer of 2007 was such a brilliant combination of sweat, blisters, sunburns, and spiritual clarity that I don’t think I’ll ever find anything like it again. It all comes down to God’s greatest commandment; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul and love thy neighbor as thyself.” Building a church in the middle of poverty-central definitely resembles that commandment. There’s a certain sense of well-being in knowing that you are a wide open conduit through which God’s grace flows out onto the earth that can only come from mission trip community service. There’s a certain type of freedom one obtains through sacrificing themselves so greatly for others less fortunate that only comes from devoting all your day to making their life better. Needless to say, that trip changed to course of my life.

            In opening my heart to God’s will an endless ocean of possibilities flooded my mind. The first was the possibility that God might be calling me to become a priest. This was a huge deal for me, believe it or not. Partly because my childhood was filled with encouragement to ‘carry on the Bonzo name’ and becoming a priest would definitely erase that possibility. Partly because just about one year earlier I was casting mental blobs of disdain on the whole prospect of a holy life. But mainly because I’ve never considered myself to be that great of a person and becoming a priest would definitely require some measure of greatness. And there’s the thing, God has the power to make you great! God, through his power and glory, can help you be who you truly are if you’d just listen to Him. I mean, He designed you so He obviously knows you better than you do yourself. Trust me, listen to Him, He always knows what’s best.

            Since that first fateful Mexico Mission Trip God has permitted me to sing in His choir, be a member of His youth group, and attend many more events and mission trips sponsored here at St. Francis. Becoming more active in my church has allowed me to make so many amazing friends that I can actually trust to walk with me down the right path. Before my involvement I was rarely a part of anything other than the counter-terrorist team on an online game of Counter-Strike. Now I’m a part of God’s community, God’s church, doing the work he sets before me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not always easy. As a matter of fact, It’s almost never easy, but it’s what the Lord our God wants for us all, to be closer to him and to strive to love him as much as he loves us.