Springtime…
Last night we had a former student of mine over for dinner. Amanda is getting ready to go to Seton Hall University as a FOCUS missionary. I did a post on FOCUS last year telling a little bit about it and why I think it is an important apostolate. I never fail to be impressed and inspired by the faith of these young people who set aside their personal lives for at least two years to respond to what they discern God is calling them. They are great witnesses to the faith and help me to believe that the great springtime in the Church that John Paul the Great said was a possibility in the near future, may be coming upon us.
Amanda is one such young lady. She just finished an engineering degree (so she is up there in my book from the start I suppose) at the U of I and had accepted a job offer at a large defense contractor in Cincinnati last August, which included a program for getting an M.S. However, within a couple of months of graduating she attended a retreat and while in adoration became convinced that she was being called to share her faith with others through being a FOCUS missionary.
I have to tell you, at that time in my life being sensitive what God wanted for me was the furtherest thing from my mind. Put yourself in this situation. Here ere are the options you have to consider: a job doing what you have gone to school for 4 years to prepare for, making whatever starting engineers get paid these days with a Fortune 500 company, and built into the offer is a program to get you an M.S. degree and more money/upward mobility. Here is the other option to consider: a job sharing your faith with young people who are as yet oblivious to the importance of faith, making nothing, except…and here is the hard part… what you receive from asking friends, family, strangers, etc. for money to support you. This you get to do in addition to devoting your life to trying to help college students see how much they need God in the midst of a culture that says otherwise. This is made all the more difficult if you have a family that does not understand how, faced with these choices, one would choose the mendicant option that does not even come with a retirement plan.
Amanda has an infectiously positive personality and is deeply in love with the Lord. I am confident that God will work through her to bring countless young people to a deeper appreciation of their faith. Tricia and I chose to be one of her financial supporters. How could we not? She shared with us that one of the main methods of gaining adequate support is speaking at one’s parish during the weekend Masses. Her home parish pastor would not allow her this avenue. If we could, we would fund her entire needs…but the Church does not pay well enough to allow us to do that.
If you could meet Amanda you would be impressed. Tricia mentioned last night that she just makes it so easy to see Christ radiating through her. If any of you have a few extra dollars a month that you wouldn’t mind putting toward the mission of the New Evangelization, please prayerfully consider becoming one of Amanda’s supporters. You can do so here. I am sure she would be extremely pleased with any gifts offered but fyi, she needs about 100 supporters giving $50 - 100 per month.
(Note: the picture is of the entire FOCUS staff from this year’s summer training)
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