Cor Unum: One Heart

This past weekend we arrived at the Newman Center in Champaign, IL for our summer training. Before NST (New Staff Training) started FOCUS hosted a first-time event called Cor Unum, (which means One Heart) for all staff and their families. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, talks, and prayer.


Curtis Martin, founder of FOCUS, gave a very inspiring talk. I want to include a few points from his talk:

* We have to evangelize the person because people make up the culture.
* FOCUS is striving to grow deeper and stronger and is not worried about growing exponentially bigger.
* He said that by 2022, FOCUS will have graduated 75,000 students, which is enough to put 4 people at each Catholic parish in the US. The goal of FOCUS is to "launch college students into life-long Catholic mission" so it doesn't end after they graduate. We give them the tools to get to know Christ and share the Gospel with others while they are in college, with the hopes that after they graduate they will continue on in this work in their local parish and communities. That is how we are striving to reach the whole world for Christ!
* The Church will get smaller in order to get stronger, before it can get bigger.
* As we live in the re-participation of Christ's life, we have an opportunity to draw closer to Him like the early Apostles did (in regards persecution and suffering.)
* We all need to help our Priests and Bishops with the New Evangelization.
* We can invest in parishoners and do tasks so Priests don't have to do everything; that way they can be there for the pivotal moments, such as the Sacraments.



One night we had a picnic at a local park and the band L'Angelus came to play. It was a beautiful evening and a great time to relax and enjoy everyone's company. Lots of people from the support center in Colorado, where FOCUS headquarters is located, came which was such a blessing to get to meet them. Often we just think about the missionaries on campus, but if it weren't for over 50 missionaries at the support center, we couldn't be doing what we are doing on campus!


After Mass on Pentecost Sunday we had a Eucharistic Procession around the campus. We did this last year and I was really looking forward to doing it again. The Priests are in the front, processing with the Blessed Sacrament, we are are behind them following them while singing.

It is a very powerful thing to be in the presence of Christ, and to be able to take Him out onto campus and to adore him in public is such a gift.

Week in Colorado

Two weeks ago Tyler had a leadership training in Evergreen, CO so I spent the week with Ashley, Alex and Michael. It was such a fun time to be with them and I got lots of quality time with our godson!

Isn't he cute?



We had lots of time at the park and in the sandbox.



Ash and Alex are wonderful parents and it was such a joy to be with them! We also got some quality time with the extended Crane family! Can't wait for our next trip to Colorado!

Launch Night

We hosted the first ever Launch Night last Monday. We had about 20 seniors come to hear Jason give a talk about evangelization after college. It's exciting to think about all the potential of the seniors graduating and living out their faith wherever they are called to work.

Focus is all about being a "life-long" mission where it doesn't stop after college but we are all called to continue to grow in our faith and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

It's so fun to have our rooftop to host events. This is the first one of the Spring semester because it's been cold and rainy. It was cold on Monday night, but we all survived.

Upper Room

Friday was the last Upper Room of the year and it was by far the biggest...we have added so many new disciples this semester it's so exciting! There were about 40 of us there, and that doesn't count the students who weren't able to attend!

Tyler and Stacey talked about the game plan for the summer and ideas of how to incorporate daily prayer and the Sacraments into their schedules.

Kourtney grilled out on her grill...it's pretty awesome. They're made in her hometown in Wisconsin.

Kjersti and Olivia and Leah were able to join us. Look at baby Leah! She is growing up! Jason and Kjersti are moving to Ave Maria, FL where Jason will be the team director. We will miss their wonderful family!

Tyler has really enjoyed leading an athlete bible study and mentoring his guys this semester. Here he is with his two disciples, Jason and Mark.

RCIA

This year Tyler and I had the privilege of being involved with the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults at Loras. We were the "faith companions" of two of the candidates, which meant we supported them throughout their journey into the Catholic Church, went to the meetings on Sunday nights, and got to enjoy the process right along with them.

The Saturday before they received the Sacraments, we had a retreat where we had time for prayer and reflection and fellowship.

Debbie and her husband gave a talk about community and how God has blessed them with people to support them in their lives, especially when they were experiencing struggles.

Tyler was the faith companion to Amelia, who was baptized Methodist. Here is a picture of them with her sister who was her sponsor.


I was the faith companion to Lyndsey, who is already Catholic and was receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. Here we are with her fiance/sponsor.


We are really thankful we had the opportunity to be involved with RCIA. Tyler and I learned even more about our faith, which is a good reminder that we are never done learning and there is always more to learn and love about our Catholic faith!