Brothers and Sisters,

I am so happy to be writing to you again with some really beautiful updates! God has been so gloriously gracious to our campus and to those in FOCUS these last few weeks!

The first week of January, 6,200 students, 338 missionaries, 200 priests, and 150 seminarians gathered in Orlando, Florida for a 5 day Catholic conference! SEEK2013 proved to be a very blessed experience for so many students. There were many talks and impact sessions from speakers such as Dr. Ted Sri, Dr. Tim Gray, Matt Fradd, Jason Evert, Matthew Kelley, and many MANY more! Matt Maher even came out on Saturday night for a concert! Our Friday night was filled with Adoration, Confession, and opportunities for students to be prayed over.

Over 4,000 students went to confession just that night. What an AMAZING grace from God for so many to be touched by Him to reconcile. I am so blessed and humbled to have been able to witness this and to also be a part of such an organization! BLESSED BE GOD!

Our students from UNO, Wayne State, and some seminarians from the Archdiocese shared on the bus ride back some of their experiences. The Holy Spirit has lit a fire in their hearts in a way that has moved them to action! We have one student contemplating converting to Catholicism, many other students experienced a deep conversion of heart and are moved to action in changing their lives and pursuing a virtuous life! There were many Greek students who are coming back to their fraternities and sororities with a fire to bring Christ into their houses! We as a team are very excited for this semester and we are already busy busy busy trying to keep up with our students! God is planning some big things for campus this semester and I believe in the long run!

One thing that has become a long topic of conversation and one issue that we as missionaries are really pushing to our students is the idea of  "feelings" and what role they really play in conversion, living virtuously and in their relationship with God. Experiences like conference or a great retreat have a way of stirring up many good, amazing, consoling feelings about the faith and Jesus. It's so easy to be on fire for Christ when 6,000 other people are just as excited as you! Unfortunately, those feelings aren't always going to be there.
Too many times I have witnessed students totally on fire for Christ and riding the wave of the "God high" because it just feels so darn good to be with Jesus! But, when the feelings go away (which they most certainly will), suddenly being a "Jesus Freak" isn't so fun. When it stops feeling good, suddenly things begin to fall apart. The reason for this is that many times, after a big conference, students will jump right into activities and taking Jesus to others and starting bible studies, but they fail to really establish a firm foundation of faith, devotion, obedience, and learning that will be the rock for their relationship with Christ when those warm fuzzies go away.
A popular saying within the FOCUS community is "We were not made for comfort, we were made for greatness". This is something very important for any Christian to remember. A life with Christ means joy, peace, and grace. But if anyone thinks that excludes sacrifice, pain, or suffering, they've got another thing coming! Our Lord and Savior himself, along with his blessed mother, didn't even escape the Sword of Suffering and ultimate gift of self through sacrifice, why should we expect any less for ourselves?!
God wills only our greatest good, but because sin is in the world, there is evil that we will encounter. We will face suffering, even have opportunities to choose suffering for the greater good of another. For this is true love, to will the greatest good for another, especially through our total gift of self.
This is what Christ did for us on the cross. This is what Mary, our blessed Mother, did for us by standing at the foot of the cross, enduring every bit of suffering that her Son was enduring. Her soul suffered what His body suffered. These two, the new Adam and the new Eve, knew perfect love and relationship with Our Father, they had joy, they lived a life of grace. Their great love and knowledge of who God is brought them to this place, the cross, the redemption of the world.
I can assure you, this scene in no way "felt" very good. I can't even begin to imagine the agony of the cross. Heck, I got the flu and was begging for death. But this is the life of a faithful Christian. We are founded on the knowledge of God's love and goodness, we stand on an obedient relationship with Him that leads to our own freedom. Freedom to choose to live virtuously, freedom to willingly give our life to God, freedom to willingly accept suffering and sacrifice for the sake of others, for Christ's sake. This is the only thing that is totally ours, our free will. That is why it means so much to give that to God, to humble ourselves to His will and to bear the Sword as graciously and lovingly as did Christ and his Mother.
Christ came not to bring peacetime, but the sword (Matt 10:34). This is something we've stressed to our students, and I want to stress to you. When the feelings fail, when things get tough, when life starts to hurt, or when you're asked by the Lord to endure something that doesn't feel so good, what are you standing on? What or who do you cling to? Are you standing on rock or sand? I know my answer, what is yours?

In order to help our students find this firm foundation and lead them to deeper spiritual conversion in their own hearts and lives, we've given them a tool. It's a 30 day/30 minutes a day prayer with scripture. We call it the WRAP (Write, Reflect, Apply, Pray). It's a way for our students to spend some time praying with scripture every day, and they are learning Lectio Divina (http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Catholic/2000/08/How-To-Practice-Lectio-Divina.aspx). The students are also receiving support from the staff and missionaries on campus! This is why we're here, this is the core of our mission. We're here to support and guide on a daily basis. We need your prayers, I thank you for your support, and I can't wait to witness more of what God has in store for these beautiful souls and this wonderful campus!

Deus Caritas Est
Monica