three good articles

This week I read three really inspiring articles that I thought I would share. They are worth printing out and reading/reflecting on prayerfully. I was really impacted by all three, but especially by the second one by Chaput. I believe all three are definitely part of what the “Spirit is saying to the churches.”

Cardinal Offers New Style for Priest-Lay Teamwork
Laity Council President Indicates Dangers for Both Sides
Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko

Archbishop Chaput to Congress on Priests and Laity
"The Prince of This World and the Evangelization of Culture"
Archbishop Charles Chaput

On Francis of Assisi
"The Secret of True Happiness: To Become Saints"
Pope Benedict XVI

What struck you in the reading of these articles? How do they encourage or challenge you to live out your Christian faith?

Following Christ retreat

What a wonderful weekend! Thanks to all who helped out- Dave, Ally, Brittany & especially Marg. For all who donated $ to make it happen, and who prayed for protection and the power of the Holy Spirit to be with us!

How can I share what happened for the 24 young adults? I'm hoping they will share a bit themselves in the comments below...

But here are few phrases that come to mind-

joyful praise deep prayer & reflection encounter with Jesus fresh and intimate community great food and drink beautiful weather & retreat location lots of laughter (and noise in general!) freeing discovery that we are at war sweet bonfire and smores

Thanks to Jen, Dave, and Miguel- here are a few pictures:

The whole group of us

My prayer spot on Saturday morning, beautimous (a made up word, yes, I know :)

one of the guy's small groups (the loud group :)


beautiful weather on Saturday

one of the girl's small groups

Miguel and Robbie with their tasty lunches

one on one sharing on the great stump

Following Christ for young adults

I want to share with you a letter I sent out yesterday to some close friends asking for prayers and support for one of the critical areas of mission ChristLife is involved with:

September 30, 2009
Feast of St. Jerome

Dear friends of ChristLife,

I'm writing you to ask for your 1) committed intercession and 2) financial support for a Following Christ retreat, Dave, Ally, Brittany and I are running this Friday-Saturday
(Oct 2-3).

This summer ChristLife hosted a Discovering Christ course for 60+ young
adults. Many lives were touched - from regular Catholics to nominal
Catholics to non-Catholic Christians to unbelievers. In fact one of the
young adults who shared the last session, came from a non-Christian background
and shared:

"I've really been touched by this course, I don't know what it is, but I
feel like I'm in the right place. I'm not making any commitments yet. but I
really enjoyed this."

She's been coming to mass with a friend for the past several weeks and is
coming on this weekend's Following Christ retreat. Praise God! And, not only
is she coming, but 24 other young adults who the Holy Spirit has touched in
various ways!

This didn't happen overnight though. We prayed and struggled with the
feasibility of even running a retreat. We faced four obstacles:

1. Location. Finding a retreat center with less than a month
notice
2. Commitments. Needing 15+ young adults to commit (we only had
15-25 coming weekly)
3. Affordability. Making the retreat affordable for young adults,
while meeting the costs
4. Obedience. Juggling so much at ChristLife, and not wanting to
get-ahead of the Lord, or behind Him.

Long story short, the Retreat Center had an opening this weekend.
One obstacle down! We then prayed about this "open door," and the day I had
to make the decision, "yes" or "no," just 2 weeks back, I got three
confirmations:

1. Enough people. 15 young adults confirmed their attendance,
followed by 10 more the next week (25 of us overall!)
2. Drop in price. I get an email from the retreat center dropping
our price by $300
3. The Lord speaks provision. I read the Gospel for the day from
Luke 8, which immensely struck me, a) the ragamuffin band of followers Jesus
attracted - the apostles, women from Herod's court, former prostitutes -
which feels a bit like our Following Christ group - very diverse; and b) how
they and "many others provided for them out of their resources." (vs. 3) And
I felt like the Lord was saying, "go ahead, I have my people. tell them what
you are doing, and I will provide."

So, I'm writing to make you aware of our needs spiritually and financially.
This morning in prayer, I prayed, "thank you Jesus that we never have enough
money, because it keeps us dependent on you and on the family of the Church!
" So here's how you can help:

1. Pray for protection. Really. Friday is the feast of "Guardian
Angels." I don't think a coincidence, as our retreat is themed We are at
War: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Pray for angelic protection and
the power of the Holy Spirit. I know Friday is first Friday and many
chapels have adoration. Will you commit time to pray? We have huge
anticipation the Lord is going to changes lives eternally! (Pray for those
in attendance and for ChristLife's leadership.)

2. Make a donation. In an effort to make the retreat affordable - to
attract young adults - we are only charging $35, though it costs more like
$105 per person to meet our costs. That's a $60 difference. Would you
consider a donation of this amount or more to help us meet our costs for
this retreat? If so send a donation to 12280 Folly Quarter, Ellicott City,
MD 21042 or donate online at

Thanks so much! Blessings in the Lord Jesus,

Pete Ascosi
Young Adult Coordinator

Thanks so much for considering this request and joining our mission to make Jesus known and loved!