CATH LIC

- Josie Soehnge | Sophomore | Intl. Relations & Spanish

Mission Trip

BOBCAT CATHOLICS AROUND THE GLOBEPanama-World Youth Day

“This trip was transformative and really revealed to me the desires that Jesus has for me. We got to put everything aside and live without our phones for a week. I was able to wake up and spend an hour in prayer with no emails to worry about or distract me.“

Valentina Soto is a junior majoring in Communication Studies. At the beginning of the Spring Semester, Valentina attended World Youth Day along with hundreds of thousands of faithful Catholics and our Most Holy Pope Francis! Her journey to World Youth Day began with a pilgrimage through Costa Rica into Panama, where World Youth Day 2019 was held.

“Pope Francis’ message during world youth day helped me understand that I am the now of God and of the Catholic Church. It’s easy to get caught up in everything we have going on, and think that my mission of bringing others to God and to heaven is something that I can fulfill later on, but it was so clear to me that my mission starts now.”

- Valentina Soto El Salvador -FOCUS Mission TripSpring Break provided the opportunity for some students to go with Father Craig on a mission trip to El Salvador. Several Bobcats and two FOCUS missionaries connected with a couple of missionaries from New York University and served at St. Parish in San Salvador. Pictured above are students enjoying a beautiful sunrise Mass on the beach.

Denver, CO - FOCUS Mission TripAnother group of missionaries traveled north to serve Catholic Charities in Denver, CO. The team lived with the Little Sisters of the Poor and served with Catholic Charities at The Holy Rosary Women’s Emergency Shelter and Good Samaritan House.

bobcat

“This trip helped me to truly understand human dignity no matter the situation. One of the highlights of this trip was visiting the shrine of Mother Cabrini.”

- Peter Manfre

A message from our Pastor...It’s been a busy semester with a new campus ministry program, Aspire, (pictured to the left is me with our two distinguished Catholic speakers at Aspire) and our Spring Break adventures. Now, the season of Lent is well underway! At the parish we are striving to become saints during this grace filled time. The beautiful practices of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting are helping us to love God, others, and ourselves more authentically. Seeing our students grow and become amazing young adults is the joy of campus ministry. It seems that every day there is a new face walking through our doors to encounter Christ in the sacraments and ministry provided by your generous support. I am excited looking forward to the Easter celebration and season with our students when we welcome seven students to the Catholic faith for the first time! A special treat for me is that my dad will join them in becoming a Catholic at the Saturday vigil. I pray for each of you and thank you for making our mission to bring the wisdom of Christ to Texas State University. I hope and trust that each of you will encounter our risen Lord anew in this coming Easter season. God bless you in all you do.

The journey to something deeper....

The UndergroundThe Underground is an outreach ministry open to all faiths and walks of life. It is an opportunity to discuss hot topics on the news or on campus on a deeper level, below the surface... (Under-ground). It is a chance to do some critical thinking and sharing about the tougher topics about our faith. Please join us on Thurs-days at 6:45 or stop by and introduce yourself to our new campus minister.

Our new Campus Minister: Breanne SaldivarBreanne is an Austin native, born and raised in north Austin. After graduating from High School, she spent three years as a foreign missionary. (Ecuador, Mexico, The Caribbean, Italy, England, Spain, and The Philippines) When she returned to the States, she stayed in ministry and served in many outreach ministries including: prison ministry, Hospice, Elderly care, crisis pregnancy centers, and high school youth ministry.

Fun Fact: Breanne has been interviewed on multiple national TV shows, including: Dr. Drew, CNN News, ABC Nightline, and Anderson Cooper Live! She also worked security for a multi-million dollar company.

“Underground is very inspiring. I find the stories to be engaging and transformative. I leave feeling encouraged and with a desire to try and improve some of the areas in my own life.”

- Sarah Sutton

Aspire WRAP UPWomen’s Night

Men’s Prayer Breakfast

ASPIREThe ASPIRE Conference was amazing! Two of our Bobcat Catholic students spoke at the mini-conference. Peter Manfre is a graduating senior who will be joining a staff as a FOCUS missionary upon his graduation this Spring. He delivered a talk about responding to Christ’s invitation by sharing the story of his deeper conversion during his first Senior year of college. Josie Soehnge is a Sophomore studying International Relations and Spanish. Her talk centered around one of her adoration hours where she journaled about a revealation when Jesus spoke to her heart through five verses from the book of Acts. Sarah Swafford spoke to the crowd about virtous relationships. She shared her past experiences working with college students at Benedictine and the beautiful ways that Christ has worked in her ministry that teaches the importance of Emotional Virtue. Founder and CEO of FOCUS, Curtis Martin closed the conference with a scripture-centered talk that reminded everyone in the audience that we are made for more. The students and parishioners alike, were inspired by each of the talks throughout the entire mini-conference.

Aspire weekend started for us at Ladies’ Night at OLOW. Sarah Swafford spoke to the students and WOW (Women of Wisdom) about the challenges of living a drama free life in today’s culture of perfectionism and competition. Probably the nicest part of the night (besides Sarah’s talk) was the opportunity to hang out with Sarah afterwards in the foyer. Sarah stayed and talked to many of the students while MET provided refreshments and hosted Sarah Friday night.

Men’s Prayer Breakfast is one of our newer ministries at Our Lady of Wisdom. Every Wednesday morning at 7AM the men of OLOW gather in the foyer to share thoughts on the day’s readings. Currently the men are being led in a Bible Study by Senior, Peter Manfre (who will lead many more Bible Studies next semester as a FOCUS missionary!). The Saturday of the Aspire mini-conference we had a special Men’s Prayer Breakfast with Sarah and Curtis. We started at 10AM at Embassy Suites. FOCUS Alumni Director, David Trotter, was our emcee and had fun introducing his CEO, Curtis Martin, and his

neighbor, Sarah Swafford! Nearly 60 men closed breakfast with a spirit filled, “How Great Thou Art” led by musician, George Pappas.

The Spring Semester began as 75 students returned from Indianapolis, Indiana! Bobcats traveled with our FOCUS Missionaries to SEEK 2019, a four

day conference held every other year. This year, nearly 20,000 college students were able to hear from some of the most faithful, dynamic Catholic speakers and authors of our time, attend Mass

together every morning, and enjoy Adoration. The conference served as the beginning of a life-long

conversion for many Bobcats. The number of student-led Bible studies has almost doubled upon

the return from SEEK 2019.

IMPACT:

Continue to be formed...Our Lady of Wisdom parishioners and students have been gifted one year of Formed by a grant from the Augustine Institute. Formed is a Catholic media service that offers E-books, podcasts, audio books, and Catholic video all available for free, unlimited viewing. Our two featured speakers from Aspire, Curtis Martin and Sarah Swafford, both have content on Formed to enjoy.

After Women’s Night, Men’s Prayer Breakfast, and Aspire, social media as well as the student center was ablaze with conversation about how these events created a lasting impact.

www.formed.org

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“This was like a much more personal and intimate version of SEEK. I got to talk to the speakers and shake thier hands, they were walking around and talking to us. ”

- Devin McMurtry