Our FOCUS Missionaries Stopped By

Our FOCUS missionaries (David Cargill, Shannon Zurcher &  Rob Cargill) were at the parish this weekend to speak at the Masses and chat with our parishioners.

We have more information on our missionaries here.

Some FOCUS Visits

Just before the end of the school year, two of our FOCUS missionaries were able to visit the classrooms who prayed for them throughout Lent. Here David Cargill poses with Miss Fast and the students of KC.

They each had a chance to show him the card they made for him. They alo asked him some questions like, "How do you save the world?"

His answer: "A lot of love and a lot of prayer."

Before he left, they prayed together.

He also visited class 7A. With them, he spoke of how he decided to become a FOCUS missionary and what that has been like for him. 

Rob Cargill was also able to visit the classes which had been praying for him. First he got to check out the students of 6A.

He got to see that both classes had 8 x 10 pictures of him on the wall to remind them to pray for him.

He also got to visit KB to meet the students and was delighted by the cards they made for him.

Along with Shannon Zurcher, Rob and David will be speaking at all of the Masses this weekend. They'll update us on their work and give thanks for our support. It will also be a chance to start supporting a missionary if you aren't already.

After the 5 p.m. Mass, they will head to the ball-fields for the Fiesta with Fr. Dave.

Joy is Not for Wimps

“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”      

John 16:33

I’ve been doing some research in my Advent quest for joy.

Right away I found something helpful online: an EWTN article by Curtis Martin, founder and CEO of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). The article is aptly titled “You’d Better Not Pout.”

What I learned seems to be summed up quite nicely by St. Paul: “Rejoice always. Pray constantly. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Sounds simple, but as Martin reminds us: “Joy is not for wimps. St. Paul’s letters show that he was an intensely joyful man, but he was also tough. . . . Look at what St. Paul went through:

'Far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches.'"

“True joy,” Martin said, “must be anchored in the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ.”

The writer recommends a strong prayer life and frequent reception of the sacraments to increase and sustain our joy. And confidence in God’s providence will keep us from getting discouraged.

“Momentary setbacks and even spectacular earthly failures won’t rob us of our joy, because we haven’t placed our joy in the things of this world. Our joy and hope are grounded in Christ and in the life to come.”

So, according to Martin, we go back to St. Paul’s advice.

It’s “as simple as one, two, three. One: ‘Rejoice always.’ Two: ‘Pray without ceasing.’ Three: ‘In all things, give thanks.’”

My take is slightly different, that we should use the steps backward to reach the point of rejoicing.

Either way, I have my job cut out for me. But at least I have St. Paul as my guide.

Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.

A FOCUS visit

On Monday of the last week of school, three FOCUS missionaries visited our school. Since Ash Wednesday Mrs. English's 1st grade class has been praying for FOCUS missionary Mat Wuebben. Mat grew up in Holy Trinity Parish in Hartington and has been serving as a missionary at the University of Minnesota in Duluth.

The students were curious to see if 

Mat was as tall as Abraham Lincoln.

Mrs. Wilson's third grade class has been praying for Elizabeth Connealy who is from St. Mary's parish in Bellevue. This year Elizabeth has been serving at Wayne State College in Nebraska.

 The students had a gift waiting for Elizabeth.

Mrs. Meier's 4th grade class had been praying for Jamie Fox. Jamie is from St. Thomas More Parish in Omaha and served at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Everyone told Jamie she was in North Dakota for the coldest winter ever.

Jamie is Mrs. English's niece, but one student

 also claimed her as a long lost sister.

It was great to have the three of them visit.

Wednesday morning we had a visit from Rob Cargill who is from St. Columbkille Parish. Rob has been serving at the University of Illinois in Champaign for the last two years. Miss Hart's 6th grade class was praying for him.

Mrs. Yanovich's Kindergarten class had been praying for Rob as well. When he walked into the room the students immediately recognized him and began calling out, "Rob!"

It was great for the students to connect with the recipients of their prayers.

Thank you all for your visits!

Garage Sale for FOCUS

 The garage sale today and tomorrow at 1209 Ashley Drive in Papillion  from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. ...

 ... is to raise fund for FOCUS missionaries

 David and Rob Cargill.

David, pictured above, is new to FOCUS and does not know where he will be assigned. Rob has been serving at the University of Illinois the last two years and will be at a new campus next year. So stop by to shop and support them.

Our Missionaries

After the all school Mass on Ash Wednesday, Will Targy spoke to our students about FOCUS.

FOCUS stands for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. Will is a former FOCUS missionary who, after graduating from college, spent three years living on campus leading Bible Studies, developing student leaders and being radically available to students.

Each of the 19 classrooms at St. Columbkille Catholic School are spiritually adopting a FOCUS missionary from the Omaha Archdiocese this Lent. They will pray and encourage their missionary in God's work.

Our FOCUS Missionaries Share Their Knowledge

Three of our parishioners are FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) missionaries. Rob Cargill (left) is in his second year at at the University of Illinois, Shannon Zurcher (center) is in her fourth year with FOCUS and leading the team at UConn and Andy Dejka (right) is in his second year at Northwestern University.

Our FOCUS missionaries were kind enough to share their thoughts on Evangelization in our bulletin letter this weekend.

All of the FOCUS missionaries are supported entirely by donations. To learn more about them or for a link to send a gift, see our parish website. 

Missionary Work at Northwestern

Northwestern University, often hailed as a Midwestern Ivy League school, sits on the shore of Lake Michigan. The prestigious university attracts many driven, career-oriented students who participate in numerous school activities and who already possess strong leadership skills.

Winning the hearts of these future leaders for Christ and His Church and teaching them how to share their faith effectively with others will prove invaluable for the renewal of the Catholic Church in America.

 One of those working to win those hearts for Christ is one of our own parishioners, Andrew Dejka who is a first year FOCUS missionary working on the Northwestern campus.

Below is some information from Andrew:

"Students at Northwestern hung out during the annual welcome event at the Sheil Catholic Center, called First Night.

"After an evening Mass, a barbecue, scavenger hunt around campus, and small-group faith discussions, students had a sleepover at the Sheil Center and had the chance to meet many other young Catholics! The night was a great success!

"These older students serve as leaders at the Sheil Catholic Center by organizing and leading the annual welcome events, retreats, and social gatherings. They are all excited about getting involved with FOCUS, and at least one is already considering joining staff as a Missionary!

"Each year before classes begin, the Sheil Catholic Center holds an outdoor ice cream social to help draw both Catholic and non-Catholic students into the vibrant faith community here on campus. Although it was a cold and rainy day, we still had a great turnout (and distributed gallons of hot cocoa)!"

As we celebrate World Mission Sunday this weekend, we keep Andrew and all of the FOCUS missionaries in our prayers.

FOCUS Missionaries

We're delighted that three of our parishioners are serving as FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) missionaries. Rob Cargill (left will soon begin his first year serving at Northwestern (and already has the date of the Nebraska-Northwestern game circled). Shannon Zurcher (center) will start her fourth year with FOCUS and her second on the UConn campus. Andy Dejjka (right) will begin his first year at the University of Illinois.

We were fortunate that last weekend Andy and Rob were able to speak after all seven of our Masses. Their ministry to university students serves people at a critical time of their lives and is perfectly in tune with our parish mission to "Go and Make Disciples." All three of them are supported by the generosity of donors that help them specifically.

You can hear their talk from the link here.

A College FOCUS

Shannon with some students and Sr. Virginia Joy of the Sisters

 of Life celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

During this day when many of us are busy watch College Bowl games, we'll look at the faith life of some of the students. St. Columbkille parishioner Shannon Zurcher is in her third year working as a missionarry for the Fellowship Of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). Supported by donations from people such as many of our parishioners she invites college students into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. This year she is reaching out to students at UConn.

Of her work, Shannon writes:

As FOCUS missionaries, discipleship is our main goal with all the students we meet and work with here at UConn. In discipleship we share our lives with a few students by meeting with them throughout the week, teaching them how to live a full Catholic Christian life, and equipping them to be able to share their faith with their peers in college and wherever they go for the rest of their lives. This is the same plan Jesus had while He was on Earth. He invested His life in 12 men (His Apostles), taught them how to live, and to share His life with others through the power of the Holy Spirit.

At UConn we have 19 students in discipleship. Most of these students are starting up their own bible studies so that they can find new people to disciple themselves. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will work through us to raise up more Catholic leaders and laborers through discipleship. Pray for students who will be committed to proclaiming the Truth of Jesus’ love here at UConn and in the world. This school year I am discipling 5 girls. Tina, Kaitlin, and Rachel are Seniors, Liz and Jessica are Sophomores. They are all either discipling other women or working to find women to invest in and disciple.

To support Shannon, click here.

The Body and Blood of Christ

One of our parishioners, Shannon Zurcher, is a FOCUS missionary who has been serving at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The following was written by Deb Happ who will be a Junior next year.

“Isn’t that cool?! We are all really connected in the Eucharist!” I paused, absorbing the statement that I had just heard. Then Shannon spoke again, “No matter where we go we will be connected, because we are one in the Body of Christ, the Eucharist.” I began to nod slowly until wham, it hit me and everything clicked; it changed the way I saw everything. “Wow so if we are all in Jesus because He brings us into Himself, and if Jesus is within every single one of us, in our heart… then yeah, we are connected! But then in the Eucharist, this spiritual connection becomes physical, and literally we are one in the Eucharist because we are all receiving the same Body of Christ at communion!”

Deb & Shannon at the UIC
Newman Center

This conversation happened during one of our discipleships this year. We were talking about a new identity in Christ and how every choice we make and everything we do has an impact on the whole world. I didn’t understand it until Shannon explained that it is because we are all connected through the Eucharist. My mind blew in a so many ways that day as my thoughts about what it means to be Catholic expanded. The power of the Eucharist… the Body of Christ… for the first time in my life I felt so happy and blessed to be Catholic as I began to understand the true idea of our global human family through this profound epiphany of what the Eucharist really is.

 

Our FOCUS missionary

Shannon Zurcher is one of our parishioners who made a two year commitment to serve as a FOCUS missionary. Last summer she spoke briefly about her work. The video above contains the audion from her talk.

News from FOCUS

One of our parishioners, Shannon Zurcher, is a FOCUS missionary serving at the University of Illinois - Chicago (UIC) the following is from her fall newsletter:

The beginning of the school year is always one of the busiest times for a missionary. We worked hard to make sure students knew where the Newman Center was and invited them to continue growing in their faith while in college. This included many nights in the dorms, being at new student events, and planning events to get to know more students.

All these efforts to spread our nets wider bore much fruit. There are many new students involved in the Newman Center and seeing that living a life in relationship with Jesus is not only a normal thing to do, but something that brings real joy, peace, and happiness. It is wonderful to hear students talk about how they can sense their lives changing in just the few weeks they have been back. They are almost surprised to find that there is a community at the Newman Center that will help them to grow in their faith. I am so excited to be here with them to guide that process and watch them discover their faith more profoundly through the power of the Holy Spirit! Thank you for your commitment to support and pray for this ministry which is truly changing the lives of college students!

Because of the success of our Fall Outreach we were able to start up 12 new bible studies giving us a total of 21 weekly bible studies! Most of these bible studies are student led. My 3 disciples are all leading freshmen in their bible studies. The goal of FOCUS is to bring college students into a deeper relationship with Jesus, through discipleship, that will lead to a desire to share that relationship with their peers. Please pray that each of our student leaders will find 2 students from his or her bible study to invite into discipleship, and begin to mentor them.
 
The three women pictured are Shannon's disciples Cathy, Deb, and Bernadette. They meet at least once a week to grow in the Faith. Each is leading their own bible study, and will be mentoring two girls by the end of this school year.

Shannon & FOCUS

At the beginning of January, parishioner Shannon Zucher moved to Chicago to serve the students at the University of Illinois—Chicago. As a FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) missionary, she is serving in FOCUS’s second year at UIC.

She sent us the following pictures & comments:

My new team at UIC from left to right. Genevieve, also from Nebraska. Mark is from Minnesota. Matt is from Peoria, Illinois. Joy was at UIC last semester and was married in December. She moved to her now husband’s campus to continue her work as a missionary. I am the last one on the right. Genevieve, Mark, and Matt have all served on UIC’s campus for a year and a half! They have really welcomed me and are teaching me a lot about how to be a better missionary.

A group of students from UIC at FOCUS National Conference. Bernadette is in yellow and is one of my disciples. I just asked her to start this mentor relationship 3 weeks ago!

This is me with my small group from a Koinonia retreat put on by the students at the UIC John Paul II Newman Center. This was a very powerful retreat and I was very excited to get to know all the students really well!

Shannon has these prayer requests:
· For the students at UIC. That they would be open to the gospel message.
· For my team at UIC
· That I would trust more completely in the Lord and allow His will to be done.
· For the sanctity of family life and marriage.
· For the girls in my bible study at UIC, and for my disciples Cathy and Bernadette.
· For an end to abortion.
I pray for you and your intentions daily, please email me specific intentions that you would like me to pray for.