The 12 step review of a life lived in Christ

Hey everyone,

Yesterday I had the chance of hearing from the great Fr Emmerich Vogt on a little thing called the 12 step review. He was brilliant in what he had to say, but more than that, what he said really hit me as to be honest, it was exactly what my last six months on the road have personally been all about.

I thought I'd use this blog to share with you a bit about this- you've heard about the ministry, about my team, about life in the country in previous updates but I thought with this one, given I've been home for a few days as I'm on mid-year break and had a chance to process, I'd share about my own personal growth (however, I ain't doing this is 12 steps as I know you all have lives to lead that involve more than just this blog LOL!), but I will focus on some key areas.

Admit our Powerlessness, Turn our life to God

In this section, Fr Vogt talks about how without the grace of an active spiritual life, our lives are unmanageable.

Over the last year and in particular the last few months, I think this has come to the fore more than it has in my entire life. The more I trust in God with things and the more I listen to him instead of doing what I feel is right, the greater the power I have and the more control I have over things.

I'm realising as well that I really can't do much without Christ who gives me strength. So often in the past, I've tried to do things myself and of course, they haven't turned out. To see however the things I can do when I do what God calls me to do, has been such an amazing experience and made me see why having the love of Christ in your heart is so important.

These days, I am trying as much as possible, even if it is only for five minutes and then I do my prayer time later- to start the day in conversation with God. This gives great peace as from reading a passage or from looking at a quote, I am reminded of what God wants me to focus on and I am more able to live that out in my life.

Even when things might not go as planned or I have a bad day, having God's message at the forefront of my mind means I can stop, give it to him and focus on what he wants me to do- which is especially important as it allows you to show to young people that what you are saying to them is not just something you are talking, it's also something you are believing and living and that makes them more open to it.

Admit our wrongs, be willing to be healed, make direct amends

This section is all about how if you are willing to accept that people will make mistakes and so will you that you will be able to be healed of past hurts and be able to live in greater communion with each other and God.

I've always found it hard to admit I'm wrong or not feel hurt when others do things that are against me. Over time however, especially when I was working, I learnt to ignore these things and just hope that they will pass.

Last year, I learnt from my year on the road that sometimes you just have to love those around you when they do wrong- to accept them as human and give them another opportunity- I think it is something that has made my friendships a lot stronger and I'm grateful for this lesson learnt.

This year however, the more I grow in my journey with God, the more I'm realising the mistakes and pain I have caused. I think before I just didn't worry about it, but knowing the way God wants me to live, now it is something that I notice and can't help but feel affected by.

The thing is though is that from my reading of scripture, time spent with people of the faith and my own time in prayer- I'm learning that mistakes are going to happen and I need to accept that. I need to be willing to not be too hard on myself when things occur and instead be willing to admit I'm wrong and ask forgiveness of those around me and to accept the forgiveness that God has for me - he loves us all no matter what and that's amazing, but we need to open to that love to receive freedom.

Which leads me to the last thing I've learnt this year- and that's never let an issue not be resolved. If you have a gripe or have done something bad against someone- go talk to them about it. I'm realising that when I do this, whether the conversation is a good one or not, the end is result is always that in the long term- my friendships grow stronger because people feel more appreciated that I am being honest. Now I know this isn't easy- to be honest there's still times when I want to ignore things- but I now know the difference caused from talking about an issue and not doing it and I definitely think the first one is the better option.

Live a life of prayer and sharing with others

If there's one thing I've learnt this year though most of all, it's the power of prayer and the power I have in sharing what I have learnt in others.

I'm realising the amazing gift that prayer can have in our lives. A perfect example is of my Grandmother who is in a nursing home. I prayed that God would give her happiness and while she isn't as strong as she was before and has lost her short term memory, she is happier than I've seen her in a long time, which is only by the grace of God and the people he has put around her.

Prayer is all about our willingness to give our thoughts to God and trust the problems and issues of life to him. I use to think as a kid that while it was important to pray, it didn't really matter as there were billions of people on the world and God couldn't help them all- he's just one man.

I now know however that the choirs of angels stop to hear our prayers (it says so in Apocalypse) and also that while not ever prayer is going to be answered immediately or in the way we want it to, God hears all our prayers and in time, he gives us what we need- yes people, not what we want, what we need.

When it comes to sharing with others, I am constantly astounded by how my story, my life and my love for Christ inspires those around me. It has been such a joy to come back home and see how the sharing in the faith of my friends has inspired them all to greater things, how simple words of advice can help turn a persons life around and how young men and women have their hearts changed simply by knowing someone is there like them who believes in what they do, who wants what they want and who isn't afraid to go after it.

And that's where I'd like to leave this- with that point in mind. No matter what I've learnt over the last six months and it has been a lot and a great journey, the road continues on and I will keep learning, but the most important thing is that I keep being myself, and I keep allowing people to know I am there and ready to be a warrior for Christ.

It may be hard at times, it may challenge everything I've known, but I wouldn't have it any other way, and I pray that for those on this journey with me - that you wouldn't have it any other way either.

GB, Trev :)

Update from Goulburn Number 1

Hey all,

Well it’s eight degrees here in Goulburn today (thank goodness for warm clothes, electric blankets and central heating) however I thought to warm everyone’s hearts I’d share a little bit about life on the road recently.

A few weeks ago we went out to a school in Yass (about an hour west of Canberra) for a few retreat days with year 9 & 8 students. It was amazing however to see how when we got there how many of the year 10 students we had met earlier in the year wanted to hang out with us and talk to us about their lives. It was such a joyous experience to see how they had each grown from the few days with us earlier in the year and how much they appreciated having us around again.

Last week we attended a charismatic prayer group on the NSW South Coast and to hear from the attendees how much joy and life we brought to them by being there was so inspiring and really gave me a new burst of energy to keep showing Jesus love to others.

The highlight of the week however was a couple of days ago as we did a 3 day retreat for some young Yr11 men from Canberra. These blokes came in quite respectfully but weren’t all that interested in learning about Jesus however after spending two days with us and each one of the team either playing footy,chatting or spending time with the guys, there was a change in attitude, to the point where we had a third of them chat to the priest during prayer time/reconciliation (some weren’t even Catholic) and I had people come up to me saying that the energy and time given by each one of us changed their lives… I even had one guy say thanks to me for my energy and charisma- all because we were willing to respect & show the love of Christ to each of these young men.

As the quote above says, sometimes love doesn’t come through the way we think it should. Sometimes the little things we do can change lives and sometimes it involves us choosing to fight for others and showing them that the world does respect them for who they are.

If there’s one thing I’m learning this year, love the way that Jesus calls us to is not about grand gestures, big moments or large balloons. It’s about fighting for everyone whether you want to or not. It involves choosing to fight even when the cold might say it’s easier not to, it means sacrificing your wants, needs and fears to do what God calls you to do.

Doing this leads to so much reward and my prayers are with you all that you keep showing Jesus love to all you meet in life, and pray the team and I may keep doing so too.

Peace out everyone

Trev :)

Hello from the Southern Tablelands of NSW aka. Goulburn

Hi Everyone, 

Sorry for the lengthy delay in posting but our first school term here has been quite busy and so haven’t had that much time to write but now we’re on holidays here in NSW it is time to update you on what’s been going on.

Ministry

It has been a big year of ministry so far for our entire team. We kicked things off just four days after arriving in Goulburn with a two night retreat in Sydney with the year 12’s at the local Catholic school and since then have done two overnight retreats, numerous day retreats and even a youth camp.

Unlike in Melbourne where we did one off events and travelled around the city, here in the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn we have travelled all over Southern NSW including the South Coast and the country town of Cootamundra. 

Our larger trips have seen us stay a week in an area at a time, getting to meet some amazing young people and also staying with some really nice priests who not only ensured we were well fed but were so knowledgable as well (I know so much more about my faith thanks to them).

It has also been a lot of fun and really rewarding to spend time with the young people and see them grow, especially the ones who are just really open to experiencing Jesus love in their lives and who you get to see change as people over the time spent with them. It has also been great to see how the message of Jesus is received by the young people, especially those in the country where there is a real sense of searching for something more than what the media and society is telling the young people to be.

Another great part of the work we do is that we get to hold large events for the local youth after our week of retreats which are always a lot of fun and it is great to see the community get together to support the young people plus the moments of adoration and mass are always a great experience.

Life in Goulburn 

It is a lot of fun living in a country town but it is very different to anything I’ve ever experienced. For starters, I am only now getting use to cars stopping in the middle of the road as you walk into town because someone you know is driving them and wants to say hello and I’m only just getting use to having everyone you know working at the local stores.

Goulburn itself is a pretty cool place to live. Lots of discount stores means clothes and supplies are pretty easy to get even for a person on a mission year which is cool. The local cinema is really good value at $8 for a ticket and even though the movies are only on for 3 weeks at a time, it’s still a great place to go to.

There are also lots of great cafes and pubs to visit in Goulburn and myself and my team brother have even managed to do a driving tour of some of the more larger Goulburn institutions including going past the prison, driving into the entrance of the Police Academy and seeing the Racecourse.

The biggest thing I’m going to have to get use to though about Goulburn is that it is winter for 6 months of the year. From about next week onwards it will start getting colder and the average temperature in June and July is around 4-5 degrees during the day which is due to the fact the area is flat and the wind blows through. Already there’s been a few days where the wind has made the day quite chilly and so I’ve been glad for long pants and my fleece blanket.

Team Life 

They say that on NET that if you do a second year, your team will never be like that of your first year team and I have to say, they are pretty true on the mark when it comes to this point.

My team this year is made of people who are all very different but whose uniqueness makes us the team that we are- a fighting team that works to always do the best we possibly can in everything we do. 

The funny thing is though that even though we are all quite unique and have lots of different talents and gifts, with some people being great dancers, others great listeners and others just very good at looking at detail, our personalities are quite similar with our personality profiles showing two team members being the introverted version of two other team members.

I really appreciate as well how our team challenges each other to be the best we can be (I guess that comes from the way our team works). I have really been made to work to be the best person I can be and that’s a good thing- as sometimes I know I can be lazy and not do things that need to be done, but this team is so supportive and that makes doing the hard things easier.

I also appreciate the fun that we have as a team. We work really hard to get things done well, but when we aren’t working, we have loads of fun, whether it’s random dancing at nighttime, van travel karaoke, amazingly intellectual conversations over dinner or just the crazy games we come up with during free time- there’s been so many amazing memories on team this year so far and so many videos made, can’t wait for what the rest of the year has in store.

In addition to the team, we are also staff members of a wider family in the CatholicLIFE office of the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn. These people are so cool and supportive and they welcome us with open arms whenever we are in the office. It is so much easier to be a good team when you have that support behind you and we are blessed to be in this diocese.

Prayer Life

I guess considering you are all sponsoring for a year of mission sharing the love of Jesus with others, I should tell you about how my faith journey is going. At the start of this year it was a big challenge when it comes to growth in faith as I was made to question quite early on in the year what it was that God was calling me to.

The past few months however have been a rollercoaster ride of learning, realisation, healing and now commitment to ensuring I work to be the person Jesus calls me to be. 

I am so fortunate here to be living right next to a church so my morning prayers are done in there and it is such a great place to reflect on the great things God has given. It has also been such a support to have such a strong local parish community around me (I regularly attend a daily mass of about 40 people and that can only inspire you). 

As a team we are also very strong when it comes to faith and not only do we do regular prayer but we talk about our faith a lot and that helps to work through the things you may be struggling with or just to know there are others on the journey with you.

Along with all of this, I have been so lucky to hear some great speakers of the faith this year, such as Fr Dom Murphy and Eduardo Verstagui as well as go to Light to the Nations- a massive charismatic worship event held during easter and these have broadened my faith as well as strengthened it as I keep seeing people who are doing amazing things through Jesus.

Right now I feel God just saying to me to work to do the best I possibly can with the gifts he gives me and I’m looking forward to seeing where this leads me in the months ahead.

Anyway, I’m running out of battery on this computer so I’ll sign off here for now, but know I’m praying for you all. Please keep praying for me and my team too as we keep fighting for Jesus and hopefully my next update will be a bit sooner than the last one.

GB, Trev :)