‘God chooses you as you are,’ kids, families hear

HAMMONTON – “Give God permission to speak to you tonight,” Sister Philomena Folse, CFR, told the families and young people gathered March 23 for an evening of Adoration and faith teaching at Saint Anthony of Padua Church, Saint Mary of Mount Carmel Parish, Hammonton.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal from Atlantic City and those from the Misioneras de Maria Formadora in Hammonton joined National Eucharistic Revival preachers Father Joseph Jean-Louis and Father Patrick Hyde, OP, for the retreat that was sponsored by the Diocese’s Office of Family and Youth Ministry.

“You and I are part of a family that spans the globe,” Sister Philomena told the nearly 100 people in attendance, explaining that some of her fellow CFR sisters hail from Austria, Mexico and Holland; the MMF sisters from Mexico and Puerto Rico; Father Jean-Louis from Haiti, with Father Hyde currently teaching in Indiana. “I’m sure you are all from different places as well.”

“Our faith that is given to us at home launches us into this bigger family that is the Church,” she said. “It was our parents who brought us to the baptismal font. And on that day, at that font of grace, you and I received the life of Jesus Christ in us. …  There is something stronger than blood that binds us together. … It’s the spirit of Jesus Christ that right now is flowing through your veins.”  Father Hyde picked up a similar theme in his address to young people. “God wants to be one with you. How does he do that? Through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. … When you receive the Eucharist in a state of grace, you still look like yourself, you still act like yourself … you still have all your grace and talents. But who do you become? Jesus.”

He continued, explaining that even if a person feels guilty, isolated, anxious or unloved, “God chooses you as you are. God doesn’t choose us because we are great. God chooses us because his love for us is great. We must, in return, choose God.”

“He offers us a free gift, but he never forces us,” Father Hyde said. “He never forced me to be a priest or any of these sisters to give their lives to him. It was a free choice that each and every one of us made. It was a response to love with love.”

At the same time, Father Jean-Louis, in Spanish, and Sister Gabriela Jose de Jesús, MMF, in English, met with parents to teach about the Eucharist.

“The Eucharist is the great mystery of mysteries. It’s a mystery of the great sacrifice,” Sister Gabriela said. “Imagine an almighty God submerging himself in a prison – a human being’s body – and taking on the anguish and pain of all people. … By imitating him, we can understand the value of suffering, sacrifice and persecution.”

Like Father Jean-Louis, she encouraged parents to learn more about their faith and pass that knowledge onto their children. “The Eucharist contains all the holy goodness of the Church,” she said. “If we understand that all joy and suffering leads to the Cross … one day we will be with him [Jesus] forever in heaven.”