By TAMI QUIGLEY Staff writer
“We binge Netflix. Why don’t we binge pray?” said Father Stephan Isaac, spiritual director of “My Soul Thirsts,” the young adult retreat that offered participants the chance to step away and connect with God and others March 24 at Mariawald Renewal Center, Shillington.
“Why do we look at prayer as a burden? God is saying, ‘I’m just trying to love you. Why am I a burden?’” Father Isaac, assistant pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola, Sinking Spring, told the 30 young adults gathered.
The theme for the day, “My Soul Thirsts,” is based on Psalm 63:1: “My soul thirsts for thee as in a dry and weary land where no water is.”
Sponsored by the Diocesan Office of Youth, Young Adult and Family Ministry (OYYAFM), the day included two talks by Father Isaac, Mass, Eucharistic adoration, opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, time for personal prayer and reflection, and a chance to engage with the other young adults present.
Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood (CPS) Sister Lucy Kawau and Sister Anastasia Mallya offered a presentation on their missionary work in Africa.
Those attending included Alexa Doncsecz, assistant director of OYYAFM. Francesca Frias, assistant coordinator of OYYAFM, was part of the group as an attendee.
In his afternoon presentation, Father Isaac asked young adults if they were setting aside time for God. “Do you have time to go to daily Mass? If so, I highly encourage you to do so.” He said confession isn’t limited to the times posted at the parish. “If you need to go, call us. That’s why we exist,” Father Isaac said of priests.
He also suggested spiritual readings as the documents of the Catholic Church and sacred Scripture, in which “God speaks to us directly through his inspired word.”
“We’re looking for ways to find God … use these channels of grace,” Father Isaac said. “We’re all in this together – we’re all searching for holiness together.”
Father Isaac encouraged young adults to form groups to pray, hang out and grow in faith. And though the Diocese offers many great young adult opportunities “Don’t wait for the Diocese to do something. If you want to form young adult groups in your parishes, do it. Find out what’s going on locally, and just start something.
“Do what you want to do to strengthen the life of the Church.”
Father Isaac said young adults should not isolate themselves, “If you’re insular in your relationship with Christ, you’re choking off avenues of grace,” he said. “Look at the people God has given us in our lives.”
He said God has given us the sacraments, the Church and other people – that’s why the family is called the domestic Church.”
“Guys, if we’re not praying, there is something seriously wrong. St. Padre Pio said, ‘Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.’ If we’re too busy to pray, we’re too busy.”
Father Isaac advised young adults to “look at the wealth, the treasury of faith in the Church” as opposed to “New Age things such as mindfulness.”
He said iPhones and iPads are not bad, but can be “chains” if we allow them to be, because God comes first.
Father Isaac said suicide, anxiety and depression are skyrocketing. “We’re more isolated. People are thirsty for human relationships. God is thirsty for us and we’re thirsty for him.”
“God loves us more than we could ever know. That means that we have to respond to that love,” Father Isaac said. “Get past the fluffy, puffy ’60s and ’70s hippie stuff and understand that God truly loves us.
“We can be like the rebellious kid who just won’t let the good parent love them.”
Father Isaac shared the words of Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
“We know these words, but do we believe them?”
Father Isaac said God gives us the Blessed Mother, who teaches us how to love her son. “The biggest thing with Mary is her receptivity – she’s open to all God wants to give her.
“Jesus is the answer to all of our prayers. Whenever we are struggling, he will show us the way. The Blessed Mother leads us to her son.”
Father Isaac said if we feel God is not answering our prayers, then he’s probably saying, “I’ve already given it to you or I’ll give you something better for your sanctification and happiness.
“God wants you to be happy. Not in the hippie kind of way, do what you want to be happy, he wants us to be truly happy.”
“The key to allowing the Lord to quench our thirst for perfect joy is letting go, surrendering,” Father Isaac said. “The devil hates that, he hates humility. Surrendering to God is the answer.”
