Life Teen Missions -

Be the Hemorrhaging Woman!

By Paul and Anna Albert | January 28, 2012

I thought I had a pretty good prayer life, but I came to Covecrest and all my time spent in prayer felt really dry, like I was getting nothing out of it. You’re not always supposed to feel something in prayer, but I could tell something was off. Every now and then, I have a profound moment with God, but I was longing to feel more personal and intimate with Him. I say Jesus is my best friend, but I wasn’t saying much to Him! Think about your best friend or someone important to you. You’d do almost anything to [...]

Holy Boldness

By Mark Bocinsky | January 24, 2012

Being bold is more than acting without thinking. Being bold is more than doing stupid things to prove that I am unafraid. Being bold is certainly more than never conceding my point of view in an argument. Being bold is much more than being close-minded, pretending to be tough, and never backing down. I want to be bold, but I want to live in holy boldness (Acts 4:13). The Apostles, after being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit post-Resurrection and post-Pentecost were bold with the leaders, elders, and scribes as they preached the Gospel even when being told to shut up. “Observing [...]

Go Make a Difference

By Willeke Franken | January 21, 2012

It seems so long ago, but I am going to write about my Christmas break. I was able to go home for two weeks, back to the Netherlands. I was excited to see all my friends and family again, but I also did not want to go because I had to leave Covecrest which is my also my home with family. It can be easy here at Covecrest to do a holy hour in the morning and to follow our rhythm of prayer, and I knew that I had to do this on my own at home. At least that [...]

Imitating St. Joseph

By Paul and Anna Albert | January 13, 2012

The year 2011 started well, midnight Mass with my Cardinal Archbishop at St. Leonard Church in the North End of Boston. This was a great way to start off what would be an eventful year. I entered the year with an important decision: when would I propose to my girlfriend, Anna? With lots of prayer, I decided on a date to pop the question that would forever change my life: March 6th, it’s the feast of her confirmation saint so I figured that would help me out a little. Thankfully, she said yes! A couple days, later I went on [...]

Missionary’s Risk

By Carrie Miller | January 12, 2012

For Christmas, I was able to go home for the first time since our formation year at Covecrest began in September. I was so excited to go home and see my family, and it was great. I have a great relationship with my family, so it was truly a blessing to be able to spend two weeks with them. I got to go to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve with my mom at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, which was celebrated by Archbishop Sheehan. (Definitely the coolest mass I’ve been to in a while!) I got to do lots [...]

What Do You Mean Jesus?

By ecusters | January 11, 2012

During one of my Desert Days I decided to not make my own plan for my prayers and Holy Hours but to ask God to lead me. I sat down in the chapel before the Blessed Sacrament and said to Jesus: “Okay, here I am, just tell me where to go”. And immediately I heard Jesus saying in my heart: ”Ellen, you are My Beloved”. Instead of being happy with these nice words, I was mad and frustrated because I knew that Jesus loved me, so I wanted Him to say something new. But that’s not what happened… Jesus kept [...]

Narnia: Lessons from Lucy

By Chris and Michelle Benzinger | January 10, 2012

This weekend, we watched The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Soon after Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy find themselves in Narnia, they are standing on the edge of a deep ravine with a rushing river hundreds of feet below. They need to cross the river and the bridge that was there hundreds of years ago when they first became Kings and Queens of Narnia, was no longer there. Peter and the others relied on themselves to figure out a way to cross the chasm. Little Lucy, glanced across the chasm and saw Aslan. No one else saw Aslan and [...]

One Church

By Lizzie | January 9, 2012

I believe in the Catholic Church. I believe it what it means to be truly “catholic”. In fact, as I say every week in Mass, I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I don’t think I ever really understood what it meant for the Church to be one until I went on foreign mission. The first time I went to Mass in another country was on mission in Ghana last summer. The liturgy was beautifully influenced by the culture of the Ghanaian people. Far from a pipe organ and a 70-year-old cantor, the Mass was celebrated with drums, [...]

Haiti: Praying from the Heart

By Vince Dao | January 8, 2012

We, the Covecrest missionaries had the opportunity to do a foreign mission in Haiti from Dec. 5th to Dec. 12th. We stayed at an orphanage called Kay Mari Manman Tout Timoun(Home of Mary, Mother of All Children). During our time there, we led a youth night on dignity and chastity for the village of Dandann. We completed work projects that consisted of leveling their play yard and filling in the foundation for the village chapel that is under construction. We visited poor families and we brought them basic food supplies, spent time with them and prayed with them. Mainly due to lack of funds, [...]

Jesus’ Personal Missionary Plan

By Chris and Michelle Benzinger | January 6, 2012

When you hear the word “missionary” what comes to mind? Let me guess…mission trips to Haiti, Mexico, Africa or China? Providing basic physical needs of food, clothing, and shelter for the poor? Someone moving to a third-world country to serve the poor and spread the gospel? All these examples are missionary, but I believe God’s missionary plan was more. Let’s look at the example of Jesus feeding the 5000. As I reflect on the story of feeding the 5000, Jesus does feed the hungry, but He is training the twelve at the same time. The disciples do not believe that they can provide for the needs [...]