Indifference & Mercy: Wednesday
Wednesday was a very exciting day! It was Schlitterbahn day! It was an earlier morning for us, but it was worth it for a day at the waterpark. We ate breakfast and packed our lunches for the day. Their small group prayer for the day was the Litany of Humility. Before leaving campus, we had Mass. Father Lickteig talked about mercy and related it to the waterpark we would be headed to that afternoon. His homily challenged us that as we floated down the wave pool at Schlitterbahn to remember that God's mercy is more than the amount of water in the pool. After Mass we took a group picture and loaded the buses to head to Kansas City, Kansas.
The majority of the day was spent at the waterpark, riding rides and floating down rivers. But our time at Schlitterbahn is also a day about evangelization. Everyone receives a "camp shirt" to wear at the park, it is a tool to talk to other people at the park about Camp Savio and Catholicism. Our shirts this year have a quote from Pope Francis that says, "Become islands of MERCY in the midst of a sea of indifference." They received a challenge of the day to practice evangelization. This year's challenge was to "put others needs before their own." For example, letting someone go in line before them or giving up your tube for someone else. We all had a lot of fun. At 3:00 p.m. we met back at the shelter house to check in and pray the St. Michael the Archangel prayer, and then we had one more hour of play left.
Session on Wednesday night was on "indifference and mercy." We started the night with music and a video on the "Dos and Don'ts of Evangelization." The part of the talk that stuck out to me the most was when Jon explained how Jesus fought indifferencel by showing mercy through acts of service. Jesus knew that his disciples were about to betray him, but he got down on his knees and washed their feet. Jon challenged everyone to serve others more by showing mercy and he specifically talked about the importance of chivalry. Jon brought up the quote "if you don't stand for something you will fall for anything." This struck a lot of people, especially in the world of indifference that we are living in. Jon said that we fight against indifference by serving others and showing them mercy, I hadn't heard indifference explained that way before, but it was a great point that has really challenged me this week!
Small group time was a powerful experience, where each person shared in their group about what they needed prayers for and the rest of their small group prayed for them.
Devin and David are having LOTS of fun and have made several friends. They cannot wait to come back next year with their friends!
~ Jen DeCoster
Director of Youth Ministry & Camp Savio Director