Form Servant Leaders Who Will Transform the World

Consolation and fortitude invigorated me as I walked into Memorial Church in the autumn of 2015 for the first time as Father X took command of the Holy Spirit and gave himself, a gift, to the congregation. I had just graduated from Williams that spring and was in need of a spiritual director for my new life as an ‘adult.’ I heard the Spirit’s whisper confirm that Father X was to be my spiritual director.

I arrived in Palo Alto without a job, but sure that God wanted me there. I originally planned on applying to medical school the next year, but I heard God asking me to boldly trust Him. So I applied to Stanford in the beginning of October. On October 9, I e-mailed Father X with the subject line, “Spiritual Direction.” I walked into his office, and he, in what I now know to be his signature move, said nothing but greeted me with a smile that conveyed knowledge—not knowledge in an intellectual sense, but knowledge on a spiritual plane—a mutual harmonic resonance between us, tied through the eternal knowledge of the Holy Spirit.

That first meeting was the beginning of weekly, sometimes twice weekly, meetings that the Lord used to etch the shape of His Son upon my heart. I treasured these weekly meetings. Father X became my spiritual director, my confessor, and my friend. I took copious notes and reflected upon them during my three hours of commuting to and from UCSF each day where I was a research analyst in the neurosurgery department. I began sending a ‘Meditation of the Day’ text to my family and closest friend. This quickly grew and now reaches 5,000 people!

I characterize this chapter in my life as Abandonment to Divine Providence. The Lord continued to stretch my heart. By mid-January 2016 Matthew Decker and I were leading an Evangelical Catholic small group. We encouraged each other to pray and pray. God used us to show his love to our small group, and he used our small group to teach us how to walk with humility and how to listen.

In February I was invited to interview at Stanford on the final day of interviews. To see God’s hand ever more clearly in this story it is important to understand the improbability that I would attend Stanford for medical school. Roughly 8,000 students apply each cycle; the administration aims for a final class size of 85-95. I was not a competitive applicant by any means—so much so that my pre-med advisor at Williams told me the only way I would get into Stanford was if I fell in love with the daughter of the dean of admissions.

Yet, I retained a disproportionate level of optimism. I was almost sure that I was supposed to be at Stanford—certainly for medicine, even more so for evangelization. God was rooting me in the community and I had a strong sense that it was not to be a transient existence. Roots take time to grow and God was growing my roots into the Stanford community. On April 30, I received a call from Dean Gibbs offering me a place in the class of 2016. God had done the impossible; I was going to be at Stanford for at least another four years. I immediately texted Father X, “I’m in. We are infiltrating the med school!” And that’s exactly what we’ve done.

The med school is a difficult environment for ministry, steeped in a progressive ideological framework devoid of God. I often come to my weekly meetings with Father X discouraged, burnt out, and irritated. Still, this last year we turned my room into a space for prayer. Father X bought us four full sets of The Liturgy of the Hours. A small community of students joined to pray Lauds in my room at 6:30 each morning.

As I return to campus it will be my fourth fall on campus, and third as a student. God continues to grow my roots. Father X continues to counsel me, to encourage me, and most importantly to remind me that I am the beloved son of the Father, with whom He is well-pleased.

Form Servant Leaders Who Will Radiate the Joy of the Gospel

“Be where your feet are,” said Sister Joannie, my high school campus minister, at my high school graduation. At the time, I did not quite understand what she meant by this. It wasn’t until I was suddenly thrown into my new life at Stanford that I soon realized how important these words would be not only to my college experience but also to my relationship with Jesus.

Just a week before I began my future on the farm, I unexpectedly received an email from Kelsey, a current sophomore at Stanford and active member of the Catholic Community. She warmly welcomed me to the Stanford community and invited me to join her for Mass during my first weekend on campus. After that first weekend, however, I quickly became swept up into the whirlwind that is Stanford “Duck Syndrome,” calmly swimming by on the surface with my feet furiously paddling away underneath. I was putting too much on my plate—rowing practice, chemistry tutoring, volunteering, research, student government. I didn’t have time for Mass, for community, for prayer, for Jesus. I was just too busy.

However, my friend Kathleen extended yet another invitation to me my sophomore year—an invitation to join a small group. I was very hesitant to join, but she was persistent while continuing to meet me where I was at. I finally attended my first small group and was immediately welcomed with overwhelming support and a fire for Jesus. This small group was more than a typical Bible study—it was my home away from home. I re-encountered Christ, began my prayer life again, connected with the Spirit through scripture. I noticed how this small group was transforming everything else I was accomplishing at Stanford. Even my friends witnessed the positive changes. I was finally being present— being where my feet were.

During my junior year, I responded to God’s call to lead my own small group, investing in others as others had invested in me. However, the temptation to start paddling furiously under the waterline crept back in as I struggled to get students to attend my small group. I knew God was challenging me to push deeper into my commitment to be a disciple of Christ. That was the moment I started 1:1 discipleship with Julie, a mentor from Evangelical Catholic (EC). Julie’s investment in me allowed me to become grounded, inspired, acquainted with God at a much deeper level. It was through this spiritual direction in the art of discipleship that I was able to rise and become an effective small group leader. By the spring of my junior year, my small group was alive with the joy of the Word.

Finally, as I continued to lead my own small group as well as serve as the coordinator for all small groups my senior year, I realized that I would have never made it to my final year at Stanford or grown into who I am today without my small groups or my 1:1 discipleship. I knew that my ministry was only just beginning. I made the decision to stay as the EC Small Group Coordinator for Undergraduates for one year after graduation while also preparing for medical school.

This is just one story among many more that are currently being written and will continue to be written. None of this would have been possible without our permanent community’s support in making our CC@S vision a reality. So thank you for giving me a fresh start. I hope you join me in continuing to give fresh starts to all current and future Stanford students who are lost and just need one soul to find them, one person to show them how to be where their feet are.

Form Servant Leaders Who Will Encounter Christ

Friend: “Are you Catholic?”

Me: “Yes, I am.”

Friend: “Why is it that Catholics…?”

Me: “I don’t know.”

Up until a few months ago, that was my answer for every question related to the Catholic faith. I had said ‘yes’ to my First Communion and ‘yes’ to my Confirmation. But, what was the point? What exactly did it really mean to be Catholic?

These questions did not prompt any significant effort to find the Truth—until college, that is. It started with a desire to belong, to be a part of a community.

That’s when I came upon the first of many invitations to Encountering Christ, which manifested itself as a Small Group. Initially, I was nervous about “fitting in”—an experience quite typical of awkward freshmen like myself. But my worries and insecurities vanished, for it became one of the best decisions I’ve made at Stanford. It became a space where I could ask questions, meet people who were on the same journey, and explore the Word. Most importantly, my Small Group helped me see—and feel— God work around me. I didn’t know it then, but I sensed what I later realized to be the Holy Spirit, moving in my small groups leaders. It reached out to me, fueling a desire to know more, feel more.

So, I sought out a priest and was blessed to have met Fr. Emmanuel, through which I received my second invitation. Fr. Emmanuel approached me one spring day, with his all-too-familiar grin and his iconic skateboard:

Fr. Emmanuel: “Why don’t you come to our leadership meeting tonight?”

Me: “Oh…uhh sure, what’s it about?”

Fr. Emmanuel: “Just come…you’ll see,” he said, still smiling. (I laugh now, because I later found out that the event was, in fact, called “Come and See”.)

There, I witnessed an enlivening congregation of student leaders in the Catholic community and listened to their stories of the trials and triumphs embedded in their experiences of discipleship. Again, I felt the Holy Spirit moving around me. In fact, at Come and See, I came upon my third invitation to Encountering Christ when I met Lourdes, the Campus Minister at Stanford. With her help and guidance, I have been undergoing 1:1 Discipleship, through which I have been exploring my personal connection with Jesus using prayer and reflection and unraveling the answers to my burning questions.

Renewal. Healing. Unity. For me, this was the Dominican Institute for Student Ministers (DISM), a 3-day retreat for Catholic student leaders and campus ministers from western universities. Together we prayed, discussed, sang, and worshipped. I was fully immersed in the Spirit, captivated by the courage and wisdom in the people I met, by the beauty of personal prayer, and by our calling to spread the love we find in Jesus Christ.

I wouldn’t say I found or discovered God. It was—and continues to be—about opening my eyes and recognizing Him in my life, for He has been here all along, working through the aforementioned individuals and leading me to this point in my spiritual life. I’ve said ‘yes’ before, and I will continue to say ‘yes,’ for I have been witness to God’s abundant love. I look forward to this upcoming year and working with Stanford’s Catholic Leadership Team so that others may too encounter and fall in love with Christ.

Exploring Our Faith

High school student David Candes shares the impact you have had on the high school students of CC@S.

FAITH. PEOPLE UNDERSTAND AND EXPRESS THIS IN DIFFERENT WAYS, but its dictionary definition is to have complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Our Sunday morning religion sessions help us explore our faith.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” As friends, as wolves in a pack, we can be there for each other to lean on when we dare to take that first step.

In Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 (ages 3-12) we fill up a toolbox with knowledge, prayers, and methods. We listen to stories of the Bible and learn practices of the Church. However, in level 5 (our new high school level) we analyze those “stories” to realize that they are so much more than just stories. We talk more in depth about why we do the things that we do at mass and the controversy behind some of the Church’s practices. In Level 5, we learn how to use those tools from our tool box. In level 5, we learn faith. We recognize that God is always within us. We learn how to speak with God and incorporate him into our daily lives. We learn to understand how Jesus’s message can help us and those around us become better people. Not only do we learn this from our perspective, with discussions led by our instructors Alan Chiu and Mark Ruzon, but also from the perspective of others with a deeper or different understanding of how our world functions today and how we can improve it. We have been led in discussions about religion and science, the formation of conscience, justice issues of immigration and poverty, the theology of heaven and the afterlife, and an inter-faith dialogue with representatives of the Quaker tradition. These guest speakers not only open our eyes and our minds, they also open our hearts. The small groups we work in help us to understand our faith not only with God but with one another forming bonds and friendships that will last eternally and in a simple phrase, we can do more together.

David Candes, 10th grader and veteran of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, was instrumental in expanding the program to high school students.

In Silence, a Symphony

I participated in the Catholic Community at Stanford’s Silent Directed Retreat at the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose Motherhouse on February 17-19, 2017. Led by Fr. Xavier, Lourdes Alonso and Nancy Greenfield, the retreat included Stanford undergraduate and graduate students and Permanent Community members. The Sisters of Mission San Jose were gracious hosts and witnesses to Christ, and we shared time with them at Taizé prayer, Mass, Evening Prayer, and meals. It was wonderful to be among such a faith-filled and prayerful group.

When I tell people that I attended a silent directed retreat, they imagine that I spent the whole time in total silence. Thankfully, that was not true. We entered into silence by refraining from conversations with fellow participants and others by way of email, social media, phone calls, text messages, etc., in order to enter into conversation with God. The silence was informed by reading and reflecting on God’s Word (Lectio Divina), Taizé prayer, Mass, morning and evening prayer, guided mediation, confession, Eucharistic adoration, and daily conversations with a Spiritual Director. Each day flowed through a rhythm of silence and song. On the last day, I took a walk throughout the beautiful grounds; and in the silence, I found a great symphony.

The retreat proved a poignant experience for me. I was grateful to free myself from the distractions of everyday life for a weekend to listen to God speaking to me. The retreat allowed me to rest in the peace of Christ. I experienced a deep and joyful peace throughout the weekend. I left feeling renewed, filled with joy, trusting in God’s plan for me, and more attentive to all the ways in which He is speaking to me and working in my life.

I also left feeling more connected to, and grateful for, the Catholic Community at Stanford. We are so very blessed.