Weekly Gospel Devotion

Editor's Note: Would you like to receive weekly email devotions about the upcoming Sunday Gospel written by our fine volunteers and staff? Shoot an email to paul@campgray.com with, "ADD ME TO THE DEVO LIST (please)!" in the subject line, and we'll add you to the list so that you'll start receiving excellent, thought-provoking devotions like the one below, written by Kathleen!

Gospel for Sunday, October 3:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to the mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

__________

It is no secret that we, as a society, have come to like big things. We gawk at large wrapped packages addressed to us as if it is infinitely better than a smaller package, though we have no idea what's inside. We like Venti coffees, extra large pizzas, walk-in closets, big screen TV's, and buying in bulk. We have adapted the mentality that bigger IS better though we may not finish our Venti coffee, the pizza will probably be packed up as leftovers, we may not have enough clothes to fill the walk-in closet, and the game we watch on the 73" TV is goin gto have the same plays and calls on the 20" TV. So what does it matter?!

The apostles fell into a very similar trap in this week's Gospel. They said it to Jesus, "Increase our faith," as if He would just snap his fingers to give them greater faith. One wonders why they desired MORE faith when they already had faith to begin with. Jesus responds to them by saying, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you." In other words, "The size of your faith doesn't matter! Even with the smallest amount of faith you can do great things!" Faith is faith-you either have it or you don't.

In the second part of the Gospel, Jesus compares the apostles to servants, saying "When a servant comes in from tending the fields, you would say to him 'Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished.' Then you would thank him." In my reflecting on this Gospel, it seems that Jesus has two messages to share. The first is that things are not just granted to us, but rather worked for. We must be diligent in our duties if we want to obtain something as a result. However, (and this leads me to his second message) we should not do things out of pride or extreme self-indulgence, but rather for the glory of God.

In our Christian life, we are called to be servants of the Lord; not slaves to ourselves. It is so easy to get caught up in the quantity of everything. We feel we need to be more holy, more faithful, or just better because there are other people who are just so much holier, more faithful, or better than us—and we want others to notice we can be bigger and better. We often become more concerned with what others see us as than what God sees us as. It is at this point that we stop serving God and begin to serve ourselves. While it is important to realize where we fall short spiritually, it is just as important to remember that with faithfulness and holiness, you either have it or you don’t; quantity is irrelevant. God doesn’t call us to be the MOST faithful; He just calls us to be faithful. So let us always keep God the focus of our lives so that we can be the simply faithful servants He calls us to be. And let us never become proud or seek glory for ourselves when we follow God’s commands, but rather look at our obedience to His will as our obligation to the God who loves us unconditionally.

It Has Begun!

By: Nicole Heit

Our retreat season has started! We started off our week with a day of team building and fun as St. Henry's in Watertown came to Camp Gray. We continue the week with a two day team building retreat with students from Sacred Hearts in Sun Prairie. Both groups were amazing to have around and we can feel that fall is here. We also welcomed our first confirmation retreat on Sunday and are looking forward to our first ESP (environmental stewardship program) this week as well.

Speaking of fall, we had our fall picnic on Saturday. The day started with a great alumni softball game where Team Geriatrics (this team was made up of those alums with 5 or more summers of staff experience) won 22 to 20. The day ended with Mass and dinner. Everyone seemed to have a great time all afternoon. Fall is off to a great start here at camp and we are excited to continue to search for the beauty all around camp and in all the students that will be coming throughout the year.

Team Geriatrics

Team Newbies was made up of alums with 4 or less summers of staff experience

It was a great day for softball at Camp Gray!

On a Search for Something Beautiful

By: Angela Lademan

I know it's not New Years, but sometimes I think that January is a very bad time to begin with new commitments and practices when you've been in the race for a good four months already. Fall would be a much better time. Everything seems to transition in the fall and begin a new rhythm. Schools go back into session. Summer fun comes to an end. The world starts to pick up again, bringing new opportunities, challenges and memories. The air gradually ceases to smell of suntan lotion and barbecues and starts to smell of chimney smoke and apple pie...

For Camp Gray, it is the start of a new year round program. The Camp Gray staff has recommitted itself to another year of service to making the person of Christ known, loved, and served through the wonders of creation and the unique experience of a vibrant Catholic Community, welcoming people of all ages to delve deeper into their relationship with Christ and neighbor through a little time out of their busy new rhythm of life to seek God in the laughter and fellowship, stillness and graces that can be found here at Camp Gray.

To accomplish this, the Camp Gray staff has begun a search for something beautiful--the theme for this years camps! Unanimously, we have discovered that in seeking the beautiful, God's work can no longer lay in hiding. Like the clues laid out on a treasure map, all of creation, beautiful and alive, point directly to God, who desires desperately to be found and sought after. We hope that this search will begin to catch on so that God might be discovered, praised, adored, and loved in every heart.

As you begin to dive into creating a new set of commitments for this year, I encourage you to make a little room to seek God in all the little blessings around you. When you wake up in the morning (whether it's going to be a good day or not), praise God for the gift of breath. When you step out into the cold morning air, praise God that the sun is shining. When you're at work, praise God for the gift to serve others. When you come home to those you love, praise God for the gift of family...for truly, your life is something beautiful.

"Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works." --Psalm 139

Fall is Here!

By: Chris Aderhold

Fall is upon us! We absolutely cannot believe how fast summer flew by, but as Jeff (and Kermit the Frog) always says, "Time's fun when your having flies."

But, as much as we love summer around these parts, the cooler weather, beautiful colors, and college football that comes with the fall puts a smile on all of our faces. Plus, it means that our year-round retreat season gets under way led by our selfless Servant Leadership Team. You'll be hearing lots more about this amazing group of young adult Catholics as the year goes on, but for now, I'll simply leave you with this terrific group photo of the new crew!

(left to right, top row): Angela, Red Basketball, Mo-T, Brown Basketball, Paul, (left to right, second row): Corey, Nicole, Lauren, Soccer Ball, (left to right, third row): Brown Basketball 2, Kathleen, Badger Basketball, Kristen, (left to right, bottom row): Blue Basketball, Badger Basketball 2, Yellow Mini Soccer Ball, Black and White Soccer Ball, Black Street Basketball.

Spring Work Day!

By: Chris Aderhold

Though the weather conditions for our annual Camp Gray Spring Work Day were a bit rainier and chillier than years past, the roll out of volunteers was no less impressive!

Leaves were raked, windows were washed, cabins were deep cleaned, and a band of rake strumming ladies was formed:


Yes, all in all, it was a wonderful day! Thanks to everyone who came out in support of Camp Gray. We're that much closer to being prepared for summer camp!

Musings by Mo-T

CRAZY MONTH!

Whew, has it been a busy month here at Camp Gray. It was all really fun and exciting, but I'm happy to be able to slow down and catch my breath. Here's a summary of everything that's happened:

Over New Years we had a celebration and reunion with the staff from this past summer. It was great to have everyone here, playing snow football and basketball, staying up a little too late and enjoying lots of meals together. We also had some great prayer time as a group!

After that it was full steam ahead to our VISION college retreat. It was a great success with a mix of returning participants and people here for the retreat for the first time. Everyone, the staff here were able to relax and enjoy the retreat for themselves as well. The talks and discussions were enlightening and the community was fruitful for all.

Next it was on to a ski race. This didn't exactly affect all the staff, but it sure made my schedule a bit more crazy.

Finally, it was time for the March for Life. A group of 7 year round and summer staff flew out to Washington, DC for the event. We were able to attend two awesome rallies, be inspired by all the Catholic people there, including the many Priests, Seminarians and Religious Sisters we saw and talked to. We also had a beautiful and relaxing visit to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. We were also able to meet up with some other summer staff who went with different groups.

Most importantly, however, we were able to March in the March for Life. This was truly a great opportunity to represent Camp Gray in defending the right to life for all people. It was a great experience to be there with everyone else and really stand up for what we believe it. As we reflected, we all agreed that it was very powerful to see so many people there who feel as strongly as we do about this, and about their faith. It made us think about how many people must feel the same as we do, even though they couldn't make the trip.

Are you tired yet? Because we were! And right after we got back from that, it was time for our annual volunteer retreat. This was a time for us to get away and grow closer together as a group, just like many of you get to do when you come on our retreats! We really enjoyed the bonding as well as the sharing and prayer time we had.

Now, we are busy getting ready for the Resurrection Rally to be held at Chula Vista Resort this coming weekend. We are looking forward to getting pumped up for our faith along with about 250 other teens and youth ministers. We will be sure to keep you updated on how it goes.

Enjoy this snowy afternoon!

Musings by Mo-T

Question: What does Frosty the Snowman say when he comes to life?

Answer: Happy Birthday!

A friend of mine, actually my brother (some of you might know him as Bro-T) asked me this question when I was home for Christmas. I was convinced that Frosty actually said, "Happy New Year!" He doesn't, but Happy New Year to all of you anyway!

Our New Year's celebrations were fantastic, with much of the '09 summer staff able to return for a little reunion. There was much jocularity to be had, including, but not limited to, football, basketball, prayer, eating, praise and worship, skiiing, and staying up a little bit too late...

We had a great time playing football in the snow, but we were pretty exhausted afterwards.

Luckily we had a fire to keep us warm. We all agreed that we looked like a JC Penney catalogue.

Even baby Andrew made it out for the big game!!!

But alas, it is time to get back to serving the Lord! All the volunteers are back and we are getting ready for our college retreat tomorrow, and two travel retreats this weekend!

Until next year, er... month... week?

Musings by Mo-T

Welcome to Post Blizzard Wednesday. Though I usually post on Mondays (every other Monday, of course) the impending snow had me scurrying around coaching basketball and doing homework for grad school. Besides, I knew you would want to hold out for some video footage of the winter wonderland. As you can see, it's kind of hard to ski in 15 inches of snow...but it sure is beautiful out there!