Sr. Bethany Madonna 2019 NCYC Keynote

the sisters of life are having a powerful effect in the world and this morning we have one of them with us and you are in for a treat we'd like to invite to the stage our dear friend sister Bethany Madonna create it and father will pray over sister and so please join us in prayer always ready not in front of everyone Almighty God bless you and keep you may the Holy Spirit fill your heart may your words not be your words but may they be anointed words straight from the Holy Spirit directed to our hearts may God speak through you sister and I bless you name of the Father Son Holy Spirit amen amen thank you Father Thank You Katie I love you all I am going to face Our Lady I need to look at her I hope you don't mind I'm sorry for that okay Blessed Mother you're with me and I'm with you good morning I thought I'd start this morning with just a little story two of my sisters were out for a bike ride on a lovely summer day and I'm they're gonna remain nameless just to protect the innocent and the embarrassed one of the sisters wrote ahead and it was at an incredible speed and she hit a bump and her bike kind of flipped forward catapulting her she took air and landed directly into a perfectly manicured prize-winning rosebush and the sister behind her I mean her first thought obviously was for the safety of sister but her second thought and it might have been concurrent was just like this is gonna drive this the owner of the bush out of the church I mean this is the last straw I mean they're gonna leave and sister like sunk deep into the bush and you know her rosaries like entangled and Oren's and the woman who owned the house opens the door and she starts running out yelling and the sisters brace themselves and they go you were an angel sent by God you're an angel sent by didn't she like pulls sister up out of the bush and they're shocked sisters totally scratched that rose bush to this day bears an indent of that habited body I mean it was destroyed and as she carries sister in to clean her wounds she keeps repeating this in tears over and over it turns out she was going through a painful divorce and although she hadn't been practicing her faith that morning she had prayed her first sincere prayer in years God if you can hear me and if you care I need a sign just moments before sister came hurtling through the air God knows where you are he can hear you he wants you to know how much he longs to hear your voice so let's just say a prayer this morning name of the Father and the Son the Holy Spirit amen father we bless you and we praise you we thank you for the gift of life thank you for loving us in this lavish way this total way thank you for your son Jesus and the life that he brings us thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to fill us to guide us ask that you would be and each and every heart open us to see and receive all that you desire every good gift come Holy Spirit we entrust ourselves to you Blessed Mother help us to say yes help our yes to be in your yes amen my son Holy Spirit amen I love this theme and I was thinking about what it means to be blessed broken and given and so first of all to be blessed the Father bestowed on us by sending a his son and giving him to us Jesus every spiritual blessing in the heavens Jesus is the revelation of the father Jesus is the word that the father spoke to us Jesus shows us how much we are loved how deeply purely totally holy the word blessing comes from the Latin been a DJ which means to say a good word a good word was spoken over your life the moment that you were conceived this word has continually spoken over you again and again and again you are upheld sustained and being loved and the book of Genesis we read God saw all that he had made and it was very good the same God who set the bounds of the ocean who placed the Stars and their courses who had a thought and it became Niagara Falls snow flakes pineapples iguanas orangutangs the peacock I mean think of all of creation it's so intricate there's so much beauty and creativity in the sense smells textures sights colors this God made you with more care with more intentionality he made you in His image and likeness you reflect something of God something no one else was entrusted with I love fingerprints they're one of my favorite things in the world fingerprints identify you as the only you who ever has been or ever will be for all eternity now out of all of the millions and billions of people who have ever existed on the face of this earth no two have had the same set of fingerprints now if God is gonna take so much time to arrange and design the invisible circle pattern on the end of your finger to be totally unique to you how much more time did he take in the love in your heart it's yours no one loves like you no one can love with that love no one can be your substitute your replacement no one can stand in your place and no one can love God as you love him and no one can receive God's love as your heart receives it he longs for this he says I made you you belong to me you are mine you know when your favorite song comes on and you just need to hear that first guitar strum or like that piano and trio and you're like well it's my song I can't believe it's playing right now I really get and you have this kind of like indescribable like knowing that when God inspired that in the heart of the artist he actually had you in mind you know and you know like you're telling a friend you're like hey this is my new favorite song you got it here and they're like oh yeah I really kind of reminds me of and you're like whoa whoa we don't talk during the song Thanks yeah no okay maybe I shouldn't have introduced you to the song I didn't know you couldn't handle the song okay this is my song well I'm gonna share my song with you and I recognize the acoustics in here or not ideal okay so let's just say it right away but maybe if you could like look away for a moment before I spoke you were singing over me and you have been so so good to me before I took a breath you breathed your life and me and you have been so so kind to me Oh the overwhelming never-ending reckless love of God oh it chases me down fights till long found leaves the 99 I couldn't earn it and I don't deserve it still you give yourself away oh the overwhelming never-ending reckless love of God and then if I played the guitar this is where it really takes off you know and you like change your capo and everything no it's okay hey that's your song to each and every one of you has a Genesis moment you have your own salvation history personal to you it'll close your eyes we're gonna invite the Holy Spirit I want to go back let's go back to the moment of your conception go there with the Lord come Holy Spirit come Holy Spirit take us to that moment regardless of the circumstances that moment when you were alone with God when He willed you into being chose you breathed life into you the moment God said not another day without you you weren't a mistake you weren't an accident God certainly wasn't surprised you were always wanted the father delights in you this is a place of warmth a place of total acceptance and delight there's so much love there and I just want you to take a minute drink in the Father's love that's there drink it in like you're thirsty okay you can always go to that moment in prayer that is a real moment you can live in that moment the father loves wills breathe life into you accepts you delights in you at the moment of our baptism you received God's blessing you were consecrated you were sealed you were set apart as holy God the Father Son and Holy Spirit came to dwell in your soul this happened to you and to me at baptism you are never alone be alone with the father who sees you in secret so we're blessed or broken we're also broken yes we live in a fallen world and ever since Adam and Eve in the garden sin is a reality our own sin and the sins of others each one of us has unique sufferings pain sorrows experiences this brokenness is part of our story and it actually forms us there are times when we can feel tempted to think that we're a burden that we're all alone as if I've been rejected that I'm on the outside surely not someone chosen and beloved but having to earn having to prove to be loved needing to establish my own identity because I didn't receive one from the father striving to be better and it will never be enough this is a temptation this is called an orphan spirit it can attach itself to us and we have to pray for deliverance and healing from that jesus said I will not leave you orphans I will come to you He loves us let me tell you about Teresa one Saturday morning all of our sisters were in meetings with women who had found out they were pregnant and very tempted and vulnerable to abortion because of the fear and the pressure the overwhelm n't there was one sister at the convent who was not in meetings she was a novice just learning the mission she was the only one she thought I'll just get lunch on I'll sort the baby donations I'll kind of keep the house in order Dean she's like oh no she goes through the door three seniors in high school hi sister we were just at Planned Parenthood now we're here can we come in she was like welcome mmm open the door we never receive referrals from Planned Parenthood so sister pulled out all the stops she's like I'll just entertain them while until the sisters come out of their meeting so she gets the pink lemonade going a whole tray of cookies she asked him to tell me your story like how did you find out about us she said I got pregnant I was very scared I didn't know who would it's hell I told my friends and they said well we'll support you whatever you decide which is like the worst thing you can say to someone in that situation they need to hear I'm with you let's get help I'm strong you're strong and I'm gonna be with you guiding you finding someone to help guide us but that's not what they said they drove her to the abortion clinic and as she was waiting for abortion appointment she started getting sick to her stomach she knew this was wrong and she didn't know what to do so she went to distract herself at the magazine rack and popping out of the magazine rack was a brochure she's like oh what's that she pulls it out it says make a choice you can live with what if this pregnancy doesn't mean your life is over the sister of life brochure tucked in a magazine at Planned Parenthood abortion clinic how it got there yeah Jesus you know I can't do anything incognito so I'm not like going in like hey how's it going guys ya know I mean she read it she bursts into tears and she came to our convent so sisters just like talking to them waiting for the sisters come out of their meetings two hours pass with these curious women and they have covered every topic Under the Sun dating sex contraception and finally sisters like sweating it out and this young woman stands up she goes sister I am gonna rock this pregnancy out and sisters like what does that mean she goes I'm doing this this baby is a blessing and my life needs to change she graduated from high school she had her baby and she was able to go to college there she met a wonderful young man who fell in love with her asked to marry her and asked if he could adopt her daughter as his own yeah [Applause] Jesus came to her with his love he gave her his grace and he led her to choose what was good for herself and for her little one he knows exactly where we are and he meets us there there was a priest living in San Francisco who shared this story with us he had received a panicked phone call that there was a girl at the top of the Golden Gate Bridge could he come and assist now this priest was a very short man and he was terrified of heights absolutely so he drives up to the scene and they point her out to him nothing would get her down so although he was petrified Father stretched out his hands and begins climbing and as he climbs he's like shaking like a leaf you know and the man is drenched in sweat like that kind of total downpour kind of a situation and it was a windy day that day so like the bridge is kind of swaying he was like praying the perfect act of contrition he's like oh my god and this girl sees someone climbing up towards her and she leans over and she's shocked she was hey I was there you're gonna make it he's inching literally inching and as he climbs into view she sees the Roman collar and she pulls father onto the little platform that she's on and and father needs a minute he's just kind of rocking himself and she is so moved her heart is so moved he doesn't even know me and he thinks I'm worth it the finally father can speak again and he looks her in the eye and he says how am I gonna get down and she goes I'll help you Father no okay she kind of turns him around then she sees the situation she goes I'll go first yeah yeah no no no she gets down she goes first she's like okay foot here okay down careful easy does it yeah one at a time left right one two she brings him all the way down they get to the ground everyone's hugging safe and sound and everyone goes father what did you say to her he's like she saved my life yeah [Applause] Jesus comes to the place where you are Jesus comes to the place where you are and he says hey you're not an orphan you have a father who loves you and he sent me I give you my mother as your own you have a family in a home in the church you are accepted when we received the reckless love of God into the places of our hearts that seemed broken he heals them he glorifies them he lets light radiates from those very places that seem so dark God sees each human person no matter how weak how poor how sick how rejected as his beloved one for whom he gave up his life this is mercy this is mercy we long for mercy we need mercy one day we received a phone call from a woman in crisis pregnant pressured overwhelmed but in her heart she deeply wanted to choose life and it wanted something to work I'll call her Annie so Annie was extraordinary she grew up on the streets of Brooklyn in an Irish Italian neighborhood she baptized she made her first holy communion but that was really it as far as like the practice of the faith or catechesis she admitted that she wasn't the most outstanding pillar in the community and that she'd given the NYPD a run for their money but Annie would come over for tea once a week and we soon realized that she had a very deep longing for God one day Annie asked sister so sister how old are you sister kind of evades the question doesn't want to answer and she starts talking about G K Chesterton how he used to say how old he was according to the last time he went to confession and was made new born again in the sacraments so he was either eight minutes old or two weeks old or three days old depending on the last time he had gone to confession and Annie kind of last but she was also you know fascinated by this concept then she goes nice job changing the subject sister I was born at night but it wasn't last night how old are you I was like thanks don't mess with Annie so a few days later that sister gave her a call and set up the next tea date and she's just about to hang up and Annie goes Oh sister by the way I'm six hours old sister goes I'm sorry pardon me I was it was hard to hear you just there said no I went to confession this morning I'm six hours old it was her first time going to confession since she was a child preparing for Holy Communion over ten years and the priest who heard her confession walked her through it step by step and as she said and he wasn't shocked by any of my stories his sister was like how did you feel when you walked out she said like I had the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders I feel brand-new in an instant ten years of sin and shame were lifted and she knew it in the depths of her soul and when they hung up sister rang the bell that's reserved only for prayer and all the sisters came down and they jumped up and down like all the saints and angels in heaven rejoice hang over this one who'd come home and that next week when she came for her tea break we threw her her big one-week birthday party cake candles presents the Happy Birthday song it marked a new beginning and a restoration of her innocence we see this too and our hope and healing mission for those suffering after abortion Jesus's mercy has power he makes all things new we haven't always made choices that are good or beautiful and on our own we don't have the strength to but we always can trust Jesus with our weakness confession relieves us of burdens we were never meant to carry know this that your love is a treasure and your heart is meant to be a gift to another we're blessed or broken and we're given I remember learning this myself as a freshman in high school I didn't want to miss out on anything that made life fun and exciting it would make me popular my older brother was on the foot all team and I had access to a lot of partys through him I witnessed a lot of regret darkness and it didn't take long for me to make a decision that that's not gonna be my scene that commitment lasted me through my junior year of high school when one night I was getting ready to go out with my friends night on the town the mall the movies ice cream back for more movies stay up all night talking but then a call came in parents are out of town somebody got a keg bring whatever you have are you coming and they're like yeah we're on the way I don't know where your conscience is but mine's in the pit of my stomach and I was like oh wow what's happening I'm sorry you know I'd rather go home actually yeah I don't I don't feel that well I think I want to go home talk about a tense car ride 20 minutes of my life and silence you could cut the tension with a butter knife and I always claim the grace of this night on my confirmation on the day of my confirmation I was just very concerned that another girl was wearing the same dress as me I was like what oh come on this stuff happened to me but now I'm not concerned when someone else is wearing the same thing as me but this night I claim on the grace of my confirmation that's I got out of that car to go back into my house I said something that took fortitude which is a strength that's beyond you only the Holy Spirit could give it to you I said do I need to find a new group of friends and as soon as I said I was like who they looked up at me they looked straight ahead I was like all right well okay I closed the door I walked towards my house my life for a movie scene this is like for the black billowing clouds like come out of nowhere you know suddenly you're drenched you don't know why walk in my parents were like well you're home early I was like yeah whatever go into my room on my saddest CD put the saddest song on my sad CD play repeat laid on my bed lights up I just let the death of my social life just sweep over me like the ocean so I could drown in it Oh got out my black eyeliner I'm like drawn teardrops you know I did not do that oh my gosh I did not do that very lonely lonely time and then one day and one of my classes a girl reached out to me and she said what are you doing Sunday night she invited me to her youth group just like my friends like would like to have fun clean-cut but this group went to Bible study and they did retreats and I'll never forget going with them to my first retreat there I was 17 years old and Eucharistic Adoration and my youth ministers were like ask Jesus how he made your heart to love I had never thought to do that and I said Jesus every house here seems to know you in a way that I don't know you I want to know you I want to know you how did you make my heart to love and it was in that moment that I felt like the Lord was inviting me consider being totally mine I always I assumed I'd be married to a wonderful man have my own litany Akane's Saints for kids Peter James John Paul Thomas Philip Bartholomew - and Jesus wasn't asking me to give up my desires but he wanted to fulfill them in a way only that he can he was asking me will you love me with this love that you're saving for a husband and will you let me love you perfectly and will you love every child as if it you were your own child of flesh and blood brothers and sisters you have been blessed you are holy God is calling you to love a deep love to live purely blessed are the pure of heart for they see God you don't want to entrust your heart to just anyone but someone who understands the gift that he or she is receiving who treats you with reverence and respect our bodies are sacred and good we don't want to settle for counterfeits we don't want to use others we don't want to let ourselves be used I was listening to a woman's testimony online about how as a teenager she had stumbled upon pornography didn't know what it was soon found herself addicted it led to a habitual masturbation the shame was overwhelming like a choking she describes delicately and tenderly how Jesus grabbed her and pulled her out of that and set her free we can always reach out for help give voice to those things but the evil one wants to remain in darkness Jesus wants to set us free you deserve the truth you deserve the truth that what is portrayed and movies and shows as romance those lifestyles leave so many hearts devastated by the lies if God is calling you to marriage on your wedding day you will look at your spouse ladies you and your white dress gentleman dapper in your suits and you'll say I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad and sickness and in health for richer or poorer until death I will love you and honor you all the days of my life and on that night the night of a couple's honeymoon when they come together for the first time as husband and wife they become one and their bodies make flesh the wedding vows that they set at the altar sex is not a commitment in itself sex is the expression of the commitment of wedding vows I give myself to you freely totally faithfully and fruitfully to have sex with someone without having made those vows it's like telling a lie with my body this is not free I might not be free faithful no commitment here total I don't know where I'll be in a year who are you fruitful no fruit no this is not what God intended he intended freedom and joy your love is good and it's worth fighting for your love can change the world so rise above the paltry standard that has been set for you rise above it young men some of you in this room are called to be husbands and fathers to love your wife with all that you are and have to love your children and be present to them if that is your vocation say yes with all that you are and have some of you young men in this room are called to be priests or religious brothers to bring Jesus down from heaven to give him in word and sacrament this is your vocation Sade yes with all the you are and half ladies some of you are called to be wives and mothers in this room if that is your vocation say yes with all that you are and all that you have helped your husband via saying bring forth children for the kingdom ladies some of you are called to be religious sisters consecrated say to Jesus I am yours and you were all mine to love every child as your own you're here for a reason the Saints never blamed or accused God for the evil they saw around them they knew he had called them to live at this time in history God chose you for now God chose you for now give him permission say yes [Music] we're like the bread that Jesus offers to the father blesses brakes and gifts your love is a gift [Music] we trust ourselves to you father help us to receive ourselves as a gift help us to trust you guide us by your Holy Spirit to know how we're called to give our lives and love [Music]

Channel: NFCYM

Views: 10,873

Rating: 4.9541984 out of 5

Keywords: Sr. Bethany Madonna, Pro Life, NCYC2019, Youth, Youth Ministry, Catholic

Id: -G2hR1ZDN4g

Length: 33min 0sec (1980 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 17 2020