Young Adult: free to seek and to find home – Episode 8

Join Katherine Giorgio in this interview as she takes us to the roots of her faith in the hub of family life, and into her exploration as a young adult, discovering a surprising path to freedom.

In Katherine’s own words: “I find a lot of freedom in the Franciscan way of seeing the world and understanding God, it's something that I had known or thought on my own and then to have it named and to have it  something that a lot of people have spent their life diving deeper into, was really great.”

“There's something about being a young adult that inherently requires change and growth and experimenting... failing, all of those things, you can't really be a young adult without diving into that. And I think that's also a very Franciscan approach. ... With continual conversion, that's all about moving forward, trying new things and learning from that, and being willing to put in the hard work. I see a lot of young adults embodying those Franciscan values, whether or not that's what they call it. ... I feel like it's a very appropriate response to our current world.”

References:

Franciscan Community Volunteers: https://fslf.org/franciscan-community-volunteers. Rooted in meaningful service, intentional community and Franciscan spirituality, FCV was a blessing to the young adult volunteers, to the Franciscan community, and to those who were served. FCV was closed in 2020 due to declining interest in long-term volunteer programs. For information about current short and long-term programs, see: https://catholicvolunteernetwork.org/.

Saint Francis, in listening to the Gospel, responded: "This is what I want," he said, "this is what I seek, this is what I desire with all my heart." For the full story, see 1 Celano IX:22 on pages 201 and 202: https://www.franciscantradition.org/francis-of-assisi-early-documents/the-saint/the-life-of-saint-francis-by-thomas-of-celano/642-fa-ed-1-page-201.

Engaging Franciscan Spirituality is a two-year program of exploration into the Franciscan tradition. For further information: https://www.fslf.org/FranciscanSpiritualityProgram.

Yoga: To support integration of body, mind and emotions, Katherine draws from the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SarahBethShow.

Franciscan Associates of the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls: if interested in further information about this relationship, please contact the Minister of Associates, Geri Dietz, at 320-232-0698.

Tau Cross: The Tau, found in both the Hebrew and Greek alphabets and referred to in Ezekiel 9:4, is a well-loved symbol in the Franciscan family. To learn more: https://www.fspa.org/content/s/the-tau-cross-a-revolutionary-response-to-goodness.    

Centering Prayer is a contemporary form of contemplative prayer; see: http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/. Consider also a smart phone app called “Centering Prayer,” offered by Contemplative Outreach. You will find many regional websites online listing area centering prayer groups. For those who live in Minnesota, see: https://www.minnesotacontemplativeoutreach.org/groups.html.

What does Struggle Bus mean? https://www.slanglang.net/struggle-bus/.

What is Spiritual Direction? Spiritual directors accompany individuals or groups in deepening their spiritual lives and their relationship with God. See interview with Teresa Blythe: https://youtu.be/b6l7UN9wxEg; for further exploration, listen to Sister Michelle at: https://40minutesoffaith.com/podcast/spiritualdirection.