Saint Jerome was one of the first to popularise the expression that idle hands are the devil’s
playground. Thankfully, for the team at Virtue Ministry, idleness is not a familiar occupation.
Thankfully, for the rest of us, this means that we can enjoy the fruit of their labour!
The Living Fullness Podcast is hosted by Virtue Ministry’s Founder and Managing Director
and Father Sean ‘Padre’ Byrnes – who incidentally, currently wears the hats of: Parish Priest
of Lavington, lecturer at Vianney College and Vocations Director for the Diocese of Wagga
Wagga. Though this dynamic duo can turn out an interesting and engaging, and sometimes
humorous, podcast on their own, they often interview international guests on all sorts of
topics.
This month Stina interview Jill Simons from Many Parts Ministries, a one-stop online
resource for discovering and implementing your own charisms.
“When I was getting ready to go to college, I was trying to figure out like what is it that I
should plan on spending my life doing and does the church have anything to say about this,”
explains Simons on the podcast.
“I discovered this idea of charisms in the works of John Paul II but also in the catechism and
I was really taken with it. I was like this is exactly it this is what I’ve been looking for but at
that time the resources to be able to really go into the process of coming to know and
discerning what charisms you’ve been given was just not super accessible.”
Her personal charism discernment took her ‘life’s plan’ in a different direction to what she
expected and hence, spoiler alert, Many Parts Ministries was born.
Hopping from one ministry to another, Stina is also preparing to undertake two human
formation workshops at Vianney College, Wagga Wagga. Now a regular part of the seminary
calendar, these workshops help round out the personal and professional development of the
young men studying for the priesthood. And, if photos from previous sessions are to be
believed, they might be fun as well!
And if you think that’s it, you’d be wrong. There is always work undertaken in the background
of any ministry, including the prayerful support of our extended VM team, the revamping of a
pilot program that has the potential to be a game changer for parish-based ministry and, last,
but certainly not least, the exciting news that the VM team will be expanding. Keep an eye
on our socials for more news and updates.
Recommended Resources
This month why not listen to:
S07 Ep06 – Charisms & the Holy Spirit w/ Jill Simons from
Many Parts Ministries. Discerning your charisms and your unique gifts to embrace and
then employ within your own faith community is a fascinating study to being with. Learning
about Jill Simon’s own story and why she discerned her ministry adds a whole other level.
As someone who undertook her charism assessment some years ago, I’d highly recommend
a listen and, when you’re ready, looking into having your own assessment done. This is a
particularly good idea for senior high school students and young adults discerning their call
in the world!
Sing along to:
Lauren Daigle’s Then I Will, from the Bonhoeffer Soundtrack. I haven’t
watched the movie, but Bonhoeffer’s story in Nazi Germany is a familiar one. The lyrics that
stood out to me in particular were the bridge: “I’ll surrender everything, All for Your will,
Abandon every part of me, All for Your will, No matter what the cost may be, If it’s for me to
die for love […] then I will”. Not a bad option to sing/pray when life feel’s out of control.
Unless, of course, you’re phlegmatic and can happily ‘go with the flow’. This choleric feels
stressed out just typing that up!
Read:
Uniformity to God’s Will by Alphonsus Ligouri. This one I haven’t read, so I’ll be
reading along too. Stina recommended this one at our most recent VM team formation
meeting and being the book nerd I am I immediately popped this one on my ‘TBR’ pile. I
mean, with quotes like these: “The essence of perfection is to embrace the will of God in all
things, prosperous or adverse. In prosperity, even sinners find it easy to unite themselves to
the Divine will; but it takes Saints to unite themselves to God’s will when things go wrong
and are painful to self-love. Our conduct in such instances is the measure of our love of
God.” There are many free downloadable options of this text and, at least a few, free audio
recordings/podcasts if you’d prefer to ‘read’ that way.
Written by Emily Shaw
VM Writer and Graphic Designer.
Wife of one, mother of 8. Tackling growth in virtue one (baby) step at a time.