SPIRIT
DAY — Jesse Manibuson of Two by Two Ministries
enlists the help of two participants during Spirit Day in St. Boniface.
St.
Boniface hosts three communities for Spirit Day
By Faith Anderson
ST. BONIFACE — On May 14 St. Boniface was host to Spirit Day 2010
as an enthusiastic gathering of approximately 700 Grade 5 and 6 students
and parents from the archdioceses of St. Boniface and Winnipeg and the
Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg gathered in St. Boniface
Cathedral to celebrate being Catholic.
Youth ministry
co-ordinators for the three ecclesial jurisdictions were the impetus
behind this gathering: Pierre St. Amant from St. Boniface, Elizabeth
Duggan from Winnipeg and Tamara Lisowski from the Archeparchy. They,
along with many volunteers, organized this spirited gathering.
St. Boniface Archbishop Albert LeGatt started the day with prayer and Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg and Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak of Ukrainian Archeparchy brought greetings to those gathered.
“Today is a spirit day,” Huculak stated, “a day when
we really pray that the presence of the Holy Spirit will be felt among
all of us.”
Jesse Manibusan
of Two by Two Ministries in Texas was the presenter for the day. He
led the students using humour, music and reflective words that were
repeated like mantras during his presentation.
Manibusan
recognized the uniqueness of the three communities gathered, noting
that, although there were two Roman Catholic communities and one Ukrainian
Catholic community assembled, there is still one church and one Body
of Christ.
“All
of life is our family. That is what makes us Catholic,” said Manibusan.
“I hope this day you have an experience that being Catholic is
about being alive, about being in light, about not being alone. It is
about being loved.”
Manibusan
stated “Being a friend of Christ, being Catholic, is being Catholic
in every way possible. We don’t just want to be Catholic on the
outside. We need to be Catholic on the inside.”
The day included
a fun activity, and before lunch break the students took part in a scavenger
hunt.
The afternoon
session started with the students chanting Manibuson’s first name
like a mantra, and throughout the afternoon, Manibusan continued to
draw them into the spirit of faith using songs, music and liturgical
phrases.
Manibusan affirmed the students by saying, “What you have just
done this whole day is you have said, ‘My spirit is alive, my
faith is alive!’ “
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