Hearing the Holy Spirit made possible through Encounter School of Ministry

Theresa Cordileone Mendiguren, shown above, knew she had to participate in the Encounter School of Ministry. (Courtesy photo)

By Emily Woodham

ICR Staff Writer

A year ago, Theresa Cordileone Mendiguren sensed something was missing from her spiritual life.

“I felt like I wasn’t hearing the Holy Spirit,” she said. “I felt like I couldn’t hear how He wanted to use me.”

When she learned of the Encounter School of Ministry opening a satellite campus in Boise, she knew she had to go.

“I felt like this would be a good place to go deeper into my relationship with God,” Theresa told the Idaho Catholic Register.

A lifelong Catholic, Theresa had almost left the Church 30 years ago. At that time, she was living on the East Coast in a parish she said didn’t feel was “welcoming.”

“My middle child was in second grade. So, I stayed, only so she could have First Communion,” she explained. “I stuck it out. Around that time, I joined the Charismatic Renewal.”

The Charismatic Renewal is a movement that emerged within the Catholic Church in the late 1960s. Her involvement, Theresa said, deepened her faith. It also gave her a foundation in charismatic teachings about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. However, after moving to Boise, she couldn’t find a charismatic group that was a good fit for her schedule.

Then she discovered the Encounter School of Ministry, an international organization that had been in existence for nine years at the time.

Father Mathias Thelen, pastor of St. Patrick Church in Brighten, Mich., co-founded the school along with Executive Director Patrick Reis, a best-selling author and international speaker.

Dr. Mary Healy is the ministry’s theological curriculum adviser. She is an author, international speaker and professor of Sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, where she was appointed to the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 2014.

With its foundation in Sacred Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Encounter School of Ministry has been strongly endorsed by bishops across the United States, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York City, and Bishop Peter F. Christensen of the Diocese of Boise.

Theresa knew the opportunities offered by Encounter School of Ministry’s new satellite campus in Boise were exactly what she had been wanting: to delve further into the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, grounded in the teachings of the Church, and to hear the Holy Spirit more clearly.

Without hesitation, she registered for the Summer Intensive, a three-day course that provides an overview of the first four quarters of the Encounter curriculum: Identity and Transformation, Hearing God’s Voice and the Prophetic Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Power and Healing, and Inner Healing and Freedom. She also enrolled in the school, which meets weekly, beginning in the fall.

Although she loved the Summer Intensive, she almost quit the fall school sessions after only a few weeks of attending.

“I didn't think I was getting it,” Theresa conceded. “The homework assignments were very difficult for me. I couldn’t hear anything from the Holy Spirit. I felt like everyone else in the class was hearing these amazing revelations and insights, and I was just getting nothing. So, I was really ready to quit.”

Through the leadership team's encouragement, she realized she needed to let go of her expectations of what the Holy Spirit wanted to give her.

“I needed to step back and let God work. When I did that, I started seeing some really awesome things happen,” she said. “I accepted the fact that God works with us each in a different way.”

Theresa is ready to start her second and final year at the Encounter School of Ministry. To her, the practice of journaling is one of the most meaningful aspects of the courses.

“I’m the type of person who needs continual reminders of how God is working in my life,” she said. “We are asked to keep a prayer journal and also to document how the Lord is working in your life. Little by little, I started to see that the Holy Spirit is indeed working in my life.”

Another great encouragement has been learning about the biblical references to the spiritual authority of Christians, even those who are laity.

“Jesus gave us authority to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, just by virtue of our baptism. We are really commanded to use those gifts,” Theresa explained. “You have to realize that if He doesn’t use us, who’s He going to use?”

So far, physical healing has been her favorite study module.

“It’s just so amazing to see how God works in people’s lives. When you realize that a healing happens through your prayer, it's very humbling to see how He's using you as his instrument of healing,” Theresa said. “Also, I love seeing not only the people who were healed, but how the people in their lives, their loved ones, are impacted. It brings them to such a greater faith in God. That’s why Jesus does heal us– to bring us closer to Him.”

This year’s Summer Intensive will take place Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 7-9, at the Encounter School of Ministry’s Boise campus at St. Mark’s Parish, located at 7960 W. Northview St. For more information and to register, visit encounterschool.org/boise.