Farewell, Papa!

Today Fr. Ron chose to say the Mass of Thanksgiving for Pope Benedict XVI, and that is when it became real to me that he would no longer be the shepherd of the Church here on earth. Eight years is a relatively short time for the papacy, but Benedict XVI left quite a legacy. I have a stack of books of his written work, almost all of it published while he was pope. He led us with a gentle spirit, yet legitimate concern for our spiritual welfare.

Fr. Ron gave a wonderful homily about Pope Benedict. He mentioned how, as a boy, Joseph Ratzinger was very shy, but had the courage of his own father to stand up for Truth. And his whole papacy has been about fighting the relativism so prevalent in our world today. There is a Truth and Jesus is it. He always encouraged people to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As I listened to Fr. Ron reflect on this point, I thought about how it seems people today are afraid to have a personal relationship with Jesus. They're afraid of that encounter they could have with the Risen Lord. But why? I know I can find myself sometimes skirting around my own prayer life. Are we afraid we could change!? Are we afraid of the unknown? Afraid we might see an image of the Blessed Virgin in our toast the next morning? What keeps us from that relationship?

This Lenten season has been about strengthening my prayer life. I have begun almost every day with Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. I find comfort in praying that way and see it as a way to get back on track. Some mornings my thoughts are quite distracted or I'm pressed for time, so my prayer doesn't seem as genuine, but it's still there. The mornings when I take time to actually have a conversation with God and express myself are the best ones.

This morning the Pope tweeted: "If only everyone could experience the joy of being Christian, being loved by God who gave his Son for us!" We can only experience that joy when we are in true relationship with the living God and acknowledge His presence in every moment of our lives. In his last Wednesday audience, Pope Benedict said he felt the presence of the Lord with him every day of his papacy. Can we say that about our normal, everyday lives? I'd like to acknowledge that same presence. Maybe some days we have to look for it, but joy and peace are a simple prayer away.

Into the Desert

Another year, another Lent. I can't recall any memorable Lents from years past, but I do know I enjoy the season. It is a time to step back and step into the desert with Jesus. For all of us that means something different, especially what we need to step back from. In years past I have viewed numerous lists of creative things to do for Lent or even thought of my own, and I would always want to take on too many things. I would want to pray the Liturgy of the Hours more and pray the rosary more and make time to read spiritual readings, and of course get in more reflection time. Well, it does become too much and it's easy to "fail" at what we want to do for Lent.

This year I'm keeping it quite simple. I'm looking forward to it, yet dreading it at the same time. For Lent 2013 I will be waking up earlier in the morning and using that time to pray. I am not a morning person, so this will be a sacrifice of my time, but I'll also be adding in more prayer. And coffee. It will be difficult; even this morning I didn't get out of bed until an hour after my alarm first went off. But I believe it will be fruitful. I will be stretching myself to grow, but in that growth I will become a more balanced person. I'm hoping that praying and reflecting in the morning will better prepare me for the day and also set my mind toward God.

Blessings on your own Lenten journey, whatever you have chosen.

Sunday Gospel Reflection

This Sunday's Gospel couldn't be any more perfect for the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. And the Church didn't plan it...this is just the way the calendar falls this year!

We have heard the story over and over about Jesus preaching to a large crowd and then telling Peter to "put out into the deep and lower your net." Peter was probably tired, since he would have been up very early (or all night) fishing and had no luck with catching anything. I'm sure he thought Jesus was a little crazy...it's the middle of the day, no way are they doing to catch anything. But Peter was obedient to a man he barely knew and to his astonishment he hauled in an amazing catch of fish.

When we're tired and fed up with our work, how often do we say to Jesus, "but at your command I will..." We all lead busy lives and can be tired and frustrated after a long day, and because we're tired we don't take the time we need to pray. I know I'm guilty of it. Before we can do what Jesus asks of us, we first need to listen, which we all know is the toughest thing to do. God doesn't shout at us or give us great signs; He stirs our heart in silence.

Lent is approaching quickly, a wonderful reminder for all of us to enter into the desert once again. So often we want to be like Peter and say "Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful person." But Jesus responds to all of us, "Do not be afraid." This Lent, do not be afraid to put out into the deep and cast your nets. Do not be afraid to leave things behind and follow Jesus. Do not be afraid to put God first and things of this world second.

Jesus didn't say "It's alright to sit on your couch and drink beer all night, I'm sure you'll make it to Mass on Sunday." No, he said "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Joy Amid Tragedy?

Up until yesterday, I didn't have time to sit down and really reflect on what happened on Friday. My excuse is that I was busy and didn't have time to read the details of the story. All I knew was that there was a school shooting and the victims were innocent children who were 6 and 7 years old. Tragic and sad? Yes. But why read more and reflect on it if I'll get sad in return? And that is exactly one of the many problems we have in this country.

Our deacon talked about it at the end of his homily on Sunday, and that's when it really struck me. 27 lives taken right before Christmas. Their families can't get them back. Their families will be suffering grief and mourning the loss of their loved ones while the rest of the world celebrates this usually joyful time. And I thought to myself, how crazy that this happened right before Gaudete Sunday...the Sunday of Advent when we're supposed to be rejoicing and focusing on joy and the coming of Christ. And the songs we sang at Mass today were about God's goodness. Good can come from anything...but it will be difficult to find the good in this.

After an event with middle school youth, I finally sat down at my computer at work and read up on the tragic events of last Friday. I became teary eyed thinking about all of it and also hearing about the brave teachers and administrators of the school. They are certainly martyrs. The reality of the event slowly started to sink in. After getting into my car and driving, I just wanted to cry, but held back for my safety on the road and for my trip to the grocery store. I didn't want to look at people, but I did and offered a smile, and everyone smiled back. Small signs of hope and joy.

We can choose to let it affect us or we can choose to ignore it, and I think all too often people choose the latter. It's what I did at first, but then I remembered that we're all connected and if we don't let this break our hearts, then what will? We cannot become complacent in the world we live in, staying inside of our own little bubble and thinking things can't/won't affect us. But we can't hide. We cannot become emotionless robots. Change only comes when we love, not when we fight and argue over rights and who is to blame. Our world is lacking in love, and it all begins at home. Unfortunately tragedies will happen, whether from nature or mentally ill individuals, but we have to come together as one human race for comfort and to find peace once again.

"At dusk weeping comes for the night; but at dawn there is rejoicing...You changed my mourning into dancing." Psalm 30:6, 12

"Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy." John 16:20

God has made promises to us through His written word. "Joy" appears numerous times throughout Scripture, even paired with mourning. We can keep faith and take hope in these words and promises. Life is difficult, no one ever said it would be easy, but if we seek it out and seek God, we can experience joy.

Eternal rest, grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.

Below is a poem I found on Facebook:

Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38,
When 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate.
Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air.
They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.
They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.
They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.
"Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.
"This is heaven," declared a small boy. "We're spending Christmas at God's house."
When what to their wondering eyes did appear,
But Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.
He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.
Then he opened His arms and He called them by name.
And in that moment was joy that only heaven can bring.
Those children all flew into the arms of their King.
And as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,
One small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.
And as if He could read all the questions she had
He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of Mom and Dad."
Then He looked down on earth, the world far below,
He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe.
Then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,
"Let my power and presence re-enter this land!"
"May this country be delivered from the hands of fools"
"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"
Then He and the children stood up without a sound.
"Come now my children, let me show you around."
Excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran,
All displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.
And I heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,
"In the midst of the darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

Written by Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, PA

Awesome Video about Mary

The folks at Busted Halo have done it again! I love their videos and their newest is "Mary in 2 Minutes."
Check it out!

JPII on Prayer

Last week a new (rather, new to me) quote from Bl. John Paul II was brought to my attention, and now I'm slightly obsessed with the quote because it is so true:

"Every day dedicate some time to conversing with God. This is a sincere proof of your love for Him, for love always seeks to be near the beloved. This is why prayer should be put before everything else. Whoever does not understand this, or does not put it into practice, cannot excuse himself by saying he has no time; he has no love."
Bl. JPII, Homily on April 7, 1987

It makes perfect sense! And those words also hit home; how many days have I gone through the motions without taking time to stop for prayer? Or think that because I went to daily mass,  I'm set for the rest of the day? I am not a morning person, so the thought of prayer right when I wake up isn't really processed by my brain... but after reading that quote I've been starting off my mornings with some prayers of gratitude and intercessions. Faith and keeping up our prayer life can be difficult especially in our world that is driven by "being busy" with everything. And working for the Church doesn't always help either because I plan lessons and prayers and am surrounded by Catholic stuff all day, that I just want to crash and relax when I get home, not feel like I'm doing work. I know other youth ministers feel the same way... which is why it's so important to remember these words of JPII and ground ourselves in prayer and in that love relationship that God desires of us.

Have we lost Courage?

Today I had a high school bible study and we read Acts 3-4. We discussed a variety of things concerning those chapters (and the previous ones), but in the end we focused on courage and being bold in our faith. After Peter and John were arrested for proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, I'm sure a lot of followers were fearful they, too, would be arrested. So they all prayed for boldness in faith and in preaching it.

I asked the group who or what is an image of courage for them, and they didn't have many answers... have our youth become complacent to what real courage is? Heck, courage in general? Do they not have anyone in their lives who stand up for something, or do they just not realize courage when they see it? The first two people who come to mind for me are my brother and my friend John, who both served in the military and did tours in Iraq. I have high regard for our brothers and sisters serving in the military. But even praying outside of Planned Parenthood clinics is an act of courage. Those who defend the faith do so courageously.

When asked what they could do to be more courageous, one high school senior said that nothing comes to mind because today we aren't asked to die for our faith. He mentioned it's only little things we do. He didn't realize that even doing those little things can be seen as acts of courage (until I mentioned it to the group). We did talk about praying before meals out in public; about half the group does so on occasion. It is in the little things that we can be courageous. Heck, sometimes I feel that even wearing my cross and miraculous medal around my neck is an act of faith that some might look down on.

How do we teach this generation about courage? We listened to the song "Courageous" by Casting Crowns, and the lyrics that stick out to me are: We were warriors on the front lines, standing unafraid, but now we're watchers on the sidelines, while our families slip away. We have forgotten the real reason for Church and worship and I know I even have times of complacency in my own life. It's time to be courageous.

The New Kid

As another year of Sunday Night Youth Group starts up we are blessed to have a new group of youth, as well as our returning students, join us on a faith journey. And similar to most youth groups, some youth want and choose to be there while others are coerced or forced to attend by their parents. The youth in the latter group often open up eventually and start to have a good time, while others continue to sit in the sand on the shore, refusing to get their feet wet by the tide.

This year we have two brothers who are new to the program. One is a freshman and the other is a sophomore. Turns out their parents recently went through a divorce and they changed/transferred parishes. The younger brother seems content with being at youth group and is talkative with new people. The older brother...he's a different story. For the sake of this (public) blog, we'll call him Jonah, because I'm sure the only thing he wanted to do on the first night was run in the opposite direction.

Our first youth group was three weeks ago. Jonah sat by himself at a corner table with his arms crossed. If you asked him any questions, he would only shake or nod his head. We played some games and did ice breakers that night, but since there were 40 other youth present, I don't know how much Jonah participated. When the night was over I wasn't sure if he had a learning disability or if he just really didn't want to be there. As you already know, it was the latter. I wanted to make it my personal mission to break him. Ok, not in a bad way, but to make him feel welcome and to get him to realize that we want him at youth group.

Week two rolls around and Jonah, once again, sat at that corner table. During "gathering time" I approached him in another attempt to strike up a conversation. I asked about his week but didn't get much of a response. Then I told him I liked the cross he was wearing. He said "thanks." Then I asked where he got it from and he told me the parish they were previously at gave it to him as a going away gift. I was so amazed that he spoke that I became the speechless one. I was ecstatic! At the end of the night we learned that the small group that Jonah was in got him to laugh. Another joyous occasion!

I don't know all the details, but I think his mom told him to try out youth group and if he didn't like it at all, then he wouldn't have to keep going. Well he came back last night for our third week. This time I was at the sign-in table and greeted him with a big smile. We also did something different...we split all the youth into groups and asked that they go to their assigned table right away for dinner (instead of eating with the same people they always eat with). We want the youth to get to know each other better and we think it worked quite well. Jonah actually went to his assigned table (and asked where it was). I don't know how involved he was in the meal conversation, but I'd like to hope he was involved a bit. During Br. Ron's talk, Jonah was very engrossed in the story about St. Joseph of Cupertino. I had Jonah in my small group for the discussion questions. I couldn't get a response from my questions except for head nods, shakes, and shrugs. But once we started talking about Homecoming words came out of his mouth. I also found out he likes baseball. At the end of the night I thanked him for coming and told him I was glad he came out. I also made just a random comment, "oh, that's where your name tag is!" (since it was on his pants and not his shirt) and he actually smiled. On the inside I definitely looked like this:

So then I was thinking...I'm trying to make Jonah feel extremely welcomed and that he is wanted here at youth group...but we should be doing that for every youth! In small ways we do, but we should go out-of-the-way for every youth, not just those who don't want to be there. Youth are looking for community and for a place to belong. We should be welcoming each and every youth and thanking them for coming and telling them that we are happy they came out that night. I do a general "thank you, glad you came" thing, but we need to personalize it. I'll be sharing these reflections with the youth group team and I hope that together we can put fort an amazing effort at making each youth feel like they are wanted there on Sunday nights, whether they already know it or not. While it helps to have awesome lessons, fun games, and engaging praise and worship, sometimes the most important things at youth group are the small things: feeling welcomed, laughter at a joke, bonding that happens over dinner. By creating a safe space for our youth, we'll get them to come back and to eventually open up.

A Salute To Our Troops

Lately I've been reflecting on how our current troops and veterans are under-appreciated. I used to never give a second thought to our military men and women except on holidays honoring them. But then my brother joined the National Guard and he was sent to Iraq. I know what he did over there in general, but I'll never know the full effects of his tour there. And recently I've become great friends with a guy who was a Navy Corpsman and also served with the Marine Corps. He did three tours in Iraq and while he's more open to talking about it than my brother, there's still so much myself and others simply will not understand. And he even said he's just now realizing that.

I can't justly compare it to my time in Echo, but there are similarities in that only the 17 of us in Echo 5 will understand our bond and love and all the crazy things we experienced in our two years of the program. Even if some stories are shared about our troops overseas, we will never understand. And unfortunately, those effects of their service run deep. Our veterans are struggling when they come back, and knowing and caring about two of them breaks my heart thinking about their hardships.

Yes, sometimes I question the reasons for our US presence overseas, and yes, these men and women freely choose to enter the military now and know of the chances of going and serving a tour in the Middle East. But despite your own opinion on our military and the wars we're fighting, these men and women risk their lives and livelihood. And coming back home they risk the chance of ever having a normal life. I'm not trying to say we should "feel bad" for our veterans; what I'm trying to convey is that we all need to be more understanding and respectful of them. And thank them often.

Even those who are still in the military here in the states continue to serve their country with right duty and honor. The other day I came across a story about a marine who stood guard at the hospital room of a dying 12-year-old boy. That is honor. That is a true hero. That is what it means to be an American. Yet so many people have lost that... You can find the full story here: http://www.modernamericanheroes.com/tag/sgt-mark-dolfini/

At Country Jam, a three day music festival in my hometown, the country music artists did a great job of honoring and saluting our troops. They gave them shout outs, had them on camera, even brought them up on the stage at times. And Trace Adkins played one of his newer songs, Semper Fi, a song honoring the Marines. After the song, my brother said it didn't do justice to what the Marines actually do for our country. I think it's still great that they still write songs like that though.

To all those who have served, are serving, and will serve our country in one of the branches of the military, thank you. I don't say it enough and I don't pray for you all enough, but I hope to start doing so now.

Recognizing Volunteers

I always knew it was important to recognize our volunteers, no matter what sort of organization you're a part of, but I didn't realize the full impact until a couple weekends ago.

Every summer we attend DCYC, our Diocesan Catholic Youth Conference. Throughout the weekend awards are given out to youth and adults who have committed their time to youth ministry at their parish. Last year I didn't give any awards to my parish youth, so this year I decided to do so. Three went to high school youth who have been very involved in youth group this past year; they're always reliable and want to do more. I also gave a "Light of the World" award to one of my chaperones, a mom who has been a great help with my middle school youth ministry. Earlier in the summer I thought of giving her a gift card as a thanks for all she has done, but I think this award meant way more.

When her name was called out on Sunday morning, she was so surprised! She said she was going to cry because she was so honored. I don't think she did, but I was fighting back tears of joy at seeing how happy she was. I have been so blessed to have her support and volunteer time, but I probably didn't show my appreciation enough. That morning was definitely a reminder of the importance of recognizing and appreciating our volunteers. They do things because they want to and would volunteer even without recognition, but we still need to show our gratitude. Without our volunteers we wouldn't be able to do anything! So from the bottom of my heart, whether you volunteer at a church or different organization, thank you for all you do.