The Office of Youth Ministry blogs

Inspirational Mustard

Paul Masek — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:53:00 +0000

I have been thinking a lot about mustard lately, and not because I like it. I don’t.

The reason I have been thinking about mustard is because of its significance at a recent Steubenville St. Louis Mid-America Youth Conference (significance which, by the way, was initiated by a bishop – just one more of the countless reasons I love being Catholic!).

In his homily, Bishop Johnston began with a piece of trivia – that most of the world’s mustard is made in Springfield, MO – the town where we were for the conference. This fact was immediately tweet-worthy to many attendees, but I suspect that the bishop had no idea how useful this piece of trivia would become!

Near the end of the conference, all of us speakers were asked to share a final encouraging or inspirational thought. However, just two minutes before we went on stage, our host Bob Lesnefsky (aka ‘Righteous B’) told us that somehow we needed to incorporate the word “mustard” into our closing thoughts. He did this, I suspect, for three reasons – to ensure that we didn’t take our own thoughts too seriously, to pay tribute to the mustard capital of the world, and to help all of us in attendance recall Bishop Johnston’s homily. None of the conference attendees were informed of this brilliant plan; we simply had to share our thoughts, laced with mustard. We needed to think fast.

I was blessed with the opportunity to go first and boldly proclaimed, “I don’t like mustard, for four reasons: I think it tastes bad, it looks like baby poop, the two syllables are ‘must – turd,’ and there is a variety called Grey Poupon. And even though I don’t like mustard, God likes you.” I know, I know – these words served to provide inspiration to the throngs of attendees and were also yet another public display of my enigmatic and adolescent sense of humor.

Other team members shared other thoughts, including the befuddling statement from Adam Bitter that he does like mustard for all of the reason I don’t (!?!?) but that God still loves us all, and the beautiful reference to the many varieties of mustard by Fr. Brian Fischer – paralleling the varieties of inspiration our church offers us to nourish our spiritual life. Each speaker shared something amusing & inspirational, being certain to include a reference to mustard.

What’s crazy is that I have received more feedback, from both teens and adults, regarding this mustard outburst than many other things I have spoken of or written about lately.

Here are just a few comments I’ve received –

Who knew mustard would raise my mind to God! I shall now always have Holy hot dogs & brats!I
I don't like mustard, but I like people who like mustard. They eat it so I don't have to.
After that talk, my best friend and I ate corndogs with mustard on them in the shape of crosses. (:

And the biggie…

I loved the mustard talk. It was just what I needed. We had a teen with us that is very dear to my heart. He is searching for the truth. He believes in a higher power, he’s just not sure what that power is. I prayed my heart out for him throughout the weekend. When all the mustard talk started I not only laughed but was reminded of this passage…
”I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Who would have thought a yucky condiment could have brought such comfort. LOL

I believe that this mustard experience has a few things to teach those of us who want to share our faith with others, reflected in an acronym I heard years ago on how to give a good talk. I was once told, and I have never forgotten this, that a good talk should include all of the elements of the word TULIP - any good presentation should be Therapeutic, Unconventional, Lucid, Illustrated, and Passionate.

I believe that the mustard experience at the youth conference was all of these things.

Our advice was therapeutic; every foundational thought that was shared was in fact helpful to the teens. It was unconventional; we successfully shocked tired people into paying attention on a Sunday morning. We were quite lucid; no one spoke for more than 45 seconds. We illustrated all of our points with the image of mustard, and we all believe passionately in God, whose message we were trying to share in these closing thoughts.

In addition to incorporating all elements of TULIP, we did something else - we were pretty funny – and humor (within reasonable limits) can be quite helpful, especially when you are trying to reach teenagers! When people laugh or smile or smirk or groan, their hearts open up in inexplicable ways; and it certainly never hurts when the humor is an inside joke, reflecting a shared experience. Whenever we can reference common experiences with an individual or a group, we have their attention. People tend to listen better if they know you have been paying attention to their lives and what has been happening to them, whether it’s serious or silly!

I hope that mustard continues to inspire you the rest of your life. I know that it inspires me, now more than ever…although I still don’t like it nearly as much as God likes you!

Video of the Storm at Steubenville, Week 2

Jeff Geerling — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:13:20 +0000

Just before the second week of Steubenville St. Louis Mid-America, a huge storm rolled (very slowly) through Springfield, MO, taking down power lines around town, but (fortunately) not causing any injuries. Power was restored just before the doors to the Arena were opened, but the storm was a very prominent reminder of God's awesome power!

I shot the video below on my iPhone 4 (which had a couple of close calls, during the extremely windy parts of the storm) in HD, and posted it to YouTube:

God Teaches Us Humility - At All Times!

Jeff Geerling — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:03:23 +0000

At this past weekend's Steubenville conference (the first of two for 2010—I'll also be present at next week's conference!), I took over 1,000 photos. After editing and deleting redundant or crummy pictures, I posted 353 of them to this Flickr collection (slideshow here).

My normal photo-taking workflow is this:

Take a ton of pictures (maybe 100-200).
Pop out memory card, insert into computer, transfer photos, erase memory card.
Take another ton of pictures.

Sadly, during Saturday night Eucharistic Adoration, I was happily snapping away a bunch of beautiful shots (I was probably up to about 100), and a little warning popped up on the camera "There was an error writing this image to the card. Please use a new card."

Well, this has happened before, and wasn't a problem, so I simply popped out the card, and re-inserted it, then took more pictures (I think the card overheated, or maybe some other odd bug happened). Well, after going back to the computer, I realized that all the first 100 or so pictures I had taken were gone.

A few minutes earlier, I was thinking to myself, "Man, these are some of the best photos I've shot at a Steubenville conference ever!

God was thinking, "This is a great opportunity for you to learn some humility, Jeff!"

I was angry when I returned to the computer and found that most of the pictures from adoration were gone, and I was unable to recover them with my PhotoRescue utility, but after praying over the situation, I realized that I should be thankful to God that I am able to take any pictures at all, and I should always realize that my photographs are only meant to give HIM the glory. Not me.

It helps, though, that I didn't lose all the photos. There were still some beautiful shots of our Lord in the monstrance, like this one:

Bragging Rights

Greg Robeson — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:55:37 +0000

Do you have the new iPhone 4 yet? I waited in line for over an hour in the heat to get one. The AT&T store only had 60 on the day they came out and I wanted to be one of the chosen. So I got up before everyone in else in my house and made the necessary sacrifice to get what I wanted, the best phone on the market. Initially my new phone impressed me mostly because of the new features and speed- it has the same processor as the new iPad computers, so that’s a pretty fast phone. After using my phone for a couple of days, I noticed that it was dropping lots of calls. Many business calls were interrupted, sometimes 3 or 4 times in the same conversation. I later learned that Apple publicly addressed this and is working on a solution, but I was no less disappointed.

I realize for the most part that we pretty much get what we want. What is it that you set your mind to? We are resourceful, intelligent, and savvy. I did not think twice about waiting in line at 7am. But do I make that kind of sacrifice for a relationship with God? Is my “status” wrapped up in the latest technology or something that is destined to disappoint or quickly become outdated? Do I get as excited about what God is working on in my heart and mind as I do about a novel gadget? Do I truly see that my “bragging rights” are solely wrapped up in the fact that I am a child of God, and NOTHING ELSE?

Spiritual discipline is a journey. I don’t like to keep prayer appointments with God when I am tired. I don’t like kneeling to long because it hurts. I don’t like talking about Jesus or faith too long because people might think I am weird. But God never drops calls; He never disappoints. Why am I so slow to sacrifice for Him, to be proud of Him, to be committed to Him?

I must confess, I only bought a new phone because I dropped my old one on the driveway and cracked it. This occurred the day before the new iPhone came out. So although I enjoy technology, I am not as up on it as this blog may imply. However I used this experience to examine my heart. I see better that the way I spend my time and the areas of my life where I make sacrifices easily reveal what is truly important to me.

The Narrow Door

rosanne twellman — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:35:56 +0000

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (from Matthew 7:6)

This is a very good thought to keep with us when we face struggles. Who said following Christ would be easy? When we feel challenged, when we feel burdened, when we feel overwehlmned - let us keep our eye on the prize - Jesus Christ!

Salvation History Part III

Fr. Thomas Pastorius — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:02:15 +0000

Continuing our look back at Salvation History…

11. Burning Bush
The Israelites have been slaves in Egypt now for many years and the one person God has chosen to lead them to freedom has fled Egypt after murdering and Egyptian guard. Moses is now in the desert and from the outside he looks to be having a very comfortable life as a shepherd. He has a good wife and two sons. God though is not done with Moses and through the use of the burning bush God summons Moses out of his life of comfort and gives him a mission. Moses is to be the deliverer. Reading about Moses’ encounter with the burning bush one cannot help but ask oneself if God is calling us out of our life of comfort and asking us to have more of a life of service.

12. Exodus
Moses returns to Egypt and insists that Pharaoh let the Israelites go. Moses and Pharaoh get into a contest over whose God is better. Each of the ten plagues is a sign that God is greater than any of the Egyptian gods. The last plague though is a special plague because God sends an angel through to and kills the first born male of the Egyptians. The Israelites escape this plague by sacrificing a lamb, smearing its blood over their door posts and eating it. This is the beginning of the Passover meal. For Jews whenever they partake of the Passover meal, they are transported back into time to this night. Jesus’ last supper was the Passover meal that he gives new meaning to. Moses leads the people through the Red Sea and the Egyptians are defeated. If one reads the crossing of the Red Sea in a spiritual context we see that God’s people are saved through water (baptism) and all sin (the Egyptians) are destroyed. The Israelites are now free. God’s people are set free through baptism because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

13. 10 Commandments
The Israelites are set free and they return to Mount Sinai where Moses first encountered God through the burning bush. God gives them the gift of the 10 Commandments. You may be saying to yourself how the 10 Commandments can be a gift. The 10 commandments are a gift because these laws will help the Israelites create a just society. Even before they are written down though the people begin to rebel against God and they build an idol-the golden calf. We can begin to see a pattern. God does something great for human beings and in return human beings reject God. God though does not desert his people.

14. 40 Years in the Desert
The Israelites because they would not do things God’s way and trust in God are forced to wander through the desert for forty years. God continually takes care of his people by giving them water, food (quail), and bread (manna) but the Israelites keep turning away from God.

15. Ark of the Covenant & Meeting Tent
Two important things happen during their time in the desert. The first is the Ark of the Covenant. God instructs Moses to build a wooden box to hold the Ten Commandments. In addition to the Ten Commandments the Israelites keep in the Ark a jar of manna and Moses’ shepherd staff. Christians later will seize on this imagery and refer to Mary as the “Ark of the Covenant” for within her she held Jesus who is the new law of love, the bread of life, and the good shepherd. The Ark would represent for them in a very real way God’s presence. The second was the Meeting Tent. The meeting tent was the beginning of the idea for the Temple and the Jewish sacrifice system.

How do you respect someone you don’t like?

Greg Robeson — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:33:19 +0000

I expect my children to respect me for life- not because I said so, but because God did (Ex 20:12). I have and will continue to sin. I am so glad that respect is not merit based- that means I don't have to act a certain way to please my children in order to gain their respect. I am initially deserving of their respect because I am God's child, no matter what choices I make. I am additionally deserving of their respect because I participated in their creation and I am giving all I have (within my given limits) to giving them the best life possible. If I choose to live a virtuous lifestyle, I am deserving of even greater respect for that legacy that I create.

My dad was an alcoholic and I can remember bad choices he made. I can dwell on those or I can focus on the spirit of God's Word and choose to look at the good things he did- like sacrifice for our family, work tirelessly to provide, get to church weekly, and try to implement a Christian lifestyle the best he knew how. I don't like some of his decisions, but I respect him and appreciate all he and my mom did. My dad is now dead, so I pray for him in appreciation and respect. I visit my mom frequently and I tell her every chance I get how much I am grateful for her role in my formation.

I must admit this was much harder when I lived under their roof, but reflecting back, my difficulty focusing on their good qualities was more about my pride and my shortcomings. I needed to grow in humility, and let go of my vision of the way my family should be. You can choose your friends but not your family. So God chose them for me. I decided to focus my energy on discerning why God let me grow up in the family I did- what ways did he want me to grow? How was he allowing me to grow in love? I was angry at God at first, especially when my dad died. It took time for me to heal and realize the magnitude of God’s blessing in my life. I slowly learned to respect a person's dignity, especially when their behavior is less than ideal in my mind, even when that person lives under the same roof, and I am inconvenienced and irritated by their poor choices every day, because after all, it's just not about me.

I am still working on it- most days I don't feel like I am very good at this at all. But I try every day to hate the sin while loving the sinner, and I pray that my example inspires others to cheerfully do the same.

Generations Seeking Truth

ShellyFravala — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:09:28 +0000

[Reprinted with permission. Respect Life Apostolate, April 2010 Issue of the Pro-Life Profile]

This past January many participated in the March for life in Washington, D.C. For some, this was a first major encounter with the pro-life movement while for others the March is a national reunion uniting those who work daily for a Culture of Life. Whatever one’s reason was for attending, the reality is that much work needs to be done right here at home all year round.

In society, truth is understood as something merely in the eye of the beholder, subject to change and completely relative. Put another way, truth is considered an issue of political correctness where reality is sacrificed if it creates any language, ideas, or debate that could offend one’s political sensibilities. Sadly, this is not a new concept! Jesus himself encountered similar erroneous understandings about what is truth in his exchange with Pontius Pilate. Pilate questioned whether he should give the enemies of Christ the blood they sought or to defend the rights of a blameless man. As one who holds everything as relative, Pilate chose to let the ends “justify” the means. Pilate decided that to prevent the developing civil unrest from the gathering crowd wishing to crucify Christ, it was acceptable to choose the death of an innocent man was the acceptable price to achieve political correctness.

Sadly, the culture today is one that denies the existence of objective truth and the best way to address this is through seeking knowledge and sharing its fruits. The RLA offers many programs to better equip those with the Truths of the faith pertaining to the atrocities of abortion, embryonic stem cell research, unethical scientific technologies, infanticide, and human cloning. Life Information From Teens (LIFT) trains high school students on techniques to most charitably answer society’s tough questions about life. Parish Respect Life Committees provide further opportunities at the parish level for youth and adults education. To learn more about the faith, the issues and how to cultivate a Culture of Life all 365 days a year, visit STLRespectlife.org or call 314-792-7555.

[Image from http://www.kenrick.edu/etchings/index.html]

Salvation History Part II

Fr. Thomas Pastorius — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:07:35 +0000

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Let us continue our journey through salvation history.

6. Abraham
After the story of Noah, God remains sort of inactive in the life of the world. While we know that God keeps the world in existence (in fact if God ever stopped thinking of the world, we would all simply cease to exist) but the Bible tells us that God seems to have left the world to its own demise. Something changes, and God we learn that God has a plan and this plan begins with an old man named Abraham and his wife Sarah. Abraham and Sarah move from their home in Ur to a distant land. Abraham and Sarah have many great adventures in this new land as God shapes them into the people that He wants them to be. The ultimate test for Abraham comes when God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham passes the test and Isaac is saved by an angel. Maybe the most important part of the story is that on the way to be sacrificed Isaac not realizing that he was going to be the sacrifice asked his father where the animal to be sacrificed was. Abraham’s responds that God will provide the sacrifice. In the historical moment God provides a ram to take the place of Isaac but from our vantage point in history, we see that God did indeed provide the sacrifice His only Son, Jesus.

7. Jacob & Esau
Abraham’s son Isaac growing old wished to bless his oldest son Esau with a special inheritance. Isaac is deceived though by his wife and his youngest son Jacob. Jacob ends up getting the blessing. Jesus will come later and say that the kingdom of God will not be about the greatest but rather about the least. Jacob will have many adventures including spending one whole night wrestling with an angel. At daybreak the angel declares that Jacob will no longer be known as “Jacob” but will rather now be known as “Israel”. The word “Israel” literally means “he who struggles with God.”

8. Joseph
Jacob ends up having twelve sons by four different women. His favorite son though is Joseph the oldest son of his favorite wife. Joseph’s other brothers become jealous of him and sell him into slavery. As a slave in Egypt Joseph is first sent to prison and then released and given a position of high authority because his power to interpret dreams allowed him to save Egypt from a severe famine. Joseph is eventually put into a position where he has the power to get revenge on his brothers for selling him into slavery but instead he forgives them. Joseph is a great character in the Bible because so much of his life mirrors that of Jesus. Both Joseph and Jesus were sold, both were criminals, both were elevated by God to positions of power and both in the end ended up forgiving all involved.

9. Slavery in Egypt
Israel and all his family live in Egypt under Joseph’s protection for many years because of the severe famine. Eventually that generation dies off and a pharaoh who did not remember Joseph enslaves the Israelites. While they are slaves in Egypt they cry out to God for help but it does not seem to come. There are times in our lives when it seems that God is far from us or does not care. What we don’t know and what the Israelites did not know was that God has a plan.

10. Moses Saved
If slavery was not bad enough Pharaoh orders that all baby boys are to be killed. A woman places her male child in a basket and leaves him for dead. The boy though is found by pharaoh’s sister and named Moses - another example of God using water to save a life. God’s plan is at work even though it seems strange to us and God is definitely not working as fast as we would like him too.

Can You See It?

Gretchen Pacheco — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:17:31 +0000

I love the stars. When I look up on a clear night the sky is beautifully illuminated with millions of twinkles. When I look at the night sky I always try to find some of the more familiar constellations like the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Orion’s Belt, or Shrek & Donkey.

God perfectly placed all of those stars in the sky. He also perfectly placed all of those people in our lives, even the ones we sometimes wish he hadn’t. We have lots of experiences in our lives that if we allow Him, God can use to create a masterpiece as brilliant as the night sky.

As gorgeous as what we can see is, there are even more majestic sights in the sky. Have you ever seen pictures from the Hubble Telescope or some other shot in deep space? (If you haven’t, check these out: hubble gallery) In my opinion, these are some of the most awesome displays of God’s handiwork. These images remind me that God’s plans are infinite and astounding. They remind me that just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. In fact, they may be even more extraordinary than our wildest dreams.

The thing is, if we want to see God’s plans, we must first be connected to God. Then we may need to look harder, dream bigger and maybe even ask for help. On our own we could never see The Cat’s Eye Nebula but with the help of a telescope it comes in to view.

I don’t know what God’s ultimate plan for my life is, or anybody else’s, but I know that I want to be a part of it. So I’m going to do my best to listen more, worry less and remember the words of Psalms 103:11 “As the heavens tower over the earth, so God's love towers over the faithful.”

Smokin’ Hot Spouses

Paul Masek — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:14:25 +0000

Have you ever wondered why every youth minister you’ve ever met refers to his or her spouse as the most attractive member of the opposite sex ever created?

You know that it’s true. But how is it possible?

Could it be that God rewards those who dedicate their lives to youth ministry by graciously making an attractive spouse His sweetest gift while fulfilling the promise of Mark 10:28-30?

Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.

Perhaps. And if that is the case I will never cease to praise His goodness, nor will any of my brothers and sisters in youth ministry. God is so good, and it is pure joy to delight in His creation! Amen?

But perhaps there are two other reasons why our spouses are hotter than doughnut grease…

1) We have learned, through dedication to Gospel truth, to count our blessings – and our spouses are among the greatest blessings we could ever experience. They pray for us more than we could imagine, they listen to us when we need to vent, and they make innumerable sacrifices so that we can minister to teens. They are the most generous people we know, and provide a clear reflection of the generosity of God – who can never been outdone in generosity!

And, more than anything –

2) We have received grace to see our spouses as He does. Every single one of us is God’s favorite; we all know that. But when it comes to our spouses, we know them so well and appreciate them so much that we are actually able to see how amazing they are – not only with our eyes, but also with our hearts. We know their attractiveness: a powerful synthesis of inner and outer beauty.

So, if you want to marry the most attractive person in the universe, you might want to consider a career in youth ministry. Or you might want to pray to see others as God sees them. Or maybe you will consider both options.

(P.S. To those who have a problem with us calling our spouses ‘hot’ and who might think that we are objectifying them - we aren’t! We are just trying to put into culturally relevant language a reality that is beyond words: the fact that our spouses are not only on fire with the Holy Spirit, but that they also emanate a holy sexiness that makes us quiver!)

Salvation History Part I

Fr. Thomas Pastorius — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:27:58 +0000

Over the last few months, I have become more and more aware of how little people know about Salvation History. They know that people like Moses and Abraham belong to the Old Testament and people like Jesus, Peter, John, and Paul belong to the New Testament but that is about it. Personally I am continually amazed at how much of the Old Testament makes more sense in light of the New Testament and how much more alive New Testament stories become for me when I understand some of the history behind the stories. Over the next few months I wish to reflect with you on God’s plan for our salvation (Salvation History). To aid me in these reflections I will also be using some great clip art from Phil Martin (www.phillipmartin.info/clipart/homepage.htm), Let us begin now our journey through time and grace.

1. Creation
“In the beginning…” literally the first words of the Bible, we learn that God created the world. Whether he did it in seven days or with one big bang the Scriptures do not tell us. What is important though is they tell us that God created the world out of nothing. Unlike other myths about creation, there was no battle between divine beings. Our God spoke and creation happened. We are not the consequence of some divine battle, we are not pawns created to serve God because God had some divine need, but rather we were created through a conscious thought filled action and most importantly we were created freely out of love.

2. Adam & Eve
We quickly go into the story of Adam and Eve. The first two human beings were special. They had dominion over the animals and most importantly they had free will. We learn at first that there was a deep personal relationship between God and Adam and Eve but we also learn that Adam and Eve doubted God’s goodness and disobeyed God’s command and sinned. Why did God allow Adam and Eve to sin? God chose to respect Adam and Eve’s freewill because God knew for a true relationship to exist each person had to have the ability to walk away from it. Love that is forced is no love at all. The important thing is after the consequences of sin are declared, God does not simply abandoned them but rather offers hope by clothing them and offering a promise of a redeemer.

3. Cain & Abel
We don’t go too far in salvation history to see that sin simply breeds more sins and often these sins grow in intensity. Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve’s first two sons, go to offer God a sacrifice. Abel offers God something from his best while Cain offers God what was left over. God appreciates Abel’s offering but does not care for Cain’s offering. Cain out of jealousy because the first murderer in the Bible and kills Abel. The story ends with an important detail that even after Cain had done such a horrible thing, God is still going to remain in his life and protect him from others.

4. Noah
Sin is simply out of control, when we reach Noah. Noah and his family are saved from God’s cleansing flood really through no merit of their own. It is only because God gives them a heads up that Noah decides to build a boat and we learn through the story that Noah’s cooperation with God’s plan saves him and his family. This is the first time we see God using “water” to re-create the world making the story of Noah a sure sign for Baptism. It is also important to see that God did not simply destroy the world and all humans and start over that way. Instead God chose a small group to begin his rebuilding. You would think that Noah would have lived a pretty moral life after the flood but no. He ends up getting drunk and sleeping with his daughters. So in a way Noah is also the first of many imperfect people whom God will use to bring about His plan of salvation.

5. Tower of Babel
The Bible tells us that there was a time when everyone spoke the same language and that these people decided to build a temple into heaven on their own accord. God prevents this by mixing up their languages. The story is a reminder that all our human efforts will result in failure if God is not on our side.

Burning with DESIRE

Greg Robeson — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:38:26 +0000

Do you ever wonder if your desire for different things is bad? I can’t tell you how many times a teen has asked me this question. Does it make you a bad person, especially if the things you find yourself desiring are not good for you? I have spent tons of energy in my life trying to bridle my passions. I grew up thinking that our desires lead us away from God and they need to be controlled. This is not the case. The virtuous life is really quite the opposite.

God is at the heart of every human desire. We are all burning with desire for the infinite. Maybe in youth ministry circles you have heard “we all have a God-shaped whole in our heart”. This is a pretty good analogy. This is why no amount of eating satisfies us- God is better than the best foods. God is the better than the best movie we have ever seen, the best night of sleep we have ever had, the best sex we have ever had (of course this one only applies to the married because sex before marriage is just a counterfeit- it’s not good at all, even thought it might feel that way), and so on.

The mistake I make is latching on to good things in this world as if they can satisfy me. Then when I come crashing down in disappointment, I am tempted to label my desire for this these things as “bad”. It is “dualistic” (a keystone of so many heresies) to say that my body is bad but my spirit is good. God made human beings- body and soul- and God made us good.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying the things of this world, at least the ones that do not lead to sin, as long as we realize that they will not fill the longing of our hearts. St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee”. So I can eat a mountain of chocolate, and my heart will remain unsatisfied. All I get from my mistaken notion is a stomach ache.

The key to the joyful life, is to see every human desire as aimed at God. Try to interpret every desire you have asking yourself this question, “How is it that this desire I have is really a longing for God?” A desire to do something sinful is a perverted or misdirected desire. A desire for something good like food, needs to be met with temperance because we are not made to eat, but to be with God forever. No matter how many desires we think we fullfill in a day, when the sun goes down, one of our prayers needs to be hopeful, “the best is yet to come”.

So when you see the fires of desire burning, don’t grab the bucket of water, but rather the gas can. Direct your passion at God and your innate desire for communion with the Infinite, communion with a God who is burning with even greater "desire" for you!

Year of the Priest Part IV: I Get To Be A Priest

Fr. Thomas Pastorius — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:48:36 +0000

I have always tried to look at my priesthood as a gift from God and like any gift it is something that I can lose or break if I am not careful. I am pretty certain that no one enters into marriage in a hope to one day go through a divorce and in a similar way, I do not believe anyone gets ordained a priest on a trial basis but rather he intends to be a priest of God for the rest of his life. However, I also know that there are many “ex-priests” out there. I therefore try to never take my vocation for granted. Here are four things that I do to personally nurture my vocation.

The first thing I do is decide to be a priest each and every day. When I was growing up, my first job as a teenager was working for Little Caesar’s Pizza and I can remember one day getting into an argument with my aunt when I told her “that I had to go to work” and she informed me “that I got to go to work.” My aunt helped me to realize that having a job is a blessing and not a curse because there are many people out there who would love to have a job but cannot find work. In the same way, I choose to be a priest instead of having to be a priest. My parishioners are opportunities to show God’s love and not burdens or pests that must be dealt with. Celebrating Mass every morning is a joy and not an obligation. Maybe another way of looking at it is to remind myself that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence.

The second thing I do to help nurture my vocation is realize that small sins lead to bigger sins. For example, I know there are certain physical places that I cannot go because it would cause great scandal and jeopardize my ability to be an effective priest. The next step in my spiritual accountability is to realize that there are mental places that I cannot allow myself to go to. I therefore avoid places where there is an over abundant amount of sexual innuendos, excessive negativity, or a lot of anti-Catholicism.

The third thing I do is and this is probably the most important is that I pray. In a special way an examination of conscience is necessary on a regular basis (every night) to make sure that I am living out the vows I made at Baptism and confirmed at my Confirmation and in addition to examining how I am living out my priestly vows. What has been my attitude toward God, the Church, and people this past day? What do I need to make amends for and what do I need to bring to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? (And no I do not get to hear my own confession).

The last thing I do to nurture my vocation is to associate with other holy people. I enjoy in a special way spending time with families. It is not always easy for me, as a priest, to hang out with people because some people try to put on a front when father is around and this leads to an uneasy tension. It is also frustrating when I walk up to a group of people and I hear someone say or whisper “quiet guys, father is here.” I cannot help but wonder what they were talking about and why were they talking about it if they did not want me to hear it. Have they forgotten that nothing is hidden from God? There are however people I have met and treasure who are naturally trying to live good lives and can respect me as a person and my vocation without putting me on a pedestal or leading me toward temptation. I truly treasure my experience with these people for inevitably I can feel God supporting me and speaking to me through these people.

I would like to make a few suggestions to all of you reading this as a way to apply this blog to your lives. First make sure you have a positive attitude toward life and to your vocation. Second ask yourself what thoughts normally precede your habitual sins and ask yourself how you can avoid having these thoughts. It might mean that you have to change your environment. Third I implore you to pray daily and to humbly examine your conscience each night. Lastly make an effort to surround yourself with other good holy people. God bless!

Stinky Face

Tom Lancia — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:34:47 +0000

My son is almost 13 months old and one of the books he really likes (and so do I) is called, I love you stinky face. In this book the mother tells her son, “I love you my wonderful child,” but the son replies with a series of questions. One of the questions is, “But Mama, what if I was a super-smelly skunk and everyone called me stinky face, would you still love me then?”
The boy’s mother comes up with a clever answer to every question and also tells her son that she loves him, no matter if he is a one-eyed monster, an allegator, or any other creature.
I love this story because it is cute and funny, but also because it speaks so much of God’s Love for us!

How many times do we question God’s love for us? How many people think they aren’t good enough to be loved by God? How many times do we allow our sin to run from God, instead of running to Him for love, healing, and forgiveness?

God sent us His Son, Jesus, to save us and show us His Father’s Love. A love that would die for us no matter who we are…even if you were a super-smelly skunk. Christ did not die to give us a guilt trip, but to draw us back to Him!

No matter what reason you can come up with, NOTHING is too big or terrible for Christ Love! Christ love is Unconditional and constant. So as we are going through this Lenten season, allow Christ to love you. Recognize every time you receive the Eucharist that He is physically with you and giving you Himself. Allow Him to forgive and heal you in Reconciliation. Spend time with Him in prayer at home or in Adoration (where ever you can find silence and can focus on Jesus).

Finally, no relationship is easy. You will have good times, bad times, and dry times, but Authentic Love is stronger than any emotion or feeling and that’s what makes it Unconditional and Eternal. With a relationship with Jesus, we will walk with Joy (in good/bad/or dry times) because we also walk with Faith, Hope, and Love!

Walking in the Desert...

Fr. Brian Fischer — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:39:49 +0000

I have been feeling reminiscent lately, and I've been looking back over stuff from the past. This is a blog I wrote two years ago when I was serving in Bolivia - thought I'd share it...

"This has been such an eye opening, inspiring and different Lenten journey for me this year. It has been awesome to walk with the people here, and to share in their lives a little bit more each day.

First of all – Lent started kinda rocky for me. I was supposed to celebrate the early morning Mass on Ash Wednesday, but my body had another plan. I woke up in the middle of the night sick as a dog (I’ll leave out the details), not that I really have seen a dog sick like that… I stayed in bed all day, except for a quick visit to the clinic. The doc thought that it was a simple bacteria infection, gave me some antibiotics and sent me home. I was supposed to be getting better immediately, according to him. It did not quite work that way. I got worse and worse as the day went on, so much so that Sr. Guichy, who runs our parish clinic, said that she was going with me in the morning back to the clinic to demand tests.

Well I got the tests, and within two hours, found out that I had several types of salmonella – about six, I think. The doc told me I would be staying there for awhile, he wasn’t sure exactly how long. So – I spent my first week of Lent in the hospital getting all kinds of fluids and medicines pumped into my veins. Once I got home, I was so weak; it took all my strength to walk to my room from the dining room. I truly felt as if I was in the desert. Unable to do anything in the parish, I could not help but embrace my weakness – and accept the strength of Jesus. Not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and certainly spiritually. Self pity easily comes into the picture, but my good brother here, Msgr. Dave Ratermann, invited me to walk the way of the cross, and reminded me that this is what Lent is about – accepting the strength, power and love of Jesus in the midst of our own limitations. How many times have I preached that to others?… how many times have I offered that same insight?... But, I believe, when it comes to us, when it comes to being “lost” in that desert – it is difficult to see our own way out. That is why we are here walking this journey together, isn’t it? Jesus sent us here together, to walk and guide each other as we go. Praise the Lord!

What I thought was going to be the “worst” Lent, has become one of the most life-giving, purifying and uplifting journeys. In some ways, I have learned what some of the people here suffer everyday. I have shared in it, in a way – it is a lot easier to talk the talk, once we have walked the walk.

The beautiful people of La Paz experience so much hardship and struggle, that at times it is difficult for them to understand the Resurrection. We have such crowds for Stations of the Cross, which is such an awesome thing. We celebrated the stations this past Friday, starting at 5:00 am as we walked up the mountain from the parish to one of the small chapels high up. We started with maybe 15 people, but as we climbed up the streets of La Paz, more and more people joined us. We stopped at just about each streetlight to pray the next station. By the time we reached the chapel, two hours later, we had around 100 people with us for the celebration of the Eucharist. It was a beautiful and awesome celebration. The people here understand the cross – because they live it each day.

Another example is that Passion Sunday here is the biggest feast of the year. People come from all over the parish. We have to add extra Masses to accommodate everyone. They all must get their palms blessed – it is a blessing they take into their homes for all their family. While the blessing is so important to them (the more holy water the better), I believe that it is so important for them because the Passion is much more real to them than the following Sunday – when we celebrate the Resurrection. How do we teach and share the Good News to a people that suffer so much… I believe it begins with love – as Jesus taught us. It is like the disciples that were walking from Jerusalem, from all the pain and suffering of Good Friday, on their way to Emmaus. As they walked in their doubt and pain – Jesus came into their midst. Jesus is always walking with us, calling us to live the joy of the Resurrection always. Sometimes in the form of a family member or friend, other times a stranger – and, Jesus calls us to proclaim the Good News with our lives to each and every person we meet."

Arguing with Jesus?

Ron Garcia — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:44:01 +0000

Four blogs later..
The last couple of blogs have been a warm up for Theology of the Body. It really isn’t difficult to see that the culture while offering many good things often takes those good things and twists them up. Turning the truth about there goodness into a lie. While there is good at the heart of all relationships between men and women if we do not understand the truth about who we are and God’s design for those relationships, it is will be nearly impossible for us to succeed in them. We will settle for average or less than average relationships. Relationships built primarily on physical closeness experienced in the wrong context, which can lead to emotional indifference, impurity in our hearts, utility(use of another), and dishonesty in love. These dispositions can even carry over into marriage. When they do they are devastating. I have lived through it myself and I continue to see it happening all around me today. They no doubt contribute to the massive divorce rate in our country.

It was not so
Sometimes this happens because we don’t know or haven’t had the truth revealed to us yet. However we cannot be naïve, there are those who would get up in Jesus grill and try and call him out. There are those who know what he taught and they just don’t like it. Look I know the speed limit on Watson rd. is 30mph. I don’t like it! I want to go faster. I like driving fast! It’s a hold over from my days as a cop. Remember the disciples in John 6? “This teaching is hard who can listen to it.” In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees and they were not about to jump on the Jesus Christ bandwagon. They didn’t like him and they tested him. Happens all the time today right? Some people ask legit questions because they want to know, some people ask questions to be sassy and to trip you up. The Pharisees asked Jesus, “is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” First mistake: Sarcastically questioning the divinity. What does Jesus do? He goes right to Genesis. The first book of the Torah and it means beginning, origin, birth, creation, cause, or source. Jesus or the word made flesh if you prefer, appeals to the beginning. He ignores the fact that these "blind vipers(Jesus words not mine)" want to argue about what the just thing to do is or that they want to implore purely ethical human moral solutions to the problem of the indissolubility of marriage. Jesus essentially, says look I appreciate your efforts to make me look foolish, but lets stop talking about feelings, emotions, opinions, and worldly thoughts and get right to the truth. Because, if you don’t know the truth, you can’t order any of those things properly.

Jesus and the Beginning
Jesus reveals the Father to the Pharisees. He goes back to the beginning and shows His union with and intimate knowledge of God’s design for our lives. He teaches the words of Genesis as truth. He doesn’t just say well that was a handy old school lesson from the Father that has run it’s course in our day. Rather, He says, your still human beings right? Well this is the Father’s design for human beings, who were created as male and female, that “the two should become one flesh(Gn 2:24).” Essentially saying this still applies and the Son of God is revealing it to you right here, right now. Not only that but he goes one step further by adding “so it is that they are no longer two but one flesh therefore, what God has joined let man not separate(Mt 19: 6).” The first thing that we need to understand is that marriage is indissoluable, this isn't just the law, but rather an ingredient for authentic love. True love could never be rooted in a momentary feeling, it is a stable constant act of the will to do the good of another. Not because they have given you something, merely because of their dignity. This is why it is so crucial that we take our time when choosing a spouse. It is why we should prepare our hearts, through prayer and the sacraments, so that we will be better able to seek relationships built on purity. Becuase, pure love is the only love that will stand the test of time.

Settling Disputes
What is one of the first revelations of God to man? The indissolubility of marriage and Jesus confirms that the unity and indissolubility of marriage are the content of God’s first revelation to man. When God says let us make man in OUR image, He says something important. That is that he is not alone. That it is not simply the Father, rather that he is a life giving communion, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit(More about this later). Jesus appeals to the Fathers authority while confirming His own divinity. He teaches the Fathers revelation, with the authority of the Father. He causes the dissenters to stand back and consider the indissolubility of marriage and that in the mystery of creation man was made male and female. This was not arbitrary or inconsequential there is a perfectly planned complimentarity that exists between men and women.

Today
Divorce is hard. I am not going to deny that. I have experienced it first hand. It is painful and leaves lasting wounds on the souls of the individuals involved. A major reason for that is because, God did not design marriage to be dissolved. Jesus concurred and nothing has changed since. It is our disordered desires, our failure to properly prepare, our misunderstandings about the dignity of the human person, and our misunderstanding of authentic self giving love that has caused this devastation. When we see marriages failing all around us, marriages devoid of what we know in our hearts to be deep, abiding sacrificial love, marriages that are not committed to living forever together through the power of the Cross, it affects the way we view love. It affects the way that we understand, receive, and give love. A misunderstanding about the indissolubility of marriage is a misunderstanding of authentic love. This is the great cry of today’s culture it is the cry for a love that is indissoluable and authentic. Please Pray for me!

I am addicted

Greg Robeson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:01:50 +0000

Have you ever felt as if some temptations are too strong to overcome, like you cannot pull yourself up by your boot straps to overcome the evil that Satan wants you to do? We are creatures of habit. Sometimes we form good habits (virtues) and sometimes our fallen nature is more visible in bad habits (vices). Bad habits can become harmful addictions where we become enslaved by the habit. Have you ever felt like you are praying the same prayer over and over, “Lord please help me. I don’t ever want to do that again”?

A temptation can come in the form of a passing thought or the offer of another person, but addiction can form when we submit to temptation. During Lent, I know many people employ new techniques to stand strong against temptation. Just like soldiers go through intense training in boot camp, some people elect to employ spiritual training to condition their soul to resist sin and temptation better. Some people use distraction techniques like finding something positive to do to take our mind off what tempts us, something like physical exercise. Some people utilize accountability partners- having someone to call or text whenever we feel tempted. I like to pray when I feel tempted. But, I have noticed something more is needed to battle addiction. I need to admit I am weak and say something that is hard to say, “I can’t win”. No matter how hard I try, I keep doing what my spirit hates (Rom 7:15).

Sometimes God lets us struggle with addiction because we need to grow in humility. Some addictions we may take to our grave. It is the journey of struggling against the sin, it is the way we give ourselves to God while we struggle against the sin that God uses to save us. Freedom from addiction is not about exerting enough will power, but rather trusting in God’s love, mercy, and providence. I’ll give an example. You used to hear about prison breaks before our prisons became so technologically advanced. I have been on the inside of a maximum security facility- no one gets out unless someone lets you out. Addiction grabs us and holds us and we are not getting out without help from someone with more power. Some people see how addiction is like being in prison but they never see how God can break us out and set us free (Gal 5:1). Even with God’s grace, we might stay addicted and continue to repeat the bad behavior, but if we are offer holy resistance, God uses our struggle to purify our hearts. This resistance takes the form of immediate contrition after a mistake, a firm decision to sin no more, and dependence on the sacraments for strength, especially Reconciliation. We may lose the battle but we are winning the war- our destiny is heaven where there will be no substitute for God.

I am not just talking about food, drugs or sex here, but these are the most common vices to fall slave to. Although I have not played one in years, I used to be addicted to video games. I used to plan every day around video game time. I depended on them to cope, not God. In order to break the habit, I had to form positive good habits to replace it. Now I enjoy board games and the discussions that go along with them. Game time still helps me alleviate stress but now I plan my day around prayer time, family time, and exercise. Playing games gets the leftover time if there is any.

When I have been enslaved to a vice, I remember going to confession over and over, confessing the same sin wondering if God’s grace was ever going to kick in. What I realized is that I was being transformed by the process of struggling against the bad habit. I had to stop acting as if I could overcome this habit by praying enough, confessing the sin enough times, or wanting it badly enough. I got frustrated because I treated my spiritual life like everything else in life. But I could not get the immediate results that I craved; I had to be patient, trusting that through my dependence on Him, God was transforming me, even while I suffered through feeling helpless.

God lets us suffer through addiction, so that we will more fully rely on Him. Confessing the same sin is humiliating but it can aid you in admitting that you are powerless, and that admission has immense spiritual fruit. I found great benefit in being able to vocally tell a person about my struggle. It made it more real and it made it harder for me to rationalize. Of course it helps even more that the person I turned to was standing in for the Person of Christ in the Sacrament of Reconciliation!

Satan is stronger than us but we know the way the “temptation/addiction” story ends. We must dust ourselves off and accept that we are God’s child and trust that we are being formed by the suffering of rebelling against the addiction. Like a hopeful prisoner wrongfully imprisoned, we struggle to set ourselves free, knowing that it is only a matter of time before we “break out” (The movie Shawshank Redemption is a must see for this reason!) We are heaven-bound and although we may lose a battle or two, we are winning the war. We are saints in the making, and no temptation, no addiction can stop us unless we let it.

Year of the Priest: Part 3 - Discernment

Fr. Thomas Pastorius — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:20:07 +0000

I entered the seminary my freshman year of college with seven other guys from St. Louis. We came from all over the St. Louis area and with widely varied personal histories but we all came to the seminary to explore the possibility that God was calling us to serve Him and His Church as Roman Catholic priests. Out of the eight guys that started the seminary together, I was the only one who would eventually be ordained a priest. I am certain though that some of the guys who were a part of my freshman class were better qualified to be a priest than I was but in the end the other seven discerned that God was not calling them to priesthood. I think about this a lot because it is a reminder to me that God has a specific plan for each person and He requires each person to discern his or her vocation in life.

For me the seminary was the perfect place to explore a possible vocation to the priesthood. I did not enter the seminary certain that I wanted to be a priest rather I only felt that it was a possibility that I wanted to explore. The seminary to me was very similar to dating in the sense both parties (boy and girl or seminarian and church) are exploring the possibility of a lifetime commitment to each other and both parties are trying to discover if they are going to be willing to put up with the quirks of their possible future spouse. In the seminary, I came to understand how demanding the Church would be as a spouse and what it would mean to live out my future vows of celibacy and obedience in much the same way I hope dating couples are thinking about the demands committing to the other person will place n their life and whether or not they can live out the vows they couples are asked to make on their wedding day.

One of the best tools the seminary offers a young man considering a vocation to the priesthood is what is called a formation contract or growth plan. I truly believed that this type of document can be helpful to anyone trying to discover God’s will for their life. The process begins with the seminarian examining his life and deciding on areas in which he needs to mature and grow. When they have done that they write it down on paper in a sense formulating a plan that he then shares with the formation team (in place of a formation team, I suggest sharing it with trusted friends). Then at the end of the school year, the seminarian looks back and writes a self-evaluation describing how he met or did not meet his goals. I found it to always be a powerful experience to step back and see how God was working in my life often in ways that I could only see in hind sight.

Another key aspect of seminary life is community life. Entering the seminary is in some ways like joining a fraternity. Community life comes with its struggles as a group of people struggle to live together but it also has many rewards. It was nice to be able sit down and hang out with other guys who were struggling with the same things that I was struggling with and to be with guys who were not going to tempt me to do things that were not Christian. Some of my best friends are guys who I spent time in the seminary with and who I continued to stay close to even after they left.

The seminary is also a place designed to help a person learn more about our Catholic faith. I came to learn just how rich our Catholic Faith really is and just how wise all the Church’s teachings really are. I also learned a variety of methods of prayers and grew deeper in my relationship with God. All of which I feel really blessed to have received. As I end this week’s ponderings I wish to simply thank all those who were either brother seminarians at one point or who taught or served at the seminary in some way.

Humor at work

rosanne twellman — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:08:48 +0000

I received this as an email last week and thought it was funny, but true! I wanted to share with all!

After receiving a beautiful haircut, a doctor asks the barber, "How much do I owe you?" "Oh, I never charge a doctor," the barber replies. "You all do such good, important work." The next morning, the barber arrives at his shop and finds a thank you note and a bottle of wine on his doorstep from the doctor.
Later that day, a police officer walks into the same barbershop. After a beautiful haircut, the police office asks the barber, "How much do I owe you?" "Oh, I never charge a police officer," the barber replies. "You all do such good, important work." The next morning, the barber arrives at his shop and finds a thank you note and a box of candy on his doorstep from the police officer.
Later that day, a youth minister walks into the same barbershop. After a beautiful haircut, the youth minister asks the barber, "How much do I owe you?" "Oh, I never charge people in ministry," the barber replies. "You all do such good, important work." The next morning, the barber arrives at his shop and finds twelve youth ministers on his doorstep.

Year of the Priest: Part 2 – Burn Notice

Fr. Thomas Pastorius — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:21:15 +0000

One of my favorite television shows is Burn Notice on USA. It is a show about a spy who has been fired. One of the unique features of this show are the periodic voice-overs by the main character, Michael Weston, describing why he is doing what he is doing. At the beginning of one recent episode Michael explains that there really is no such thing as the “lone spy” because spies need support from others if they are to accomplish their mission. In a similar way there is no such thing as the “lone seminarian” because for a young man to discern a possible call to the priesthood he will need the support of his family, friends, and parish in order to overcome the obstacles that the world and the devil place in front of him. I know that in following my own call to the priesthood I would not have made it to ordination if it were not for the support I received from others.

My primary support for my vocation came from my parents and grandmother. What I appreciated the most about their support was that it came in a form that was not pushing me in one direction or another but rather came in the way that they showed me that they loved me no matter what decision I made. I can remember in a special way having many conversations with my mother and without fail she would at some point remind me that she would love me no matter what choice I made. In a special way I remember my parents and grandma’s support each time I celebrate Mass because their names are engraved on the bottom of my chalice.

A second and important area of support came from other young adults that I met as I went through college and graduate school. From time to time I would meet other people my age that did not support my being in the seminary for one reason or another but overall most of the people I met in college supported my right to explore a call to the priesthood. There is one time in particular that sticks out to me when I really felt supported by others. I had been helping out with a youth program near the seminary and I was invited over to a young newlywed couples house for dinner. I believe there were three newlywed couples and myself and after dinner we sat around and the young couples took the time to tell the story of how they fell in love and decided to get married. I was shocked when after each of the couples had told their story that they turned toward me and asked me to tell them why I was considering the priesthood. So I told them my vocation story and we spent the rest of the night talking about how in many ways it was similar to their stories. As I left to return to the seminary, I remembered feeling a deep sense of acceptance and feeling that as God had guided each of the couples to find their marriage vocation, God was helping me find my calling to the priesthood. I know for certain if it were not for the support of friends like those three couples, I would not have made it to ordination because the need to be accepted was really strong for me in my college years.
A third and equally important group that has supported me in my search for God’s will are a group of people I refer to sometimes as the nameless. I believe this story will help identify these people better. After my internship year, I was certain that I was being called by God to be a priest and that being a priest was what I wanted to do with my life. I was set to be ordained a deacon the year the priest scandal hit St. Louis. While I knew that I would never become a priest who abuses children, at the same time, I did not want to be viewed with suspicion for the rest of my life because of a few bad priests. At the Chrism Mass (Holy Thursday Morning Mass at the Cathedral where the Holy Oils are blessed and priests renew their ordination vows), I was a master of ceremony and was given the task to lead the priests over from the Cathedral school at the right time. I was instructed to first go to the back of the Cathedral and look outside and see if there were protesters. If there were protesters I was told to bring the priests to the Cathedral by a different way. I was shocked when I opened the back doors of the Cathedral and saw people holding signs that read “We support our priests.” It was at that moment that I realized that God would support me in my vocation and I decided to become a priest. I am certain that these nameless people have no idea that they had such an impact on my vocation (unless one of you are reading this or have heard me use this story in a homily). As I end today’s reflection, I want to invite you to consider being a nameless supporter of vocations by supporting parish priests through always talking positively to them and about them. Maybe even take the step and offer them a compliment. I am not suggesting putting priests on a pedestal but I am suggesting that by having a positive attitude toward priests, you may inspire a young man to answer God’s call for him.

The Statistics are In

Jeff Geerling — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:38:30 +0000

It has always amazed me how quickly Steubenville registration slots fill up when group registration opens online. I was amazed yet again, as this year we had over 2000 more slots available than we had in years past, and they still filled up in record time.

Spots remaining: none.

Registrations were accepted beginning at 9:00 a.m. CDT. At mid-9:01 a.m., Week 2 was already full, and new groups were being waitlisted. By 9:30 a.m., Week 1 was pretty much full as well. There were a few groups who mistakenly registered for the wrong week, or registered twice, but still... over 4,000 slots were reserved for Week 2! I guess I'm simply glad the new registration website didn't go up in a ball of flame.

Well, here's to the best Steubenville St. Louis Mid-America conference ever!

What is truth?

Ron Garcia — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:27:29 +0000

Have you ever noticed that definitions never seem to be meaningful anymore? We have a tendency to redefine words or use them in the way that is most beneficial to our own idealogy. Often times someone asserts there opinion, using a word which you understand to mean one thing, but suddenly they take it upon themselves to redefine this word and use it in a completely different and perhaps even inappropriate context. How are we expected to respond to these uncomfortable little moments? Say nothing, if we disagree we risk hurting their feelings. Heaven forbid you suggest that there may be a better way of understanding the term, put it in it’s proper context and (gasp!) correct them. We live in a world that is running from the truth. A world in which the virtue of charity(love) has been divorced from the truth. Tolerance is not the highest form of charity, in fact, Charity divorced from the truth, is not true Charity at all(I stole that from Pope Benedict see Caritatis in Veritate). Rather it is contrary to living a truly human existence. Imagine a world where we don’t have to agree to disagree, where we don’t say that’s ok for you, and this is ok for me. Instead, accepting that there are fundamental objective truths about the human person that when denied reject God’s divine game plan, the dignity of every human person, and inevitably bring about a culture of dishonesty.

The truth is that there is objective truth. If you asked me who the first president of the United States was and I emphatically answered Abe Lincoln, you would laugh at me. If you loved me you would immediately tell me how ridiculous I was. You would know with certainty that no matter how obstinately I might cling to my belief, George Washington held the first official presidential seat. This is the very nature of objective truth and no matter how hard I might stomp my feet, kick and scream, argue to the contrary, or try to rationalize why I believe that Lincoln was the first president, I would still be wrong, even if it made me FEEL better to believe that Lincoln was the first president. You see when something is true by it’s nature, something cannot oppose it and be true at the same time. That means when two people disagree about something, typically someone is wrong. Sometimes, our opinions, our comfortable choices, our rationalizations are actually wrong and they require someone who is right to set us back on the right course. We can cling to our good feelings all we want to, Pilate did when he met face to face with the truth and it didn’t bring anymore peace to his life. In many ways, aren’t we all a little like pilate? I’ll take this teaching but not that one, or that teaching but not this one. You like the liturgy like this while I like it like that, it's no big deal. Why all of this talk about truth? Because the recognition that objective truth exists is absolutely necessary for a human person to live a fully human life(Rom 3:4). And truth, when it is accepted brings about true unity. Bloggers Note: Truth has nothing to do with how we feel.

Of course there is always some Jr. philosopher out there who wants to deny and make a mockery of the Catholic Church for asserting such a thing. But if the Church is asserting it, it isn't simply because it is imbued in her doctrine, it is because, without her doctrine, reason would tell us that objective truth exists. Nevertheless, there are those who reject this notion. They usually begin by asserting, as if it were objectively true, that “there is no objective truth!” “That’s an outdated idea.” Don’t laugh this just happened to me at the gym two weeks ago. Now, clearly this Jr. philosopher, believes that what he has just said is, you guessed it objectively true. But, wait, I say, you just said objectively that there is nothing that is objectively true. Does this include the statement you have just made about objective truth, I ask? If so, why should I continue to listen to you? You have asserted by your own admission that what you have said is not true, it is merely an opinion, your opinion, and surely I am not bound by your opinions, am I? Wait I say, are you saying that I am right and objective truth does exist? Long pause…a couple of well’s and umm’s later, I get a “religion is stupid.” And our conversation ends as he walks off.

St. Thomas Aquinas once said that “Man could not live with one another if there were not mutual confidence that they were being truthful to one another.” Now after my conversation, I can see that this is true. That person was not interested in hearing the truth or being challenged to live in it. He realized almost immediately that accepting this fundamental premise would mean change, a change he was not ready to embrace. His only interest was to further an agenda which he had been sold by a culture that does not view him as holy and sacred rather, as a utility or an object, a good for economic purposes. As a culture we need to get beyond our pride and stop imposing materialism on human beings. This calls for individual conversion so that it may be felt culturally. We need to challenge oursleves to live differently. Look around, we say we love each other, but 50% or better of the marriages in this country end in divorce. We say we love each other and we move in together before marriage, over 80% of those marriages end in divorce. We say we love each other and we are unfaithful. I don’t think it is to hard to see that we live in a culture devastated by dishonesty. Men very often can’t speak about women without talking about them as objects. The average age of the guy exposed to porn is between 8- 10. Until our lives are congruent with our lips, we are going to live in a world of deceit and mistrust in which the common experience is shallow, broken relationships built on a lie about who the human person is, rather than the truth.

Why is Theology of the Body so important? Because, it goes right to the root of the human person and reveals the truth about who they are. Over the next blog or two I will investigate more closely the truth about how God created us from the beginning. The absolute truth, the truth we are called to live in. John Paul the II refers to the truth 342 times in “Man and Woman he created them: a Theology of the Body.” So, it is important as we dive into who you are and what that means for your life, that you begin to pray about being open to this life giving truth. St. John says “If we say we have fellowship with him, while we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth (1 Jn 1:6). Jesus says simply “Let your yes be yes and your no be no, all else is from the evil one(Mt 5:37). We cannot continue to live lives that fail to seek truth, speak truth, or to live truth. That way of thinking leads to a way of living that is diametrically opposed to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

God had a very specific design for your life. You are merely a tool in his hand. Like a scalpel in the hand of the divine physician as he operates in the world. Failure to realize that, failure to be a docile instrument washed clean by the mercy and grace of the sacraments and prayer, makes us a lot less precise and effective. We begin to look a lot more like an out of control jackhammer(this is not a tool I want to be operated on with, you?) But none of us, no matter where we have been or where we are right now, is beyond this saving truth We are not destined to continue in the mistrust and insecurity brought on by it, or unable to recieve the grace to start again. Pray about your life, where you are at and whether it's where you want to be, are you living a life rooted in honesty? Are you being honest in your prayer, your worship of the Eucharist, in the confessional, with your body, and your lips? And stay tuned for more life giving truth, courtesy of 2000 years of Roman Catholic Teaching.

As always please pray for me.

Does anyone else shop at Aldi's?

Rachel Allen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:00:38 +0000

I love Aldi’s. It’s a simple kind of grocery store, stocked with all the basics. When I need bread and eggs, this is where I go. Plus, I love having ‘Peanut Delight’ brand peanut butter in my pantry…

One of Aldi’s unique quirks is its grocery cart system. Their carts are locked up, one behind another, in front of the store. To use one of their carts, you must deposit a quarter into the lock attached to the cart handle. The lock opens, and when you finish your shopping, you reconnect the lock and get your quarter back. This system is in place to save everyone money, by preventing lost carts and damage to parked cars, keeping Aldi prices low.

As I walked toward Aldi’s doors last week, there was a woman leaving the store with one paper bag’s worth of groceries in her cart. Standard Aldi’s etiquette would be to trade this woman a quarter for her cart, knowing that I’ll get my 25 cents back when I finish my shopping and reattach the cart to the holding pen by the door. This lady saw me walking up, eyeing her cart, and asked me if I’d like to take it. I said yes and extended my arm to hand her a quarter. She waved me off, picking up her paper bag and pushing the empty cart toward me.

“Are you sure?” I asked, trying to hand her the quarter once more.

She shook her head again, emphatically. “It’s a blessing, take it!” Then she walked away.

It’s a blessing. Take it. As I navigated Aldi’s aisles, picking up some cherry Toaster Tarts and L’oven Fresh wheat bread, I couldn’t stop her words from echoing through my mind. It’s a blessing. Take it.

How many times does God give me a blessing that I don’t want to take?

God is the source of all blessings, in every way. All the people in our lives, all our gifts and talents, all our possessions – all shapes and sizes, every good thing we have is from God. It’s the generosity of our Creator – the Creator who gave us the ability to bless others. In the book of Genesis, God tells Abram (before he became Abraham), “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Gen 12:2). We are blessed to become blessings to others.

But here’s where I can get hung up: My own sense of sinfulness, of shame over the ways I’ve failed, makes me feel so unworthy of God's blessings. Give it to someone else, I want to say. I don’t deserve to be so blessed. And how can you expect me to be a blessing to others? Look at all the ways I’ve messed up. Come on, God, wouldn’t you rather reward someone who has earned it? Someone worthy?

Or maybe you’ve felt like this: sometimes I reject God's blessings because I feel like I already have too many. I have plenty to eat, money to pay the bills, a great family, incredible friends, the opportunity to travel, gifts and talents. Why so much good stuff for one little person? Spread it around! There are times that I feel beyond blessed. So many others need God’s blessings more than I do...

Another way I’ve been known to reject God’s blessings: Maybe they don’t come the way I expect them to. I ask for one thing, I receive three others – but I get hung up on the fact that those three don't include the one that I wanted. I get specific in my desires, and specifically miss the abundance of blessings that I receive. I fail to trust that maybe God knows better than I do what exactly it is that I need.

It’s a blessing. Take it.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 – “And if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

The thing about a blessing is that it’s so easy for us to miss it. Various forms, different people, our own feelings of unworthiness, unexpected times and places – we miss it. And when we pass up the blessings God gives to us, we also pass up the opportunity to bless others.

All these excuses I have to reject God's blessings - well, they just don't have any strength. Following God (the calling we all share) is going to lead to blessings, blessings that make each one of us a blessing to someone else. These opportunities to be generous, sharing in the abundance of our loving God, are all around us.

In God, there are blessings. God is never outdone in generosity. Sometimes it's as simple as a free cart at Aldi's, sometimes more. Take it - then share.

Year of The Priests: Part 1 – How God works!!!

Fr. Thomas Pastorius — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:06:48 +0000

From time to time the Catholic Church takes time to set aside a whole year as a special time to focus on a particular aspect of our Catholic Faith. These special holy years usually does not start on January 1st and end on December 31st but rather they normally begin as on a day that commemorates a special spiritual event and then continues for the next 365 days. Pope Benedict XVI began the “Year of the Priest” in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney. St. John Vianney is the patron saint of priests and the only diocesan priest to ever be canonized. He is also considered a true model of pastoral priestly ministry. I therefore thought it would be appropriate to share with all of you some of my own personal reflections on the priesthood.

The first thing that stands out in my mind in regards to my vocation story is that it is not very exciting or extraordinary. I did not see a burning bush like Moses, I was not awaken by a strange voice while napping in Church like Samuel, and no strange man ever got into my boat and after helping me catch a boat load of fish ask me to follow him like Peter, James and John. There were many times that I wished God would work that way and that my vocation story was as exciting as that of John the Baptist. As I grew in my faith and deeper in my relationship with God, I began to understand that those vocation stories were the exceptions to the way God normally worked and that most of the time God lets His will be known in much more subtle ways.

My vocation story began for me when I was in the fourth grade on the feast of St. Blasé. It is the custom of the Church to offer a special blessing for people on his feast day that contains a special focus on the person throat. My mother had told me that I needed to make every effort to get my throat blessed and so when the priest told our class that if we wanted our throat blessed that we needed to come down to the Church after school, I went. I was the only student that came down and from that moment on I was on the parish priests’ radar screen. Eventually, I was invited by my parish priest to attend a vocation summer camp and I absolutely loved it. In all honesty at that age I really did not have any idea what really meant to be a priest but I did really look up to the priests that I knew and really enjoyed the time I spent with the seminarians and the other kids my age who were exploring the idea of becoming priests. While my vocation story is in some ways really ordinary, I also believe that it is also quite extraordinary in the sense that God has guided me to this point in my life very quietly and subtly using other people and if it were not for the priests of my parish and the parishioners of St. Williams encouraging me and simply asking me to consider the priesthood, I would not be a priest today.

One of the saddest things about the Church during this current time is that people are not encouraging young people to consider priesthood or religious life. I once heard that the number one reason why men who are thinking about priesthood do not enter the seminary is because no one ever asked them to consider being a priest. Would there be having a “priest shortage” if these men would have simply been asked?

Why is that people are not asking young people to consider priesthood and religious life? I believe the first reason is that we personally do not trust in God enough ourselves. When my relationship with God is strong, I am certain that He wants what is best for me and therefore I am certain that He wants what is best for everyone else also. I am confident then in asking people to follow God’s will for them and to consider the option of becoming a priest or a religious. When my relationship with God is not as strong as it should be, then I begin to doubt that God wants what is best for me and therefore I clam up. Another way of looking at it, when I look at life as a battle between my will and God’s will to the point that if God gets His way then I lose as if God is in some sort of completion with me then I am less likely to talk to people about following God’s will for them by considering a way of life that the world sees as crazy and radical. However, when I see that God is not in competition with me but rather God wants what is best for me then I know what is best for God is best for me and what is best for God is best for the person that I am asking to consider to become a priest or religious.
I would like to take this moment at the end of this blog, to ask you to please think about a particular young man that you think would make a good priest and ask him to consider it and to pray about it.

Mark McGwire and Morality

Anthony Gerber — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:29:25 +0000

I was there when Mark McGwire hit number 70. A beautiful day, end of the season, electricity in the hotdog-flavored air. Mark had hit homerun number 69 earlier in the game and the stadium was on fire. When his seventieth entered orbit, we did too. We weren’t in St. Louis anymore. Up in the clouds, someone asked: “Is this heaven?”

Mmm, not exactly.

A few years later, Mark was suspected of having cheated by taking steroids. Pretty nasty stuff. Completely illegal in baseball. And rightly so: steroid-use harms the body. It also encourages others with pure swings to consider doing the same—for sometimes the pure swing just isn’t enough. And for athletes-- competitors-- the difference between being good enough and being the best is a lot: within their reach are multi-million dollar contracts, adoring fans naming their children and pets after them, and cool nicknames that live on forever.

Cheater. Liar. Fraud. All these were affixed to the man who had lifted our spirits (and our voices) so long ago. I felt bad for him, for the homerun ball and his image were both crashing down to earth. So were we. I was in Rome when Congress brought Mark in for questioning, so I didn’t hear the famous line of “I’m not here to talk about the past” until the following year. I returned back home to a city that didn’t like Mark too much. Just about gone were his chances of entering baseball “heaven,” the Hall of Fame. His only way to salvation would require a personal apology and a plea for forgiveness. And even then, who knew?

He had broken the rules of the game and hurt a lot of people—and himself—in the process. And why? He gave reasons: he was injured a lot and the steroids helped him heal better; he loved the game of baseball and he couldn’t see himself leaving it; and restrictions on steroids at the time were easy to get around. It couldn’t be all that bad, could it?

Yeah, Mark, it could.

Sometimes rules are there for a reason. To protect us, to protect those who love us, to protect the very world that provides the rules. And some rules are more important than others: cursing at an ump will get you thrown out of a game, while betting on baseball will get you thrown out of The Game forever. There are some things you just can’t do—even if we want it, even if we love it, even if the technology allows for it.

And that’s really, really tough. It demands a certain self-discipline and obedience. It requires a kind of deferring of one’s judgment to those who might just know better. And that’s really difficult. After all, the skeptic in us wonders: what if they’re wrong?

In life, there are some things in which “there is no darkness at all.” And no matter what we want, no matter what technology allows, and no matter what other people say about them—even if people put it up to a vote and decide otherwise—there are some things which are right and which we must, as a result, follow; and there are some things which are wrong, which we must always avoid. Homeruns, good—steroids, bad.

But where are these rules of life? Where do we find those boundaries that distinguish what is good and helpful, and what is bad and damaging? How can we know for sure that they are true and that we can follow them?

In the case of Major League Baseball, it is the Commissioner that sets down the rules. In life, it is God. In the case of baseball, a player knows the rules either by reading the rule-book, by following the example of others, or by using his noggin’ and figuring out that “stealing first base” is really not an option. (Consulting the Commissioner or any one of his representatives on this might help). In the case of life, we know the rules by reading the rule-book (Bible, Catechism, Canon Law), by following the example of others (how bout then saints!), and by using our noggins. Praying and seeking spiritual direction from the Church helps.

Major League Baseball guarantees its rules and thus preserves its game. God guarantees his law, signs it in the blood of his Only Son, gives it to the Church, guarantees it will preserve it by the Holy Spirit, and thus preserves our lives. Pope after Pope, bishop after bishop, saint after martyred saint have preserved what God wants us to know about how to live—and many of them have died for it. “The Truth will set you free.”

How silly it would be, then, if someone came into baseball—like, let’s say, the National Football League—and told baseball what its rules were to be. That would be silly indeed! Then why do we find it acceptable for legislators to make laws contrary to those of God?-- for example, by allowing same-sex unions and abortion? Or, even closer to your computer: why do we find it acceptible in our hearts to go along with it and sin, as though we were rewriting the rules ourselves?

I'll be the first to admit, this stuff is tough.

Mark McGwire tried to rewrite some rules—and he did it with a good intentions. He didn’t mean any harm. He wanted to be the best baseball player he could be. What’s wrong with that? Everything-- when you're willing to do anything to get it. And that's why people were upset and demanded an apology: sometimes, you can't do certain things.

Whether they are rules concerning contraception or same-sex attraction or euthanasia or in-vitro fertilization or abortion or embryonic stem-cell research or celibacy or Sunday Mass or tithing—we cannot rewrite the rules. It’s only when you try to break them, like taking steroids to defy baseball or encouraging contraception to defy the body, that we truly break ourselves. Our Father does not want that for us. In fact, he wants us to fly: “God became man so that man might become God.” That’s pretty awesome. That’s better than hitting seventy home runs in a season. Better than baseball’s “heaven.”

So what do we do when governments, technology, our friends, and even our own desires tell us that it is ok to do otherwise? We take the humility and say with strength and resolve, “As for me, I will follow the Lord!”

After all, if we who are Catholics won’t follow, who will?

New Beginnings

David Hogan — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:47:38 +0000

Greetings,

My name is David Hogan. I am the new Youth Ministry Intern down at the Rigali Center. Just this past May, I graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communications. Originally, I am from Colorado but felt the Lord calling me to a new beginning. I look forward to serving with you this coming year.

God's Peace,

David

A Week of Prayer for Vocations

Fr. Thomas Pastorius — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:12:04 +0000

I invite you to spend a week praying either alone or with a group about vocations.

Day 1: Genesis 12:1-4a
The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him.

Reflection Questions:
1. In today’s Scripture reading, we hear of how God calls Abram to be his follower. As Catholics we believe God calls each one of us to be His follower. What do you think God is calling you to do?
2. God promises to bless Abram if He answers his vocation call. What do you think some of the blessings are for those who answer God’s call today as priests? religious? married people, or faith-filled single people?

Day 2: Genesis 3:1-6, 9-12
Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, "I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned." When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He answered, "Here I am." God said, "Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father," he continued, "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. So indeed the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them. come, now! I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?" He answered, "I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain."

Reflection Questions:
1. God called Moses to a special role while Moses was hard at work, how might God be calling you to witness to Him at work or at school?
2. Moses did not feel worthy of God’s call but God promised to be with Him. As Catholics we believe God give us what we need to fulfill our mission in life. Share with your family a time in which God helped you do something that was difficult.

Day 3 1 Samuel 3:1-10
During the time young Samuel was minister to the LORD under Eli, a revelation of the LORD was uncommon and vision infrequent. One day Eli was asleep in his usual place. His eyes had lately grown so weak that he could not see. The lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was. The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am." He ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me." "I did not call you," Eli said. "Go back to sleep." So he went back to sleep. Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. "Here I am," he said. "You called me." But he answered, "I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep." At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet. The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, "Here I am. You called me." Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth. So he said to Samuel, "Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the LORD came and revealed his presence, calling out as before, "Samuel, Samuel!" Samuel answered, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

Reflection Questions:
1. Samuel almost missed God’s calling but Eli helped him hear God’s call. Who are some of the people in your life that help you answer God’s call?
2. Samuel was taught to answer God’s call “Speak for your servant is listening.” How do you respond to God’s call?

Day 4 Isaiah 1, 6-8
In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. "See," he said, "now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" "Here I am," I said; "send me!"

Reflection Questions:
1. Isaiah discovered God’s call for him while praying. How often do you pray and when you pray do you ask God to let His will be known to you?
2. Isaiah found God in prayer in his Church. Why do you think Catholics are supposed to go to Mass every Sunday?

Day 5 Jeremiah 1:4-9
The word of the LORD came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. "Ah, Lord GOD!" I said, "I know not how to speak; I am too young." But the LORD answered me, Say not, "I am too young." To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD. Then the LORD extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying, See, I place my words in your mouth!

Reflection Questions
1. How does it make you feel that God knew you before you were even in your mother’s womb?
2. Jeremiah thought that he was too young to serve God but God told him otherwise.. Share with your family some of the things that are keeping you back from following Jesus more closely.

Day 6 Mathew 9:35-38
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."

1. Why do you think Jesus uses the image of a shepherd for His ministry and the ministry of his disciples?
2. Why do you think Jesus wants us to pray for vocations? Why does God just not give them to us?

Day 7 Luke 5:1-11
While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that they were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.

1. Peter, James, and John are not rich, famous, powerful, but these are the people Jesus called. Why do you think that Jesus called them? Do you ever fail to follow Jesus because you believe that you have to be rich, powerful, or famous for Jesus to want you?
2. Peter realizes that he has made mistakes and has sinned a lot. He begged Jesus to leave Him but instead Jesus shows Peter that He loves him even in the mists of all his sins and even though Peter is not perfect. What does it mean to you that God loves you and calls you even though you also are a sinner and are not perfect?

Forever

Jeff Geerling — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:43:15 +0000

Most of you have seen the infamous Wedding Dance video* on YouTube (and spoofed on the show "The Office"), but for those who haven't, the video shows a couple and their wedding party dance into the chapel to Chris Brown's Forever, a song released and made popular last year.

I'm guessing most of you have heard Forever... if you have not, you can listen to it on Lala.

In the song, Chris Brown comes so close to the Catholic teaching of the purpose of sexuality and marriage that I almost thought he was quoting John Paul II's Theology of the Body. But, like most popular musicians today, he went a little too far and mangled the true meaning of nuptial love.

From Chris Brown's Forever:

"It's you and me moving at the speed of light into eternity... Tonight is the night to join me in the middle of ecstasy...

It's like I've waited my whole life for this one night..."

After listening to the rest of the song, it's pretty apparent he's only talking about a one night stand, or at the minimum, some other immoral behavior that will hurt both him and his dance partner. But there are grains of true wisdom in the words quoted above.

"...Moving at the speed of light into eternity."

God gave us a great gift in human sexuality, and one of the greatest acts that expresses this sexuality is intercourse between a married man and woman. Every time a married couple performs this great act, given as a gift by God, without any barrier or stain of sinful lust, the couple experiences "an image, a foretaste, a little glimmer of the eternal ecstasy that awaits us in Heaven" (Quoted from Christopher West).

Chris Brown, and, I assume, most other people in our culture who know sexual acts to be so enlivening and joyous as to attach the word 'ecstasy,' knows how good it feels to have intercourse. However, most people leave their intercourse and feelings on a natural level. This makes their relationships fall apart, mostly due to the fact that the result is usually selfish lust. But we want to go higher—we want to have intercourse give us a glimpse of "the eternal ecstasy in Heaven!" We want to experience a nugget of the beautiful and awe-inspiring glory of God's presence!

Sex is Sacred

We, as Catholics, are called by Christ to preserve the marital act (sexual intercourse) for married relationships, and to bring our bodies before Christ. A married couple must pray that they keep their thoughts and actions pure, and always seek union with God. Only then can we really be "moving at the speed of light into eternity" and join each other "in the middle of ecstasy!"

Next time you listen to Chris Brown's Forever, you might want to say a little prayer that Chris (and anyone else who shares his sentiments) can take another step and understand how powerful and amazing sexuality can truly be, if it is lived within a loving and committed relationship with God at the center!

*Note: I do not endorse this kind of behavior during a wedding liturgy... I simply provide the link as a point of reference.

If you'd like to read more about sexuality in a Catholic worldview, I highly recommend Christopher West's Theology of Body for Beginners.

Thrill Seekers

Fr. Brian Fischer — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:29:26 +0000

As I sit in the warmth of my room this snowy morning, I can't help but think about summer... hot sun, wearing shorts, and... roller coasters. Growing up, my brothers and I would go to Six Flags all the time - that was all well and good - but we began to long for more thrills... bigger coasters... more speed!

Once we were in high school and college - we started traveling the midwest searching for the perfect coaster. We called our journeys, "Thrill Seekers Weekends".

We'd drive for hundreds of miles because of some theme park's promise of an intense experience on their ride; some were ok, others - good, some, however, bordered on awesome. We had some very definate rules for our journeys:

1) We must have a unique playlist for the car for each Thrill Seeker weekend. Made up of intense, get your blood pumping music.

2) We could only ride roller coasters at the parks. Our philosophy - why waste time on mediocre rides? Stick to the best!

3) We had to rate the coasters while it was still fresh in our heads and hearts. We devised an entire rating system for our experiences, all having to do with speed, length, degree of incline, thrill level, if it was a wooden coaster, did it get any air, metal, how many times upside down, etc.

The thing is, while we traveled and traveled, and rode coaster after coaster... I was never satisfied. My goodness - there were some amazing ones out there... but the thrill never lasted. I've come to understand that the ultimate thrill is life - and in particular, living my life in and for Jesus. He has taken me to see so many amazing people and places. My heart beats out of my chest when I see Him working and living here in our world now.

When I hear the deafening roar of thousands of teens at Steubenville - it is face melting intensity!

When I see a teen lovingly talking to a woman who hoards everything, to the point of not being able to live in her house - my heart skips a beat in love for Jesus! When I see a teen moved by the Spirit to pray, truly pray, and not care who is around, or if anyone may be judging them - I witness the courage only Jesus can give. When I see thousands of people stand up against the injustice of abortion - I witness the strength of being connected to the body of Christ.

SO... roller coasters?... who needs 'em - I have Jesus revealing himself in countless ways, and opening doors to a better, more fulfilling way to live. LIFE - that's the ultimate thrill!