Paul Masek's blog

Life, in general, is messy.

I’ll readily confess to you that my life is a mess.  And I suspect yours is, too. Now, I'm not going to give you all of the details of the messiness of my life, and I don't need to know yours either. After all, there are some things that are best shared with only our closest friends and family members and don't need to be published in blogs, tweets, and status updates (no, my friend, all of the Internet doesn’t need to see a close-up photo of the tonsils you are having removed later today, but thanks anyway??).

Since much of life can be quite messy, why should we be surprised when ministry gets messy, too? When bunches of messy people get together anywhere – including parishes and in youth ministry programs - things can get messy real quick. Read more »

There is a new trend developing in the retreat ministry of the REAP Team, and some church leaders are pretty enthusiastic about it.

More and more, whenever possible, parishes are inviting sponsors to attend Confirmation retreats with their students - and if the sponsor cannot attend, a “sponsor substitute” like a parent or older sibling is asked to attend in their stead.

There are several reasons why many of us think this is a great idea: Read more »

Try to say the title of this blog three times fast.  If you can, email me an audio file of your tongue-twisting excellence, and I will send you a sticker!  (To enjoy my tongue-twisting prowess, by the way, you just gotta see this). But I have digressed quite enough already, even for me.

I am a big fan of social media – not only because it can be so fun, but also because of the impact it can make for God.  My favorite social media quote of all time is from our current Pope, who has told the church (that’s you & me, folks!) to evangelize the “digital continent.” If you don’t believe me, you can check it out yourself, here. Read more »

It happened last month.  Four of us on our ministry team settled into my vehicle for a long car ride to a destination over three hours away.  And we were all surprised – and blessed – by what ended up happening.  I’m sharing it with you in the hope that you might have a comparable experience some day. Read more »

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 Fighting Ministry Burnout.  Yup.  That was my topic for a talk I gave recently to youth ministers here in St. Louis.  If you want to listen, just go heree