Sacrificium - A Youth Night on the Sacrifice of Lent

We changed up our schedule a lot this week. It did not follow the chronology of the ecclesial method exactly. However, I think it is good to change it up every once in a while so the youth don’t get too used to the night and get bored.

Scripture and Catechism:

John 20:28-30

Psalm 103:13-17; 119:103

Wisdom 3:6

Genesis 3:19; 18:27

CCC540

Preparation: We had the youth meet in the gym instead of the Catacombs. This allowed us more time for our closing prayer activity. In the gym the youth played a classic game of dodgeball. As more kids arrived we made sure to assign them to a team. Halfway through we stopped the game and reassigned teams because many of the youth who came after we started the game tended to stay on the sidelines rather than jump into the game.

I had a mentor read the Gospel for this coming Sunday as our opening prayer prior to my talk.

Proclamation: We are not called to sacrifice during Lent for the sake of sacrifice; we sacrifice out of our love for God.

Explanation: I told the story of how my mom quit her job when my brother and I were little. Her job wanted to transfer further south which would mean a longer commute and less time with us. She sacrificed so much in order to love my brother and I more. That is the same kind of sacrifice we are called to do during Lent. We sacrifice in order to love God more.

Application: We had small groups at the beginning of the night where our mentors discussed prayer, fasting and almsgiving and how the youth can practice these during Lent.  

Celebration: We had prayer stations after the talk. Some of the stations came from Lifeteen’s Life Night for Lent and included reading of scripture and prayer. The first station was the reading of Isaiah 40:3-5. The second station was an opportunity for the youth to taste vinegar, reflection on the bitterness of sin and honey, reflection on the sweetness of God’s promises. For the third station I burned paper in a metal bowl and reflected on how God refines us as gold in fire. The fourth station was a bowl of ashes and the youth were invited to come and feel the ashes in their fingers reflecting on our mortality and sinfulness. For the final station we had black wrist bands with the word “sacrificium.” They have commitment cards with them: one for the youth to keep to remind them of the ways they can sacrifice during Lent and the other one to sign as a promise to God and place at the food of the altar in a basket we provided. Once they did this they then lit a tea candle as a reminder that after the desert of Lent comes the new dawn of Easter.

Moment of Growth (I am a firm believer in the moments that we mess up are for learning not beating ourselves up so instead of naming this title ‘Ways I fail in life and youth ministry’ I instead named it ‘Moments of Growth’): For some reason it was very difficult for me to prepare this night in advance. I found myself throwing a lot of it together the day of. Because of this, the prayer stations were not completely thought out logistically. During our mentor meeting prior to youth group the high school mentors brought up a lot of questions concerning how it was going to work. Thanks to their input we were able to adjust it resulting in a great prayer experience.

Also, because I was rushed in planning I forgot to make sure we had prayerful music during the stations so as the youth were participating we had silence, which was nice on one hand but also a little awkward.

Thank you Lord for opportunities to grow in humility.

Favorite Moment: During small groups we asked each group to come up with a 30 second commercial for Lent. I am constantly amazed at the creativity and depth some of our youth go to.  They were really funny and everyone had a blast.

           I was also really thankful for how well the prayer stations went. I believe that most of the youth are not going to be called to conversion through my talks but through an encounter with God through prayer. I make it one of my goals to create opportunities for those encounters throughout our youth nights and retreats.


If you would like me to send you a detailed copy of this night email me at Patrick.Meleney@gmail.com

Lighting Your Friends On Fire: A Night on the Gospels

Scripture and Catechism: 

Isaiah 11:1-9

Matthew 16:13-20

Romans 8:22-25

CCC 124-127

CCC 2466

Preparation: For many of our nights we make sure to play a large group, high energy game at the beginning of the night. Tonight we played a game called Mission Possible. The youth were separated into two teams and placed on opposite sides of the gym. Random items from the game closet were scattered on the floor between the two teams. The object of the game is to get your whole team to the other end of the gym without touching the floor using only the items placed on the floor. This is usually a big hit for our kids and was tonight as well. The EDGE (7^th and 8^th Grade) had a hard time finishing on time so I paused the game then told the teams they could touch the floor, which resulted in a mad dash to either end of the gym.

            After the game a mentor read the Gospel this coming Sunday. We make sure we have the text of the Gospel on the projection screen so the youth can follow along as it is read. We also remind the youth to stand for the Gospel.

            After prayer our high school mentors performed a short skit I wrote called “The Waiting Room.” It highlighted the wait for Christ. Some people get impatient and leave, some are deceived and follow someone other than Christ, and some are disappointed because they expected something else. But if we persevere to the end we will be rewarded. This skit is based off of the experience of the Israelite people waiting for the coming Messiah.

Proclamation: 

Christ is just as present in the Scriptures as in the Eucharist. When we encounter Him we are set on fire, never to be the same.

Explanation: I started the message by asking why we stand for the Gospel? I quoted Dei Verbum, 21 where the Church says she “has always venerated the Divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table of God’s word and of Christ’s body.” When we read Scripture, especially the Gospels, we encounter the person of Jesus Christ, just as if we were to sit in adoration.  We see in scripture countless examples of people encountering Christ and having their lives changed. When we encounter Christ, whether it be in the Sacraments or in the Scriptures we are changed. I used the analogy of fire to illustrate how we are changed. When a paper is lit on fire it burns and casts a light on the whole room, it catches other paper on fire if close enough, and it becomes ash, which can never be paper again. In the same way we must be caught on fire by Christ in order to shed light on our world, catch others on fire, and never go back to the way we were.

            I ended with the challenge of St. Jose Maria Escriva, “Don’t let your life be barren. Be useful. Make yourself felt. Shine forth with the torch of your faith and your love.  And set aflame all the ways of the earth with the fire of Christ that you bear in your heart.” – The Way, #1

Application: We split the youth into small groups and had our high school mentors lead them in discussion.

Celebration: We ended the night by bringing all the youth back to our main meeting room and I closed us in prayer thanking God for his presence to us in the Gospels and asking Him to help us catch our friends on fire (spiritually, not physically).

Moment of Growth (I am a firm believer in the moments that we mess up are for learning not beating ourselves up so instead of naming this title ‘Ways I fail in life and youth ministry’ I instead named it ‘Moments of Growth’): This week our Lifeteen curriculum gave us a night on the Gospels. They focused on how throughout the Old Testament the Israelites were waiting for their savior and he finally came in the Gospels as the person of Jesus Christ. In my talk I focused on how this appearance and encounter is life changing. However, I did not modify the rest of the night accordingly. The small group questions focused on waiting and how Christ is the culmination of our hopes. I should have done a better job making sure every aspect of the night was uniform; focusing on the same subject, instead the message came across as dislocated between skit, talk, and small groups.

Favorite Moment: We played a random video I found on Youtube to fill the time while the youth were getting water after the game and finding their seats. Playing the video, even if it has nothing to do with the theme of the night, adds an element of fun and encourages the youth to find their seats so they can watch the video. Once it is done we move into prayer and the talk.

            I also really enjoyed how smoothly the fire illustration went. I had a piece of newspaper in a metal bowl so that when I lit it I could drop it in the bowl where it was safe to burn without catching anything else on fire. (For Crossfire I used a piece of printer paper balled up. It did not burn well so for EDGE I used newspaper which burnt much better.)

Working with a Model - The Ecclesial Method

One of the reasons I started this blog was to help my friends who are still in the Catechetics major at Franciscan University. One of the models we are taught to use when planning a youth group event is called the ecclesial method. It consists of 5 steps. I plan on reviewing the youth nights I run in light of the Ecclesial method. I pray this will give students and other youth ministers an idea of what the ecclesial method looks like in action (I do not use the ecclesial method perfectly by any means but hope you may gain something by my attempts.)

(This overview of the Ecclesial Method is adapted from a handout made by Prof. James Pauley of Franciscan University of Steubenville)

            

     

  The Ecclesial Method

The first step of the ecclesial method is Preparation. Francis Kelly, in his book The Mystery We Proclaim, said “The catechist must help create the conditions for the possibility of a deepening of God’s Word in the hearts of those being served.” (TMWP, p.138)  This step includes the physical environment, disposition of the catechist, and having a relationship of trust with the youth. The most important part of the preparation step is PRAYER. This means that we teach the youth to pray using the diversity of Christian prayer.

            The second step of the ecclesial method is Proclamation. This is the central step. It is the heart of the message being given to the youth expressed in one to three sentences. A good proclamation is:            - Short, concise, easy to remember

                                     - Not read but proclaimed from the heart with confidence and joy 

                                     - Age appropriate and group appropriate

                                     - Visually present before the students

                                     - Constantly reinforced throughout the Catechesis

                                     - Expressed as positive and worthy of being proclaimed

            The third step is Explanation. This is where the proclamation is fleshed out and explained to the youth in a way that they can assimilate it and apply it to their lives. This is normally the longest step. It should be presented in a way that it requires the active participation of the youth.

            Application is the fourth step. This is the step where the youth are called to apply this step to their lives in a way that facilitates conversion.

Characteristics:            - Involves call to deepened commitment to following Christ and his will in our lives and seeing how the Gospel message relates to the culture.

                                    - Catechist acts as mediator of this call to conversion.

                                    - There are may forms this step can take (i.e. small groups, meditation, journaling, praying with others, opportunities for specific resolutions for growth in holiness.)

            The final step of the Ecclesial Method is Celebration. If the catechetical process begins in prayerful attentiveness and openness to the Word of God, I believe that it must also end in prayerful gratitude and praise to God.” (TMWP, p.146-147)

Characteristics:            - Cultivates a spirit of praise and gratitude in the presence of God’s Word.

                                    - Ends in a place of thanksgiving and not criticism, skepticism, confusion. The goal is for the learner to leave the catechetical setting in a place of peace and joy and preparedness for life’s challenges.

Examples:                   - Liturgy of the Word, liturgy of hours, a focus on liturgical year

                                    - Music

                                    - Creative us of symbols (cross, candle, image of Mary)

                                    - Movement/gesture (perhaps moving into the Church to pray or inviting learners to come up individually to receive prayers of the group

This is the model that is taught in Catechetics classes at Franciscan University and one can find this same model in many different forms within the youth ministry community. It is a good framework to keep in mind when planning youth group events. I will be using this model to review our youth nights here at St. Thomas More. 

For more information on the Ecclesial Method see The Mystery We Proclaim by: Msgr. Francis Kelly and The General Directory of Catechesis by: The United States Council of Catholic Bishops

Lessons in Not Being Needed Prt. 3 (Final)

“I hope to have communion with the people, that is the most important thing.” 
- John Paul II

I am writing this while sitting at the desk in my apartment. Snow is falling outside, a fire is burning in my fireplace and I just received a text from my boss saying that the offices are closed tomorrow because of the winter weather. The sunburns and scratches have faded. My stomach is no longer revolting against the insane amount of rice and unrecognizable food I insist on filling it with. There are no more children and poor on the streets pulling at my heart whenever we drive by. The Philippines seem far away today. My only reminders of that beautiful and challenging country (besides the few souvenirs and pictures that are steadily growing on Facebook) are the lessons I learned.

I wrote in previous posts about how the Lord taught me that empowerment is better than handouts and the work we do is not as important as the time and presence we give. The third lesson the Lord taught me in the Philippines is one that I have been learning my whole life: Always be open to God changing your plans.

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) I am sure many of you have heard this verse before. It struck me back in high school, around the same time as when I started to apply to colleges. This verse has stayed with me ever since and has proven to be a constant reminder of how much the Lord has his hands on every step of my life.

Prior to my junior year of high school I was dead set on going to the Air Force Academy. If I couldn’t get in to the academy I was going to join the military anyway. However, I felt God call me to ministry when I went on a mission trip and so I set my eyes on a Catholic college where I could study theology and youth ministry. From there I was able to spend an amazing and life changing four months studying abroad in Austria and ended up graduating with my current job as a middle school youth minister in Denver, Colorado. None of that was part of my ‘plan.’

With all of this in mind I should have seen it coming. I should not have expected our mission trip to the Philippines to go 100% according to my plan. But I did. I expected us to get to the Philippines and have our days filled with work. Not necessarily to come in and build a whole school on our own but to work with the people. To bond with them over a shared burden and task. But this was not to be the case. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Filipino people were not concerned about what we could do for them. They wanted to share their lives with us.

This was a hard lesson for me to learn. As the leader of the trip I had certain expectations. I felt like everyone else had the same expectations and if they were not met they would not get as much out of the trip or would be disappointed. So even when we were working at the school, surrounded by hundreds of curious grade school children yearning for our attention and to get to know us I kept working. I kept shoveling because that was the ‘reason’ we were there. I kept thinking to myself, “What is it going to look like if we show up to a work cite and barely do any work?” I soon came to realize the answer: It would look like we actually care. It would look like we knew how to love. That we care more about the people around us than how good we can make ourselves feel by accomplishing some task. 

I guess it was such a hard lesson for me to learn because it is human nature; it’s guy-nature. We want to feel accomplished. We want something physical that we can point to and know that we had an effect. This is harder to see in our relationships with people. It often takes longer to make an impact. But when we are living for Christ, the Lord of all hearts, walls tend to come down and love comes through even in the most brief and seemingly insignificant encounters. 

There is a constant struggle in youth ministry not to get too attached to our plans. There are so many things we have no control over that we grip those things we do have control over all the more tightly. The fact of the matter is God is ultimately in control (I should probably put that on a banner to hang in my office.) We cannot make conversion happen; shoot, we cant even make kids show up every week! All we can do is set a good foundation in our planning: have a good schedule where different activities flow well throughout the night, write the talk in advance so there is enough time to pray with it and polish it up, etc. 

Once the event begins (wether it be a youth night, social event, or retreat) we need to get out of the way and let God take over. Sometimes that means everything goes 100% according to plan. Sometimes it means only 5 students show up. Sometimes it means your talk goes in a completely different direction. As long as we are remaining faithful to the Holy Spirit and His direction it is always for the best. If the event goes just as you planned - Praise God! Take note and cherish it because those nights are few and far between. If only five students show up - Praise God! This gives you an opportunity to minister to those five in a much deeper way than you would if there were 20 other students running around demanding your attention. If the talk goes in a completely different direction - Praise God! You or whoever the speaker is was open enough to hear where God wanted the talk to go and it was probably the message the youth needed to hear. Sometimes our events just bomb. And that is okay too. Praise God! The good thing is you can learn from that experience and move on; correct mistakes and do better in the future. 

The key is: HUMILITY. Youth ministers are usually always in the spotlight of events. They are the ones leading the different activities, getting the youth excited, and playing the games with them. It is easy to think that a ministry rests on our shoulders. But our shoulders are weak. We cannot even support ourselves without the help of God. We are simply instruments God uses to do his work. If God decides to do something other than what we have in mind it is a good idea for us to follow his lead. 

The only way we can stay in tune with where the Lord is leading us is to PRAY. We need to spend just as much time (if not more) in prayer as we do planning. Go to daily Mass as often as possible. Speak to others in the ministry to gain different perspectives on what is going on. BE QUIET. Listen for the subtle urgings of the Spirit.

St. Joseph had plans too. None of which had to do with Mary becoming pregnant prior to their marriage. However, he was open enough to hear the Lord’s call and humble enough to accept this new plan. May we pray for his intercession that we may see where the Lord is leading us in our ministries, families, and lives; and have the courage to follow.

Amen!

Lessons in Not Being Needed Pt - 2

“I hope to have communion with the people, that is the most important thing.” - John Paul II

In my last post I talked about the importance of empowerment over hand outs. In this post I would like to move on to the second lesson the Lord taught me while in the Philippines: relationships are more important than the work we do. 

As I said before, in preparation for this trip I was looking forward to the work we would be doing. However, I soon came to realize that the Filipinos did not share the same anticipation. They were more interested in meeting us and showing us their world than what we could physically do for them. 

We arrived in Infanta, Quezon after a few days in Manila. While in Manila, I felt like a tourist - everything was new and different, we were meeting nuns and seeing sights. However, now we were in Infanta, where the real work would begin. 

The day after we arrived in Infanta we toured around the area to see the damage that had been done by the floods and were told the story of how the people dealt with it (which I discussed in my last post). We also visited John Paul II Village, which had been build for those who had lost everything. In the village we met the youth group and participated in a Christmas party that was held inside the church. It was a great time to encounter the people, laugh and play with them. The thing that amazed me most during that visit was how similar we all are. The middle school and high school youth we met behaved the exact same way american middle school and high school youth would act when meeting people they didn’t know. You have the shy ones who are very uncomfortable speaking in front of everyone, the vocal ones who relish an opportunity to speak in front of a crowd, and the boys who try to act all cool and collected. At the Christmas party we even played some of the same icebreakers we would play at youth group! 

The second day we visited the Carmelite Convent to share with them who we are, celebrate the Mass, and do work for them. When we got there, however, they told us frankly that they didn’t know what work we could do but brushed it off as unimportant and invited us to eat lunch with them. The sisters eventually said it would be helpful if we cleaned their chapel where the locals come for Sunday Mass. As we were preparing to get to work one of the sisters invited us to go on a hike to a prayer hut in the woods behind the convent. Again, work was not the main concern. 

After the hike it felt good to finally be doing work. There was still a struggle within me though. I kept thinking to myself, “Here we came all the way from the U.S.A. And we are mopping the floor of an open air chapel that will just get dirty again.” It was very humbling work and that is the point. The Lord used this first experience to try to tell me that the purpose of our trip was not about the work but about our presence. 

 
The next day we went back to John Paul II village to see their greenhouses and help plant some vegetables. At this point in the trip, I started to get the feeling that many of the places we went the people were just trying to find something for us to do. They didn’t seem to need us. However, the planting project allowed us to have one of my favorite experiences of the trip. After planting for an hour or two we were told to stop and eat lunch (the Filipinos love their meals, and so did I). After lunch we were invited to one of the houses for karaoke! Before we knew it the room was packed with kids; adults looking in from the door and windows. It was probably the closest we got to the villagers we were meeting. We sang songs from “Hero” by Mariah Carey to “Baby” by Justin Bieber and the 10 year old girls tried to teach us how to dance. This was one of my favorite eexperiences of the trip because it was one of the first time that we were able to “let loose” and have fellowship with the people. It is amazing to see how quickly and easily cultural barriers crumble when doing karaoke! Unfortunately, the time for us to leave came too quickly and we said goodbye to all the beautiful and amazing people of the John Paul II village. 

On the fourth day we finally went to the school we had come to help with. At the construction site we were shown a pile of dirt that needed to be shoveled into bags that would contribute to making mortar. We set to work and quickly interrupted after about an hour of work by hundreds of school children. Some of us went to play with the students and others continued to fill bags - I was determined to do work. I soon came to realize the lesson the Lord had been trying to teach me since the first day in Infanta. “They don’t need your work. They need your presence and love.” So I, too, put down my shovel and started to invest in the students. 

With our ‘work’ done I started to see the beauty in what the Lord had taught me. The work is never as important as the people. I think this can be a very good lesson for many youth ministries. A lot of times we get caught up in our programs and we forget about our youth. The best program is worthless if it does not connect the youth to the person of Jesus Christ. That is primarily done through relationships. This is the way Jesus did it, it’s the way the apostles did it, it’s the way we should do it. If we are too busy to notice the worth of each of our youth then what is the point of the program? I read a youth ministry book recently that stated: Our messages are not isolated to a time slot in the schedule where we get up in front of the group and speak. Every single thing we do or don’t do in our ministry conveys a message.  My personal struggle in this area is names. I could give the best talk of my life but if a 8^th graders comes up to me to tell me how much it impacted them and I don’t know their name they are going to walk away deflated; thinking that I don’t care about them enough to know their name. This is not true, I do care deeply about each of our kids and I want them to grow in their faith, but my actions are not conveying that message. If we are too busy running around, concerned with the program then a youth might get the message that God is to busy running the world to be concerned with them individually. I would hate for this to happen in my ministry. 

In writing this I am convicting myself. I too often get caught up in making sure everything is running smoothly. I find myself behind the sound board rather than beside the youth. Let us strive for relationship so we can say to the youth as St. Paul said to the Corinthians, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1Corinthians 11:1). They cannot follow us if we are not present to them. For the most part, the lasting impact our talks and programs have on the youth corresponds to the degree to which we have invested in our relationship with them. 

I am not condoning doing away with formal programs by any means. However, I believe many of us can benefit from a shift of focus (or simply a reminder of where our priority should lie.) Our programs need to be planned in such a way that they foster relationships. I for one need to work on planning ahead so that on the night of youth group I am not still trying to iron out the details but instead have given my volunteers and mentors their tasks ahead of time so I can be free to just be with the youth, and maybe even learns some names.

When asked recently at a dinner, “What did you learn on your mission trip?” I responded, “That we weren’t needed.” It is true, our physical ability and work was not needed. God chose to use us for was our ability to be with. To be with the people of Infanta; allowing them to open our eyes and hearts and hopefully in some way touch their lives too. The same is true for ministry. God does not want us in ministry for what we can do but for who we can be. 

Let us thank God that we are not needed and it is only His presence in us that is able to do any good! And let us implore the intercession of Our Lady that she may bring us closer to her son!

More to come...

Lessons On Not Being Needed - Pt.1

“I hope to have communion with the people, that is the most important thing.” - John Paul II

(So this is my first official post and I am sure it needs a lot of work. I pray that you will be able take something away from my humble insights and discussions. This is the first part of a series on the mission trip I led to the Philippines this past week. Enjoy.)

I just returned from a mission trip to the Philippines. We were there December 30^th through January 9^th. It was an amazing trip, but nothing like I expected. The Lord took this trip as an opportunity to challenge my leadership and trust, open my eyes, and grow my heart. 

I learned many lessons on this trip but I would like share with you three that I think translate to youth ministry and life in general: (1) Empowerment is better than hand outs; (2) It’s not about the work you do but the time and presence you give; (3)Always be open to God changing your plans.

During the planning of this trip and as we arrived in Manila I was looking forward to working. I was looking forward to the familiar feeling of sweating and straining to accomplish a task for the betterment of others. On this trip the task was to help in whatever way we could with the construction of a school that had been demolished 30 years ago by a typhoon. Obviously we were not going to build the school ourselves but it would be great to help in whatever way they needed. After spending two nights in Manila we finally made our way to Infanta, Quezon, where the school is located.

Infanta is one of the poorer areas of the Philippines and they have suffered tremendously. Six years ago they suffered from numerous typhoons back-to-back. Because of illegal logging the typhoons washed all the fallen trees into the river which damned up at a bridge. The growing amount of water and trees, coupled with a massive mudslide, collapsed one side of the bridge sending a wall of mud and trees towards the town of Infanta.

The town was buried in mud and 2,000 people perished. The magnitude of the this disaster reminded me a lot of Hurricane Katrina. Thanks to the help of the local Catholic Church and its leaders, Bishop Tirona and Deacon Mario, the town has dug themselves out of the mud and organized the relief effort. (Allow me a moment to speak about the two great men I just mentioned. Bishop Tirona is one of the holiest and joyful men I have ever met. He is one of those people I am happy just to be in the presence of. He has such a heart for the poor that saturates everything he does. Deacon Mario was working at the diocese prior to the floods. After the flood he was given the position of accountant and head of the social action center after the death of Fr. Cha. Fr. Cha held those positions prior to the flood but was killed after saving 200 villagers. Deacon Mario has certainly stepped up to the added responsibilities. He has devoted his life to the poor and working class. He has been, and still is the head man on many projects throughout the Infanta area that are changing lives. Everywhere we went, whether it was a tribal village in the heart of the jungle, the projects outside the city, or at Sunday Mass, everyone knew who he was and loved him.) The Catholic Church is rebuilding this town. It is not some government organization or foreign entity that is coming to the rescue but the Catholic Church by taking the much needed aid from outside and empowering the people to put it to effective and sustainable use. 

This system works. Unlike many other relief efforts where thousands of supplies are shipped in and then distributed to whoever is there, the supplies were organized and distributed according to need. The community had already been organized into small, local communities and each community had a spokesperson who knew the needs of their community and so were able to get help to the most in need without excessive waste or abuse of the system. 

        In the John Paul II village which was built for people who lost everything in the flood, they have their own greenhouses where villagers grow vegetables to be sold in the market for income. Nearby, there is a group of women who take fallen banana trees and make unique and beautiful paper products that are sold as far away as the Netherlands. And these are only a few of the many great things going on.

This was the first lesson I learned: Empowerment is better than hand outs. The old saying is well known, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Give a man a fishing pole and teach him to fish and he can eat for the rest of his life.” Lasting change can only come through empowerment, not handouts. Instead of relying on others to donate what they need, the people of Infanta are taking it upon themselves to improve their community.

This is a poignant lesson for youth ministry, especially Catholic youth ministry. Too often I think we get caught up in the religious education model of teaching the faith. We drill the correct answers into the youth until they can regurgitate the same answers back. Instead, we should be empowering the youth to take responsibility for their faith. We need to challenge them to think and feel instead of simply letting them coast through religious ed and youth group. I think one of the best ways to do this in a youth ministry setting (we are currently working with this model in our ministry at St. Thomas More) is through mentoring. In our program we have high school students who volunteer to be small group leaders and help in various aspects of the ministry. As the youth take more ownership of the youth nights they become more invested in the Church as well. It also provides great opportunities for us youth ministers to be more present to each student. We are currently looking at ways to empower more of our middle schoolers to help with different aspects of our nights. 

As a youth minister the idea of giving responsibility to the youth can be scary. What if they mess up? Can they do as good a job as an adult? Don’t worry, they will mess up and an adult probably could do a better job. But the rewards wouldn’t be as great. Challenges make us grow and through messing up we learn to do better. Ultimately, it is not about how good, shiny and seamless our programs are. Youth ministry is about relationship and how much the youth are changed  through encounters with Christ(more on this in my next post). 

These days middle school youth are seen as the toughest age to work with. I think people don’t give them enough credit and don't expect a lot out of adolescents. However, I have found these kids are able to step up to whatever challenge we give them, if only we did. Just imagine if a 7^th grader saw the Church as the only place where people took him seriously and trusted him. Or a high schooler, after spending year in religious ed is finally given an opportunity to formulate their own thoughts on the faith through preparing a testimony or talk.

Under this model the youth are not simply bystanders who are talked at each week by the adults (they get enough of that at school). Instead they become active participants in the ministry. This provides opportunity for them to become personally invested in the ministry, the Church, and ultimately Christ through the witness of the mentors they are working with. I think this also is a good tangible lesson, whether they realize it consciously or not, that our faith is not passive but something that we invest ourselves in and contribute to. 

More to Come . . . 

If This Were a Book

If I were writing a book then I suppose this post would be the Preface/Introduction. Its the part of the book that many people skip over to get to the 'real' book. Almost as if the preface is simply a formality. However, for those who do have the strong will to read the prefaces to books know that it serves as a foundation; to give a framework by which to view and judge the rest of the written word. This is what I aim to do in this first post that isn't really a post but an introduction/preface. I am officially starting this blog on January 1st. The Feast of Mary Mother of God because I feel that any endeavor will be the better when begun under her intercession (please don't that I am all holy and what not for thinking that because I am by no means). When it comes to my devotion to Our Lady I am simply an infant.)

A little bit about the blog.

The Beginning - Everybody seems to be getting into the whole blogging thing. I did not want to be just another person adding to the noise of everyone’s collective musings. One day I was talking to a friend who is currently a Catechetics major at Franciscan University. We were discussing youth ministry when another friend from Franciscan emailed me asking for advice on one of his assignments. That is when it occurred to me that there may be a few people who would get something out of reading about my experiences as I begin my life in ministry. I think it would be especially helpful for me to break down our youth nights according to the ecclesial method. This method, which consists of (1)Preparation, (2) Proclamation, (3) Explanation, (4)Application, and (5) Celebration ; was a struggle for me and my fellow catechetics majors and seems to continue to give current students trouble. I hope I will be able to provide practical examples of each of the stages. 

The title - “Past the Start.” This phrase comes from a poem by Bradley Hathaway called “Manly Man.” The whole line goes:

Like David I want to be a man after God’s heart,

I’m not there yet but I’m past the start.
The video of this poem is imbedded below:

This blog is not about how I have achieved the perfection of youth ministry or Christian living for that matter. I am simply one of God’s sons. This truth fills me with so much hope so much disgust. How could God choose to make me his son while I turn away from Him daily? Yet He still pursues my heart. This will never cease to blow my mind and call me on to pursue Him. 

I plan on updating this blog once a week.

The Content - In addition to the ecclesial method breakdown of the youth nights. I will also look at what worked and what didn’t work during each night. I will also share my thoughts on different topics ranging from relevant youth ministry issues, social issues, and what the Lord is teaching me in my spiritual life with the hope that it may help and inspire you as well.

You - Finally, I would hate for this to just be another blog adding to the noise of pointless thinking out loud. To keep from doing this I need you. I want this to be a place of conversation, where we can come together to talk youth ministry and come away enriched from it. Comment on the posts(even if, especially if, you disagree with something I say), email me if there is something specific you would like me to address. Most importantly, pray for me and all those who will be reading this blog. We are all striving to do God’s will and we cannot do it alone. We need to help each other, encourage one another, and pray for each other.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I am truly honored by your presence and you can always be assured of my prayers for you.