You want me to sit and do what?

The anticipation is building, can you feel it? No? Any idea what I'm talking about?

Many of us forget that the Church has a liturgical calendar that we celebrate not only at church on Sunday, but hopefully in our daily lives. So what time are we in right now? It's that kind of limbo of waiting that most of us can't stand today. We are in between the Ascension and Pentecost. Take a minute to picture it as it would have been back then. Jesus just ascended into heaven, had promised them a helper that would come. The excitement of the Resurrection was probably wearing off and there must have been a temptation to fear that this was it. I can imagine Peter turning to John and asking him "so what do you think this Holy Spirit is going to look like?" They had no idea, they only knew that they had to wait.

So did they sit around in the upper room and get board? There wasn't facebook, video games or even books really to entertain themselves. You can only play tic tac toe in the sand so many times. But they didn't just sit there. They sought the Lord in prayer.

I can only imagine in those nine days how many times they asked for the Holy Spirit to come. Have you ever asked for something more than once? Ten times? A hundred? They waited in that room for nine days and prayed. To us today, that seems boring. Praying for the same thing over and over is exhausting, draining and discouraging at times. Ever struggled with committing the same sin over and over? Have you prayed for a bad situation to change and it hasn't happened right away? In the midst of the waiting, the disciples had hope. They knew who Jesus was and trusted that if he promised something that it would happen.

From these nine days that the disciples spent in prayer we get what we know today as the novena. Today many people set aside a similar time period for a special prayer intention and ask for the Lord to come and work in their lives. Sometimes it is through the intercession of another saint as well. So during this time between the Ascension and Pentecost what are you asking God for? What is the one thing that you are begging the Lord to do in your life right now? Are you looking forward to Pentecost with the hope of the disciples knowing that God can work in your life in a new way?

If you haven't thought about it yet, now's the time.... It's never too late!

This made me think

How often do we argue that it's important to have the flash of new music, lights and more when the whole point is to come into an encounter with Christ.  Even more importantly, we as Catholics have the EUCHARIST!  If we really realize what is going on at the mass, how much would we be really be critiquing the music?  Don't get me wrong, the music is a vital and important part of the liturgy, but this made me stop and think...

New Video of the Week

Is this guy praying in tongues or something?

What does the Pope have to say about love and life?

In his address to the youth of Malta, the Holy Father said the following:

"God loves every one of us with a depth and intensity that we can hardly begin to imagine. And He knows us intimately, He knows all our strengths and all our faults. Because He loves us so much, He wants to purify us of our faults and build up our virtues so that we can have life in abundance. When He challenges us because something in our lives is displeasing to Him, He is not rejecting us, but He is asking us to change and become more perfect. That is what He asked of St. Paul on the road to Damascus. God rejects no-one. And the Church rejects no one. Yet in His great love, God challenges all of us to change and to become more perfect.

  "St. John tells us that perfect love casts out fear", the Holy Father added, and he called on the young people who wish to bring the Gospel to the world not to be afraid. "You may well encounter opposition to the Gospel message. Today's culture, like every culture, promotes ideas and values that are sometimes at variance with those lived and preached by our Lord Jesus Christ. Often they are presented with great persuasive power, reinforced by the media and by social pressure from groups hostile to the Christian faith.

  "It is easy, when we are young and impressionable, to be swayed by our peers to accept ideas and values that we know are not what the Lord truly wants for us. That is why I say to you: do not be afraid, but rejoice in His love for you; trust Him, answer His call to discipleship, and find nourishment and spiritual healing in the Sacraments of the Church".


How can we take this into our own lives and use it?

funny video

Technology & Catechesis (Religious Ed)

In our workshop today, youth ministers and DRE's have been discussing the importance of the use of technology when we share our faith.   We've been talking about how a website would be more than just an online brochure, but something that draws us into closer relationships with one another.  What are some ways that we could change our website(s) to make them more like this?  What would you change?  Be creative!!

Diet or Sacrifice?

We are in the thick of Lent now and it may seem like there's no end in sight, but there is!!  Easter will come! Have you messed up on what you've given up?  Did you accidentally eat meat on a Friday?  Don't worry!   The beauty of Lent is that we are able to get right back on track and try again, so if you have messed up, keep trying! 
Recently on Twitter someone made the comment that "fasting without prayer is just a diet".  This really made me think, how often do I just fast without letting it bring me closer to God?  So my question for all of us this week is to think about what we've given up for Lent, have we replaced it with something else? Or are we allowing the sacrifice to draw us closer to God through prayer?  For example, if you gave up television for Lent, what is replacing the time that was once spent watching television?  Are you playing video games or spending time on the internet instead?  How about spending a little of that time praying, even if it is just 15 minutes more a day?  Did you give up some kind of food? What if every time you craved that food you said a simple little prayer and offer that little sacrifice for someone who you know that needs it.  (Don't forget both Haiti and Chile who are still dealing with the enormous after effects of major earthquakes)

Want another simple extra thing to do this Lent?  Come to youth group! Spend some time learning about the gift of the Bible with our high school team. If you're in 8th-12th grades, join us every other Sunday.  We've got great food and it's Sunday so you can eat it :)  This Sunday we're talking about the kings in the Old Testament, there's some juicy stuff in there...

What I'm listening to right now:  We are the Beggars, by Ike Ndolo
What I ate for lunch? Jambalaya (yumm!)