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Category Archives: Featured

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Feeling Isolated in Your Ministry? How to Find Encouragement

By | March 21, 2011

I remember my first Life Teen Training Convention 6 years ago. I was fresh into a youth ministry career and was asked to do Life Teen for the first time at our small parish of 250 members.  During my first convention, Randy Raus had said, “Be prepared for when you do things for Christ, Satan [...]

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Lord, It’s Hard to be Humble In Ministry When…

By | March 18, 2011

I don’t like to speak of humility, just the mention of it implies I am not humble. Here is a gut check regarding humility that I have found a huge spiritual help. The Seventeen Evidences of a Lack of Humility By St. Josemaria Escrivá 1. To think that what one says or does is better [...]

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Music for Liturgy: The Old Made New

By | March 16, 2011

I love that the liturgy is made up of both the ancient and the modern. Old, steadfast laws and traditions meet the new and ever-changing culture and yield the beautiful, living Church.  At each Catholic Mass, the nave is filled with evidence of what happens when young and old collide. Fresh Easter lilies pose proudly [...]

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God’s Plan Not Ours

By | March 15, 2011

“What is God doing and how can I be a part of it?” One of my friends posted this question sometime ago.   I find myself thinking about it often in terms of my own life, but I also need to think about it as it relates to youth ministry.  It’s easy to make our plans [...]

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Help! I Want to Be a Youth Minister AND Support a Family

By | March 14, 2011

I’ve run across a lot of Youth Ministers in my time. Whether it be at conferences, meetings, or some other encounter there is always one underlying theme: we don’t make a lot of money. Sometimes we joke about it. Sometimes we say it’s no big deal because we’re doing the Lord’s work (which is a [...]

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Who Is Changing The Words In Your Bible?

By | March 10, 2011

Yesterday, the USCCB released a new edition of the Bible with revised texts. This is not something that happens that often. But on a personal level, I don’t know about you, but the more I read Scripture the more the words seem to change in my Bible. I know that in reality the words aren’t [...]

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Why We Do Events: For the “God is Real!” Moments

By | March 9, 2011

It was a Saturday night at a Steubenville Youth Conference. The crowds of teenagers had entered the convention center and Adoration had just started. And then I hear it. It was audible. Not loud, but definitely noticeable. A teen was saying, while Eucharistic Adoration was going on, “I don’t believe in you.” Even while all of his friends around him were experiencing Jesus in a profound way, this teen could not take that leap of faith yet. And he wanted everyone to know it. But that quickly changed.

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Bringing Lent to Life: Resources for Lent

By | March 4, 2011

Each Lent, we have another great opportunity to immerse our teens into the heart of the Church. We have such a gift in the 40 days of Lent. We need to walk with our teens through the desert of Lent and help them meet our Lord there. Our ministry should be a reflection of the changes happening in the Liturgy and be an invitation to fully participate in the mystery of Christ’s Passion, death, and Resurrection. There are a lot of resources that Life Teen has for you to being Lent to Life in your program.

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New Roman Missal Websites For Youth Leaders

By | March 4, 2011

As I’m sure you have heard already, come this Advent there will be some major changes to the liturgy coming on November 27th 2011. This time of preparation can be a fruitful time for our parishes and our young people.  We at Life Teen want to do our best to equip you with the resources [...]

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Calling All Youth Ministry Veterans – It’s Time for Spring Training

By | March 2, 2011

March has always been one of my favorite months of the year. Not only is the weather beautiful, but, living in Phoenix, I have always been able to enjoy the Cactus League. Every year, 15 Major League Baseball teams spend a month preparing for the upcoming season. While I love watching the rookies try with all their might in hopes of making it to the Big Leagues, for me, it has always been special to watch the veterans fine tune their skills. Being a great baseball player is not just something that you’re born with. You have to work on it.