Don’t get me wrong, Catholics pray with their body. We lie prostrate, we kneel, we sit, and we fold our hands in a posture of prayer. Sometimes we even extend our hands over our head in an open posture of worship.
All of these postures, even the hands over the head, are rooted in Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. They reflect the interior disposition of the soul and it’s receptivity to Christ. So what about hand motions? Why do I say it is not prayer?
One of the keys to inviting people to sing is simply that – to invite. Don’t scold the congregation and don’t show your frustration and start saying how you come here week after week to lead them in song and no one sings! This is the wrong approach! Simply invite and affirm them. Remind them that our role at the Liturgy is to practice full, active, conscious, participation as Vatican II tells us. Tell them that it sounds so beautiful to hear their voices singing God’s praise together.
The truth is that while my wife sits beside me and cheers for Rocky along with me, as a man I take something different from his story. It’s in Rocky’s internal strength, his refusal to stay down, his unyielding will and resilience to keep moving forward – against all odds and against far superior opponents – that I relate most to him not only as a man, but as a Christian, as a husband and father.
Before we gave this option an enthusiastic “yes!” we had to make sure the quality of experience would be similar to our other camps. Dedicated summer missionaries, families, and staff: absolutely. An obstacle course, mud pit, high and low ropes course, and waterslide: yes. A true Catholic identity with dynamic programming: of course. Then we looked at the unique features of this camp: from the beautiful waterfalls, proximity to the Appalachian Trail, and organic farm, it is an ideal environment to host camp. We prayed and held several site visits with the camp and knew we had to take this leap of faith. Now we are introducing a brand new Life Teen and Edge summer camp: Camp Covecrest – Hiawassee.
Enthusiasm is fruit of an encounter with Christ.
It does not need to be encouraged because it develops naturally from the invitation that Christ gives all of us. As youth leaders, the challenge is to look past the emotion and help the teenager make firmly rooted decisions to follow Christ and articulate prayer to Him. We must teach them to respond to His invitation. As youth ministers, it is our job to help a teen navigate the emotions to find their individual decision to follow Christ.
By now, anyone who has, or who works closely with teens has undoubtedly heard about the “Why I hate religion but love Jesus” video that has gone viral on YouTube. Forgive me for not linking to it… my Mom taught me to keep gasoline away from matches (after my brothers and I almost launched our riding mower into outer space in 1982). Incidentally, my mother also taught me not to use the word “hate,” but that’s a different story for another day.
Job Description Job Description: St. Thomas More Parish in Oceanside CA has an opening for a Youth Advocate. The Youth Advocate is responsible for developing and operating a parish-based pastoral ministry with high school youth including a leadership group and a Confirmation Program. The ideal candidate lives and communicates a life centered in Christ and [...]
St. Thomas More is a growing parish (1000 families) in North San Diego County. There is a high level of stewardship and participation among parishioners. A strong Life-Teen program has been established in the last 18 months and looks for leadership to continue.
Interested applicants should send their resume to:
Kathleen Bell @ kathleenb@stmoside.org
Getting teens to events and in the doors of our parish is effective pre-evangelization and evangelization. However, that is often where youth ministries stop. If we were successfully converting, catechizing and purifying the lives of our young people, we’d see a lot more fruit from the thousands of American teens and millions of international teens that attend our big Catholic events. To develop saints, we have to dive deeper and do more than get them in the door.
The next three blogs that I will write, focus on developing saints and diving deeper. I will evaluate how we measure conversion, how we bring teens through conversion and finally, I will discuss the discipleship model that Christ gave us for developing the last steps of the evangelization process.
Job Description Reach Youth Ministry seeks young adults (18-30) from across the country who feel called to tro serve the young church through youth and young adult ministry. Reach missionaries live in community, while serving in diocese, supporting the bishops vision for youth and young adult ministry through testimony, teaching, small group, gathered events and [...]
Reach Youth Ministry Teams evangelize young people in the Catholic Parish, School, Camp or Youth Group setting. Reach ministry teams are trained young adults (18-30yrs) who are authentic in their life of faith, support one another in Christian Community and have a passion to evangelize young people. Reach Youth Ministry provides Catholic Faith Experiences that are authentic, relevant and engaging. Our head quarters are based in beautiful Helena, MT. Enjoy the Rocky Mountains and all that the outdoors has to offer in this great state.
If interested please contact Jonny Doiron the Assistant Director and Coordinator of Recruiting at jonny@reachym.com or call 1.509.678.8754.
Job Description We are seeking a motivated youth minister who can grow our youth ministry program in accordance with the pastor’s vision. That means developing a relational program that reaches students where they are, feeds them, and sends them out as evangelists. This would be a full time position for someone with 1-5 years experience. [...]
St. Andrew's is a humble parish of approximately 1,200 families in Northeast Atlanta. Following the call of the Holy Spirit we are actively pursuing available avenues to grow the parish and fulfill our baptismal call to evangelize our surrounding community and the world. Our pastor has a strong vision for youth ministry and will want an active part in the ministry throughout the future.
Please send your resume and cover letter to Ryan Krivanek, Director of Faith Formation, standrewsfaithformation@gmail.com