With Mothers Day approaching this Sunday, I can’t think of a better time to reflect on what our Mother means to us. I mean Mary, of course, the Blessed Mother. Very recently I became relentlessly re-quoted by two friends because I kept repeating “but Mary is the new Eve” during a discussion about Mary. It [...]
I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck, so I took a part-time job as a personal trainer. (Cha Ching). Ready to make the big bucks, I shadowed around another trainer for a week. Finally, it was time for me to hit the floor and start working with clients. I motivated them as they did crunches. I drilled them as they worked their legs. I pushed them to improve their cardio . . .
God always answers our prayers – There are three answers that He can give us: Yes, No, and Not Now. The hardest one for us to ever hear is “No.” I remember my parents telling me “No” many times as a child. It was hard to accept because I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do. As I grew up, I came to realize that it is because they knew what was best for me. It’s the same way with God. He knows what we need, when we need it. If we don’t need it, the answer is “No.” This is also true when our prayers are for others. He knows what everyone needs, when they need it.
In the past couple of months, I have been challenged in ways that I didn’t think would ever be possible. However, that isn’t even the strangest part. The person that has been bringing those challenges my way is what has been the most surprising. As a youth minister, it is easy to fall into complacency [...]
In a homily I recently heard, the priest told a story about being challenged to recognize how good things were. He told us that in the busyness of trying to juggle everything it was easy to miss that the Lord’s goodness was abundant. It’s not a stretch to see how easy that is to do [...]
One of the first and best pieces of advice I learned early on as a high school journalist was K.I.S.S. — Keep it simple, stupid. I am going to propose the same for this Lenten season. Keep it simple.
In her beauty, the Church seems to always find a way to keep it simple for us — seven sacraments, five precepts, you name it. With Lent, it’s also quite simple. Three things: prayer, fasting, almsgiving.
When dad calls us, we must discern that call to make sure it is really Him calling. But discernment isn’t enough, once we recognize that it is His voice, we must respond. We have to move. This is why prayer is so important to our everyday lives. It is in prayer that we begin to know the voice of the Father. It’s amazing to me that in a crowded room, full of noisy kids, you’re children recognize your voice when you call. It’s because they know you, and they know your voice.
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.
2012 is here! If we look back on 2011 I think we can all say it was a busy year. Most of us spent this last year preparing for the implementation of the New Roman Missal that we received on November 27th of 2011. Now that the Missal has been implemented and our Christmas preparation has come to an end, we can focus on the things that we may need to change in our personal lives or our ministries.
While many of us will make resolutions for the coming year for our personal lives, why not make some for our ministries as well? Here are some resolutions to pray about as you get ready to start a new calendar year of Youth Ministry.