Date: July 11, 2010

Place: Cleveland Hopkins Airport, Terminal D

Time: Too early

Our band of 20 arrived at Cleveland Airport bright and early, super-excited for our first trip to Covecrest Life Teen Camp.  After scouring Terminal D for a Starbucks, and coming up empty, I spotted a coffee kiosk.  Bad news:  no attendant in sight.  Craving my first coffee of the day, I hung around the kiosk for several minutes, waiting for the barista to show up.  Emboldened by the fact that the terminal was all but deserted, I decided to resolve the lack-of-coffee problem myself.  Since the kiosk was pretty accessible, it was easy to just step behind the counter and dispense my own coffee.  That was effortlessly done, so I decided to pump a few shots of my favorite syrup into the delectable brew as well.  Wow – now all I needed was a thermal sleeve to keep my hand from being scalded – done and done!  I left a couple of dollars on the counter and rejoined my group, so happy to have caffeine flowing into my system.

I began to wonder whether there was a lesson in this escapade to share.  This is what I came up with:

Sometimes you just have to help yourself. God puts all kinds of tools at our disposal to help us in our ministry, but it is up to us to take the initiative.

• PRAYER: God is always listening, but we have to quiet ourselves to hear His voice in prayer.
• MASS: It is celebrated daily, but we have to get our bodies (and souls) into Church. 
• RECONCILIATION:  We have to humble ourselves to walk into the confessional to receive the grace of the Sacrament.
• SPIRITUAL DIRECTION: Spiritual mentors are in our midst, but we have to let them know that we welcome their advice or counsel.
• YOUTH MINISTRY TRAINING: www.catholicyouthministry.com is loaded with resources to assist us in ministry, but we have to commit the time to viewing or reading the training pieces.  If there is a Core Member University in your area, you have to take the time to go to it!
• SCRIPTURE:  The WORD of God is so accessible to us, but we sometimes need to push ourselves to crack open the Good Book and spend some time in the WORD.
• COMMUNITY:  Fellow youth ministers are as busy as we are, but taking time to meet for coffee, daily Mass, or 2:42 meetings is a way to forge community with our colleagues and help each other on the journey.
• HOLY HOUR: Jesus awaits our visit to spend time with Him in Adoration; take the initiative to schedule a weekly, or twice weekly, appointment with our Love.

Yes, like the glorious coffee that would have just remained in the dispenser had I not taken the initiative, the basics that will help us remain solid in our faith must be tapped in order to be received – sometimes you just have to help yourself.