My first year in Youth Ministry was painful. I had a few solid Core Members and our Life Nights were going well. I had a supportive priest and a decent budget. I had a talented music ministry and parents who would do anything for me. I developed strong relationships with teens; saw an increase in [...]
In the past seventeen years, I’ve given more talks than I can count in more states than I can seem to remember (senility is setting in) and in many dioceses and cities I can scarcely spell. Truthfully, I think I still have yet to ever give a “great talk”. I’ve gotten close at times…certain occasions [...]
WARNING: The following blog is not written for everyone – only type-A, “control freak” Catholics (like myself) need read on. The rest of you (who don’t admit it), might seek out a priest for Reconciliation (see Exodus 20:16). Now, it’s important to note that I’m not indicting you; I’m indicting myself. My first several years [...]
Like many of you reading this, it’s been a busy summer for me. I figured out that I’ve traveled over 30,000 miles in the past eight weeks, by plane, rental car, bus, boat and golf cart (great gas mileage). Since Memorial Day my life has felt like one “event” after another. The Life Teen Convention [...]
Summer is here and that means it’s time to rest, right? (Dramatic pause to wait for the laughter drenched in sarcasm to die down.) One of the biggest misconceptions about youth ministry is that summer time is “down time.” Since many ministries in the parish stop for the summer, most people assume that youth ministry [...]
I’ve had several conversations with people in ministry lately regarding possible liturgical changes, linguistic concerns, basics of Latin and, even, foundational hermeneutics. Basically, it’s been a lot of discussion over topics that I never in my wildest of dreams envisioned myself having when I got into ministry. I’m not a liturgist. I’m not a theologian. [...]
Written by God…brought to you by the Bible Geek® Begin with a Prayer. Ask the group to take out their Bibles and divide the group into three groups. Have each group (on their own) read one of the following Scripture verses: Acts 2:42, Acts 13:44, Acts 20:7. Once read, have one volunteer from each group [...]
Written by God…brought to you by the Bible Geek® Have you ever felt that the temptation you faced was just TOO strong? Have you ever felt like you just couldn’t avoid a sin, that you were just too weak? Read 1 Corinthians 10:13. What is it telling us? What is the catch? It says we [...]
Written by God…brought to you by the Bible Geek® The Catholic belief and understanding of the Eucharist is not restricted to the events explained and gifted to us through Christ in the Gospel accounts, or through St. Luke in Acts and St. Paul in his writings. To understand the Eucharist from a Biblical perspective, we [...]
Written by God…brought to you by the Bible Geek® Open with a prayer. Ask the group to take out their Bibles and begin by reading (on their own) 1 Peter 5:5-7. After everyone has read it and meditated upon it, have one teen read the passage aloud. What struck you about this passage? Allow several [...]