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Tag Archives: Scripture

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Are You a Bringer?

By | May 12, 2010

In the Catholic youth ministry world, there’s often a big difference between the bringers and everyone else. The bringers carry somebody or something. They seek or form community and make things happen. It’s not unusual to go to the smallest parish and find someone serving teens there who isn’t small at all. Sometimes, this is an unpaid servant, someone that’s inherited or acquired their mission out of necessity. Anyway, you can’t just say you’re an bringer and be one. It takes a lot of prayer and surrender to be a real bringer!

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Stuff – In the Best (Catholic) Sense of the Word!

By | May 3, 2010

Let’s face it – teens like stuff! Teens lives are filled with “Stuff” – but is it the best stuff or stuff that merely clutters an already busy life? Teens want the fullness of our faith and one of the treasures the Catholic faith offers are rich traditions and symbols. Make sure that you fill your youth rooms and retreat centers with Catholic items. Items like rosaries, prayer cards and Saint Medals all reinforce the faith for young people. If you can, try to incorporate giving teens religious items when you can. It’s graduation and Confirmation time for many of us so here are some keys to gifts that can transform!

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If You Expect A Lot – You Will Get A Lot!

By | April 30, 2010

In my years of Catholic Youth Ministry I have embraced the concept of having high expectations of the young people we are trying to lead closer to Christ! As leaders we can’t sell young people short and expect less. Yesterday at a Catechetical Symposium I helped lead in the Archdiocese of Boston there was a fishbowl sharing experience that included some college students. At the end we asked them to give the youth leaders, DRE’s and Catholic school teachers present a word of advice. One young man simply said “If you expect a lot – you will get a lot!”

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Finishing Lent Strong – How to “Crush It” All Holy Week Long!

By | March 28, 2010

I noticed that my two middle school aged sons had transformed the palm leaves handed to them when entering Mass into “Palm Crosses.” I asked why they always make crosses out of the palms on Palm Sunday? The reply was one that got me thinking about Holy Week. They looked at me and said, “Dad, we take the crosses home and put them up on our bedroom wall so we can remember Jesus every day.” Ah, the simplicity of the answer reminded me of what Holy Week is supposed to be about–contemplating Jesus and His Passion!

Visit our new Edge Website: EdgeYouthMinistry.com

Edge Night

FAQ: The Holy Bible

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Goal of the Edge Night The middle school youth will learn about how the Bible was written and our approach when reading Scripture. The youth will also explore how the Bible can be read in different ways: literal, allegorical, moral and anagogical. Edge Night at a Glance This session tells the story of how the writers of Sacred Scripture were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write an account of how God was working. Through that same Spirit, we are called to read the Scriptures and apply them to our

Visit our new Edge Website: EdgeYouthMinistry.com

Edge Night

Secret Admirer: Revelation of God

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Goal of the Edge Night The middle school youth will understand that we can know God because He has revealed Himself to us. God’s revelation was fully given in Jesus and passed on to us through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Edge Night at a Glance This night will help to set up the semester on Scripture. The youth will see that God desires for us to know Him and His infinite and unconditional love for us. The goal is to help the middle school youth become familiar and comfortable with Scripture. This

Visit our new Edge Website: EdgeYouthMinistry.com

Edge Night

Edge Semester Planning Guide: Scripture

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This current book covers Sacred Scripture. In this semester, we are presenting an overview of the books of Scripture, how they were written and how to read it. The middle school youth will have the opportunity to become familiar with the Bible and be exposed to several ways of praying Scripture. We strongly recommend that you have the youth bring a Bible each week or find a ministry at your parish that may be willing to purchase a Bible for each youth. Our hope is that by the end of this semester, your middle school youth will feel more comfortable with reading the Scriptures frequently.

Bible Trivia

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Goal for this game: Have the teenagers work together to find specific answers in their Bibles. Ministry Applications Reading the Bible can be fun. We need God’s word in our lives on a daily basis. We can learn more about ourselves and Christ through Scripture. Bible Trivia

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Helping Middle School Youth With Scripture

By | February 24, 2010

Last week, I had a meeting with a group of Boy Scouts who are preparing to receive their religious emblems at Easter. It was my job to teach them a lesson on how to pray. I brought them to our Eucharistic chapel, taught a lesson on prayer and then I gave them some time to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I sat back and observed as the ten middle school aged boys prayed, meditated and sat down and opened the Scriptures on their own. It was amazing to watch a group of 11 year-old boys engage

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Inserting Teens Into the Mystery of the Gospels

By | February 24, 2010

In my last blog, I covered how the Church wants us to use the baptismal catechumenate as a model for all catechetical activity, and within the catechumenate is a period of formation called mystagogy. In mystagogy, we want to focus on three things: the Word of God, the sacraments, and community. Today I wanted to focus on the first goal of mystagogy, inserting teens into the mystery of God’s Word, especially as it is given to us in the Gospels.