StCYM: Soul Training I (25 FEB 18)

Yesterday we began our soul training for this Lenten season. We discussed getting back to basics. We watched a video of Marine recruits during their first hours of Basic Training. They didn’t have freedom, they were stripped of their hair and personality, and they were beginning a reprograming. To train a recruit in the military that recruit has to go back to the basics. Even the psyche of the recruit is retrained. During Lent it is a good time to get back to the basics of our spiritual lives and perhaps even reset ourselves.

In order to get back to the basics, we chose 24 topics to discuss over the next few weeks using Life Teen’s “100 Things Every Catholic Teen Should Know” as a guide. To discuss these topics, we will dig into the Scriptures and catechism. We began our journey discussing how we take our faith seriously (“God’s not playin’ games”), whether Christ rose from the dead (“Did Jesus really rise from the dead?”), and the death penalty. We incorporated current events such as seeing people fall from their faith and the recent Florida school shooting.

When it comes to being serious, being a witness is a key way to be serious for Christ. Answering our call to love those who are hardest to love (like the school shooter) or entering a frightening situation with courage are powerful ways to display our seriousness for the Gospel. Regarding the validity of the resurrection, we discovered the historic accounts outside of Sacred Scripture about Jesus. Knowing the truth of the resurrection should embolden us to live lives for Christ. We also discussed the death penalty and what the Church teaches regarding state sanctioned executions. We discovered that the Church actually teaches that it should be only used as a last resort when protect the public is impossible. It turns out that in our society it is possible, and so we should find ways to eliminate it.

Next week we will continue our journey through Lent as partake in Soul Training: On the Edge. We will discuss what it means to be on the edge by analyzing minimalism, risk taking, and near occasions of sin. Following the training session, we will continue our catechesis by discussing more of the topics we chose. I pray your Lenten journey continues well and that your relationship with our Lord continues to grow.

Pax.

StCYM: NCYC Reflection Day 3

As we continue through the season of Advent, I figured this would be a good time to share my personal reflections on the National Catholic Youth Conference that we participated in a few weeks ago. This reflection will be about day three.

Reflection on NCYC Day 3                                                                                                   18NOV17

- I am learning a great deal about the holiness of the family. Despite this, I still do not feel drawn to have a biological family. The pattern of consolation will not change. I consider this great comfort as I recently struggled with confusion. I pray for courage.
- I am so grateful for the many prayer and adoration opportunities available here at NCYC. God is good!

Credo Domine!

I was very busy on day three and very exhausted at the end of it, which explains why I did not write much. I will provide more substance here. During day three we attended Mark Hart's breakout session entitled, "Moving Forward: Biblical Truth You'll Need for Your Future". It was a good discussion of God's love for us and desire for us to thrive, while incorporating His revelation in Sacred Scripture. Of course Joshua 1:9 stuck out to me when he discussed it, since it's our main verse for the retreat.

Day three ended with the Vigil Mass. It was a great display of the Universal Church. People from different places and speaking in different languages were all together to celebrate the Mass. It was beautiful. The bishops and other clergy were excited to see and hear the 25,000 teens. The energy was great.

Following the Mass we returned to our hotel. We discussed our top three favorite parts of NCYC. I am grateful for the chaperones that helped. They were absolutely amazing and the teens enjoyed their company. I also enjoyed getting to know the teens better. It was amazing to see everyone experience their faith as a group. I was moved to tears of joy on more than one occasion during NCYC.

NCYC was a rejuvenation of the fire of faith that we all possess through our Baptism and Confirmation. The season of Advent is a time of preparation and rejuvenation as we make preparation in our souls for Christ! Who are you preparing for? Are you preparing for the world or for Christ? Bring this question to Him in prayer as we continue our march toward Christmas.


Pax

StCYM: NCYC Reflection Day 2

As we continue through the season of Advent, I figured this would be a good time to share my personal reflections on the National Catholic Youth Conference that we participated in a few weeks ago. This reflection will be about day two.

Reflection on NCYC Day 2                                                                                                   18NOV17

- Day one ended with great music and prayer. The teens are filled with energy!
- Day two was a full day in downtown Indianapolis. We began with Sarah Kroger leading us in praise and song. We then heard a powerful witness from a former refugee who came from South Sudan.
- She was followed by Sr. Miriam, SOLT who gave her witness, which was heavy. God is showing His grace through her rough life. Early teen alcoholism, promiscuity, abuse, rape, etc. She experienced so much darkness. God delivered her and called her to speak to the young as a nun.
-  The breakouts were great. I learned about the saints and why to be Catholic. Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers was incredible! He was not afraid to talk tough issues. He taught us not to be afraid of Truth.
- Lunch as a group was great! The evening session was awesome. Matt Maher was the performer (he also helped with Adoration). The teens went to Confession! It ended with the Benedictines and compline. Back at the hotel [one of our own] gave a powerful witness!

Credo Domine!

One of the cool things to see was how open the teens were to trading their hats. The participants of NCYC bring unique hats to trade with one another. This is a really cool way to interact and get to know others from around the country. Advent is a season of preparation, but also of fellowship. We are not called to prepare for Christ alone. We are called to community. NCYC was a great display of the universality of the Church.

I am grateful that the teens were so receptive of myself and the other amazing adult chaperones. We all became an awesome family. I greatly enjoyed my time with them. Despite the lack of sleep and the long days, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I feel confident saying that everyone else feels the same.

Pax

StCYM: NCYC Reflection Day 1

As we enter the season of Advent, I figured this would be a good time to share my personal reflections on the National Catholic Youth Conference that we participated in a few weeks ago. This reflection will be about day one.

Reflection on NCYC Day 1                                                                                                   18NOV17

- I was a bit timid early on because I did not know what to expect and how the teens would respond.
- Day one was long, but a great start to this pilgrimage. [Chris Stefanick] pressed into us the importance of whose we are versus who we are. We are God's beloved through Christ filled with the Holy Spirit!
- If there is ever a weekend of consolation it's one where I am joined by 25,000 fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Tears of joy where very much a part of day one.
- The joyful tears came when God was so close. When I reflected on my vocation, the pattern continued. There was an overwhelming draw toward the priesthood.
- I also reflected on ADHD. God does not give up because of our crosses. God uses them! God is good!

Credo Domine!

The last time I was at an event with this many Catholics was at Mother Teresa's canonization (there were many more Catholics there than at NCYC). It was great to, once again, feel the energy of so many people. I was so moved during the praise portion that I entered into a deep state of prayer. I was amazed at how I was able to enter this state in the middle of the loud music and praise. I am grateful for this ability since I had struggled entering into solid prayer leading up to NCYC.

It is easy to prepare for Christ when you have 25,000 screaming teens around you who are on fire for our Lord. The hard part is taking that energy with you when you go. The Holy Spirit is ready to fill us with that same energy even now! Let us be more open to Him.

Pax

Reflection on the Gospel (15 NOV): Luke 17:11-19

In the video above a mother goes back to find the people that helped keep her son alive after a horrific accident. There were many people involved in saving her son. She contacts various different people in her quest to visit the saviors and thank them. It is a touching story.

If you are like me, you ask God to help you in various ways including work, faith, trust, health, school, relationships, bad habits, etc. etc. etc. When things get taken care of what do we do? Do we feel proud of ourselves and move on or do we go back and find God to thank Him and praise Him? I had a moment where I did the former. I was training for months to regain strengths in my knees and to have courage to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test.

Before I took my record test (the one that counts) I took a diagnostic test. After months of failures and disappointments not only in regard to this test, but in life in general, I finally passed. I was on top of the world, but I was cursing in excitement and patting myself on the back. When I saw my superior after washing up and changing I shared this excitement with him. Being a good man of faith, he admonished me because I did not praise God. He heard my cursing and pride. He correctly called me out. After I passed the record test I remembered this and I gave praise to God instead of simply carrying on with pride.

Let's dive into the reading. What would immediately jump out to Luke's audience is the fact that the men had leprosy, which is an infectious disease that can disfigure people. Today it is treatable, but in the time of Christ it was not. Due to the infectious nature of this disease, people that had leprosy were considered unclean and thus cast out of the community. They lived on the outskirts and were completely cut off from society. This is where the term Leper Colony comes from, since they had to form their own communities due to being outcasts. Long story short, leprosy was a death sentence.

Christ being the Great Healer tells them to present themselves to the priests. This was a requirement to be considered clean; the priests had to make it official. Ten men who essentially had a death sentence were healed and freed from this sentence. How awesome a work of Christ! However, only one out of ten comes back to thank him. This one man was a Samaritan.

The fact that a Samaritan returned to praise God versus a Hebrew man would have immediately stirred Luke's audience again. Samaritans were seen as archenemies of the Ancient Hebrews, which is why they are used to emphasize Christ's parables. The logic in a sense is, "even a Samaritan did it!" So, when reading this think of your archenemy (and pray for them) and use the logic used in the Gospels. When God does something for you think of your archenemy praising and thanking God while you simply go on ungrateful. If you have a well formed conscience, you will obviously not want to let your archenemy be a better person than you!

So, let's challenge ourselves to retire at night thanking God for the day that we had, even if it was a difficult one. A simple prayer of thanksgiving while examining your day will help increase our humility and overall virtue. Amen!

Pax

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Gospel reading for 15 NOV: Luke 17:11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."

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Laudamus te! Credo Domine!

StCYM: Called to Community

Sunday was only our third Sunday Night Session since I started back in September. It is crazy how time flies. In between our second and third SNS we visited the Cathedral; carved pumpkins; and went on a hayride and had a campfire. We are continuing to act in community. It is really amazing to see the participation increase as time goes on. This is a sign that we are growing comfortable with each other. I look forward to what lies ahead.

The topic of the night was community. We started off the night playing Catch Phrase, which is always fun. It is a game that tests our communication skills and level of understanding. The game is verbal charades in a sense. The goal of the game is to describe a word (given on the screen) to your teammates without using that word. This game is fun and intense as it is a race against time.

After completing this intense game we enjoyed time together learning about community. We began with looking at the early Christians in scripture. We discussed Acts 2:43-47 where Luke tells us how the early Christians would live in self sacrifice for the benefit of the community. We also discussed Hebrews 10:24-25 where the author encourages us to be committed to the assembly. There is indeed no better way to build relationship than through person to person contact, which happens when we are physically present in the assembly (digital presence is also not nearly as good as physical presence).

We concluded the night by discussing what the teens needed out of the community. It was encouraging to experience the openness of the group to share what they needed, even though the needs, struggles, and wants were anonymous. Following this discussion we closed in prayer in which we shared our prayer intentions.

I certainly am blessed to have been called to journey with this group of teens and their parents. The National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis is going to be an amazing pilgrimage. God is going to be felt and is going to speak to thousands of teens (and chaperones). Veni Sancte Spiritus!

Pax

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More readings on community:
Matthew 18:15-20
Romans 12:3-8
Galatians 6:1-10
1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

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Deus providebit! Credo Domine!

Reflection on All Souls Day

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
- Readings: Wisdom 3:1-9; Psalm 23:1-6; Romans 5:5-11 or 6:3-9; John 6:37-40

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“As gold in the furnace, he proved them…” (Wis. 3:6). Today on All Souls Day we remember the souls in purgatory as they undergo purification before entering heaven. Purgatory is defined by the Church as “the state of those who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven,” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 210).

To enter into heaven, a place that contains no impurities because it is perfection, one must be pure. Since God is all perfect, to be wrapped in His grace in heaven requires perfection. Purgatory is the purification of one’s soul before entering heaven. We are "gold" thanks to our baptism, through which we die and rise with Christ (cf. Rom. 6:3-4), and due to our sinfulness, we must be purified to cleanse us of our impurities. The Church does not have a firm teaching in how long this purification process lasts. It is perfectly reasonable to believe that the more stains a soul possesses the longer the purification will take.

The Church sets aside the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, more commonly known as All Souls, to remember them and pray for them. In today’s first reading St. Paul teaches us about Christ’s death as the means of reconciling with us sinners (Rom. 5:6-11). We should not grow weary of death! We should embrace it with confidence if we are walking with Christ!

The Church Suffering (souls in purgatory) has the hope of salvation, because they are guaranteed to enter it. Praying for them during this process helps shower them with grace. Praying for the souls in purgatory also reminds us of our spiritual lives. Are we living for Christ? Are we seeking purification while on earth? It is also perfectly reasonable to expect a shorter time in purgatory if we prevent our souls from acquiring many stains.

With the souls in purgatory in our prayers, let us march forward as servants of God called to be missionary disciples. Let us carry this hope of salvation wherever we go and be a witness to it! God’s will is for us to have eternal life (John 6:40)! Let us respond to God’s Will with a resounding “yes!”. Amen.

God is good!

Deus Invictus! Credo Domine!