Thursday, 26 June, 2008 CREATED TO BE      Yesterday was the intersection of two major writing projects.  Our office printed our final draft of Created to Love, a curriculum which addresses both the need for human sexuality catechesis as well as child protection training in our parishes and schools. It printed out as 108 pages - - - yeeeesh! I also printed out the three-page outline of Project Be, this summer's writing project with a launch schedule of Spring 2009. STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: OHIO      > > Ohio and Cincinnati will have a local WYD celebration at Lehman High School in Sidney, Ohio.  Here's hoping they will wrap up their gathering by going to the Outback for a bloomin' onion.    > > In Cleveland, director Dobie Moser has a good synopsis on Adolescents_and_Faith_Formation:_An_Evangelizing_Catechesis    > > Just in case you were concerned, Steubenville has posted their office hours    > > Toledo will host Anna Scally for their August Youth Ministers' Conference.    > > Best I can figure, this is Youngstown.

 

Wednesday, 25 June, 2008 ONE SHORT DAY IN THE EMERALD CITY      Went to NYC yesterday.  Really, just needed an intentional day off and away.  I went to visit Mike Carotta who was teaching a class at Fordham.   It was valuable time to just be present anywhere but the office, and especially with Mike. STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: NORTH DAKOTA      > > In Bismarck, Matt Maher and his band will headline the fall High School Youth Rally at Trinity High School in Dickinson.    > > Over in Fargo, seventeen-year-old Nathaniel Sharpe of Bathgate, N.D., never imagined the movie he created for a contest in California would hit the big screen in such a big way.     Sharpe created “Wrinkles in Time” for a Cinema Vita Film Festival competition which focused on the dignity of life. The film, featuring his 77-year-old grandmother, Louise Carlson, and her great-grandson, Linus Carlson, received the first place award in the high school division. The prize was a camcorder and $250.Then, the Diocese of Fargo received a request for a video greeting to be shown prior to the Mass Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate April 17 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.  Sharpe’s video captured the diocese’s strong commitment to dignity of life issues, and Sharpe was asked to condense the five-minute video into a 90-second message that would include a “welcome” for the pope.     To see the welcome video, click here. (4.0 MB)

 

Monday, 23 June, 2008 CLEAN YOUR DESK      Four blog posts in the last twelve days?  Stopped the whole states tour somewhere in the middle of New York?  What gives?    June has been unusually busy, don't know why. . . but that factors in with an active spring and the anticipation of potential summer overwhelm. And blogging rated low on the priority list.     Hope I am a little more caught up right now. Hang on, folks, and thanks for your care and patronage! STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: NEW YORK      > > Christ the King seminary is the setting for a local WYD celebration In Buffalo    > > In Ogdensburg, Jim Lundy brings 27 years of youth marketing experience, having developed national marketing campaigns for companies and institutions like Coca Cola, CCM Hockey, Rossignol Skis, and The University of Vermont. He is also a candidate for the Permanent Diaconate.    > > In Rochester has a set off youth related prayers for all occasions    > > Syracuse reports that "with the Pope's visit to the US, NCYC, World Youth Day and multiple events per month, this has been the busiest programming year the Office of Youth Ministry has seen since its beginning."

 

Wednesday, 18 June, 2008 ADOLESCENT CATECHESIS       Greetings again to my summer seminar class.  Here's the link to today's powerpoint! PAPAL EVENTS REUNION     Greetings again to my summerWe hosted a gathering of over 120 young people who attended the papal events in April.  The Catholic Review has the article here THE FUTURE OF CATECHESIS     I'm off again. . . (Buckle up, it's gonna be that kind of summer!)  I'm travelling locally to an invitation-only Symposium to Explore the Future of Catechesis sponsored by RCL Benzinger.  Looks to be some cool players and interesting discussions lined up.  I'm anticipating wireless so I will try to keep you informed on what I can share.

 

Tuesday, 17 June, 2008 YOUTH CULTURE       Greetings to my summer seminar class.  Here's the link to the powerpoint! A MASS FILLED WITH WHOSE GENERATION?       Amy Welborn has a large following as a Catholic blogger. . .   So when she blogs about youth ministry, it is worth noting.  A few snips:    Those of us who work with teens, teach teens or have teens living in our houses think a lot about…teens. We can’t stop pondering  youth ministry and ministry to youth and what to do with the kids and how to keep the kids engaged and excited and connected. . .     For so long - longer than we might think- we’ve assumed that the most important thing we can give teens is nothing more or less than even more teens. We want them to be hanging around other teens who share their values. Hoping secretly, perhaps, that the teens involved will have a bit more faith than our teens and so will push our teens to go further and take it all more seriously. We want them to be immersed in a peer group in which faith is cool and not something to laugh at or scoff at or argue with, incessantly and cynically. . . It just makes sense. Doesn’t it? . . .     I was sitting at Mass yesterday, thinking about this, when I started wondering, “Do I? Really?” Instead, I suddenly decided, I want my teen to go to a Mass filled with old people. I want her to be surrounded by that wisdom and suffering endured and hope maintained.    Read it all here.

 

Monday, 16 June, 2008 INTERRUPTED STILL      I'm sill off a twitch. Hang in there. IN THE BAG      For those who want to color coordinate their WYD wardrobe with the WYD backpacks, here's a picture.  What we get with the bag is the World Youth Day 2008 books, a pen, a bandana, a ‘Pilgrim Passport’ containing vouchers for McDonald’s and stores at Sydney Airport, a clip-on koala, tattoos, a poncho, a kinetic flashlight and a thermal blanket. Oh, and, yea, each backpack also contains a set of rosary beads. More here.

 

Friday, 13 June, 2008 INTERRUPTED      I'm off schedule right now and am ok with the break in the pattern. Be patient and I'll be back to daily postings soon. A RIVER RUN THROUGH IT     All three of my kids were born at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids.  It is inconceivable to us as expatriate Iowans that this hospital, so far removed from the banks of the Cedar River, has been evacuated due to flooding.   The island pictured on your right is where city hall and other municipal buildingz are housed.  Only Cedar Rapids and Paris, France share this distinction.  The three bumps in the water are all bridges.  In my 15 years in Iowa, I never remember the water cresting over them. The downtown of Cedar Rapids is swamped and this occurs in an area already experiencing severe economic challenges. MSNBC reports that over 430 blocks in Cedar Rapids were under water forcing the evacuation of over thousands and thousands of homes and leaving cars underwater on downtown streets. There are reports that more than $736 million worth of property in Cedar Rapids was affected by the flood, over half of that was to people's homes.  Please, friends, pray for Cedar Rapids, and the rest of Iowa this weekend. TIM RUSSERT     Among a short list of "celebrities" that I wanted to meet was the name of Tim Russert of Meet the Press and NBC News.   The was an integrity about the man that I appreciated.  He was Catholic, and did not hide his catholic sensibilities and was able to recently sit briefly with the Holy Father in Washington, DC. Today, he died of a heart attack while at work at NBC News at age 58.  I  don't often feel mournful regarding the loss of a "celebrity," but I am truly sadden this afternoon - - for Iowa, for Tim Russert's family, and my own sense of loss. Here's another memorial from another former-Iowan who was fortunate to have met Russert.

 

Wednesday, 11 June, 2008 TO DO:      Before this day is over, I will: * stop blogging and actually go to work * throw seven significant edits into our over 90-page draft curriculum Created to Love which is designed to assist parishes and schools regarding the necessity to both implement human sexuality catechesis as well child protection mandates. (and then it is finished) * vet out stats on one page of the over 20-page Technology Procedural Recommendations for professional who work with young people. (and then it is finished) * assure that witness talkers have been recruited for the Archbishop's reunion event that will be held Saturday with those who attended Papal Masses in April * attend an office crab feast and a High School Leadership Institute staff meeting; and * with God and you as my witness, not go to sleep before I podcast again!  (and then, I will be finished) STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: NEW YORK      > > In Albany, Service Action Learning Teams (SALT) will have two week-long sessions this summer.    > > Father Stan Fortuna travels all over the world to speak with young people, but when he did Brooklyn's Senior High Youth Rally, he was actually down with his hommies!    > > Rockville Centre has links for WYD and Proud2bCatholic, but is still declared as "under construction.

 

Tuesday, 10 June, 2008 BEING OTHER AT EUCHARISTIC ADORATION     My brother-in-Christ from youth specialties, Marko, has gone off and visited Life Teen and attended Eucharistic adoration.   His reflections are here CHILDHOOD OVER     "I think children act llike adults at an alarmingly early age." A recent poll suggests that more than half of parents believe childhood is now over by 11.    Read more here. COMMUNICATION WITH YOUNG ADULTS     Sunday, I presented a power-point that I developed about ten months ago.  Talk about being prepared!  See the presentation on-line from Archbalt here STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: NEW MEXICO      > > While the main page for Gallup has an article on Why we need Catholic Education, the hyperlinks for education and youth don't seem to work.     > > Las Cruces just had their youth rally last weekend. Our beloved brother in Christ Mike Patin took a little cajun joy in the desert!    > > While the Step It Up is a program in August for Confirmation youth and young adults sponsored by Santa Fe

 

Monday, 9 June, 2008 BEST CHURCH EVER      Improv Everywhere is like a flash mob of comedy. They have had some entertaining videos and moments.    That being said, is this video not representative of what church is supposed to be for young people? Should not our young people be intrigued, spoiled, encouraged, and impassioned by the support of those around them? Listen to the kids' quotes: "I really felt like a big-leaguester." "Most kids don't get a chance like this."  Kids should be saying that about church as well!   STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: NEW JERSEY      > > Camden has an extensive list of bulleted hyperlinks regarding the services of their office.      > > There is a wintertime CYM Basketball league which serves nearly 4,000 kids and teens from third grade through high school in  Metuchen so there is lots of info on their sports page.      > >  I was mesmerized by the animated .gif of the look eyes on the front page of Newark's site.    > >  Consultant Phil Russo has been in place in Paterson for over 30 years!    > >  A picture from the annual March for Life in DC adorns the front page for Trenton

 

Sunday, 8 June, 2008 THE BETTER MANAGER      Josh Griffin has some notes about being a better manager: Don’t just be a launcher; talk to people, not about people; be wise in “thinking out loud,” prepare people for an announcement, and talk about the thing people are obviously avoiding. STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: NEW HAMPSHIRE      > > In Manchester, they are celebrating the Saint Raphael parish CYO high school boys’ basketball team, the Avenging Archangels, who won the 2008 New England CYO Championship.