Confessions of a Catholic Youth Minister

"Wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.  Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything." Ephesians 5 We took a spiritual gift inventory assessment based on the reading from Romans 12:6-8. "We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully" The seven gifts are: Perceiver/Prophet Server Teacher  Exhorter Giver  Administrator  Compassion Each of us operates to some degree using all the gifts but usually one of the gifts is dominant. Jan and I are do...

"Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world" St. Teresa of Calcutta When Jan and I were engaged, we gave our lives to God including our fertility. We took Natural Family Planning classes and found out that there was a safe effective way to plan out our family. It was safe for Jan with no extra hormones going into her body. It upheld God's plan for a one flesh union. It kept us always open to the possibility that our act of total self giving could be used by God to create a new human being. We just didn't know how God would use that power. We never sat down and figured out how many children. The cool thing about NFP is you can know the day each of your children is conceived. Our goal is to get each other to heaven and ...

"A communion of persons occurs when two people freely give themselves to each other and accept one another in love. In fact, true love consists precisely in this mutual self-gift as we see in the Gospels, the main point of the Christian life is to love.". St John Paul II Our first kiss took place at Jeff and Renae's wedding in November of 1984. Jan and I were sitting next to each other at the head table. When the group clinked the glasses everyone expected Jeff and Renae to kiss. Jeff instructed the wedding party to kiss instead. By late December of 1984, I had the experience on the road to Kankakee. I started to let God take control of my life. It included my love life. I knew that I needed to have a totally different mind set. If I was going to live according to God's principles, I needed to be a radically different person. I would need to live for others. I needed to find someone who thought the same way. She would also need to put up with my...

"To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement." St. Augustine  I grew up in a strong Catholic family. It was a great part of my life. I went to twelve years of Catholic school. I was an altar server till the end of high school. I participated in youth group stuff only in senior year. God was a part of my life, but I really never made number one. If my spiritual life was a car, I allowed Jesus to hang out in the back seat or the trunk. During high school both of my parents passed away. You would think that it would have had an impact on my relationship with God, but it didn't because I was pretty numb from the whole experience. I never was able to process it. After my Mom died, I stayed in my family's home with my brother Rick, and then he moved out. My oldest brother Paul, and his wife Kathy moved in. They had my niece Kelly, so it was great to help with her. Between Rick ...

"You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” St Augustine  John went to a psychiatrist. "Doc," he said, "I've got trouble. Every time I get into bed, I think there's somebody under it. I'm going crazy!" "Just put yourself in my hands for one year," said the shrink. "Come talk to me three times a week, and we should be able to get rid of those fears." "How much do you charge?" "Eighty dollars per visit," replied the doctor. "I'll sleep on it," said John. Six months later the doctor met John on the street. "Why didn't you ever come to see about those fears you were having?" asked the psychiatrist. "Well eighty bucks a visit three times a week for a year is an awful lot of money! My friend Joe cured me for $10. I was so happy to have saved all that money went and bought me a new pickup!" "Is that so?! And...

HOW TO WRITE A TERM PAPER 1. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well-lighted place with plenty of freshly-sharpened pencils. 2. Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it. 3. Walk down to the vending machines and buy some coffee to help you concentrate. 4. Stop off at another floor on the way back and visit with your friend from class. If your friend hasn't started the paper yet either, you can both walk to McDonalds and buy a hamburger to help you concentrate. If your friend shows you his paper, printed out, double-spaced, and bound in one of those irritating see-through plastic folders, drop him. 5. When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly-sharpened pencils. 6. Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it. 7. You know, you haven't written to that kid you met at camp since fourth grade. You'd better write tha...

Alex sets up his friend Bob to go on a blind date with a college friend. Bob is a little worried about going out with someone he’s never seen before. “What do I do if she’s ugly?” says Bob, “I’ll be with her all night.” “Don’t worry,” Alex says, “just go up to her door and meet her first. If you like what you see, then everything goes as planned. If you don’t, just shout “Aaaaaauuuggghhh!” and fake a heart attack.” That night Bob knocks at the girl’s door. When she comes out he is awe-struck at how gorgeous she is. He’s about to speak when the girl suddenly grabs her heart, shouts “Aaaaaauuuuggghh!” and collapses with a heart attack. I spent three years reading St John Paul II's discourses on his writings called 'Love and Responsibility'. The discourses ended being called 'Theology of the Body'. St John Paul was more of a philosopher by trade. He taught ethics for twenty years in Poland. His discourses were very deep and hard to comprehend. I would rea...