If I were a Rich Man/Rebecca is born

“Young people of "World Youth Day", the Church asks you to go, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to those who are near and those who are far away. Share with them the freedom you have found in Christ. People thirst for genuine inner freedom. They yearn for the Life which Christ came to give in abundance….In your hands, carry the Cross of Christ. On your lips, the words of Life. In your hearts, the saving grace of the Lord.” St John Paul II

In May of 1990, I sat down with Msgr Kobbeman at Holy Angels Church in Aurora to discuss their youth ministry opening. I remember being greeted at the door of the rectory by Fr. Lutz. It was pretty intimidating to be in a rectory with two priests dressed in their blacks. I had a desire to serve God, but I was not sure of the direction. In order to work for the church, I would need to take a pay cut. I was married with one child and one about to be born. If I was sure God was calling me to not only work in youth ministry but also work at Holy Angels Parish, we would need to rely on God promises of provisions for our family. Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34: "Don't worry about your life...But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well".

A couple of weeks later, they called me in for an interview with a huge committee of fifteen people. Talk about intimidating! It seemed like I was peppered with questions from all sides of the room. I survived! They asked me to leave the room and a little while later, they offered me the job! I would start July 1st, 1990. The job was bigger than I realized. I was going to be in charge of grade school, middle school, and high school RE and youth ministry which included first communion and confirmation prep. Wow! That's a mouthful! I have to admit that I would have no idea what I was doing. I had volunteered in most aspects of the job. But, now I would be in charge. Later, I realized that God over the years had taken me on his own training program from my management degree to each job to all the volunteer positions. He trained and gave me the skills that I would need, but also made me weak so I would rely on his power.

On June 5th, we welcomed Rebecca Jean into the world! She was a little over five pounds but longer than her sister. She would fill out that length and become our tallest daughter. Rebecca has always been "My Rebecca". Picture a little girl in a pink tutu and tights with a purple feathered boa around her neck as she pretended to be a ballerina. She loved to dress up. She loved to dance. She captured my heart with her joy of play. She had her barbie dolls and she didn't have just one. She had many dolls much of it was provided by her grand mother who loved to go to garage sales. She did not just have dolls, but all the trimmings including clothes, houses, furniture plus everything else imaginable. Using her love for story, she used to create extravagant pretend doll neighborhoods.   

She found a love for reading and books which turned into a desire to write her own stories. This love for story and writing turned into an English degree. Her love for books turned into a Masters in Library Science. She developed her personal relationship with God through writing and music. Oh, I can not forget her love for music in general but especially praise and worship. This love for music parlayed into playing the clarinet from childhood through senior year of high school. I told her she could be the next Benny Goodman, but she didn't believe me. I also told her after every concert that I could hear squeak. Of course, she didn't. Everyone who knows me knows I wouldn't lie! She has heart for others especially young people. I have loved that she was able to help me over the years in youth ministry from youth group, to retreats, to camps, and conferences. I watched young people fall in love with her. I would be remiss if I didn't talk about her love for food. We have many pictures of her as a child with food all over her smiling face. Anytime she goes somewhere, we get a food report. This is a girl who likes to party with music, dancing, and food. It is her love for God and her family and loyalty to her friends that are her most impressive traits.

"Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart."

This was my theme song throughout all my years in church ministry. I wanted to serve God wherever He wanted me to serve. I would go and serve the people. I would give them my heart. I started at Holy Angels Parish on July 1st. The staff and the people of Holy Angels were very welcoming and supportive. I would serve the people of the parish for a blessed 12 years. 
 
I loved working for Msgr Kobbeman. He is such a good priest and he empowered his staff to do their jobs. He created a strong staff bond. We had staff retreats and staff parties. He was respectful of my family life. Over the years, he was very supportive of every youth ministry effort that I felt was important to pursue from summer camp to national youth conferences to World Day in Rome. He gave the youth a room in the rectory to use for youth group meetings. I called it the "Oasis". I wanted it to be an oasis from the world. He basically allowed us to make the 11 o'clock mass a youth mass every Sunday. We had a youth choir directed by Arlene and Barb. It was awesome. For example, Arlene's son ended up on Broadway. In addition, there were many other very talented teens on the choir. 

In August of 1990, one of the most powerful tornadoes (F5) hit Plainfield and Joliet. The storm came right over the west side of Aurora before it landed in Plainfield. It was the middle of the afternoon. I was having a meeting in the youth room which was located in the basement of the rectory. I looked out the window and it was really dark. I mean dark! I opened the youth room door. There was a long green awning over the stairway. Hail was landing at my feet! I looked up and the hail was coming through the awning ripping it to shreds. I knew the storm was bad, but it was much worse than I realized. Then the horrible news started rolling in. One of my volunteers was the school counselor at Plainfield High School. Praise God! Because school was over, most of the students were gone when it took a direct hit. She was able to get a group of students behind a brick wall as the tornado hit. St Mary Immaculate church was totally destroyed. The news only got worse. One of our parishioners was missing. He was the father of three teens. He was in the area on a sales call. His body was found hundreds of feet from his car. A young lady from our parish was overwhelmed by the darkness of the storm and jumped off a building in Chicago. The storm killed twenty nine people and injured three hundred fifty. Going to wakes and funerals became part of the job description. I found it to be the hardest part of the job. Over the years, I will attend many funerals of parents of teens.

There was an established youth ministry effort going on at Holy Angels Parish. It was called Antioch. Antioch was the town where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians. Antioch had a weekend retreat that was built-in to the program. The teens gave most of the talks. It was a well thought out schedule and talk outlines. The hardest part was getting teens to commit to a whole weekend. The group was filled with an awesome diverse group of young people. Holy Angels Parish was a unique parish. It's western border went all the way to Lee, Illinois. Aurora is a city. The teens that came from Sugar Grove, Big Rock, Hinckley were rural teens. Over the years, the mix of rural and city teens will make an interesting challenge. 

My first mistake: The Antioch youth group already had an outing to Six Flags planned when I started at Holy Angels. It was great! They had it all planned out. I was just going along for the ride! No permission forms. Teens driving. What could possibly go wrong! What was I thinking!? I get into a car of one of the teens. He was a terrible driver. He is weaving in and out of the lanes on the interstate without a rear-view mirror! It was a great day and everyone got home safely. Praise God! I will never ever make those mistakes again. Though, I will make plenty of other ones.

While the Antioch youth group was full of awesome teens, there is a difference between awesome and converted. Awesome Catholic teens have Jesus in their car. Converted teens have Jesus driving the car. I will spend the rest of my time in youth ministry inviting teens to let Jesus take the wheel.