Confessions of a Catholic Youth Minister

In the winter of 1997, we were completely surprised by God! Six years after Johnmark was born, Jan is pregnant!! Its a girl!! Abigail (which means father's joy) was born in July of 1998. Instant joy! I used to say that she was either gabby Abby or crabby Abby. She was by far mostly gabby. She brought great joy to her older siblings. She was her older siblings cheering section. If you ever needed an encourager in your life Abby would be your girl! Every child is unique and created by God to do specific jobs that only they are supposed to do. Abby is just in the midst of figuring it out. She already has achieved awesome things. She is great at sharing her faith, and she gets much joy out of doing it. I have told her that she would make a great youth minister some day. But, in reality she has already been doing it. She has continually invited friends from the neighborhood and school to church events. When she was younger, she got the neighborhood kids to play Mass with her. In High ...

When I made the choice of inviting God into my life back in 1984, it was just the beginning of a process that is ongoing. "Behold I stand at the door and knock" Rev. 3:20 Jesus knocks at the door of every heart! The question is how wide have you opened the door? In all my years working with teens and adults, I have met many good people. There is a difference between a good person and a person who has put Jesus at the center. When you put Jesus at the center, he will impact every aspect of your life. If you think of your life as a big circle, who/what is in your circle. Many young people don't have Jesus even in their circle. Most Catholics have Jesus in their circle, but few have Jesus at the center. Most people have SELF at the center. Where is Jesus in your circle? When we have Jesus at the center, he impacts everything! You start to take responsibility for yourself and for the good of others. For college students it means going to class, doing your school work,...