Meeting Recap October 21, 2009
Posted by Wayne in Meetings, Things to Think About.Tags: Alive in You, evangelization, mission, World Youth Day
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So, it is official, our 2009-2010 Youth Ministry year has begun. On Sunday,we had our first youth group meeting of the year and judging by the reactions of all those present and the level of participation by all members, I must say, we are off to a great start and are looking forward to a fun year. The fun started right away with several icebreakers (some foolishness on my part at the thought that teenagers have heard of “The Name Game” song) and kept going even through the small group discussions and large group interaction. By the time we broke for free time and snacks everyone was having a great time and seemed to have gotten a lot out of the discussion about World Mission Sunday and what it means to be a missionary.
We discussed the life of St. Francis Xavier and emphasized how he was the second most successful missionary in the history of the Church behind St. Paul. We then focused on what he did and why he was so successful. Outside of being willing to put up with very harsh conditions, this man recognized the importance of living what he taught and truly believed that the people who had not heard of Christ and did not believe in Christ were missing out on something! He then simply took it upon himself to feed them with the truth. That is what it means to be a missionary, to evangelize and to spread the love of Christ through both your words and actions. So, everyone is a missionary and everyone knows people who don’t believe the Truth taught by the Catholic Church. In fact, many of us struggle to understand and believe these teachings. So we must all take it upon ourselves to feed those around us with the Truth by our example and by our words. See this link for thoughts on this by Pope Benedict XVI and check out the bottom of this link for the quotes of St. Francis Xavier we used to further explore our role as missionaries.
At the end of our meeting we discussed very briefly all the upcoming events we have planned through the end of January. We may be adding more, but please check out the upcoming events page for all the details and to sign up.
My Experience with Alive in You! August 20, 2008
Posted by Wayne in Activities, Prayer, Things to Think About.Tags: Alive in You, faith, Prayer
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This is my latest article for the OLV Newsletter that is mailed to all Victory parishioners:
Since our last update in the May newsletter, the Youth Group has once again been active in a variety of ways, however, the most exciting was a Service Trip and Youth Conference in Chattanooga, TN called Alive in You! I don’t know that I am the best one to write this article (I should probably be letting one of the youth tell you all about it), but I hope that they will have a chance to tell you in person just what an awesome experience it was!
The trip started for Michelle Boehm, Molly Rebennack, Amy Graman, Alexander Lewis, Pam Boehm and me, Wayne Topp, on June 17th at 5:30 am with morning Mass celebrated by Fr. Reutter (thanks again!) and a nearly 6 hour drive to Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga where we spent the next five days painting a school, playing sports, listening to live music, attending themed dinners, hanging out and making friends with nearly 250 other youth, seeing the sites of downtown Chattanooga, listening to great talks by national speakers and most importantly learning about and living out our Faith! Each of the first three days (starting Wednesday morning) was spent painting a Catholic elementary which is able to charge no tuition to its students, but which also had no money to be able to pay outside people to come and paint their hallways. We worked hard all three days (outside of the occasional dance break) and were able to paint three hallways and two locker rooms before we called it a day. The people there were very grateful and made us feel very special despite the small amount of work we actually did (relative to the amount of work that we heard other crews had to do).In the evenings, we had a chance to hang out with the other parishes and played a variety of sports. We also had an opportunity to celebrate Mass on a daily basis which was a great treat that we all experienced at least three out of the 6 days we were there. After Mass we got dressed up to join in the theme dinners which allowed us to get into costume and to eat very good food that fit the same theme. Following dinner were the evening sessions where there was high energy, live music, a little friendly competition, and great speakers who, throughout the week, taught us all about how the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit can help us to live our lives in a way that fills us with joy and that to allow the spirit to work in our lives is to allow God to lead us and to help us make right decisions as we walk down the path of life. There are many bits of wisdom I could share from the great talks, but, as I said above, I will let the youth fill you in later. After each session we were able to get back into our little parish group and just talk about the day and the lessons we learned throughout that day and the whole week. Those times were some of my favorite because those are when we grew closer as a group and we all really started to get to know each other best! Saturday morning was our chance to go off and explore the city of Chattanooga and explore it we did! It is a beautiful city with a great aquarium and some fantastic southern BBQ…oh and did I mention Ben and Jerry’s? We had a wonderful time and came back in time to play soccer and here two nationally known speakers give us tips on how to take the experiences we had throughout the week back to our home parishes. Then, it was time to take all that we had done, and all that we had learned and all the thoughts that we generated throughout the week and talk them over with Jesus as Saturday night we prayed in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. It was an awesome experience that we want more people here in our parish to have, so keep an eye on the bulletin for times to join us.Finally, after all was complete we celebrated a great Sunday Mass and said our goodbyes.
Before we got home, though we made a side trip to visit the Dominican Sisters in Nashville, TN who gave us a very warm welcome and showed us around their beautiful home! After our visit we all agree that if more people could see these sisters and the amount of joy they have in everyday life there would definitely be no shortage religious vocations in this nation! Finally, tired and ready to be home with our families, and yet so energized from the awesome trip, we came home and were greeted by our families who did a very nice job at acting like they missed us. This trip could not have been possible without the help and support of the parish and we can’t thank you enough.
As a special note, I want to thank Molly, Michelle, Alexander and Amy for being willing to make the trip to Chattanooga this year! It was a great experience for me to see all of you grow in your faith and to hear you talk about your experience has been a real treat for me. Thank you so much!
Next year’s Alive in You trip dates have been set: June 23-28, 2009 in Pahokee, FL! Sign up now! Also, check out the rest of the upcoming events page which has now been updated through October and includes other events that are further into the future! Sign up for any and all events that you can attend! Check back often to see if other events have been added such as fundraisers or service projects!
A Couple (six) Things February 27, 2008
Posted by Wayne in Activities, Prayer, Things to Think About.Tags: Alive in You, March, new life retreat, prayer walk, priesthood, t-shirts, youth holy hour
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March is just around the corner and we have so much going on this month that it is hard to keep track if it all. I hope you are all doing a better job than me.
First, I want to remind everyone once again of the upcoming Youth Holy Hour at 5:30 on Monday, March 3rd (that’s this Monday). You don’t have to stay or come for the entire hour, but I do encourage you to be part of this. It is not every year that a holy item, blessed by Pope John Paul II will come to Our Lady of Victory and have a special place for the youth!!! Let’s make the most of this amazing opportunity!!
Secondly, I need help for this weekend! Marianne and I would like to have a table set up for people to sign up for the youth group retreat that is happening next weekend, but we will be out of town (it’s her birthday on March 1st!!). So, can anybody help by sitting at a table in the back of church for each of the Masses? Just leave a comment or email me directly. Thanks!!
Thirdly, on Palm Sunday, that’s only two weekends away, St. Antoninus is hosting a Prayer Walk! This is a great opportunity for you to pray for the people in your family and community while hanging out with your friends and other youth from around the area. It will end at St. Antoninus with lunch and a little jam session. It should be fun, so let me know if you can come. I’ll email you the forms you’ll need.
Fourthly, Marianne and I have decided to work with my idea for the t-shirts and get them ordered soon. Hopefully I can get the order in by the end of the week, but there is a lot on my plate and I don’t know if I’ll be able to. Let me know your shirt size so that I can get the order correct. I hope to order some for everyone and hopefully have some for the parents who will help us with our fundraisers and youth group events.
Fifthly (is that a word?), don’t forget the deadline to sign up for Alive In You is Wednesday, March 12th. Take the time now to talk it over with your families and get back with me. Information about the trip can be found on the Permission Slips page (and yes, those links work for sure).
Finally, check out this great post about a priest who truly knows that he has found his calling and loves just being a priest!! It is a true testament to what we talked about in January about figuring out what God wants us to do with our lives.
Meeting Recap and Some Business January 23, 2008
Posted by Wayne in Activities, Meetings, Things to Think About.Tags: Alive in You, Upcoming Events, vocation
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First of all, thanks to all of you who made it to our meeting on Sunday!! Though we know it got rather uncomfortable for many of you, but your ability to talk openly and honestly in front of the entire group was very reassuring for us! Thank you, thank you, thank you! For those who were not able to make it to the meeting, please know that you are always welcome and that we encourage each and every one of you to take some time to seriously think about what God wants of you in your life! After all, that is what a vocation is all about, doing what God wants you to do and taking joy in knowing that you are doing what your Father asks. As Fr. Reutter said at the meeting, there is a natural attraction to married life, but we must be careful not to “fall into it” as if we are all called to live that life. No matter what we decide is our path, we must make that decision in prayer and conversation with Jesus.
Secondly, anybody who wants their pictures from Sunday night, please send me an email or just post a comment. I didn’t write everyone’s name down so I don’t want to forget anyone.
Thirdly, we look forward to seeing all of you for our next meeting on Sunday, February 10th from 7-9. We will be discussing Christian Love, making Valentine’s Decorations for the Bayley Place Nursing Home and having a Valentine’s Day party as well. If you want, please feel free to bring a snack to share at the party and Valentines to hand out.
Fourthly, please see our new Upcoming Events page and mark all the events on your calendars. I do not have all the details about several of the events, but will be posting them as I get them. As Marianne and I get used to this Youth Ministry thing, we will be planning more and more events, fundraisers, prayer opportunities, and community service projects, so you’ll have to start checking back often to keep up to date.
Finally, the most important deadline that is fast approaching is the registration deadline for Alive in You! This is going to be an amazing experience and for the price of less than $300 plus the cost of transportation it is very affordable. Our hope is to raise enough money to allow each person who signs up to go for free. I’ll try to post additional information, but also check your emails or click on the link above!
