2011 Youth Renew Retreat: Strengthen our Hands January 13, 2011
Posted by Wayne in Activities, Meetings, Prayer.Tags: faith, Prayer, retreat
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Strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble. Hebrews 12:12
St. Dominic’s Annual Youth Renew Retreat is coming! January 28-30, 2011 marks the awesome annual retreat put on by St. Dominic’s Youth Group and they have extended a special invitation to our group to join them. This retreat, which is planned and run by teens, usually draws anywhere from 35-50 teens and so it is a great opportunity to meet and hang out with other teens just like you who care about their faith and their relationship with Jesus!
Here are the details that I know:
This is the only retreat of its kind within a 40 minute radius!!!
Start time: 6:30-6:45 pm check-in on January 28
End time: 3:00 pm on January 30th
Pre-registration through Tim Langlitz, St. Dominic’s Youth Minister
Cost of this two-night retreat is only $10 + a 2 liter of pop and a snack to share. That’s a huge deal!
More information: www.stdominicyouth.com
Permission slip: 2011 Youth Renew Retreat
Informational pamphlet: Youth Renew Retreat Pamphlet
What is Youth Ministry? September 23, 2009
Posted by Wayne in Activities, Prayer, Things to Think About.Tags: faith, parents, parish, volunteers, youth ministry
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Below is the Youth Ministry article for the Victory Vision newsletter from November 2008. It is our hope that through our service to this parish as youth ministers, we will be able to encourage all people to re-exam the role of Catholic Faith in their lives. It truly is what defines our whole being and must influence all parts of our lives. Enjoy the article and consider what you can do to help us reach our goals.
This month we’re going to do something a little different with this article and just take some time to talk to you about what youth ministry means to us. Over the course of the past year, we have planned and organized more than two dozen events including social outings, fundraising opportunities, prayer opportunities and a retreat. In addition to that, we have organized an opportunity for our youth to participate in a service oriented mission trip to Chattanooga, TN where they also had a chance to learn a little more about their faith. This is all in addition to our regular monthly meetings that happen on the second Sunday of every month. At first glance, one could easily look at this and be shocked at the number of things that we do and yet others might just shrug and say, “That’s it?” Marianne and I tend to look at all this in a little bit of a different perspective. Each and every outing or other event we plan is an effort on our part to bring the teens of this parish to a deeper understanding of the Catholic Faith. Youth ministry is not just a place for young people to have a positive environment to hang out, but it is an activity that challenges them to seriously consider their faith and what it means in their lives. It’s not so much about what we “do” but about what we believe and what we are passing on. If we are to truly live out our Catholic Faith, then what does that look like? What does that feel like? What does that mean in reference to our relationship with the world and our peers at school? These are all very tough questions and the answer is not easy to come by, but it is the goal of our ministry to help our teens at least get started down the road that leads to all these answers. Of course, there is no way that we can do this alone!
Learning the Faith and living the Faith is a life long process and it involves input from many different sources. The first of these sources and the one with the most influence is from the parents. Parents must be involved in teaching their faith to their children. That does not mean that parents have all the answers or that they know the answer to every question or that they drill them on the facts presented in the Baltimore Catechism like many of you went through in grade school, but it does mean that they make an effort to know the Faith and to live it faithfully. Part of our ministry is to help you do that. We will do our best to teach your children the truths of the Faith and to send them home with the information we discuss at each meeting (or at least we will post it on our blog), but we also invite you to come and be part of the meeting. If you have time, come on up and listen to what we have to say and participate in the discussions. Be with us throughout our retreats and be part of the small groups. Come with us as we introduce new prayer experiences to your teens. Most of all though, make time to discuss your faith with your children at home and make time for prayer with and for your children.
The second group we want to acknowledge as being important in the faith life of our teens is the parish in general. Without support and encouragement from the parish, the youth will be lost to our protestant peers who do all they can to welcome the young life of the parish with open arms. I encourage each person to personally invite young people to talk about their faith. Ask them what they get out of Mass or about the homily they just heard. Give them a sense of belonging in a Church that so often sees them as the future and not part of the present.
The youth we see each and every month are a blessing to us and to this parish and we want to help them to continue to bless all they meet with the Truth and Love of Jesus Christ through His Church. We are happy to share our faith with you.
The Hour of the Laity November 21, 2008
Posted by Wayne in Things to Think About.Tags: faith, laity, living Catholic, New World Order
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A statement from Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko has hit the Catholic News services carrying a challenging message to all the laity. The time to show the world that you are a Catholic Christian is now! Here is an excerpt from the story at LifeSiteNews.com.
Speaking of Christians today he said, “Our true problem is not being a minority, but rather having voluntarily become marginal, irrelevant, because of our lack of courage, so that we will be left alone, because of our mediocrity.” “For Christians,” Cardinal Rylko added, “the moment has arrived to free themselves from a false inferiority complex … to be valiant witnesses of Christ.”
This is, he said, the “hour of the laity,” to take on their “responsibility in the diverse fields of public life, from politics to the promotion of life and family, from work to the economy, from education to the formation of youth.”
You can find the same information at Zenit.org.
This article begs the question, “Is there enough evidence in your life to convict you as a Christian?”
Adeste Fidelis Laute Triumphantes! November 12, 2008
Posted by Wayne in Activities, Prayer, Things to Think About.Tags: advent, faith, retreat, virtues
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O Come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! This is the theme of our first ever Advent retreat that will be happening on December 13th and 14th from 6:00 PM-10:30 AM. We will start the night off with some games and icebreakers and lead into a night of reflection on what it means to identify oneself as a Faithful Catholic and what it looks like to live a life of a Faithful Catholic. We will explore the four Cardinal virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude as well as the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love. Then, we will introduce everyone to the awesome traditional devotion of Eucharistic Adoration. Every participant will get caught up to speed on the purpose and practice of Eucharistic Exposition and will then take their turn in spending time with Jesus who is truly present in the Eucharist. One might refer to it as “alone time with Jesus.” We have heard many other youth ministers talk to us about doing this and they all report that no participant has said anything but great things about this experience. Let me reassure you, it is not one to be missed! In addition to Eucharistic Adoration, the sacrament of Reconciliation will be available and we will all be attending Mass as a group. Throughout the retreat we will have games, snacks, free time, guest speakers, small group discussions, hands on activities and hopefully a totally new experience with God that will help you prepare your hearts for the coming of Christ at Christmas.
The cost of the retreat is $10 and covers the cost of event t-shirts and prayer booklets that everyone will receive and keep. The deadline to sign up is November 30th and we only have room for 30 participants, so sign up early to reserve a spot! You can sign up by leaving a comment (there is a comment link at the top of this post) or by calling Wayne or Marianne at 922-3822. I hope to see you there!
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!
Strengthening Family Bonds June 9, 2008
Posted by Wayne in Meetings, Things to Think About.Tags: 10 commandments, faith, family, video
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Last night, the youth group met once again and this time focused on the topic of Family. As summer is beginning, family vacations are fast approaching and the increased opportunity to spend time with our families is here. What does that mean? How can we take advantage of this? What part do we each have in making that time meaningful? We explored these questions and many others.
We began our discussion with a reading from the book of Deuteronomy which stated that God gave us the commandments that they might be passed down from father to son (and from mother to daughter) and so that those who follow these commandments might have a full and happy life. Notice the emphasis on how we are meant to learn these commandments, they might be passed down from father to son!! After the reading, we watched a short video of one man’s experience of this exact notion. It is in the family that we learn our faith and it is in our family that we must be great examples of how to live our faith. That is especially true for the parents of our youth group children, but it is also true of our youth group members as well!
After viewing this video we discussed what it means to be a family and what role we each play in that family at different times as we answered these 10 questions:
- How would you define a family? What makes a family a family?
- What does a family provide for you? What can you provide for your family?
- What are some of the great things about having a family? Benefits?
- What are things that are frustrating about families?
- What are some of the different roles that family members play? (Nurturer, provider, instigator, etc.)
- It seems like it is easy to define a parent’s role in the family. How would you define your role (as a son or daughter/brother or sister) in the family?
- Do you ever forget your role and try to take someone else’s? Example?
- What happens to the family when people do not do their part?
- What is one of your favorite things to do with your family or as a family?
- What is something you are going to try to do with your family to strengthen it? Discuss some ideas.
The responses I heard were awesome!! There is so much knowledge and wisdom and understanding in these teenagers and their yearning to be more connected to their family and their willingness to be active in building up the faith of their family was a real blessing to see! Thank you to all who were able to be with us last night!
Parents and youth group members, take some time to think about the 10 questions we came up with and share with each other your responses. Then make a commitment to do something as your response to question 10. (For example, last night I heard several people tell me they want to start going to Mass more often as a family; having dinner together as a family; finding time to pray together; making dinner together; having a family game night; etc.)
At the end of the meeting, we all formed a circle and with a ball of yarn, created a web as we all made a commitment to help our family grow closer together or deeper in Faith. This web became a symbol of the connectedness of each and every one of us to each other and to our families. When one person changes, the family is effected. When one person drops their commitment or fails to fulfill their role, it effects everyone in the family. The beauty and the grace as well as the awesome responsibilty that is being part of a family or a community or a parish is that we all are connected and we all support one another to be the best family member and person of Faith that we have been called to be by God who asks us daily to commit to 10 things (a.k.a. the 10 Commandments). Be willing to share your faith and pass it on!!
Forming a Catholic Army…well, sort of April 7, 2008
Posted by Wayne in Activities, Fundraising, Meetings, Things to Think About.Tags: apologetics, army, catholic life, faith, teaching, tshirts
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First, I want to start off this post with a great big THANK YOU to all the people who were able to help us at Biggs for our grocery bagging fundraiser! It was a huge success and we are looking forward to just as big of a success at our next one on April 26th from 11-6. Please sign up if you can help us.
Secondly, make sure to check out the Upcoming Events Page. There are a lot of great programs being offered by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Office of Youth Ministry that I highly recommend. Also, you’ll find information about our upcoming service outings, fundraisers, activities and meetings. We’ve got a lot of exciting ideas for the summer, but could always use more. If you have any suggestions on things to do this summer, please let us know.
Before getting to the details of last night’s meeting I wanted to direct you all to a couple of websites that sell Catholic apparel. Marianne and I thought it would be a good idea to purchase some of these as a possible fundraiser for the group. However, we’d like to get your opinion on the possible success of this idea first. Go to www.romanticcatholic.com, www.totally-catholic.com, www.agnusgiftshop.com and www.lztees.com and let me know what you think. Do you have a favorite? Also, while we’re talking about tshirts, ours are in!! Cassie’s dad was able to get them for us at no charge and Cassie dropped them off at the meeting last night!! So, if you ordered one or would like one, let us know or show up at the next youth group outing on April 20th to pick it up!
Last night we had our April meeting and set up the meeting a little differently. Here’s the bulk of our conversation:
Recently our Pope has been challenging Catholics to live out their faith. In order to do that, we need to know our faith. In an attempt to help all of us to better know our faith, we have decided that we need a Catholic “Order of the Phoenix” so to speak. We would like to make it a regular part of our meetings to present these tough questions that you may be asked about your faith, and find ways of answering them and thereby defending the faith.
Read over these questions and decide how you would defend your Faith in response to them. Then check out the answers that Marianne and I were able to come up with by using just the Catechism and the Bible (just two of the plethora of resources available to all Catholics). Make sure to make note of the “catch all” answer at the end.
1. Why is the Catholic Church so condemning? According to the Catholic Church, if I’m happy, I must be doing something wrong.
2. Why can’t I just confess my sins straight to God? He forgives me either way.
3. What makes a Catholic marriage so important? Isn’t it still sacred if you are married by a Justice of the Peace?
