My Marriage Wasn't Meant to Be

This is an excerpt from a blog by Matt Walsh on TheBlaze.com. It's not meant to endorse any political views from the site.

"I didn’t marry my wife because she’s *The One*, she’s The One because I married her. Until we were married, she was one, I was one, and we were both one of many. I didn’t marry The One, I married this one, and the two of us became one. I didn’t marry her because I was “meant to be with her,” I married her because that was my choice, and it was her choice, and the Sacrament of marriage is that choice. I married her because I love her — I chose to love her — and I chose to live the rest of my life in service to her. We were not following a script, we chose to write our own, and it’s a story that contains more love and happiness than any romantic fable ever conjured up by Hollywood."

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ICYC 2015: Consumed

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First Communion and Confirmation Worksheets Posted

Have you missed a couple of OLV Teen Nights? Do you need to make up for your absences? There are now worksheets available on this blog for teens preparing to receive the Sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation. Look at the right column for the links, print the worksheet, complete it with the help of your book, and return it at the registration table during the next OLV Teen Night. Questions? Contact Daniel at dmiller at olvcaldwell.org or 208-459-3653, ext. 3009.

How Great We Aren't: The Catholic Church in America Today

 

By Eric Sammons, OnePeterFive.com

Those who follow baseball know that the past decade has seen what is called the “Moneyball” revolution in how players are evaluated. In the past, players were gauged using popular, preconceived narratives: Who knocks in the most runs? Who gets the most hits? However, it has been shown in recent years that these questions are not actually predictive of which players truly help their teams win games. For years the experts were analyzing the situation with a preconceived narrative in place, and were therefore prone to ignore the data that didn’t jibe with that narrative. Now, however, new advanced statistical tools have been deployed to discover exactly how much each player contributes to team wins. Moneyball advocates stress that the correct data, looked at dispassionately, is the best way to analyze a situation and come to accurate conclusions.

Nowhere is a preconceived narrative more entrenched than in the Catholic Church in America today. Imagine your own Catholic parish. Can you think of any time that the pastor got up and said, “Listen, things are not good – the school is failing to educate kids in the Faith, people are leaving in droves, and no one believes Catholic doctrine anymore”? Of course not; usually we are told how great the school is, how great the parish is and that we are great, great, great – surely one day we will reword the classic hymn to “How Great We Art”. The message is that we should just keep doing everything as we have done it for the past generation: catechesis, marriage preparation, liturgy, and so on.

But will an objective look at the numbers show that everything is in fact fine? In recent years several studies have been conducted that give an in-depth look at the practices (and non-practices) of Catholics in America.

A major study done by Pew Research in 2009 found that over 30% of Americans who were raised Catholic no longer consider themselves Catholic. This is a well-known figure, but what about those who do still self-identify as Catholic? These are the people who still have some attachment to the Church, at least enough to call themselves “Catholic.” According to one study, less than 30% of them attend Mass once a week, and according to another study, only 25% go to Confession at least once a year. Furthermore, only 62% of those who attend Mass weekly also go to Confession at least once a year.

Putting all these numbers together, we find that less than 10% of baptized Catholics in this country both attend Mass on Sundays and go to Confession at least once a year. In other words, less than 1 in 10 baptized Catholics actually follow the two most measurable precepts of the Church, which all Catholics are obliged to follow.

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Co-author Your Life with God

We are freshly into the Year for Consecrated Life. Now is the optimum time to consider your life story. What are you going to do? Who are you going to be? Where will you go? How will you serve the Lord and people? How can the Church help?

As we live we constantly discern, much of the time subconsciously. Why not live with more passion and purpose? Start thinking about your direction in life today. While you're at it, consider visiting this blog to aid your discernment. It's a great way to start thinking, start praying, and start inviting God into your decisions. We are co-authors in the story of our lives, and God never impinges upon our freedom. Yet we are best off when we give ourselves to the Lord's plans and not our own. Are you becoming the best version of yourself?

December Parent Newsletter

For any parents that missed it and anyone interested, here is our December Parent Newsletter, which you can always find under the Newsletters page on this blog. Happy Advent and Christmas to you and your loved ones. Oh come let us adore Him!

To subscribe to the parent newsletter by email, click here.

Click here for our December Parent Newsletter.

How to have a conversation with Christ

You do not have to be clever to please Me; all you have to do is want to love Me. Just speak to Me as you would to anyone of whom you are very fond.

Are there any people you want to pray for? Say their names to Me, and ask of Me as much as you like. I know all their needs, but I want you to show your love for them and Me by trusting Me to do what I know is best.

Tell Me about the poor, the sick, and the sinners, and if you have lost the friendship or affection of anyone tell Me about that too.

Is there anything you want for your soul? If you like, you can write out a long list of all your needs, and come and read it to Me. Tell Me of the things you feel guilty about I will forgive you, if you will accept My forgiveness.

Just tell Me about your pride, your touchiness, your self-centeredness. I still love you in spite of these. Do not be ashamed; there are many saints in Heaven who had the same faults as you; they prayed to Me and little by little their faults were corrected. Do not hesitate to ask Me for blessings for the body and mind; for health, memory, success. I can give everything needed to make souls holier for those who truly want it.

What is it you want today? Tell Me, for I long to do you good. What are your plans? Tell Me about them. Is there anyone you want to please? What do you want to do for them?

Are you afraid of anything? Have you any tormenting, unreasonable fears? Trust yourself to Me. I am here. I see everything. I will not leave you.

Have you no joys to tell Me about? Why do you not share your happiness with Me? Tell Me what has happened since yesterday to cheer and comfort you. Whatever it was, however big or small, I prepared it. Show Me your gratitude and thank Me.

Are temptations bearing heavily upon you? Yielding to temptations always disturbs the peace of your soul Ask Me, and I will help you overcome them.

Well, go along now. Get on with your work or play or other interests. Try to be quieter, humbler, kinder; and come back soon and bring me a more loving heart. Tomorrow I shall have more blessings for you.

Author unknown

50 Ways to Strengthen Ministry with Youth

This list comes from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. Read it in its original form here.

1. Appreciate and validate youth as persons of sacred worth with legitimate spiritual needs and responses.
2. Understand young persons as participants in ministry, not objects of ministry.
3. Shake off stereotypes of youth as irreligious, rebellious and difficult.
4. Don’t make young people be like you before they can be like Jesus.
5. Don’t guess at young people’s needs. Solicit input and feedback from teens themselves, not just parents and adults leaders. Invite them to suggest ways the church can help them grow in faith.
6. Appreciate that youth ministry is more than youth group. Encourage youth to be involved in all aspects of church life.
7. Advocate for youth.
8. Know that parental influence is the primary factor determining the religious commitment of youth, even for older teens.
9. Support faith formation in the parents of youth. Getting parents involved and serious about their own faith is the best way to get youth involved and serious.
10. Start a study group for parents of teens aimed at helping them understand how to nurture their teenagers’ spirituality.
11. Provide resources for practicing and discussing faith at home — for praying together as a family, for observing Christian holidays, and conversing about faith issues.
12. Consider an intergenerational format for Christian education that has youth and parents study together.
13. Provide support groups and resources on family concerns and child-raising issues.
14. Teach parents the importance of just hanging out with their kids.
15. Ask if your youth Sunday School curriculum is seriously addressing the questions kids are really asking.
16. Honestly address issues related to sexuality. Offer a first-rate program on human sexuality to which parents would want to send their kids.
17. Recognize that discussion and conversation are essential to faith formation.
18. Use current events as discussion topics.
19. Give teens permission to ask questions and talk about their doubts.
20. Empower youth to rewrite hymns and prayers in ways that are meaningful to them.
21. Get acquainted with the music kids spend their time listening to. Help youth make connections between their music and faith. Allow them to find their voice and worship God in their own musical languages and styles.
22. Articulate the basic tenets of the faith clearly and often.
23. Emphasize experience-centered learning. Faith must be experienced before it can be articulated. Experience is often more important than information about faith.
24. Provide training in spiritual disciplines — prayer, Scripture reading, acts of mercy. Emphasize the practices of faith.
25. Integrate “service learning” into Christian education to teach discipleship. Involve youth in planning and leading mission activities.
26. Recruit adult leaders for youth activities who are knowledgeable, committed, spiritually mature, and effective in communicating with young people. Don’t assume that a young adult is necessarily best suited for the job.
27. Provide training for youth teachers and leaders, especially on discussion and listening skills.
28. Perform required background checks for volunteers and staff working with youth. Implement policies and procedures to prevent child abuse.
29. Invest in youth ministry. A meaningful commitment to reach youth must be reflected in your budget and staffing decisions and the commitment of the pastor’s time.
30. Give youth meaningful and visible roles as worship participants.
31. Make youth worship experience-based. The elements of worship should all connect to a central message that causes the worshiper to make a connection with God.
32. Use popular songs, movie clips, or poems to connect the message with the broader culture.
33. Have youth write their own liturgies and prayers.
34. Youth ministry is about relationships. Relationships are more important than programs. Young persons are seeking a sense of belonging.
35. Strive to integrate youth into the church as a whole. Youth programs should equip and empower youth as congregational participants, not isolate or “ghettoize” them.
36. Be present for kids. Listen.
37. Kids need and value stability, routines, and ritual, even if they don’t act like it.
38. Combat cliquishness. Reinforce inclusiveness and acceptance of peers.
39. Build group cohesiveness with retreats and mission trips providing opportunities for sustained interaction.
40. Build a sense of accomplishment among young persons with challenging music, drama, or service activities. The ability to develop “competence” is one of the hooks connecting kids to church.
41. Give youth real responsibilities.
42. Extend leadership opportunities to as many youth as possible. Give them an active role in the leadership and decision making of the church.
43. Start a youth-led worship service.
44. Be consistent with your meeting times and place. Meeting at the church is often preferable to meeting in different homes because it is a well-known location and “neutral” territory.
45. Divide junior high and senior high youth if possible. Older teens will tend to fall way from groups with many younger kids.
46. Involve the youth in planning all their activities.
47. Balance recreation, study, devotion and fellowship.
48. Schedule a “big event” every month to make it easy for youth to invite their friends.
49. Enlist parents as allies. Their support is critical.
50. Have clear policies about behavioral boundaries and discipline.

Advent in Two Minutes

Welcome to Advent! It's an exciting time in the Church calendar as we eagerly await the coming of Christ. What are you doing to prepare for Christmas and the Incarnation this year? Do you have two minutes to get primed for the season with this video?

 

Hallelujah

Some spice to an old favorite for the beauty of the Advent season leading to the Incarnation of Christ on Dec. 25. Oh come let us adore Him.