Catholic Teens

Hey All,

It's been a great week and a half. Little William and his mother are doing great (in spite of Dad's efforts at cooking for them :-) ).

We took advantage of the nice weather and William went on his first stroller ride Sunday. It's hard to describe just how blessed we feel these days.
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Question O' The Week:

"What is the difference between the Lutheran and Catholic Mass?"


Good question. To start off with, most Lutherans would be upset if you called their service "Mass." Mass is a Catholic thing. Beyond that, what is the difference between what Catholics and Lutherans do each Sunday?

The general Lutheran service contains readings from the Scriptures, prayers, and Communion..altho some only do communion once a month or every other week.

One of the biggest differences is in Communion. Lutherans believe in "consubstantiation"--that is the bread and wine for communion stay bread and wine and become Christ. In other words both Christ and the bread/wine are still there.

Catholics on the other hand, believe in "transubstantiation"--the bread and wine become fully the Body and Blood of Christ. That Christ alone is present in the what was formerly just bread and wine.

It may not sound like a lot on the surface, but it has all sorts of ramifications. Because Christ is present in the Eucharist, we reserve the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle at the front of Church with a red vigil light to signify Him. That's why we genuflect when we come in to the Church. It's also why we have such reverence for the Eucharist at Communion, and why non-Catholics, who don't believe in the Eucharist, can't receive Communion.

One more point before this gets too long. Catholics hold this truth because this is what is taught in the Bible (Jn 6 especially) and what has been held to be true for the past 2000 years. Lutherans, which started in 1517 by Martin Luther, only have the Bible..and don't have that history.

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Prayer requests:
I'd like to start a new section for prayer requests. If you have anything or anyone you'd like to pray for, email them to me and I'll add them to the list here. (You can remain anonymous if you like).

-For a childhood friend of mine who recently attempted suicide..and for his family.
-For those who are trying to live without Christ, for all Protestants, for Catholics who do not live Catholic lives, and for those who do not believe in God
-For an end to abortion, contraception, and euthanasia, and a renewed respect for the sanctity, dignity, and holiness of all life
-For an end to Homosexuality and every kind of impurity, and for those who commit them
- i would like you add my friend, she is going through some tough times in her life and doesn't always make good choices. so i pray the God will give her guidence to help her to make the choices, that i am sure in the back of her head, she knowsis right.

--For all these we pray to the Lord,
Lord here our prayer.

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Announcements: Next Youth Group is Sunday, April 2nd! 6-8PM @ St. Peters.

God bless you!
Phil Lawson

Catholic Teens--New Baby Edition--March 21st

At 3:34AM, Sunday, March 19th, Feast of St. Joseph, heaven opened and gave us a gift.
William Athanasius Lawson
7 pounds 4 oz
20 3/4 inches long
Full head of hair.

As Patty stated last night, "I think this is the best day of my life." Amen.

Praise God for such an incredible and utterly amazing gift. So beautiful, so precious, so vulnerable, so awesome.

Thank you for all of your prayers and kind words. The labor went incredibly quickly...although hardly painlessly. 1 and a half hours after we arrived at the hospital baby emerged.

God bless,
Phil, Patty & William

Catholic Teens

Hey All,
Had a 3 year old in my office this morning. Getting a little early practice in childcare with Baby Lawson due to arrive in 2 weeks. :-)


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Question O' The Week:

"Do you think the Holy Grail is Christ's Bloodline or an actual cup?"

Sound's like somebody has been reading the DaVinci Code. The book is fiction and advertised as such. Nonetheless, it's amazing how many end up thinking it's true. A group of historians actually went through the book and documented all the historical errors that it contains.

Getting back to the actual question. The Holy Grail can't be Christ's bloodline. If Jesus never got married, how would his bloodline have been passed on? Some may ask, "what if Christ was married and we didn't know about it?" Think about that. Jesus had many enemies, and they were looking for everything they could to criticize him or end his work. Yet, they never mention Jesus being married or anything even remotely close to that idea. He was celibate his entire life.

The Holy Grail is "the legendary cup identified with the chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper from which the Apostles received the Precious Blood." (Modern Catholic Dictionary)
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Prayer requests:
I'd like to start a new section for prayer requests. If you have anything or anyone you'd like to pray for, email them to me and I'll add them to the list here. (You can remain anonymous if you like).

-For peace in the world, especially where there is so much war and violence. We pray to the Lord.


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Announcements: Next Youth Group is Sunday, April 2nd! 6-8PM @ St. Peter's.

God bless you!

Phil Lawson

Catholic Teens

Hey All--

What a weekend! 33 young adults came together for our 3rd Annual College-Age retreat. We had representatives from UW-Milwaukee, UW-LaCrosse, UW-Madison, UW-Stevens Point, as well as numerous other places. It's exciting to see so many people come together for the same reason, God and the Faith. Of course, we also had an awesome football game in the snow and real nice weather for tubing :-)

It's quite a bit different then most of your Confirmation retreats---everyone actually wanted to be there. People actually volunteered to get up in the middle of the night for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and people wanted to go to Confession.

Embracing all of the above is the goal for the Christian...to seek Christ with your whole heart. So that, religion isn't viewed as a burden, but as a relationship of love to God the Father, who indeed desires Communion with each and every one of us.

We talked about vocations a lot, and I have no doubt that there will be holy marriages, holy priests, and holy sisters coming out of that retreat. (We already had one couple meet there who is now engaged!)


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Question O' The Week:
"What does marriage mean to you?"


Patty and I actually gave a short talk on our marriage this weekend. Marriage is my vocation. In my marriage, I serve God. In serving my wife, I serve God. In raising my family(21 more days till the due date!) I serve God. So in a very real sense, marriage is my ticket to heaven, as long as I am faithful to my responsibilities.

For me, marriage is absolutely amazing. Granted, I've only been married 9 months, but it's been an incredible blessing, and it's hard to imagine being any happier. :-)

When you find your vocation, peace is what you find and joy is what follows. And even though it won't always be happy times, you know that you are where God wants you to be and that He gives you the Grace to persevere.


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Prayer requests:
I'd like to start a new section for prayer requests. If you have anything or anyone you'd like to pray for, email them to me and I'll add them to the list here. (You can remain anonymous if you like).

-That all may realize that God is calling them to a specific vocation and that they may find it. We pray to the Lord.




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Announcements: Next Youth Group is Sunday, March 12! 6-8PM @ St. Peter's. Your's truly is leading it. We're going to have a DTS night for everyone. (DTS is our college age group that meets every Thursday). We'll have our meeting in the "Catacombs of St. Peter's" and talk about the saints. I'm looking forward to it :-)

God bless you!
Phil Lawson