Catholic Teens 11-28-06

Hey All—
What are the odds that creation came about “by chance” or apart from God?
Some people claim all life was created “by chance” through a bunch of chemicals and ingredients coming together “just perfectly.” This claim is hard to back up based on the odds alone. Take a look at this:
The “Odds of Life Created by Chance”
“The very simplest life form…would be comprised of 239 protein molecules, each of these containing an average of 445 amino acids of at least 20 different types and all 445 precisely slotted into position. The probability that such a simple creature would come together by chance (and none so simple has been found yet to exist) would be 1 x 10 to the 137,915 power. “Furthermore…each amino acid must first be activated by a specific enzyme, multiple special enzymes are required to bind messenger RNA to ribosomes before synthesis can begin or end, and with the exception of glycerine, only amino acids with left handed configurations can be used in protein synthesis. When you take all of these factors into account, the chance that a simple form of life could arise spontaneously by chance is: 1 x 10 to the 15,000,000,000 power.”-Hugh Ross, Genesis One: A Scientific Perspective, as cited in The Journal/ August 2006
-Put another way, the odds of everyone coming together so perfectly to create and sustain life “by chance” is equivalent to finding one needle in the middle of the solar system…that’s not a haystack, but the entirety of the whole solar system.

Question O' The Week:
“Can you become a Angel? And if you can how?”
-Nope. It’s a common mistake, incidentally, that traces its roots to the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. “Every time a bell rings….an angel gets its wings” at least according to Hollywood. J

Angels are purely spiritual beings. They are completely different from humans. In fact, they existed before God created Adam and Eve. The role of an angel is to be God’s messengers, help you and me get to Heaven, and do battle against the devil and the spiritual forces of evil.

Similarly, angels are not cute little things. They are imposing and powerful beings. In fact, whenever an angel appears in the Bible, the person generally responds in fear—because the angel is so powerful.

So while we don’t become angels, we should be glad they’re helping us on our way to Heaven! And we can thank them, both in our prayers now and in heaven—especially our guardian angel!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intentions:
-For our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, especially on his trip to Turkey.
-For the upcoming visit to St. John Vianney Seminary that Fr. Sakowski is leading this weekend for young men, as they discern if God is calling them to the priesthood.
-For Cheryl, a parishioner who has been having eye problems, along with a spot they found on her brain, which they haven’t diagnosed yet.
-For all the other intentions you hold in your hearts, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Announcements:

The Youth Group, Generation JPII:
The next meeting is Sunday night, December 3rd, 6-8PM. We’ll be making Christmas cards for our parishioners in the nursing homes. Mark your calendars!
Look for meetings to be held the 1st & 3rd Sunday of each month

God bless you!
Phil Lawson

For more information on St. Peters check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com

Catholic Teens is a weekly email from Phil Lawson to Catholic Teenagers. To receive these weekly reflections, send an email to lawsphil@gmail.com. On the other hand, if you’d like to be removed from this list, please send an email indicating that.

Catholic Teens 11-21-06

Hey All—

One of the beautiful truths of the Catholic Faith is how all of us are spiritually tied in together in Christ’s body. Hence, the prayers we offer for each other, whether they be local or global, do indeed make a difference. Pope Benedict will be going to Turkey next week on a pilgrimage for peace and dialog. Turkey is a majority Muslim country. As you can imagine there have been threats and rumors of violence. While we cannot be there physically with our Holy Father, we can be with him spiritually—praying for the success and safety of his trip.

One group, the Knights of Columbus are spearheading this effort. They have composed a prayer that anyone who wishes to support the Pope can say. My family and I will start saying it this Thanksgiving and continue through December 1st. I’d encourage you to do the same.

Here’s the prayer:
Spiritual Pilgrimage With Pope Benedict XVI
Prayer composed by Bishop William E. Lori, supreme chaplain, for the Spiritual Pilgrimage with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on his Nov. 28-Dec. 1 pastoral visit to Turkey.


Heavenly Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name, we humbly ask that you sustain, inspire, and protect your servant, Pope Benedict XVI, as he goes on pilgrimage to Turkey – a land to which St. Paul brought the Gospel of your Son; a land where once the Mother of your Son, the Seat of Wisdom, dwelt; a land where faith in your Son’s true divinity was definitively professed. Bless our Holy Father, who comes as a messenger of truth and love to all people of faith and good will dwelling in this land so rich in history. In the power of the Holy Spirit, may this visit of the Holy Father bring about deeper ties of understanding, cooperation, and peace among Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, and those who profess Islam. May the prayers and events of these historic days greatly contribute both to greater accord among those who worship you, the living and true God, and also to peace in our world so often torn apart by war and sectarian violence.
\n We also ask, O Heavenly Father, that you watch over and protect Pope \n Benedict and entrust him to the loving care of Mary, under the title of \n Our Lady of Fatima, a title cherished both by Catholics and Muslims. \n Through her prayers and maternal love, may Pope Benedict be kept safe from \n all harm as he prays, bears witness to the Gospel, and invites all peoples \n to a dialogue of faith, reason, and love. We make our prayer through \n Christ, our Lord. Amen.\n\n",0]
);
D(["ce"]);
//-->


We also ask, O Heavenly Father, that you watch over and protect Pope Benedict and entrust him to the loving care of Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Fatima, a title cherished both by Catholics and Muslims. Through her prayers and maternal love, may Pope Benedict be kept safe from all harm as he prays, bears witness to the Gospel, and invites all peoples to a dialogue of faith, reason, and love. We make our prayer through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Question O' The Week:
In honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I’d share some things to be “thankful for” in place of the regular “Question O’ The Week”. You’ll notice these very hopeful things in the Diocese all concern young people….your peers. Good things are happening! And perhaps you’ll partake in some of these activities next summer? J
Things to be thankful for:
-200 Middle and High Schoolers from the Diocese of La Crosse attended Adventure Camp this July.
-13 young men and women have entered the Seminary and Religious Life from Aquinas High School is four years!
-17 young women who have visited Mater Redemptoris Convent and House of Formation have entered Apostolic or Contemplative Religious Life since its beginning in August 2000.
-32,000 high school teens attended Steubenville Youth Conferences this summer throughout the country and our Diocese of La Crosse sponsored four different trips (St. Paul, St. Louis, San Diego, and Louisiana).
-4 Mission Trips were sponsored by the Diocese of La Crosse for youth to Peru, Mexico, Columbia, and Lourdes.
-Over 350 young girls have visited Mater Redemptoris Convent and House of Formation is six years.
-In the last four years, 4 seminarians from Holy Cross Seminary and House of Formation have gone on for studies to the priesthood.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intentions:
-For our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, especially on his trip to Turkey.
-That all may realize the source of all their blessings, and be truly thankful to God.
-For all the other intentions you hold in your hearts, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Announcements:

The Youth Group, Generation JPII:
The next meeting is Sunday night, December 3rd, 6-8PM. We’ll be making Christmas cards for our parishioners in the nursing homes. Mark your calendars!
Look for meetings to be held the 1st & 3rd Sunday of each month

God bless you!
Phil Lawson

For more information on St. Peters check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com

Catholic Teens is a weekly email from Phil Lawson to Catholic Teenagers. To receive these weekly reflections, send an email to lawsphil@gmail.com. On the other hand, if you’d like to be removed from this list, please send an email indicating that.

Catholic Teens 11-14-06

Hey All—

We celebrated Veteran’s Day this past Saturday. Further down you’ll see a heartwarming picture of one of our soldier’s in Iraq. To offer oneself in service of their country is a noble endeavor. And we should commend those men and women who risk their lives in defense of others. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” –John 15:13

A tough but heartwarming story and a picture of a medical Chief, John Gebhardt in Iraq. This little girl's entire family was executed...they intended to execute her also and shot her in the head...but they failed to kill her. She was cared for by John's hospital and healing up, but has been crying and moaning. The nurses said John is the only one she seems to calm down with, so John has spent the last 4 nights holding her while they both slept in this chair.
The girl is coming along with her healing.

As one priest said, “where there is love, sacrifice is easy.” And God bless our veterans and all those who serve America.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question O' The Week:
“Why do we say ‘God bless’ when someone sneezes?”
-I’ve heard 3 explanations for this.
1. That when you sneeze your heart stops for that moment, hence, “God bless you” is a good thing!
2. In times past, when diseases like the Bubonic Plague were ravaging the world, sneezing was a way of spreading the illness (which was deadly). Hence, “God bless you.”
3. Finally, one old legend was that evil spirits could enter into you when you sneezed because your eyes were closed and your mouth was open. (Yes, I’m serious.) To ward off these evil spirits, people would say “God bless you.”
-Feel free to correct me if you know of any other source for this tradition….either way, it’s a good thing and I’ll take all the “blessings” I can get!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intentions:
-For our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.
-For peace in the world and an end to terrorism.
-For all the other intentions you hold in your hearts, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Announcements:

The Youth Group, Generation JPII:.
The next meeting is Sunday night, November 19th 6-8PM. “Bring a Friend Night!” Mark your calendars!
Look for meetings to be held the 1st & 3rd Sunday of each month
God bless you!
Phil Lawson

For more information on St. Peters check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com

Catholic Teens is a weekly email from Phil Lawson to Catholic Teenagers. To receive these weekly reflections, send an email to lawsphil@gmail.com. On the other hand, if you’d like to be removed from this list, please send an email indicating that.

Catholic Teens 11-7-06

Hey All—

Today is the election and although most of you are not of voting age, you can still pray. Part of our role as Confirmed Catholics is to pray and work for “the kingdom of God.” And we do that in many ways, voting for the candidates who most respect the laws of God being near the top.

Now the Church does not endorse specific candidates. It does however speak out on the things that concern God, society, and morality. This year, there have been several issues where the Church has been especially vocal, abortion, embryonic stem cell research, the death penalty and same-sex marriage. The Church’s teachings on all these are pretty clear.

Abortion is a bad thing. Embryonic stem cell research, which kills life at its earliest stages for research is a bad thing. The death penalty, especially in the US, is a bad thing. And same-sex marriage is a bad thing. There are long articles explaining each of these things so I won’t go into them here. The point is, this is what the Church is supposed to do…it’s why God gave the Church to us—to help defend life and morality, leading people closer to God.

A sad thing happened in Madison this past weekend. Bishop Morlino, awesome bishop with a background in science, had a tape played at each of the parishes of his diocese…explaining what the Church taught on the above issues---especially the death penalty and same-sex marriage. I was reading about one parish where people walked out because of the tape.

On the one hand that’s sad. These aren’t new teachings of the Church that Jesus founded. I hope that wasn’t the first time they heard those things. On the other hand, especially given that some of the teachings of the Church aren’t easy to follow----one thinks back to Jesus’ time. The same thing happened to Him. Read John 6---especially verse 66. Many then could not accept his teaching and walked away. Some things unfortunately never change. And so we pray….
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question O' The Week:
“What do priests do all day besides praying?”

-A lot! When I first came to St. Peter’s 6 years ago, I lived at the Rectory with 3 priests and an occasional seminarian. I spent a year living here so I got to see the priests’ lives pretty closely. Often times I hardly ever saw the priests because they were always on the go!

With apologies to Fr. Louis and other priests who could give a much better explanation, I’ll give you an overview.

They celebrate Mass (every day). They pray the Liturgy of the Hours (which many of you have prayed on your retreat weekends). They meet with people in all sorts of situations—some preparing for marriage—some wanting to become Catholic—some preparing for Baptism—they celebrate Funeral Masses—they take part in meetings that concern the parish and school---they meet with people who are going through difficult circumstances, offering their wise counsel and prayers---they do “spiritual direction” helping people to see God’s purpose for their lives and grow deeper in Faith---they hear confessions—they teach classes—and they even find some time to eat!

A priest’s life is not an easy one, but you talk to them, and they’ll say it’s completely worth it! It’s also not boring!

One thing we should always do is remember to pray for our priests. They do great work, but they need our prayers and support!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intentions:
-For today’s election, that God’s Will be done.
-For our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.
-For peace in the world and an end to terrorism.
-For all the other intentions you hold in your hearts, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Announcements:

The Youth Group, Generation JPII:.
The next meeting is Sunday night, November 19th 6-8PM. “Bring a Friend Night!” Mark your calendars!
Look for meetings to be held the 1st & 3rd Sunday of each month
God bless you!
Phil Lawson

For more information on St. Peters check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com

Catholic Teens is a weekly email from Phil Lawson to Catholic Teenagers. To receive these weekly reflections, send an email to lawsphil@gmail.com. On the other hand, if you’d like to be removed from this list, please send an email indicating that.