Catholic Teens 1-9-07

Hey All—
We are called to proclaim the Good News of Christ everywhere. That’s Jesus’ command (see Matthew 28:19-20). Today there are more ways then ever before to spread that message. The internet is one of those forums for spreading the Good News. Check out the Vatican website sometime www.vatican.va It’s one of the best sites out there. It’s also one of the more popular ones on the internet.
The next frontier is “blogging.” And we now have our first Cardinal with his own blog. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, archbishop of Boston has launched his own blog. In it he shares reflections, stories and commentary. Yet another way for him, as a shepherd, to connect with his flock and help spread the Good News.
I had to smile when I saw this posting of his. It’s a true story from when he was a younger priest:
As I mentioned before, I was a prison chaplain for two years in the 1960s in Butler County, Pennsylvania. I always tell the story about giving my first sermon in prison. I was very nervous and searching for a topic when I had this inspiration of great escapes in the Bible. So I talked about Daniel in the lion’s den, the three lads in the furnace, St. Paul going over the wall in the basket and St. Peter in chains. I had their rapt attention, but the problem was, that night six prisoners escaped from the prison. I thought my first prison assignment was going to be my last!
http://www.cardinalseansblog.org/
Question O' The Week:

“How do we know if everything is true?”
That’s an age old question. Recall that even Pontius Pilate asked Jesus that same thing, “What is truth?” Well Jesus answered it “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light.” But how do you “know”? You look at the evidence. You look at the history. You look at what the teachings are. You look to what people you trust have to say. As one of my favorite professors used to say, “God gave you a brain, use it.” J

The beautiful thing about Christianity is that it makes sense. You can look at the history and discover that it really happened. You can look at the “experts” (the saints) and learn from them. If Christianity were not True, do you think Mother Teresa would’ve been so amazing? Everything she did was based on her faith. Unlike a lot of religions, Christianity puts forth everything it teaches and invites people to look at it, study it, critique it, and then act accordingly. And in the end, billions have found it to be True.

Many, many, many books have been written to answer the question you ask. To name a few, CS Lewis wrote “Mere Christianity” as an explanation regarding the truth of Christ. St. Augustine’s “Confessions” details his own discovery of the Faith. “The Case for Christ” details the story of a reporter who was an atheist. He decided to study the history behind Christianity from a journalist’s perspective. In the end he discovered it was true and converted to Christianity. Another book out there is “Rocked by God,” which came out of the Steubenville Conferences. That one is more geared specifically to teens. And of course, there is the popular book by Matthew Pinto, “Did Adam & Eve Have Belly Buttons” which answers all sorts of questions from teens.
Christianity is true, but don’t take my word for it—look at the evidence…after all, “God gave you a brain, use it.” J

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intentions:
-For “Aunt Irene” who just had surgery this week, we pray to the Lord.
-For a couple starting the process of divorce that they may find healing, we pray to the Lord.
-For all the other intentions you hold in your hearts, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.



Announcements:

Fr. John Amsberry from Oregon will be coming Tuesday, February 13th to St. Mary’s of Mount Carmel Church in Fancher. 6:00-9:00PM All students grades 7-12 are invited. There will be music, food, and Fr. John’s presentation. Fr. John is a graduate of Stuebenville and even spoke at the Stuebenville Conference in San Diego this past summer. Some of you may remember him from when he came to St. Bronislava a few years ago.

He takes as his motto this quote from St. Therese of Lisieux “After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses. I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. My mission is to make God loved…”
Check out his website at www.uareloved.com

Even more cool, is that a teenager, Samantha, is coordinating this event. Check it out!


The Youth Group, Generation JPII:
-The next meeting will likely be at the end of January. Stay Tuned!



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 1-16-07

Hey All—
Next Monday is the 34th tragic anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion (Roe v. Wade). In recent years we have looked down our noses, aghast at how little, people (Catholics especially) appeared to do to prevent the Holocaust. “How could so many sit by idly amidst such horror?” “Why didn’t they do something?” we wonder. Remember Hitler was democratically elected. You already know where I’m going with this….
When the abortion holocaust has ended, history will also judge us by asking “what did you do to prevent such atrocities?”
Even more profound is what awaits us on Judgment Day when we come face to face with God to give an account of our own life. And when He asks, what did you do to prevent the killing of the most innocent in the womb? What did you do to help mothers in such difficult circumstances that they’d even consider an abortion? What did you do to vote into office those who would help make abortion illegal again? And how will we respond? There is no excuse for doing nothing. There are houses, (Hannah House) to help mothers in difficult circumstances. Do you support them? St. Peter’s Family Life Committee has set up a Spiritual Adoption prayer effort that lasts 9 months. Did you take advantage of that? This Monday there is a day of prayer at St. Peter’s for an end to this tragedy. Will you come? 3 busses from the Diocese of LaCrosse are taking young people to Washington D.C. for the National March for Life. Did you support them? When the time comes to give an accounting. how will you respond?
This year there are 3 busses of teenagers from our own Diocese who will be making the trip to Washington for the National March for Life. (A few years ago, there were only a handful of us. Let us pray for them, for their efforts, and join them spiritually in overcoming today’s holocaust.

Question O' The Week:

Abortion
Would you consider abortion in the following situations?

1. There’s a preacher and wife who are very, very, poor. They already have 14 kids. Now she finds out she’s pregnant with her 15th. They’re living in tremendous poverty. Considering their poverty, and the excessive world population (editorial note: overpopulation has now been shown to be false), would you consider recommending she get an abortion?

2. The father is sick with sniffles, the mother has TB. They have 4 children. The 1st is blind, the 2nd is dead; the 3rd is deaf; the 4th has TB. She finds she’s pregnant again. Given the extreme situation, would you consider recommending an abortion?

3. A white man raped a 13 year-old black girl and she got pregnant. If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion?

4. A teenage girl is pregnant. She’s not married. Her finace’ is not the father of the baby and he’s very upset. Would you consider recommending abortion?

-In the first case, you have just killed John Wesley, one of the great evangelists of the 19th century.

-In the second case, you have killed Beethoven.

-In the third case, you have killed Ethel Waters, the great black gospel singer.

-If you said “yes” in the fourth case, you have just declared the murder of Jesus Christ!

-Author Unknown


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intentions:
-For the Kluck family and the husband who may have cancer again, we pray to the Lord.
-For all those traveling to Washington for the March for Life, especially our own Fr. Sakowski, Danny, Arturo, & Jennifer, we pray to the Lord.
-For an end to the horror of abortion, we pray to the Lord.
-For all those considering an abortion, that they may choose Life and get the help they need., we pray to the Lord.
-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 scheduled for Sunday, February 4th—Watching the Super Bowl on the big screen in Kolbe Hall!

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 tha

Catholic Teens 1-2-07

Hey All—
Mary is sometimes referred to as “the new Eve”. Meaning that she was the one who “fixed” Eve’s sin. Recall that it was Eve that helped bring original sin into the world, through eating the forbidden fruit. “The knot of Eve’s disobedience, was untied by the “Yes” of Mary’s obedience.” So what would it be like if Eve came to Mary? Take a look at this beautiful reflection::
When Eve came to Bethlehem
Little is written of Eve, other than two references to her in the book of Genesis and two in the New Testament.
Few think of her at Christmas, when Mary takes center stage next to Jesus.
Recently,I came across a beautiful story about Eve in the January '07 issue of First Things journal.
It was written by two French authors, Jerome Tharaud and Jean Tharaud, and is included in the book "Contes de Noel" (Seuil, 1997).
As Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, perhaps this story will deepen your appreciation of what the incarnation reveals, all the way back to the beginning:
"It was Bethlehem, the end of a long night. The star had just disappeared, and the last pilgrim had left the stable. The Virgin arranged the straw: at last the Child could sleep. But who can sleep the night of Christmas?
"Gently the door opens, so gently that it seems more like the wind was pushing it than a hand. A woman appears on the threshold, covered with rags. She was so old and wrinkled that you would have thought her mouth was one more deep wrinkle in a face the color of dirt.
"A fearful chill came over Mary when she saw her, as if a malicious fairy had come into the room. Fortunately Jesus was asleep. The ass and ox placidly continued munching their hay, as if there was nothing unusual, as if they had known her forever.
"The Virgin didn't take her eyes off her. The woman walked slowly, each step seeming to take centuries. She continued, the old woman, and approached the manger. Thank God, Jesus was still sleeping. How can one sleep on Christmas night?
"Suddenly he opened his eyelids. His mother was completely astonished to see that the eyes of the old woman and his eyes were exactly the same, they both shone with the same hope. The old woman sank down on the straw. One hand disappeared into her rags, looking for something, taking ages to find it.
"Mary watched her closely, still concerned. The animals watched her, too, but always without surprise, as if they knew beforehand what was going to happen.
"Finally, after a long time, slowly, tiredly, the old woman pulls out of her clothes a little object hidden in her hand, and she gives it to the child. All the treasures of the Wise Men and the offerings of the Shepherds, what could this be?
"From where she was, Mary could not tell. She saw only the shoulders bowed down, the woman's back, bent over from age, now bent over even more before the crib, and the Child within it. The ox and ass watched, and were not amazed.
"The woman stayed bowed before the Child a long time. Finally she arose, as if relieved from a great weight which had dragged her to the ground. Her shoulders were no longer bowed down, her head almost touched the low roof, her face seemed miraculously renewed, as if she was finding once more the vigor of her youth.
"She turned from the crib, smiled at Mary, and went out through the door into the dawning day. Finally Mary could see the mysterious present.
"An apple, a little apple, having within it all the sin of the world, given to the baby Jesus by Eve, for it was her, the old woman, who had come to worship the Child born of her blood, who would save her from her sins. The apple of the original sin, and the sin of so many who would follow her.
"And the little red apple shone in the hands of the Child, as if it were the globe of the kingdom and of the new world which had just been born with the King."
Reprinted by Tom Schaefer at 316-268-6586 at the Kansas City Eagle


Question O' The Week:

Time for some more questions….feel free to send them in!

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

Intentions:
-For one of our teen’s grandparent who died last week, we pray to the Lord.
-For peace in this new year, we pray to the Lord.
-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 will be in January. Have a blessed Christmas!

Note: There will be no Catholic Teens next week. Have a blessed Christmas!

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.