Catholic Teens 7-24-07

Hey All—
Hundreds of young people from our area and diocese just returned from the Steubenville Youth Conference held in Denver, CO. Many returned, having been changed. For many of the students, they were able to encounter Christ in the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit in a very profound and personal way. And having encountered God in a very personal way, they are now changed.
I wish every young person could at least experience one conference like this. The fruits are immesurable. Indeed, many, many vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life are springing forth from such events.
With Steubenville’s emphasis on the Holy Spirit—it dovetails nicely with something Pope Benedict recently said to young people preparing for World Youth Day next summer:
Pope Calls Holy Spirit the "Great Unknown"
Invites Youth to Meditate on His Role in SalvationVATICAN CITY, JULY 23, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's message for World Youth Day 2008 presents the Holy Spirit to young people and the world as the "great unknown."The Pope's message is a reflection on the theme he chose for the event to be held in Sydney, Australia, next July: "You Will Receive Power When the Holy Spirit Has Come Upon You; and You Will Be My Witnesses.""The common thread of the spiritual preparation for the appointment in Sydney is the Holy Spirit and mission," explains the papal message, published in Italian and French by the Vatican press office. Translations into other languages are forthcoming.The message continues: "Therefore it is important that each one of you young people, in your communities and with your educators, reflect on this protagonist in the history of salvation which is the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Jesus."There are many Christians for whom he remains the 'great unknown.'"3 goalsThe Holy Father presents three objectives to the young people, both those who will be in Sydney and those who are unable to attend.He invites them to "recognize the true identity of the Spirit by listening to God's word in the revelation of the Bible."He suggests they "learn about his continuous and active presence in the life of the Church, in particular rediscovering that the Holy Spirit is the 'soul,' the life-giving breath of the Christian life, thanks to the Christian sacraments of initiation -- baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist."Finally, he exhorts them to "deepen their understanding of Jesus and at the same time to implement the Gospel at the dawn of the third millennium."The Pontiff says that preparation for Sydney should be an opportunity to "verify the quality of our faith in the Holy Spirit, to find it again if we have lost it, strengthen it if it is weakened, to savor it as a companion to our faith in the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ."He added: "Never forget that the Church, rather, all of humanity, all that which surrounds you and what awaits you in the future, expects much from you, young people, because you have in you the supreme gift of the Father, the Spirit of Jesus."


Many of you have been confirmed and have received the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Strive to grow closer to Him---strive to realize His Presence in the world---strive to do as He seeks—and both your life, and the world, will be changed.


==================================================Intentions:

-For our Vacation Bible School this week.
-For those who just returned from Steubenville—that they may continue to grow closer to Christ in their daily lives.
-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:

World Youth Day 2008- destination: Sydney! The WYD cross has reached Australia and is ONE year away from being joined by thousands of youth 16-36 years old. There is still time to sign up for this amazing opportunity. If interested, contact Megan Moss, youth minister for St. Bartholomew, St. Joseph & St. Stephen parishes now! 341-1617x113 or meganmoss@togetherinfaith.org.


The Youth Group, Generation JPII: Watch for summer announcements!



*********Note: The next edition of Catholic Teens will come out at the end of August. Have a blessed rest of the summer!
*************************************************************************************

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 7-17-07

Hey All—

I found this article by Christopher West. You may have heard of him, he frequently writes about JPII’s Theology of the Body. Sometimes it’s interesting to see what lessons can be learned from popular culture. He takes the latest Spiderman movie and does just that:


Lessons from Spiderman 3
I took my two older boys to see Spiderman 3 this past weekend. Watching all that jam-packed action had the same effect on them as would a 2-liter bottle of Coke. After their “sugar-high” subsided and they could actually speak, we had some great father-son chats about the movie’s many moral lessons.
I’ve been milking the moral lessons from Spiderman 2 for almost three years now. Doc Oc, the eight-armed supervillain from that installment, was an image of the passions gone wild. When our passions are out of control, humanity – as the movie memorably demonstrated – is on a train bound for destruction. Only Spiderman, here a Christ-figure sacrificing himself in cruciform, can save us.
Now with the release of Spidey 3, I’ve got lots of new material to draw from with my kids. It’s a multi-layered morality tale. One of the main questions this movie addresses is what do we do with the hurt we feel when other people cause us pain? “Revenge,” Aunt May tells Peter, “is like a poison. Before you know it, it can turn you into something ugly.” And it does. When the man who murdered Peter’s uncle escapes from prison, Peter chooses revenge and Spidey’s alter ego emerges, overtaken by black-alien-parasitic goo. These nasty symbiotes, Peter learns from his college professor, bind to their host, and “when they bind, they can be hard to unbind.” Uhuh.
It is very rare to see lust portrayed as something evil in a Hollywood movie. But here, Peter Parker’s lusty prance down main street is a clear indication that he is no longer “your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.” His respect for women has gone out the window. Peter only wises up when he sees how he has wounded his beloved Mary Jane. “I hurt her, Aunt May. I don’t know what to do.” “You start by doing the hardest thing,” she says. “You forgive yourself.”
Peter, in a fit of merciless rage, had already told a fellow-photographer who had cheated him out of a job at the Daily Bugle, “You want forgiveness? Get religion.” It was a sign of things to come. Where does Peter go to do battle with that diabolic goop that had overtaken him? To a church – a Catholic church. The cross atop the spire offers Spidey – and the audience – hope. In a grand image of what battling with sin often feels like, Parker breaks free from his oppression with the help of the victorious tones of the church-bell. In the next scene, we see Peter washed clean in a (baptismal) shower.
From then on, Peter learns how to forgive himself – and others. For three movies now we’ve been feeling Peter’s rage toward his Uncle’s murderer. [If you don’t want me to hear the ending of the movie, stop reading now]. At the end of this installment, having tried unsuccessfully to avenge his Uncle’s death earlier in the movie, Peter faces his Uncle’s killer. The killer tries to excuse himself, “I had no choice,” he insists. Peter calmly replies, “We always have a choice.” Then, as the murderer confesses what happened that fateful night, Peter shows compassion and utters those liberating words, “I forgive you.”
The movie ends with this bit of wisdom: “Whatever comes our way, whatever battle, we always have a choice. It’s our choices that make us who we are and we can always choose what’s right.” When others have hurt us, we can always choose forgiveness. As the Catechism teaches, “It is not in our power not to feel or to forget on offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession” (CCC 2843).
In it’s own way, this is the message of Spiderman 3: hurt can be transformed into something positive. Forgiveness is the only path that brings true resolution to our pain. The alternative is to be possessed by the black-parasitic goo of bitterness and revenge. It’s our choice.


© Christopher West. All rights reserved.


==================================================Intentions:

-For the Steubenville Youth Conference to Colorado this week!
-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:

World Youth Day 2008- destination: Sydney! The WYD cross has reached Australia and is ONE year away from being joined by thousands of youth 16-36 years old. There is still time to sign up for this amazing opportunity. If interested, contact Megan Moss, youth minister for St. Bartholomew, St. Joseph & St. Stephen parishes now! 341-1617x113 or meganmoss@togetherinfaith.org.


The Youth Group, Generation JPII: Watch for summer announcements!

Vacation Bible School: July 23-27th:
- We’re looking for volunteers to help! Shoot me an email if you’re interested in being a part of this. The school is for grades 1-5 and runs from about 8am to Noon each day. We’ll even be including JPII on one of the days!



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 7-10-07

Hey All—
Young people around the world and locally continue to progress toward Australia for World Youth Day 2008. The video anthem has been selected and displayed. You can see it by clicking on the link below. Note also, in the announcements section, that local youth minister, Megan Moss, is hoping to take a local group. Having been to Toronto for WYD 2002---it’s an incredible experience that I highly recommend.
World Youth Day Anthem Premieres
SYDNEY, Australia, JULY 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The World Youth Day anthem was performed for the first time publicly by Australian musicians Guy Sebastian and Paulini."Receive the Power" was launched July 1 at a free outdoor event in Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbor, as the official song for next year's World Youth Day, to be held in Sydney, July 15-20, 2008.Sebastian, who wrote the song with Gary Pinto, has woven the lyrics around the event's theme chosen by Benedict XVI: "You will receive the power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8)."'Receive the Power' is a wonderful work, a foretaste of that day next year when by the power of the Holy Spirit divisions between peoples will be set aside and 'every nation, every tribe' will come together for the World Youth Day," said Bishop Anthony Fisher, the event's coordinator.The song, produced in collaboration with SONY BMG Music Entertainment, is also available in an international version with verses in Italian, Spanish and French.The video, which features footage from the previous World Youth Day in Cologne, can be viewed on the event's official Web site. On the same site, both the English and international versions of the song can be downloaded.

Intentions:

-For our own Sister Katie Buss as you receives her habit on July 16th in the Poor Clares (Mother Angelica’s order)
-For the upcoming Steubenville Youth Conferences.
-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:

World Youth Day 2008- destination: Sydney! The WYD cross has reached Australia and is ONE year away from being joined by thousands of youth 16-36 years old. There is still time to sign up for this amazing opportunity. If interested, contact Megan Moss, youth minister for St. Bartholomew, St. Joseph & St. Stephen parishes now! 341-1617x113 or meganmoss@togetherinfaith.org.


The Youth Group, Generation JPII: Watch for summer announcements!

Vacation Bible School: July 23-27th:
- We’re looking for volunteers to help! Shoot me an email if you’re interested in being a part of this. The school is for grades 1-5 and runs from about 8am to Noon each day. We’ll even be including JPII on one of the days!



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 7-3-07

Hey All—

This week I include a letter from Fr. Joe Hirsch. If you don’t know him, you’d have a hard time finding a more amazing priest. Hope some of you can attend this and for those of you who can’t, including the ladies---please keep this in your prayers---as the guys keep you in their prayers for the Nun Runs.
Special Announcement:
What? Threshold Retreat
Who? Juniors in High School and older
Where? Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary, Winona
When? July 27 – 29
Cost? Nothing. Just come and we will cover the rest.
Is this just for guys thinking about priesthood?
This retreat is for young men who are willing to ask the question of “What does the Lord want me to do with my life?” We will talk about being open to priesthood and what priesthood is, but we just want to help you in whatever way we can to find and follow God’s call for you.
Who is putting on this retreat?
The retreat is given by Father Joseph Hirsch, Assistant Vocation Directors, and seminarians.
How do I sign up?
Just contact me at jhirsch@dioceseoflacrosse.com.
A message from Father Joseph Hirsch:
I write today to invite you to a very special gathering of young men your age and older—those entering junior year and beyond which is coming up July 27 to 29 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, Minnesota. It is called the Threshold Retreat.
As you go through high school and college you are passing through a very important “threshold” in your life as you go from young man to adult. Every time I go to speak to groups of young people they ask questions like, “How do you know what you are supposed to do with your life?” Or “How does God guide us in our lives?” In the Threshold Retreat we will be dealing with these very important, yet fundamental questions which we all ask.
Assistant Vocation Directors Father James Kurzynski and Father Derek Sakowski will join me and a group of our seminarians to plan these three days of reflection and prayer. Our seminarians come from a variety of backgrounds, some in business, education, and some who are in college at this time. Just a couple of years ago they were where you are now. This retreat is a great opportunity to sit down with these men and listen to how they are discovering their call in life and their vocation. It is a time to ask them questions about how to face the next stage in life and how to be open to all possibilities of God’s call for you whether to the single life, religious, married, or to the priesthood and to the choice of your career.
For more information you can check out the diocesan website: http://www.dioceseoflacrosse.com/ministry_resources/vocations/calendar.htm
I hope you have an enjoyable summer with family and friends. If you have any questions you can email or call. I look forward to the possibility of seeing you at Threshold 2007.
Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Joseph Hirsch
Director of Vocations
jhirsch@dioceseoflacrosse.com
(608)791-2666

Intentions:

-For our nation, that we may truly be “one nation under God”.
-For the upcoming Steubenville Youth Conferences.
-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: Watch for summer announcements!

Vacation Bible School: July 23-27th:
- We’re looking for volunteers to help! Shoot me an email if you’re interested in being a part of this. The school is for grades 1-5 and runs from about 8am to Noon each day. We’ll even be including JPII on one of the days!



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.