It's been a while...

So it's been a while since I've posted.

Since the last post so much has happen in the world, in the USA, in Virginia, in my parish, in my life, and in my heart.  So much so that it would be crazy to even try to list a few events in each of those areas.

I'm still doing youth ministry and working hard for the sake of the kingdom, but lately I've had this realization that life is short.   I know people say it all the time & I know it makes us reexamine where we are but putting those things aside life really isn't that long...

If we are lucky we get 70 or 80 years on this big blue marble.  My grandmother, who I truly love a WHOLE lot, has been battling cancer and this is what made the initial "life is short" thought come to my mind.

But this idea is one that has stuck with me, I've ruminated on it over and over again throughout the course of the summer.  Which was just perpetuated when the YOLO phenomenon took off.

So if humans have 100% death rate why do we wonder around passionlessly wonder about in life.

Many of us lose someone close to us by the time we are in our teen years and in turn often live life to the fullest.  So, what happens...we become adults and then we simply go through the motion to get done what needs to get done.  It's often a life that lacks spontaneity & surprise.

We lose that passion that once gnawed at us from the inside out.  Some people are lucky and find something to fill the void that often comes when our adolescents leave us. This summer I began to see so many people who fill that void with work, sports, relationships, or  etc. ... it made me begin to wonder if this "void" isn't an invitation to seeking what's deeper inside.

God doesn't ask us to set aside our passionate heart that emerged in our adolescents, but He often seeks a conversion so that our passionate heart becomes rightly ordered.

My passions left to be their own guide often lead me to a selfish destructive end, but with the guidance of truth rooted in the hope of eternity that Christ promised - I'm less self-centered.  I'm less prideful.  I'm more joyful, hope filled, and overall free to be me.

This is a freedom I hope to blog more about soon. This is the freedom that I hope to pray about and understand more deeply as the next couple of months pass.

:)

Overwhelmed & Under-appreciated

As I reflect on my college years a few phrases stick out to me.  Some made me think more than others, but there is one in-particular I want to talk about today.  The saying goes something like this "The best trick the evil one has is to make you think he doesn't exist".  Sometimes it takes on this form "God is to loving for there to really be a hell."  Scripture makes it clear that there is a place set aside for the accursed (Matthew 25:41...along with many other references). In youth ministry I think this lie takes on a very unique form: "I'm overwhelmed & under-appreciated; nothing I do really makes a difference." This lie gives into doubt, despair, & loneliness...if what your doing didn't make a difference then why do so many priest, religious sisters & brothers, and holy marriages credit solid foundations as the reason for their solid vocation.  Yes, there are many sources for a solid foundation: religious education, a good family life, and good friends just to name a few.  I know for me in my life youth ministry served as the beginning of this solid foundation.

I think youth ministry serves as a great foundation because it aims to love no matter what the circumstances whether at youth group, on retreat, during sacrament prep., over a cup of coffee, at a game, in a hospital, or any where else.  Having a primary aim to love no matter what the circumstances are serves as the pivotal point of how ministry makes a huge difference.   You can't plant seeds in a field that isn't plowed.  Well you can but it won't be very effective.  Love, even when it's rejected, serves as the plow preparing the ground of the heart for the truth of the Gospel message.  So that the truth can take real roots.  This means that sometime the strength of the plant (faith) isn't seen for some time...

So I guess the point of this post is to say that if LOVE is the center of ministry then it is working no matter how much the evil one wants you to think otherwise.  We have to have faith (Hebrews 11:1) in Him who guides our life and trust that He makes all things work for good for those that love Him.