You Are Loved

As February 14th approaches...

2012-02-03T22:59:00.000-08:00

Those of you who attended Steubenville NW 2 years ago or the Holy Family Conference this year will remember the fabulous Mary Bielski who spoke at both events. While scrolling through my Facebook, I noticed today that she had posted a new blog entry from her website and took a look - and immediately wanted to repost the link for you all to read and enjoy!

As Valentine's Day approaches, I encourage you to take a few minutes and read through her words of wisdom about modern day romance and the dreaded single-on-valentine's day dilemma!

Single or not - we could all use a reminder about which relationship in our life should take top billing and what REAL love is all about!

Enjoy!: http://marybielski.com/blog/?p=284

A Youth Minister's response to "Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus"

2012-02-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

I know I am maybe a week behind the peak of the attention and responses to the YouTube video “Why I Hate Religion and Love Jesus” but I felt that I needed the time to pray, reflect, and inform myself about the things this artist claims in that video. So despite the perhaps “tardiness” of this response, I feel called as a young, proud Catholic, and as your youth minister to, in fact, respond to what I believe to be a misguided, and if misinterpreted, potentially dangerous piece of social media.

Let me start by saying that I do not hate or even dislike the young man in the video. He has another video out that I think is wonderful and he clearly has a deep love of Jesus. What I dislike and disagree with are his opinions in this case.

You see, there is just enough “truth” mixed in with falsehoods, misconceptions and oversights to make this piece of media dangerous. The heart of the message is that he is claiming that Jesus and religion are two separate things – and that Jesus came to end religion. The basis of this argument is not true – in Matthew 5:17, Jesus says “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Jesus did not come to end religion (the Law) he came to, as Fr. Barron said in his own response, to take what was good and right about the Jewish religion and raise it to a new plane – Christianity. In fact, Jesus himself was a rabbi and a faithful follower of His Jewish religion. Yes, Jesus reprimanded the Pharisees – but what he was upset about was not their religion – it was the fact that they had gotten so caught up in the power they had that they lost sight of what they were supposed to be – holy, humble men leading their followers closer to God.

The artist goes on to explain his rationale behind this claim by citing a series of “facts” about religion that he is using to support the argument that religion is not what Jesus was about. Some of what he says is true (voting Republican does not mean you are a Christian) but a lot of it is completely false where the Catholic Church is concerned. He claims the Church does not care for the poor, but the truth is that Catholic Community Services is the largest private provider of assistance to the poor in the United States. He claims that the Church tells single moms that God does not love them if they have ever been divorced, but the truth is that the Catholic Church welcomes everyone and preaches that we are all beloved Children of God, no matter what our past holds. And perhaps most shocking of all is that he claims that Jesus is of God and that the Church is of man. The truth is that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus himself when he appointed Peter as it’s head in Matthew 16:18 - “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,^* and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” And for hundred’s of years after His death, there was only Christian religion – Catholicism. So you see, his entire argument is not founded on fact, but on distortions of the truth. When held up and examined in the light of real Truth, it does not hold water.

But he does not stop there – and here is where this video has the potential to do real and lasting harm if not given proper context. He goes on to talk about something that we have all likely experienced at one time or another – the fact that there are many people who go through life claiming to be Christian, but not living up to that claim. He talks about the way that people “put on a show” making it seem from the outside that they are good or holy, while the reality of their inner or private lives tells a very different story. And I have to agree with him here – I hate this. I hate the false-front and hypocrisy that we find in the world – whether it is at Church, a corporation, or our government. I hate it when people are not being their authentic selves – especially when the lie they show the world undermines something as beautiful, loving, sacred, and REAL as Christianity.

But let’s be clear about what we are talking about here – what I hate, and what I would argue the artist actually hates is not religion – it is hypocrisy. It is the human element in our divinely inspired and founded Church that is broken and failing and too afraid to show that reality to the world. And yes, I think we can all agree that we hate hypocrisy.

But hypocrisy is NOT religion. And religion is NOT hypocrisy.

Living an authentic Christian life is about the work you do in the world (Matthew 25:31-46) just as much as it is about your personal relationship with Christ. To be “authentically Christian” one element cannot exist without the other – “So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James 2:17.

And there is no denying that Christianity IS a religion. Religion is defined as “commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance” and a Christian is a follower of Christ. Being part of Christianity, and particularly Catholicism, means joining these two things together to create a completeness that does not exist otherwise.

See, this is the third place where the artist falls short in his claims – if you listen carefully to his story about his life, you will notice something subtle, but shocking. It is all about him – all you hear is how he was saved, what God did for him, how his life was transformed by the grace of God. And all of this is good and glorious. But in his rant against religion, he forgets something. Religion – Christianity – is about a relationship. It is about a give and take, a conversation, and a communion between two people. Its not all about us. Its not all about what God does, or does not do, for or to us. That’s only half the picture – it is also about how we give back to God – how we thank Him, praise Him, glorify Him. It is about falling on our knees in humility and thanksgiving for the incredible love He shows us. It is about coming together with our brothers and sisters, as imperfect as we all are, and joining in one voice to sing praise to Our Father, receive Him into our hearts and our bodies, and ask for His grace to do better tomorrow than we did today. That is what our Catholic religion gives us – it gives us the rituals, Sacraments, Traditions, and community to strive to be who God is calling us to be and to thank Him for all that He has given us – most especially the gift of His Son, really present to us in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Religion is about love, community, thanksgiving, tradition, and honoring God. Yes - hypocrisy exists within it but just as the presence of a criminal within a house does not make it a jail, the presence of imperfection in religion does not make it evil.

Jesus did not come to abolish religion; He came to show us what it is really supposed to be about.

Christmas has come! Rejoice!!!

2011-12-24T14:30:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love this time of year - I love the decorations, I love the food, I love the smells, I love the Christmas specials on TV and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas music. Seriously. I would play the stuff 12 months a year if it wouldn't drive eveyone around me completely crazy by February!

I love the music for 2 reasons - first, so many of the songs that play this time of year remind me of wonderful Christmas's of the past and literally warm my heart, and secondly, because it is the only time of the year that I can walk into almost any store or restaraunt and hear music playing that talks about the most important part of this season - the birth of Christ. There is no other time of the year where all over secular society we hear the truth, love and beauty of Christianity blasted through the speakers! It is wonderful!

Music has always been a way that I connect with my Creator - for me, listening to and singing praise and worship songs is one of my most intimate forms of prayer. And I love when I hear a new song that touches a new place in my heart. Two songs came out last year that did just that - Francesca Battestelli's "You're Here" and Chris Tomlin and Audery Assad's "Winter Snow".

"You're Here" looks at the miracle of Christmas morning through the eyes of a new mother - Mary. It is sung as if she is holding the newborn Baby Jesus in her arms, falling deeply in love with Him, both as her son, and her Savior. Almost brings me to tears everytime I hear it.

"Winter Snow" speaks of the beauty and power of the simple, quiet and gentle way that God chose to come to us. He could have come in any form, in any manner, and yet, out of love for us, He came AS one of us - entering our world as peacefully as a winter snow. I dare you to listen to this song and not be moved by the true Christmas Spirit.

Here is a link to "You're Here": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHKJ1aWt1J4

And here is one for "Winter Snow": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpHiAmL8-b0

I hope these songs add to the wonder and joy of your Christmas like they do to mine!!

Merry Christmas!!! Rejoice - Christ is born!!!

Open Call!!!

2011-09-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY kicked off the 2011-2012 Life Teen year on Sunday night with a fun, crazy and prayerful night dedicated to getting us all reaquainted, welcoming our newcomers, and breaking open our theme verse for the year!

This year's theme is "Open Call" focusing on the relationship that God calls us into with Him and His Church and our theme verse for the year is James 4:8 - "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you". I chose this verse because to me, it speaks very profoundly to the type of relationship that God desires with us and wants us to desire with Him. He does not simply ask us to "move" or "come" or "be" near Him - but rather to "DRAW" near to Him.

That word, "draw", has a much riched and deeper feeling to it than the others - when you are "drawn" to someone, it implies connection, relationship, mutual movement - it is a very organic and intimate way to talk about moving towards another person. And that is the key - the intimacy, the connection.

Have you ever know 2 people who seemed to be connected by some sort of invisible tether? Or seen that type of undeniable connection depicted in a movie, TV show, play or book? Is it almost indescriblable, but you know it when you see it - it is like a magnet is constantly pulling them together, despite their physical distance. I think of the scene in the Leonardo DiCaprio version of Romeo and Juliet - when they are at the big party with craziness all around them, but they see each other and there is this instant connection between them. Or the friends depicted in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" - they seemed to be bound to each other by an unseen force that defies distance and drama. In short, they are drawn to each other.

These types of relationships speak to something deep in our hearts - and something that is not there by accident. We all crave this type of connection, crave to be drawn into another being's universe - and we crave that because God put that desire in us so that we would seek Him out - because the kind of relationship I am describing is EXACTLY what He wants with us! He wants to be drawn into us and wants us to be drawn into Him. But because we have a God who will never force Himself on us, He will not just run to us, throw His arms around us and force us into this close relationship with Him - but He will, and does, continually invite us into a mutual relationship - He calls us to draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us. And that is a beautiful invitation.

So this year we will be exploring the ways we can draw nearer to God, and in turn Him to us, both in our personal prayer life and in the ways we live out that inner faith in the world! It is going to be a great year and I am SO excited that it is underway!!!

YOU ARE LOVED!!!!!!!!!!!

New Beginnings!

2011-07-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Its a new beginning here at Holy Famiy Parish! We have a new blog and a new Senior High Youth Minister - ME!

Check back here frequently - I will do my best to keep this updated with information about the happenings around HFK Life Teen, musings from the inner workings of my mind...., and other things to inspire your faith and draw you into a deeper relationship with our beautiful Savior!!

Pictures from our hike yesterday to Heather Lake are up on the photo website now! Go to http://www.hfklifeteen.org/ and click on the "Photos" link to check them out!

Join us every Tuesday and Thursday for office hours from 11-2 in the Teen Center - foosball, air hockey, frisbee, soccer, hanging out, and ice cream!!!

And don't forget about Breakfast with the Morning Star! We gather for Mass at 8:40 and then head over to the Bridle Trails Starbucks for coffee and fellowship! And your first beverage or food item is on us!

But most importantlly, never forget that YOU ARE LOVED!!!!!!!!!!!