Weekly Winner
Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of November 15, 2010!
Congratulations to Lisa Garcia!
Lisa will receive a copy of Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics, a $20.95 value.
As the title suggests, Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics highlights what happens throughout salvation history between God and humanity. God breaks through and connects with human history, thereby establishing a relationship with humanity.
Using the Good News translation, Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics was created for young people leaving childhood and entering adolescence. Its ten special features were created to help make the Bible easier for young people to read and understand.
They will learn about the great people of the Bible, and will see how God has been breaking through in human history and connecting with humanity for thousands of years. Most important, they will discover, in the Bible, how God's messages to key people of faith have meaning for life today.
Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics
ISBN: 978-0-88489-862-7, paper, 1,968 pages
Focus on Faith
Interview with D. Scott Miller
In this issue I am excited to share with you an interview I had with D. Scott Miller. Scott is the director of the Division of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In addition to that, Scott has been running a Catholic youth ministry blog since 2004. Scott has extensive experience in the field of youth ministry including working in parishes, on the diocesan level, and on the staff of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. When I was meeting with Scott, he graciously accepted my invitation to be the first interview in The Servant Leader, and I cannot think of a better person to kick off this reoccurring feature. One of the great gifts in our ministries is the experience and guidance of others who share our ministries. I hope you find Scott’s words and wisdom nourishing, and, as always, I pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministry.
Peace,
Steven McGlaun
Scott, you’ve been in ministry for many years. What are some of the changes you’ve seen during these years and how have they affected the Church’s (or your) ministry with youth?
What’s the deal, Steven . . . Ya calling me "old"? Nice way to warm up an interviewee.
If anything, I feel that the stakes are now higher. Parents, and therefore families, are more stressed and busier than ever. Young people are seeking deeper and richer connections in their lives. The Church is working to strengthen the glue to keep many fractured pieces connected. And, I think we have all grown (or maybe it’s just me being a late achiever) a little more convicted about Jesus, discipleship, and mission.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone just starting as a coordinator of youth ministry, what would it be?
Your gut instinct is to make youth ministry initially about the kids . . . Don’t follow it.
I know that seems like crazy talk, but your earliest efforts in youth ministry should be directed toward making it about ministry. For ministry, you will need vision and active engagement for the parish leadership. For ministry, you will need collaborators, partners, supports, and trusted guides and mentors. For ministry, you need a plan for continued growth and formation. (Congratulations, if you just graduated college or some program—You are not done, however!) For ministry, you need prayer—to continue to grow in intimacy with the One who called you into ministry.
I see in your blog (www.catholicYMblog.com) that you have been running a series of interviews with people associated with the upcoming National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry (NCCYM). What are you most looking forward to at the conference?
The thing that I like about the NCCYM is that it is a family reunion, a gathering of those who "get it" about Catholic youth ministry. Now, as I am of a certain age, I recognize that we all view families differently. When I gather with my mother and three young brothers, we often become nostalgic, starting conversations with "Remember when . . ."
When I gather with my own post-teen children, it is different. We usually begin conversations around "when . . . ," as in when you graduate from college, when you are discharged from the Army, when you get that next promotion. I always walk away from NCCYM with the "when . . ." attitude filled with hopefulness regarding our prospects as Church going into the future.
If you could recommend only one restaurant to someone visiting Baltimore, what would it be?
We have lots of great places in Baltimore (make sure to try the crabcakes), but I would suggest, actually, that you go visit our stadiums. Being able to watch a game live after ordering from Boog Powell’s grill in right field or socializing around a tailgate outside of a Navy or Ravens game is quite often a communal feast!
Make It Happen
Click Here for More Information
Chapter 3: Session for the Christmas Season
From Exploring Liturgical Seasons with Young Adolescents
Overview
The Incarnation, or the real human presence of God, is a gift freely given to us by God. No one has to earn or deserve the love and joy given to us through the birth of the baby Jesus. So why do we concern ourselves with "preparing" during Advent if the gift of Christmas will be given to us anyway? Our relationship with God is similar to any other earthly relationship in that we are most fulfilled when we actively participate in that relationship. One way we fully participate in our relationship with God is to show the same love to others that God shows to us. This session allows the participants to focus on the concept of gift-giving and how Jesus calls forth a deeper understanding of what it means to give to another. The young people will explore, through film and Scripture, how to define personal giving.
Readings for Christmas Day
At a Glance
Icebreaker Celebrating Christmas (15 minutes)
Study It! Are You Ready? (25 minutes)
Live It! Pay It Forward (10 minutes)
Pray It! Light in the Darkness (10 minutes)
Icebreaker
Celebrating Christmas (15 minutes)
Materials and Preparation
- slips of paper, one for each participant
- pens or pencils
- a container large enough to hold the slips of paper
- various snacks and beverages
1. Greet the participants at the door and ask each of them to write her or his name on a slip of paper, fold the paper, and place it in the container. Ask them to then take a seat. After all the participants have arrived and are seated, give them the following instructions:
- You are going to prepare a snack for a partner you do not yet know. [Also give additional instructions on how many snacks they can choose from the assortment on the table.] Take time to carefully and lovingly prepare a snack you feel would be good to give to someone.
- You may now go to the table that has the snacks on it. Take one plate or bowl and fill it with the snacks you choose and return to your seats.
2. After the participants have prepared their snacks and returned to their seats, hand the container containing the slips of paper to one of the participants. Direct the participants to pass the container around and to each draw a slip of paper from it. Tell them that if they draw their own name, they are to refold the paper, return it to the container, and draw another slip of paper. After everyone has drawn a name, offer the following instructions:
- Find the person whose name is written on your slip of paper and give that person the snack you made. If you do not know the person, introduce yourself.
- Ask the person what one thing her or his family did (or is going to do) to celebrate Christmas.
3. After the participants have located the people named on their slips of paper, invite everyone to enjoy their snacks. While they are eating their snacks, lead a discussion by inviting responses to these questions:
- What have you gained from this experience?
- How did it feel to prepare something for someone you did not know?
- How did it feel to have something prepared for and presented to you?
4. After the participants finish their snacks, ask them to introduce the recipients of their snacks. Introductions should include what the person and his or her family did (or are doing) to celebrate Christmas. Comment where appropriate about the surprises (unexpectedness) of the Christmas season. Talk about what it means to celebrate the coming of Christ, not only by yourself but with a community of other Christians. Also talk about the concept of welcoming others by sharing a meal or a snack and of supporting one another as part of the joy and community of the Christmas season.
Study It!
Are You Ready? (25 minutes)
Materials and Preparation
- Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics or other Bibles, one for each participant
- a copy of the film Pay It Forward (2000, 123 minutes, rated PG-13), cued to
1:51 minutes into the movie (when Trevor is on his bike before the fight in the schoolyard)
- equipment for showing the film clip
- newsprint
- a marker
1. Divide the participants into small groups of five to eight. Distribute the Bibles to the young people and ask them to take turns reading aloud in their groups the three Scripture readings for Christmas for the current liturgical year. Allow enough time for everyone to finish their readings.
2. Ask the young people the following questions:
- Based on the readings, what do you think we are waiting for? What does the end of time mean?
- The Gospel writers are talking about the second coming of Christ and the end of time. How does it feel to wait for the end of time?
- What do the Gospels tell you about how to prepare for the end of time?
3. Watch the clip from the film Pay It Forward, stopping it at the end of the scene of the candlelight vigil in front of Trevor’s house (about 7 to 8 minutes long).
4. Lead a discussion by asking the following questions. Record the participants’ responses on newsprint and then post it where all can see.
- Was Trevor ready for death? Why or why not?
- Was the death of Trevor really the end of his life? How do you know?
- Name some ways Trevor’s life will continue in the hearts and lives of others.
5. Note the following points in these or similar words:
- Trevor responded to his teacher’s challenge to "pay it forward"—to change the world in much the same way we are called to respond to Jesus’s challenge to build the Kingdom of God.
- In the TV interview portion of the film clip, Trevor mentions that you have to watch, to pay attention, to know when to pay it forward.
- The candlelight vigil scene in the movie reminds us that every ending also brings new life. We learn in the movie that Trevor brought new life to his mother, teacher, grandmother, and a homeless man.
6. Invite the participants to share with one another their experience of a time when something in their lives ended (for example, the death of someone they knew, the last day of elementary school, moving out of their house to a new home). Then, ask them to discuss what new opportunities resulted from that ending or change. Those opportunities might include, for example, making new friends or meeting relatives they never knew.
Live It!
Pay It Forward (10 minutes)
Material and Preparation
- markers
- tape
- pens or pencils
1. Divide the participants into small groups and invite them to discuss this question with the members of their group:
- How have you seen people prepare for the end of something (a relationship, a job, a sports season, and so on), especially the end of life? [You might offer your own response as an example.]
Give the groups 2 to 3 minutes to talk. Then invite the participants to share some of their responses with the large group. Record their responses on newsprint and post it for all to see.
2. Make the following points in these or similar words:
- The film Pay It Forward does not refer to the Gospel, but its message is consistent with what Jesus’s words and life show us about preparing for Jesus coming into our lives, both now and at his second coming.
- In the film, the teacher’s point was that we can all change the world. This is
Jesus’s message as well.
- Jesus calls us to transform the world into the Kingdom of God. We are called to be disciples and to make us and everything around us ready for God’s coming into the world.
3. Ask the large group the following question and invite responses:
- Name some things our parish does to try to change the world, or at least the local community.
Next, ask the participants to suggest other ideas for things the parish could do.
Write their ideas on the second sheet of newsprint and post it for all to see.
4. Ask the young people to each identify a way they can "pay it forward" during the Christmas season. Direct their attention to the lists on the posted newsprint as sources of possible ideas. Allow a few moments for the young people to finish their task, and then have them share their plans with the other members of their small groups.
Pray It!
Light in the Darkness (10 minutes)
Materials and Preparation
- one pillar candle, preferably the Paschal candle
- matches or a lighter
- a small table if the Paschal candle is not used
- Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics or another Bible
- a parish hymnal that includes one of these songs: "My Soul in Stillness Waits," by Marty Haugen; "Wait for the Lord," by Jacques Berthier; or "There Is a Light,"
by Cyprian Consiglio
1. Gather the young people into the darkened space around the candle. Have them sit in a circle on the floor.
2. Begin prayer in the following manner:
Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All: Amen.
3. Provide the following explanation of Christmas light in these or similar words:
- The one large candle represents the light of Christ.
- During this Christmas season, we celebrate Jesus, the Light that has come to scatter the darkness of our hearts and of our world.
4. Ask the reader to proclaim John 1:1–9.
5. After the reading, invite the participants to come forward, take a taper candle, and light it from the pillar candle. Tell them that as they are lighting their candles, they are to say the following:
- I hope to pay it forward or to make the light of Christ more evident in the world during the Christmas season.
After the candle lighting, ask the participants to remain standing.
6. Conclude prayer by inviting the participants to join in singing the refrain from one of the suggested songs.
Break Open the Word
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King
November 21, 2010
Luke 23:35-43
Opening Prayer
Jesus, we know that you are the Christ and King over heaven and earth and, therefore, sit at the right hand of God the Father. We also know that you hear all our prayers and intercede for us in heaven. We ask that you bless us with the strength to be faithful servants--to serve as priests, prophets, and kings of the Kingdom of God on earth. Jesus, help us to always be open to doing God's will. Amen.
Context Connection
The Gospel for the last Sunday of the liturgical year begins with Jesus, on the cross, being verbally taunted by the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees: "The leaders scoffed at him, saying, 'He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!'" (Luke 23:35). Using the title Messiah was meant to ridicule Jesus. Even the soldiers mock Jesus by "coming up and offering him sour wine" (23:36). In reality no one would ever serve a king poor-quality wine. Luke also tells us about an inscription on the cross that reads, "This is the King of the Jews" (23:38). None of these verses point to a worldly understanding of kingship. In verse 42 the repentant thief on the cross next to Jesus is the one who reveals the true identity of Jesus. Luke is the only Gospel that records the story of the thief, who asks Jesus for forgiveness: "Remember me when you come into your kingdom" (23:42). Jesus's response reveals further the kind of kingdom he is ushering in: "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise" (23:43). Jesus tells us that his Kingdom has a dimension that is not of this world. Each time we pray the Lord's Prayer and say, "thy kingdom come," we acknowledge this.
Sunday's Gospel also takes us back to the beginning of Jesus's public life, when he is tempted by Satan in the desert. Jesus was enticed by Satan to turn stones into bread, to gain power over all earthly kingdoms, and to throw himself from the highest point of the Temple. Jesus responds in a way that demonstrates his faithfulness to God the Father and rejects the enticements of Satan. Now, on the cross, Jesus faces new temptations through the voices of the leaders: "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" (23:35). Jesus is also tempted to take himself off the cross by the soldiers and the unrepentant thief: "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" (37) and "Save yourself and us!" (39). Through these voices, Satan is tempting Jesus to prove he is the Messiah by denying death. But Luke wants his audience to know that Jesus is truly the Son of God because he chooses to die in obedience to God's will. Jesus's obedience to the Father has life-giving consequences.
The paradise into which Jesus welcomes the repentant thief is a place of obedience to the will of God and an end to the deceitful world of Satan. Jesus gains for all humankind a renewed friendship with God.
Tradition Connection
This Sunday the Catholic Church celebrates Jesus as Christ the King. The sense of kingship that the Gospel refers to is rooted in the Jewish tradition, recorded in Deuteronomy 17:18-20. The king's duty was to read and understand the law of God, then to show the community through example how to follow God's commandments. In this sense Jesus was truly a king. He lived a life of obedience to God's laws and set an example through his death on the cross.
We address Jesus as the Christ, which in Greek (Christos) means "the anointed one." In the Judeo-Christian heritage, individuals whom God has called for a special mission are anointed with oil. In Sunday's first reading, David is chosen as king and anointed with oil as a sign that he is to serve God and God's people (2 Samuel 5:1-3,4b-5). Jesus's anointment as Messiah is willed by God the Father--thus making his mission divine. God planned to send Jesus to earth to inaugurate the Kingdom: "It was necessary that the Messiah be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord at once as king and priest, and also as prophet.1 Jesus fulfilled the messianic hope of Israel in his threefold office of priest, prophet and king" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 436). Through Baptism, we also are anointed priest, prophet, and king. We are invited to join Jesus in serving his Kingdom by fulfilling these roles here on earth. As priest, we are asked to make daily sacrifices that promote Kingdom living. As prophet, we are asked to proclaim the Good News of Jesus's Kingdom--forgiveness and union with God the Father. As king, we are asked to use our gifts of leadership to positively influence others, in both the civil and church communities, helping them acknowledge God's handiwork in our world.
Jesus's true identity as king and Messiah is solidified through the cross: "The true meaning of [Jesus's] kingship is revealed only when he is raised high on the cross"2 (Catechism, paragraph 440). In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke proclaims, "Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made [Jesus] both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified" (2:36). So it is fitting that on this Sunday we acknowledge Jesus as Christ the King.
Wisdom Connection
The contrast between the second reading and the Gospel for this Sunday is striking. Colossians 1:12-20 presents an image of the resurrected Jesus who has taken his rightful place in paradise at the right hand of God. It is a regal image of kingship. However, the final verse reminds us that the peace of Christ was won at the price of the blood of the cross. Luke also reminds us of the high cost of our redemption--a redemption that reunited all of humankind once again with the loving Father. The new age that this great sacrifice ushers in is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. From the throne of his cross, Jesus forgives those who executed him and does not cast revenge on those who taunted him. Jesus welcomes the repentant thief into paradise and, finally, freely gives his spirit to the Father and dies (46). According to Luke, Jesus--the Christ--is in control of his destiny until the end. This Jesus came to restore a right relationship between God and humankind that was envisioned from the beginning and can only be accomplished through patience, endurance, and forgiveness. To be followers of this King, we must be willing to model his life, to embrace the crosses in our life, and to remain faithful to the will of God.
Acknowledgments
The scriptural quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition. Copyright © 1993 and 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.
The quotations labeled Catechism are from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America. Copyright © 1994 by the United States Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.
The Lord's Prayer is taken from Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers. Copyright © 1988 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Inc., Washington, DC. All rights reserved.
Endnotes cited in quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
1. Cf. Isaiah 11:2, 61:1; Zechariah 4:14; 6:13; Luke 4:16-21.
2. Cf. John 19:19-22; Luke 23:39-43.
Saint Spotlight
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne
November 18 is the feast day for Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne.
Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne joined the Visitation nuns in 1788 at the age of 19. During the French Revolution, her convent was closed, but she continued to live out her vows as a laywoman. In 1805 she was able to make her final vows into the Society of the Sacred Heart. At the age of 49, she traveled to the Louisiana Territory to help establish the presence of the Society of the Sacred Heart in America. She was responsible for the founding of the first free school west of the Mississippi River. At the age of 71, she set out to evangelize the Potawatomi tribe. She was known to the tribe as "Woman-Who-Prays-Always."
For more information on Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, go to http://saints.sqpn.com/saintr20.htm
