Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of November 29, 2010!
Congratulations to Michael Wojcik!

Michael will receive a copy of The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth, Second Edition, a $19.95 value.

The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth, Second Edition is an understandable and down-to-earth guide to all things Catholic. This book is an eye-opener and a page-turner, whether you are brushing up on specific Catholic terms and concepts or learning them for the first time. The Ad Hoc Committee to Oversee the Use of the Catechism, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has found this catechetical text, copyright 2008, to be in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Now Available! Online correlation to the U.S. Bishops' High School curriculum framework Click here!

The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth, Second Edition
ISBN: 978-0-88489-987-7, paper, 480 pages

Technology and Pastoral Work with Young People

When I started my first full-time job as a coordinator of youth ministry, I was given a pager. For those of you unfamiliar with the cutting-edge technology of pagers, it was a small electronic device that someone could call and it would "buzz" and display the phone number of the person calling. No name, no message, just a phone number to call. At the time this was a wonderful tool for staying connected to the parish and young people. The parish did not yet have e-mail; cell phones were a rarity, weighed five pounds, and were larger than the cordless phones we now have; and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were still fifteen years away from being created. Jump ahead twenty years: pagers are rarely seen, cell phones are abundant and can do anything a computer can do, and it seems almost daily there is a new social networking site young people are discovering and using.

As ministers working with young people, we are called to use the resources available to us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. This often means communicating with young people using the means of communication with which they are familiar, namely technological resources. However, using tools such as e-mail, texting, social networking, and blogging brings up a variety of questions on how to effectively and appropriately use these tools in a manner that protects both the youth and the minister. In response to this need, the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), in consultation with the USCCB Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection and the Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, released a document titled "Recommended Technology Guidelines for Pastoral Work with Young People." NFCYM created this document to offer dioceses, parishes, and ministry organizations "guidelines, recommendations, and best practices as a supplement to what may already exist, or as a template for formulating policies." No matter what your ministry may be, I encourage you to review these guidelines and assess the current practices of your ministry in light of them. The guidelines offer wonderful insights and some commonsense guidance that can easily be overlooked when communicating with youth through the use of social networking, e-mail, and Web pages.

The document itself is rather brief, eight pages in total, and warrants a full read by anyone in ministry with young people. I would like to highlight a few points, however, that I found particularly interesting and practical.

Social networking:

· "Adult ministers should establish separate sites and pages for personal and professional use. Personal pages and information should be neither advertised nor accessible to young people."

· "A minimum of two adults functioning with official parish, school, and/or organization capacity should have full administrative access to the account/site(s)."

· "In photographs of youth activities, youth should not be ‘tagged,’ or identified by name in the photograph."

E-mail and Text/Instant Messaging:

· "Parents should be informed of the use of e-mail or instant messaging for communications purposes with minors, and that it is a standard part of youth ministry."

· "Communications should be professional and [clear that they] are being rendered on behalf of the parish, school, or organization to young people."

· "Always double-check messages to see if someone reading it might read something into it that is not intended or if your message might be misinterpreted. If you think an e-mail might somehow be misunderstood, do not send it. Do not send messages in haste or when emotions are involved."

Blogging:

· "Extreme care should be taken that information regarding personal blogs not be made available to young people."

· "If youth are to engage in blogging as a part of an officially sanctioned organizational activity, such activity must be monitored by at least 2 adults; no youth should be identified by name or other personal information, and the content of such a blog must be in compliance with Catholic Church teaching and values."

These are only a sampling of the practical insights and guidance this document offers. As technology continues to evolve, we will find new means with which we can communicate with young people. It is vital, though, for those in ministry with young people to keep in mind that no matter how the means to deliver the message may change, the message stays the same, and we have a responsibility to share that message in a respectful, caring, and honest way. I hope that you have a blessed Advent season, and, as always, I pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministry.

Peace,
Steven McGlaun

Click Here for More Information

Imagining "Web World!"
From Media Mindfulness: Educating Teens about Faith and Media

This activity provides the young people with a visualization of what a Web-connected world looks like.

1. Tear out full-page ads for companies and services from magazines or newspapers; try to find some from other countries. Get a large ball of yarn and a globe or large map.

2. Gather the group and have them sit in an irregular circle.

3. Give each person an ad and ask them what service or item is being sold or promoted, and whether it offers a Web address.

4. Now hold the end of the yarn and start passing the ball from one person to another in a zigzag fashion, each person keeping hold of the yarn as he or she throws the ball away. The ball of yarn should end up with you.

5. Talk about how the crisscrossing of the yarn is a visual way of imagining the invisible wires that connect us through cable or satellite. Each person represents a computer somewhere in the world that is providing information or selling items for a company, organization, or a government.

6. Talk about how these lines of communication cut across borders, and can be used for others things such as news, e-mail, and entertainment. Talk about access in underdeveloped countries and how some people can, for example, can order goods and services with credit cards and how some cannot.

7. Ask them how they think a responsible Christian and citizen conducts business in a wired—or wireless—world. Ask the students how they would act if they moved to Singapore where the government censors advertising on the Internet (as well as blogs).

Second Sunday of Advent
December 5, 2010
Matthew 3:1-12

Opening Prayer
Jesus, your words make it clear that we need to live out our Baptism in significant and profound ways. In the final assessment of our lives, it is the fruit of good deeds that will count. Send your Holy Spirit to guide us throughout our lives so that we can be doers of good deeds--doers of the Word. Amen.

Context Connection
In Sunday's Gospel, Matthew introduces us to John the Baptist, a preacher who calls the Jews to "repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (3:1). We acknowledge John as the last of the great prophets who directly preceded Jesus. Matthew tells us that John preached in the desert or wilderness of Judea. This area is located east of Jerusalem and slopes down to the Dead Sea. The Essenes, noted for writing the Dead Sea Scrolls, are believed to have settled in this area during the time of John. Some scholars speculate that John may have had some contact or association with this Qumran community.

Matthew draws attention to John by connecting him with the prophet that Isaiah speaks of when he says, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight" (3:3). Matthew also makes connections between John and other Old Testament characters: "Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist" (3:4). This would have recalled for the Jews similar references to Elijah (See 2 Kings 1:8), as well as Samson and Samuel. These individuals represent the Old Testament tradition of the revolutionary mode of renewing society through resistance to injustice. John's message is one of radical conversion of the whole person to the will of God. This is symbolized by a baptism of total submersion into the waters of the Jordan River.

Matthew furthers his point by introducing us to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew holds a lot of contempt for the Pharisees and the Sadducees throughout his Gospel. He calls them a brood of vipers. Vipers are a genus of snakes, often used in the Scriptures to represent evil. Some vipers are venomous whereas others are not. If a venomous viper strikes, the bite is fatal. In comparing this group of Pharisees and Sadducees to vipers, Matthew wants his audience to always be on guard--not allowing their deception to deliver a fatal blow. By calling them a brood of vipers, Matthew is also calling into question the Pharisees' and Sadducees' honor. In Jewish society, honor is associated with birthright. But how could these individuals have honor if their paternity is associated with snakes? Matthew's Gospel has more to say about the Pharisees and Sadducees, none of which is flattering. To read more about these two religious groups, see the "Did You Know?" article in The Catholic Youth Bible® (Matthew 3:7).

John talks of his baptism as one of repentance that produces good fruit. The true sign of conversion is in a person's actions, not in her or his heritage. Even those who claim to be children of Abraham will not be counted among the saved if they are not repentant and their actions do not demonstrate sincerity of heart and a total turning toward God. For John, baptism is a symbolic action signifying that conversion of heart has taken place. God's power surpasses the laws of natural lineage. John stresses that baptism speaks of an interior change that bears its witness through good actions: "Bear fruit worthy of repentance" (3:8).

Sunday's Gospel ends with Matthew showing clearly that even this great preacher, John the Baptist, is subordinate to Jesus: "But one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals" (3:11). The one who is to come, Jesus, will baptize not with water but with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Baptism that Jesus offers will have consequences for the Final Judgment. Matthew describes Jesus's coming as the harvester with the winnowing fan in his hand separating the grain from the chaff. This is an image used in the Scriptures to describe the Final Judgment. At harvest the farmer gathers the grain into barns, and the chaff is destroyed by fire. Matthew makes this parallel with the Final Judgment. Those who produce good fruit through a life well lived will be gathered into the Kingdom of God, but those whose lives have produced chaff rather than good fruit will be separated out and destroyed.

Tradition Connection
When we pray the Nicene Creed we acknowledge that Jesus will judge the living and the dead when he comes in glory. This is called the Final Judgment, or the Last Judgment. It will occur when Jesus Christ comes again. The Last Judgment will be a judgment of the whole human race. The image of the Final Judgment that Matthew uses in Sunday's Gospel is the farmer winnowing the grain to separate the chaff from the kernels, or fruit of the grain. Later on, in chapter 25, Matthew uses profound scriptural images to define in greater detail the Final Judgment (verses 31-36). Every person will be held accountable for his or her actions. Those who live as Jesus lived--performing the corporal works of mercy--will be welcomed into God's eternal Kingdom. Those who do not follow Jesus's example will be sent into eternal punishment.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church talks about the Final Judgment in this way:
Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgment of the Last Day in his preaching.1 Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light.2 . . . Our attitude about our neighbor will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love.3 On the last day Jesus will say: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."4 (Paragraph 678)

The Final Judgment will come at the end of the world. However, we believe that each person, at the moment of death, has a particular judgment: "The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith" (Catechism, paragraph 1021).

The Catechism also says: "Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven--through a purification5 or immediately,6--or immediate and everlasting damnation7" (paragraph 1022).

Wisdom Connection
Matthew's Gospel calls Christians to embrace the radical conversion that was preached by John the Baptist and Jesus. This conversion is made manifest through the fruit of one's good deeds. John the Baptist is held up as a great prophet that prepared the way for Jesus. However, his greatness is secondary to that of Jesus the Christ. Christians who have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and allow their Baptism to be made evident in the world through good deeds will be like the grain at harvest. Just as the grain, the good fruit of the harvest, is gathered into barns after it is winnowed, so will the faithful followers of Jesus be gathered to Christ at the Final Judgment.

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. Daniel 7:10; Joel 3-4; Malachi 3:19; Matthew 3:7-12.
2. Cf. Mark 12:38-40; Luke 12:1-3; John 3:20-21; Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 4:5.
3. Cf. Matthew 5:22; 7:1-5.
4. Matthew 25:40.
5. Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum (1965) 857-858; Council of Florence (1439): Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, 1304-1306; Council of Trent (1563): Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, 1820.
6. Cf. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, 1000-1001; John XXII, Ne super his (1334): Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, 990.
7. St. John of the Cross, Dichos 64.

Saint Francis Xavier

December 3 is the memorial for Saint Francis Xavier.

Saint Francis Xavier was a friend of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the founding Jesuits. He worked as a missionary in Asia, Africa, the East Indies, Portugal, and Italy before dying in China from an illness contracted during his missionary journeys. Saint Francis Xavier lived a life dedicated to the care of the poor and the sharing of the Gospel message. He has been named as one of the nine patron saints for the upcoming 2011 World Youth Day, to be held in Madrid, Spain.

For more information on Saint Francis Xavier, go to http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-francis-xavier/