Each week Saint Mary's Press will announce one lucky winner of a Saint Mary's Press product. As a subscriber to The Servant Leader you will be automatically entered.

Welcome to The Servant Leader
By Steven McGlaun

Since you are ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ in the work that you do, you must act as representing Jesus Christ himself. He wants your disciples to see him in you and receive your instruction as if he were giving them to you. (Meditation 195.2)

With these words from Saint John Baptist de La Salle, I am excited to welcome you to The Servant Leader: A Weekly Resource for Catholic Educators and Ministers. The Servant Leader will be our weekly communication with you to share insights, resources, reflections, and affirmations for your ministry with young people. We chose the title The Servant Leader for our weekly newsletter because we recognize that each of you is in a position of servant leadership as an ambassador of Christ to young people. Through your efforts in your parish, school, family, and countless other settings where you encounter young people, you represent Christ and share the Good News.

I would like to take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Steven McGlaun, and I am an editorial project manager and workshop leader for Saint Mary’s Press. At Saint Mary’s Press I have served as both an editor and author. Over the course of my career, I have served as a youth minister, DRE, campus minister, and teacher. Each week I will be sharing with you a reflection on current events, insights from the fields of youth ministry and religious education, or simply an affirmation of the good work in which you are engaged.

Additionally, each week The Servant Leader will deliver content to assist you in your ministry of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with young people. You will find resources such as prayer services, retreats, and service projects that you can use with young people in your school or parish. You will also find a reflection on the upcoming Sunday Gospel reading to help you prepare youth for the Sunday liturgy. Lastly, you will find information, as well as a link to more information, about a saint whose feast day is celebrated in the upcoming week and who can serve to inspire you and the youth with which you work.

In this first issue of The Servant Leader, we chose to provide resources to assist you with the beginning of the school year. You will also find a prayer service you can share with young people and links to a prayer and prayer intentions for the beginning of the school year.

Recently, Saint Mary’s Press brought 35 Catholic school teachers from around the country to Winona, Minnesota, for three days of formation, prayer, and fellowship. It was an affirming and inspiring experience for the employees of Saint Mary’s Press. We were affirmed in our mission to provide quality innovative resources for parishes and schools. It was a reminder of the mission we share with you. We were humbled by the commitment of Catholic religious educators to share the Good News with young people despite the many challenges they face.

We at Saint Mary’s Press are thankful for all your good work and we are blessed that you invite us to play a part in that work. We hope that you find The Servant Leader to be a useful and affirming resource for your ministry, and we pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministry.

Peace,
Steven McGlaun

Back-to-School Blessing Prayer Service
from Holiday and Seasonal Ideas for Ministry with Young Teens

This blessing ceremony celebrates the beginning of school and helps the young people welcome a new school year. It is ideal to use for the first meeting of a group in a new school year.

Suggested Time
10 to 20 minutes, depending on the size of the group

Group Size
The ideal size for this activity is a group of ten to thirty

Special Considerations

Some of the young people in your group may be starting in a new school this year. As with any change in life, they may experience a wide variety of feelings, such as excitement, nervousness, and fear. Be sure to pay attention to their anxieties and help them to focus on the positive aspects of a new school and school year.

Materials Needed
◊ a backpack
◊ items that represent mind learning, such as school supplies, textbooks, a calculator, a globe, and musical instruments
◊ items that represent body learning, such as sports equipment, dance or gymnastics supplies, and physical education attire
◊ items that represent spirit learning, such as a book of prayers, a religious symbol or icon, a flower, a flyer for a service project, and a journal
◊ a pillar candle and matches
◊ a Bible
◊ a clear bowl of water
◊ a small branch from an evergreen tree
◊ new pens or pencils, one for each person

Preparation
Before the young people arrive, establish a prayer space with a backpack; items that represent mind-learning, body learning, and spirit learning; a pillar candle; a Bible; a clear bowl of water; a small branch from an evergreen tree; and a new pen or pencil for each person.

1. Gather the young people in the prayer space. Make a comment about the gift of new beginnings as the school year opens. Acknowledge the participants’ anxieties, particularly if some of them are starting classes at a new school. Tell them that together they will begin a new school year with a blessing.

2. Invite the young people to observe in silence the items in the prayer space that can be considered tools for school. Point out that some of the items are for "mind learning"—things like textbooks, a calculator, a globe, and musical instruments. Other items are for "body learning"; sports equipment and dance supplies fall into this category. The last category is "spirit learning"; it includes items like a religious icon and a personal journal.

3. Light a pillar candle. Then read 1 Tim. 4:12–16. Return the Bible to the prayer space and pick up a bowl of water. Dip an evergreen branch in the bowl and sprinkle the items in the prayer space. As you do so, say the following prayer: O God, we ask your blessing on these symbols of a new year. May they help us to learn, and to enjoy and to share the special talents that you have given to us. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

4. Ask the young people to move toward you one by one, with their hands in front of them, palms up. As each person reaches you, dip your thumb in the water and make the sign of the cross on her or his forehead, palms, shoulders, and feet as you say, "[Name of young person], use your mind and body this school year to learn, to serve, and to grow." Then give the person a pen or pencil before the person returns to her or his place.

5. To conclude the blessing service, make a few comments as follows, in your own words:

Additional links:

Back to School: Prayer for the Start of the School Year

Back to School: Intentions for the Start of the School Year

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 22, 2010
Luke 13:22-30

Opening Prayer

Jesus, we know you are the way, the truth, and the life. As we continue on life's path, help us always seek the truth. May our relationship with you, which is enriched by the truth, grow strong. Help us mature and come to know the Father as the Father knows us. And when our earthly life is complete, may God the Father welcome us into the heavenly Kingdom. Amen.

Context Connection
In the opening sentence of Sunday's Gospel, Luke again focuses on Jesus's goal to take his message to Jerusalem. To accomplish his goal, Jesus preaches and teaches in towns and villages along his route: "Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem" (13:22). Luke does not let his readers forget that Jesus intended to teach in Jerusalem.

Someone in one of the crowds along the way raises this question: "Lord, will only a few be saved?" (13:23). This important question is about who will enjoy eternal salvation. Jesus responds, "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able" (13:24). There is a sense of urgency in his message; not all are going to make it through the narrow passage, even though they try. Jesus stresses that now is the time and that those who delay may be left out. Jesus also makes the point that some who will be left out are people who ate and drank with the Lord and those he taught in the streets. They will not be recognized because they were not committed to the vision of Jesus, but were superficial and casual about their relationship with Jesus. Therefore, they will not be welcomed. Jesus will tell them, "I do not know where you come from" (13:27). Those left out will be deeply disappointed: "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out" (13:28). Salvation demands a commitment beyond convenience or casual observance. It demands a decisive and full-hearted movement toward a relationship with God that begins now and continues forever--with an urgency to do it now before the opportunity passes. Jesus also says that "people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God" (13:29). Salvation is not closed to anyone. In fact, even Gentiles could enter the Kingdom and experience salvation before some Jews. This was particularly good news for Luke's audience of Gentiles.

Why does the person in the crowd raise the question about who will be saved? During Jesus's time people held various beliefs about who would gain salvation. Some people believed that all Israelites, and only Israelites, would share in the afterlife. The Pharisees, however, believed that only a few Israelites--a remnant--would be saved.

Earlier in chapter 13, Jesus makes it clear that salvation comes not only from sharing a meal with him, or from casually listening to him preach, but through a sincere and repentant heart: "Unless you repent, you will all perish" (13:3, 13:5). Jesus demands a radical life change that will be recognized in the world to come. No one receives the Kingdom because of ancestry. One must hear the word of God and live it to partake of the feast in the Kingdom of God. To do this is to enter through the narrow door.

Tradition Connection
The question "Lord, will only a few be saved?" (13:23) reflects our desire for a guaranteed place with God in heaven. This desire tempts us to make heaven exclusive and to risk missing God's intention for all to be saved. Jesus became human, suffered, and died on a cross for this reason: "Everyone is called to enter the kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations.1 To enter it, one must first accept Jesus' word" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 543).

In his life Jesus modeled the eternal banquet he foresaw. Jesus invited Pharisees, sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes to dine with him:
Jesus invites sinners to the table of the kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."2 He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents."3 (Catechism, paragraph 545)

In First Timothy we have this reflection about God's universal salvific hope:
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2:1-4)

A recent Vatican document states, "Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the promptings of the Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation" (Dominus Iesus, 22). The grace of Jesus Christ is already active in the lives of those who believe in the truth. As Catholics we know that Jesus is the truth. Jesus said this about himself: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). In knowing Jesus, we know the Father. God the Father recognizes us, who are known by Jesus, and welcomes us into the heavenly banquet. "Jesus said to him . . . Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? . . . Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me" (John 14:9-11). As committed followers of Jesus Christ, we who hear and live according to his word are growing in our relationship with God now and in the life to come.

Wisdom Connection
In Sunday's Gospel Luke challenges two dominant beliefs about who will be saved. He first challenges the belief that only Israelites will experience salvation because they are the chosen race. Luke points out that salvation is not a result of one's ancestry. He next challenges the belief that salvation is available only to a few select Israelites. Luke wants his readers to understand that salvation is open to all people. This message was important for Luke's audience because most of them were not Jews. According to Luke we gain salvation by entering through the narrow gate, which means that we must hear the Word of God and live according to that Word. This is the way of salvation, the way into the Kingdom 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.

The quotation from Dominus Iesus is from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/ rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html, accessed May 16, 2007.

Endnotes Cited in Quotations from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
1. Cf. Matthew 8:11; 10:5-7; 28:19.
2. Mark 2:17; cf. 1 Timothy 1:15.
3. Luke 15:7; cf. 7:11-32.

Saint Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga

Wednesday, August 18, is the feast day for Saint Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga.

Saint Alberto was dedicated to the education and care of the youth of Chile. He also worked to confront the social problems of his country. In his commitment to the young and marginalized, Saint Alberto is a wonderful model of servant leadership.

For more information on Saint Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, go to http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-alberto-hurtado-cruchaga/