Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of August 30, 2010!
Congratulations to Ann Palamara!

Ann will receive a copy of Never Too Young to Lead, a $24.25 value.

Never Too Young to Lead
Developing Leadership in Young Adolescents
by Maureen P. Provencher

Never Too Young to Lead offers faith communities resources and strategies to develop leadership qualities and skills in young adolescents. This manual includes six themes on Christian leadership: leadership styles, listening skills, conflict resolution, trust and responsibility, leadership and discipleship, and planning and strategy.

The sessions found in Never Too Young to Lead provide a broad overview of leadership with the aid of scriptural images, and include activities for training youth in essential leadership skills and qualities. The manual also offers strategies for using the sessions to create daylong, weekend, or weeklong training programs for young adolescents.

Never Too Young to Lead
ISBN: 978-0-88489-873-3, paper, 96 pages

What Does It Mean to Be a Servant Leader? Part II
By Steven McGlaun

Last week we started looking at five virtues that lay the foundation for servant leadership by reflecting on contemplation and hospitality. This week we will reflect on the virtues of reverence, integrity, and stewardship in relation to servant leadership.

Reverence
When we share and model our faith as servant leaders, it is vital that we do so with reverence. Our goal should be to bring the young people with whom we are in ministry to a deep sense of reverence for God and all his creation. We accomplish this in two ways. The first is to model and practice the reverence we hope to see in our youth. As with contemplation, one of the greatest teaching tools we have is our example. The second is to invite young people into the sacraments and rituals of our faith. Through the celebration and practice of the sacraments and rituals of our faith, we can help young people grow in the reverence that is a part of being a child of God.

There is an adage that says "we become what we do." This means that our practices, our routines, our rituals over time become a part of who we are. By inviting the young people to "do" the sacraments and rituals, we can start them on the journey of becoming sacraments for others in their lives.

Integrity
To truly be a servant leader means we act with integrity in all aspect of our lives. A simple way of describing this is that we tell the truth and we keep our word. Telling the truth, though it sounds simple, can often be a difficult thing. It is more than just not lying. It is being willing to tell the "hard" truth, even if it is something someone doesn’t want to hear. Telling the truth can entail speaking out against injustice, compassionately explaining the truths of our faith on difficult topics, or calling someone to accountability when they have acted in a manner that is counter to whom God made them to be. Along with telling the truth, the servant leader is one who keeps his or her word. When a commitment is made, the servant leader follows through on that commitment. With young people, in particular, this is extremely important. Years from now they might not remember the retreats and classes you organized, but they will remember that you said you would come to see them in the school play and whether or not you showed up. Again, the servant leader is one who models the behavior she or he hopes to nurture in others. If you want your youth to act with integrity, you have to be a person of integrity.

Stewardship
The fifth virtue that is part of the foundation of servant leadership is stewardship. When we begin to see ourselves as stewards to those we are in ministry with, we cannot help but care for and lead them in a nurturing way. Our ministries are more than just grading papers, renting buses, collecting permission forms, and planning service projects. Our ministries are, at their heart, about sharing love with young people. The servant leader must have a heart rooted in stewardship. We know there are moments when a young person has a question, needs compassion, or simply needs time with a caring adult. Often those moments can prevent us from achieving a task on schedule, but those moments quite often can help a young person feel the love of God more than any retreat, class, or activity could. Stewardship calls us to care for the whole person, even at moments that are not convenient for our schedule.

Our Ultimate Destiny
In reflecting on how the virtues of contemplation, hospitality, reverence, integrity, and stewardship lay the foundation for servant leadership, one thing becomes clear: the servant leader must first and always model the traits he or she hopes to develop in others. The servant leader leads by example.

There is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that says:
Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.

In our lives and the lives of the young people we minister to, we must sow contemplation, hospitality, reverence, integrity, and stewardship so that we may all reap the destiny of eternal life with God that he offers to each of us. I pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministry.

Peace,
Steven McGlaun

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Sharing the Sunday Scriptures with Youth:
Twenty-third Sunday of the Year
From Sharing the Sunday Scriptures with Youth: Cycle C

Scripture Readings:
Wis. 9:12-18
Ps. 90:3-4,5-6,12-13,14-17
Philem. 9-10, 12-17
Luke 14:25-33

God's Word
A major theme of the Scripture readings is "Words of wisdom."

The writer of this first reading is struck with the awesomeness of God and asks: How can we know what God is up to? So many years after this was written, we ask the same question. The tough part is that we cannot know all the answers. Yet we are not without guidance. Wisdom comes from God. We may not know all the answers, but if we seek the wisdom of God—through prayer, through reading the Scriptures, and through others we meet—we can learn to walk the straight paths.

How comforting to know we can always seek refuge in God. Through every age—from the time of the psalmists to the time when Jesus walked on earth to now—we can count on God as protector. We always have a shelter, a refuge from all the tough challenges we face in our life. But it is a refuge, not an escape. Faith in God is not an excuse to run from the tough times in life, rather faith gives us strength to face them.

This letter from Paul to Philemon is about a runaway slave named Onesimus. Philemon, as was common even for Christians at that time, kept slaves. One runs away and seeks refuge with Paul. While there, the slave becomes a Christian. Paul asks that Philemon not punish the slave, but actually accept him as a brother, a fellow Christian. Philemon is asked to give up his right to punish Onesimus and to possibly face ridicule from neighbors and relatives. This letter really is a radical call to discipleship.

The Gospel reading tells us that Jesus, too, is asking for a different mindset. In case they did not hear it the first time, Jesus emphasizes his requirement that all prospective followers be single-minded in their commitment to follow him. Nothing must come in the way—neither family ties nor possessions.

Jesus gives two examples of the dedication needed to be a disciple: Do not build a tower if you don’t have enough money to complete it, and do not go into battle if your army is too small to defeat the enemy.

Strangely enough, Jesus is telling us that the best way to prepare for the journey is to not take anything with us—to leave everything behind. Discipleship is not a temporary membership in a club, it is a lifelong commitment.

Themes for Teens
The following themes from the Scriptures relate to the lives of teens:

Get it straight with God.

God is our shelter.

Carry the cross with Jesus.

Leave everything behind.

Make a commitment to Jesus.

Activity
Prayer with Empty Pockets
This meditation, keyed to the Gospel reading, invites the teens to reflect on Jesus’ challenge to prevent materialism from being an obstacle to discipleship.

Tell the young people to take everything out of their pockets and place the items in a small pile in front of them.

Proclaim today’s Gospel reading.

Ask the teens to choose one of the objects from their pockets and to offer a prayer asking Jesus for the courage and the strength to live more closely as a disciple and to set aside worries about material things.

Here are some examples:

Coin. Dear God, please help me to value your word more than money.

Pen. Dear God, please help me to proclaim your word in my speech and

writing.

Tissue. Dear God, please help me to comfort those who are suffering.

Activity Ideas
The following activity ideas also relate to the Scripture readings. You may want to read the passage(s) indicated as part of the activity.

Invite the teens to interview different family members, especially grandparents,

for "words of wisdom" to live by. They might want to record the ideas
on a cassette tape to share with other family members, or write them in
their journal. (Wis. 9:13–18)

For a combination Scripture study, outreach, and fund-raiser, challenge

the teens to design their own line of greeting cards that highlight words of
wisdom from Jesus found in the Scriptures. (All readings)

Give the young people instructions on how to pitch a tent. Divide them

into teams and have a contest to see who can pitch a tent the quickest.
Afterward, sit inside a tent and read today’s psalm. Discuss the question,
"How has God been a shelter or refuge for you?" (Ps. 90:3–4,5–6,12–13,
14–17)

After reading the Gospel, ask the teens to think of some modern examples

of the dedication needed to be a disciple instead of a tower builder and battle
planner.

Some examples:

Would you fly a plane without filling it with fuel and filing a flight

plan?

Would you take your final exams without studying for more than a

minute?

(Luke 14:25-33)

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sepember 5, 2010
Luke 14:25-33

Opening Prayer
Jesus, help us make you the number one person in our lives. Allow all the things that keep you hidden from us to fade away so that we can love you more fully and so that in loving you more fully, we can love others more completely. Amen.

Context Connection
"Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple" (14:26). This statement may shock you, especially because the fourth commandment says that you must honor your father and mother and because Jesus's message is one of love. How then should we interpret this statement?

Jesus is honest with those who wish to be called his disciples. The call to follow Jesus is a serious undertaking that cannot be taken up halfheartedly. Luke emphasizes those things that get in the way of being a true disciple. The phrase "hate father and mother" is a Semitic exaggeration Luke uses to stress that anyone who stands in the way of total commitment to Jesus, even one's closest relatives, must be renounced. The word hate, as it is used in this passage, means "to prefer less." In other words, Jesus must be a disciple's first priority. The disciple prefers a relationship with Jesus over all other relationships. This was a radical statement at the time of Jesus, as it is today. During Jesus's time family was the first priority. People directed all their love and commitment to their families and, in return, had homes and were cared for. Sons also gained financial stability because they usually learned the trades of their fathers. Therefore, disciples who deliberately cut their ties to family also risked losing the social and financial network that their family connections provided. Such persons might then have no means of support if their families rejected them because they chose to follow Jesus.

The disciple, then, must choose between fidelity to the family and fidelity to Jesus. Choosing Jesus is the equivalent to letting go of one's family. Jesus is saying that the kind of discipleship he asks us to commit to is an all-consuming vocation. Therefore, acceptance of such commitment can only follow mature deliberation. Luke gives two examples that emphasize this call for mature discernment. In the first example, the builder estimates the total cost of the building project before he begins construction, lest he run out of money before the project is complete. In the second example, the king goes to war only after carefully considering the outcome based on the size of his army compared to the enemy's army. Becoming a disciple of Jesus must be a personal choice based on full understanding of the costs involved. "So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions" (14:33). Jesus has to be the disciple's number-one priority, the number-one commitment.

Tradition Connection
As Catholic Christians, we know that Jesus sets high standards for those who profess to be his disciples. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them 'renounce all that [they have]' for his sake and that of the Gospel"1 (paragraph 2544).

For the disciple of Jesus, Jesus the Christ--and only Jesus the Christ--can be the center of life: "Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social"2 (Catechism, paragraph 1618). Christ must become central in our lives. When relationship with Jesus is a priority, then all the other relationships in the life of a disciple take their proper places. Discipleship does not ask us to love our parents, our spouse, or our children less, but it does ask us to love God first. Loving God first gives us the ability to love others more fully.

The Psalms often speak of the importance of trusting in God. The psalm for this Sunday is no exception. Psalm 90 reminds us of the unshakable refuge that God has been throughout time. Discipleship in Jesus is based on the strong, rock-solid foundation of God's fidelity--thus freeing the disciple to be a presence of God's love in the world: "Abandonment to the providence of the Father in heaven frees us from anxiety about tomorrow.3 Trust in God is a preparation for the blessedness of the poor. They shall see God" (Catechism, paragraph 2547).

Wisdom Connection
For Luke, the point of the Gospel is not about how one feels toward parents and family but about the faithfulness of the disciple when it comes to making a choice for the Kingdom. Luke emphasizes the cost of discipleship and cautions the disciples to not even begin following Jesus if they are not willing to give their all, including their life, for Christ. This is the cross that Luke speaks about, the cost of discipleship. Bearing one's own cross and following the path of the prophetic Messiah is the primary vocation of being a disciple. For some this may lead to martyrdom. According to Luke, a disciple is defined by how well he or she follows Jesus--not by possessions and relationships. Ultimately the emphasis is on commitment.

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. Luke 14:33; cf. Mark 8:35.
2. Cf. Luke 14:26; Mark 10:28-31.
3. Cf. Matthew 6:25-34.

Pope Saint Gregory the Great

Friday, September 3rd, is the feast day for Pope Saint Gregory the Great.

Saint Gregory was raised in a privileged lifestyle and afforded the best possible education. Early in his life he sold all his possessions and used the money to build seven monasteries. In AD 590 he was unanimously elected as the sixty-fourth Pope. Gregory is recognized as one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church. He is also recognized as the patron for students and educators.

For more information on Pope Saint Gregory the Great, go to http://saints.sqpn.com/pope-saint-gregory-the-great/