Announcing:
Saint Mary's Press winner for the week of May 23, 2011!

Congratulations to Richard Giese!

Richard will receive a copy of Great People of the Bible Student Book and Catechist Guide, a $28.90 value.

Bring Salvation History to Life! Parish leaders have been requesting a Catholic Bible study curriculum for middle school students, created specifically to fit their parish schedules. Saint Mary’s Press is pleased to respond to this need with the Great People of the Bible parish curriculum.

The Great People of the Bible curriculum offers:

- A student book that is found in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a supplemental curriculum resource, and the only Bible curriculum for middle school students with this approval

- Twenty-five, one hour sessions designed to fit a typical parish calendar

- A catechist guide that offers easy-to-follow session outlines for the volunteer catechist

- Flexible options for the Catechist to complete student activities in class or use as family learning assignments in the home

- One student book that covers both the Old and New Testament and that supports the ABC’s of biblical literacy

- Engaging student activities, now with expanded background content, based on the ever popular Student Activity Workbooks for Breakthrough! The Bible for Young Catholics

Great People of the Bible
ISBN: 978-0-88489-690-6, paper, 56 pages

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

This is a time of year that can be particularly busy and stressful for those involved in ministry with youth. There are finals to give and grade, summer activities to plan, graduations to attend, mission trips to finalize, new curriculums to review, and the list could go on. With this in mind, I would simply like to share a prayer that I have found particularly nourishing in times like these, when I am feeling stressed and a little overwhelmed. With Pentecost Sunday only three weeks away, this is also a wonderful prayer to help us prepare our hearts for that celebration. I pray that the end of the school year and the summer go smoothly for you and are full of grace, and, as always, I pray that God will continue to bless you and your ministry.

Peace,
Steven McGlaun

Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.
Amen.
(The Catholic Youth Prayer Book, p. 46)

Due to Monday May 30th being Memorial Day, next week's Servant Leader will be sent on Tuesday, May 31st.

Click Here for More Information

Overview
The feast of Pentecost is above all a commemoration of action. It is a celebration of the next step in the history of Christianity. Filled with the Holy Spirit and on fire with the memory of the risen Christ, the disciples spread God’s fire to their world. In this session, the participants use the images of different stages of a fire to evaluate different areas of their personal life and life in their Christian community. With the latter, they will think of ways to improve parish life and are encouraged to act on those ideas. The closing prayer challenges them to be God’s fire in the world.

This session is best suited to high school aged teens. It can also be done with an intergenerational group.

Suggested Time
60 to 120 minutes

Special Considerations
This activity can be done with an intergenerational leadership group in the parish. If it is used in that manner, you may want to extend the time to allow for more discussion and brainstorming and also for strategizing and planning.

It can also be focused on particular ministries. For example if it is done with group of teens and their families, you might focus heavily on family ministry and Christian service.

Liturgical Connection
This session is based on the first reading for Pentecost Sunday: Acts of the Apostles 2:1–11.

Gather the following items:
- poster board
- markers
- newsprint
- The Catholic Youth Bible® or another Bible
- tea lights, one for each participant (optional)
- a large pillar candle
- a recording of reflective music (optional)
- a cassette or CD player (optional)
- taper candles, one for every fifteen participants

Make four signs, each containing one of the following phrases. Post them in the four corners of the room, high enough for everyone to see:
- cold ashes—nothing happening
- mostly smoke—dying out
- burning embers—has potential
- blazing fire—going well

Write the following questions on newsprint:
- What can we do as individuals?
- What already exists in the parish that we can become involved in?
- What would we like to see happen?
- Set up a prayer table with a Bible and a pillar candle.
- Using a permanent marker, write the following sentence around the base of each tea light: "Be God’s fire in the world." (optional)

Recruit a volunteer to proclaim Matthew 28:18–20.

1. Brainstorm with the participants some common phrases and images that have to do with fire. Some examples include these:
- Something went "up in smoke" if it did not work out the way it was supposed to.
- When a person is enthusiastic or doing well at something, we say that he or she is "on fire."
- If a person is not motivated, someone needs to "light a fire under her or him."
- When we put something aside to come back to it later, we say it’s on the "back burner."

You may want to list the brainstormed phrases on newsprint. Allow no more than 5 minutes for this task.

2. Explain that this session is about Pentecost—a Jewish feast that took on new meaning for the early Christian church after the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Ask the participants what the topic of fire has to do with Pentecost. If they do not propose the connection to the story in Acts of the Apostles 2:1–13, help them remember that the Holy Spirit—whom Jesus had promised to send—came to the disciples as tongues of fire.

When the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, they were filled with zeal for Christ and the mission of the new Church: to preach the Good News of the Resurrection.

3. Point out the signs in the corners of the room. Explain that you will read a list of situations that are part of their life. They are to rate each one by moving under the sign that best represents the current state of that situation. So that everyone understands what the signs mean, offer the following descriptions:
- Cold ashes: Nothing good is happening. Prospects are dismal.
- Mostly smoke: Things look good for a while, and then they die out.
- Burning embers: The situation has potential. With a little effort and a few changes it could be really good.
- Blazing fire: Things are going well.

Depending upon the time you have available, choose two or more questions from among those that follow or create your own. After each question, give the participants time to move to the proper sign. When everyone has settled allow a minute or so for the participants to discuss their reasons for their rating. Invite a few participants to share responses with the full group before moving on to the next question.

- How would you rate school spirit at your school?
- What is the status of your academic progress?
- How is your social life?
- How are things going at your job?
- How do you think you are doing in whatever sport you play or any extracurricular activity you are involved in?
- How does your driving rate?
- How would you rate your success in keeping your room clean?

4. Gather the participants in the center of the room again. Then make the following points in your own words:

Most people have different perceptions of different parts of their life. Not every situation in life will be a "blazing fire," though every one has the potential to be. Likewise, not every situation should earn an "ashes" rating. If a person’s perception of life is that everything is ashes, he or she needs to step back and evaluate what is going on and maybe find support to help with that task. Such support might include talking with a good friend, parent or other mentor, or seeing a counselor.

If a person is not satisfied with a situation—if she or he rated it "ashes" or "mostly smoke"—that person has a responsibility to make the changes necessary to improve things. For example, if someone rates academics as "mostly smoke," that person needs to change the habits that result in unsatisfactory progress.

5. Tell the participants that you want them to rate one more aspect of their life. They are to use the same rating system in response to one or more of the following questions. Again, allow time for the participants to share their reasons for making the choice. However, in this round skip the sharing in response groups and invite those who are willing to do so to share their reasons with everyone.

- How would you rate your experience of community life at your parish?
- What rating would you give to your experience of the Church’s ministry to young people?
- How well does the parish address the needs of its families?
- How responsive is your parish to the needs of the poor and those marginalized from society?

6. Make the following comments in your own words:
- Just as it is our responsibility to work to make things better in our personal life, so it is with our Church life. The book that chronicles the life of the early Church is known as the Acts of the Apostles. It is not the Hopes of the Apostles, or the Complaints of the Apostles, or the Silence of the Apostles. The book of Acts tells about how the followers of Jesus came together after being filled with the Holy Spirit and acted on Jesus’s final challenge to them:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19). Our church is a direct result of their efforts.

- If Church is not a place where everyone feels welcome and cared for, it is our responsibility to change that. We can do that personally by being more attentive to people we know and those whom we do not know. We can also take an active role in the parish’s ministry of hospitality. If a formal group does not exist, we might set up a conversation with parish leadership and interested parties.

- The same is true for the parish’s ministry to youth and its service to the poor and marginalized.

The same three options for improving the situation exist:
- Do what you can personally to attend to the needs of these groups and spread the Good News.

- Become involved in existing ministries in the parish. Contribute your gifts and work to address the deficiencies.

- In those areas where little or no formalized response from the parish is evident, gather with people who also want to see something happen and meet with parish leadership to advocate for change.

7. Divide the participants into small groups of six to eight people. Give each group a sheet of newsprint and markers. Assign each group one of the areas of parish life that you addressed in the evaluation activity. Display the three questions you wrote on newsprint and explain that they are to discuss each question and list their responses on newsprint.

Allow 10 to 15 minutes for the discussion. Afterward, invite each small group to share the results with everyone. Close the activity by commenting on the necessity of taking these ideas from an exercise on paper to action in real life. Remind them again that the book is called the Acts of the Apostles not the Idea List of the Apostles! If time allows, help the participants set priorities and strategize their next steps.

8. Gather the participants in a circle around a prayer table. Give everyone a tea light with instructions to set it on the floor in front of them. Light the pillar candle. If reflective music is available, begin playing it at this time. Invite the participants to quiet themselves by focusing on the flame. Suggest that they think about the following questions and in their mind move to the appropriate sign: How would you rate your relationship with God right now? How would you rate your commitment to spreading the Good News of the Gospel?

After a minute or so of reflective silence, begin reading the following scriptural passage slowly and expressively:

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts of the Apostles 2:1–4)

After a few seconds, light the taper candle from the pillar candle. Ask the person nearest to you to pick up his or her tea light. Light it, saying as you do so: "Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Be God’s fire in the world." That person is to put his or her tea light on the floor again. Pass on the taper candle and direct him or her to do the same for the next person, until everyone’s tea light is lit.

If you have a large group, you may want to repeat the process with a few other people so that the lighting ritual is not too drawn out.

Close by asking the volunteer to proclaim loudly and boldly the passage known as the
Great Commission, Matthew 28:18–20.

Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 29, 2011
John 14:15-21

Opening Prayer
Jesus, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who lives among us. Through the power of your Spirit, continue to pour your grace upon us. Give us the strength to keep your Commandments. Amen.

Context Connection
This Sunday's Gospel is a continuation of last Sunday's Gospel. Jesus is still responding to Philip's request: "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied" (14:8). Remember that Jesus told his disciples that they already know the Father because they know him, "I [Jesus] am in the Father and the Father is in me" (14:11). So when Jesus says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (14:15), he speaks of the love the disciples should have for him and the Father. The love of God is the reason for keeping God's Commandments. We learn that Jesus and the Father will not abandon the disciples because of their love for the disciples. In fact, Jesus promises this, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever" (14:16). In 1 John 2:1, John refers to Jesus as the disciples' first advocate with the Father. Jesus wants his disciples to know that when the time comes for him to return to the Father, they--Jesus and the Father--will send another Advocate to be among them. This Advocate, this mediator, this Paraclete, is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity.

Jesus's departure does not result in God's absence; rather it is a continuation of his presence through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the first mediator, but through the Holy Spirit, Jesus will come back as promised and remain. Therefore the disciples who love Jesus will be loved in return by the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit: "They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them" (14:21). Jesus continues to reveal himself through his love relationship with his followers who keep the Commandments. In the future, after Jesus returns to the Father, this will be mediated by the Holy Spirit. All disciples can hope to dwell with Jesus in the future. He will remain with them through the Holy Spirit's dwelling in each disciple. The Spirit among us is a source of hope.

Obedience to Jesus is the way the disciples show their love for Jesus. This Sunday's Gospel begins and closes with an urging to keep Jesus's Commandments. Obeying Jesus is both the proof of love and the condition necessary for receiving the Holy Spirit. The word obedience comes from two Latin words, ob, meaning "toward," and audire, meaning "to hear." Obedience is turning one's ear toward the Commandments of Jesus to hear them clearly and to allow them to set the direction for one's life. Jesus prepares the disciples for the time when he will no longer be among them in a physical body. He desperately wants them to understand that he has not abandoned them, even though he is gone. "I will not leave you orphaned" (14:18). The physical absence of Jesus will be overcome by the never-ending presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus's going away will usher in a new era marked by the gifts of the Holy Spirit present among the believing community. This new era will be made manifest through love--the keeping of Jesus's Commandments--and the hope that God the Father and God the Son will abide forever with the faithful disciples, as he promised.

Tradition Connection
The Old Testament prophets announced that the Spirit of God would rest upon the Messiah that they hoped for. A sign of the Messiah was that God's Spirit resided with him. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon Jesus from his very moment of conception.
In the Old Testament the prophets announced that the Spirit of the Lord would rest on the hoped-for Messiah for his saving mission.1 The descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at his baptism by John was the sign that this was he who was to come, the Messiah, the Son of God.2 He was conceived of the Holy Spirit; his whole life and his whole mission are carried out in total communion with the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives him "without measure."3 (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1286)

This Spirit of God that Jesus experiences is not a gift from God that he keeps for himself; rather he shares it with all who keep his Commandments. This outpouring of the Father's love without measure is now passed onto Jesus's disciples.

This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people.4 On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit,5 a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost.6 Filled with the Holy Spirit the apostles began to proclaim "the mighty works of God," and Peter declared this outpouring of the Spirit to be the sign of the messianic age.7 Those who believed in the apostolic preaching and were baptized received the gift of the Holy Spirit in their turn.8 (Catechism, paragraph 1287)
The Spirit of God through Jesus continues to be poured out upon those who love Jesus and keep his Commandments.

Wisdom Connection
Jesus's promise to the disciples that he would not leave them orphans and that he would send the Holy Spirit as his presence among his followers is a promise for disciples of every generation. The physical absence of Jesus is overcome by the never-ending presence of the Holy Spirit. Even though the never-ending presence of God is made manifest through the Holy Spirit, we believe that in worship, especially in the Eucharistic experience, the absent one, Jesus, is present. He is present in the bread and wine that are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus.

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; Luke 4:16-22.
2. Cf. Matthew 3:13-17; John 1:33-34.
3. John 3:34.
4. Cf. Ezekiel 36:25-27; Joel 3:1-2.
5. Cf. Luke 12:12; John 3:5-8; 7:37-39; 16:7-15; Acts 1:8.
6. Cf. John 20:22; Acts 2:1-4.
7. Acts 2:11; cf. 2:17-18.
8. Cf. Acts 2:38.

Copyright © 2008 by Saint Mary's Press, 702 Terrace Heights, Winona, MN 55987-1318, www.smp.org. All rights reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Thank you.

Saint Jose Isabel Flores Varela

May 25 is the memorial for Saint Jose Isabel Flores Varela, as well as numerous other saints martyred in Mexico in the early 20th century.

Jose Isabel Flores Varela was a parish priest in Zapotlanejo, Jalisco. During the government persecution of the Church, he went into hiding and continued to secretly minister to his parish. He was betrayed and arrested. He was martyred on the morning of June 21, 1927.

For more information on Saint Jose Isabel Flores Varela, go to http://saints.sqpn.com/saintjec.htm.