The Witness of the Catechist to the Young and the Young to Us Before we get to this week’s reflection, I would like to ask all of the Servant Leader readers to please keep all of the youth traveling to Indianapolis next week for the National Catholic Youth Conference in … Read more...

Two Feet of Love in Action Over the past two weeks, The Servant Leader has provided a wonderful reflection on service and justice in relation to young people. As a follow-up to that reflection, I would like to share a new resource with you from the United States Conference of … Read more...

Service and Justice, Part 2 Last week the Servant Leader provided part 1 of a reflection written by Connie Fourré exploring the five steps on the continuum between charity and justice. What follows is part 2 of that reflection. This week’s reflection focuses on the fourth and fifth stages: reflection … Read more...

Service and Justice Last week I was lucky enough to spend a day observing classes and visiting with teachers and students at Benilde–St. Margaret’s college preparatory school in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. While I was there, I bumped into Connie Fourré, who has twenty-two years of teaching experience and is … Read more...

Lasallian Reflection For this week’s Servant Leader, I asked Bev DeGeorge to write a reflection on lessons we can learn from the life and teachings of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. Bev is the vice president for mission at Saint Mary’s Press. As a part of her role at … Read more...

Care for God’s Creation When our oldest daughter was around 16 months old, we took a family trip to stay at a cabin in Arkansas. At the time, our daughter was just getting the hang of walking. Now, it is important to note that we live in Minnesota and that … Read more...

Respect Life Month The first Sunday in October is Respect Life Sunday, and it marks the beginning of October as Respect Life Month. Even though we are called to work throughout the year to promote the protection and dignity of all life, Respect Life Month affords us the opportunity to … Read more...

Spiritual Wellness One of the challenges of ministry can be taking the time to nourish and replenish your own faith life. So much of ministry with young people is giving of yourself and striving to care for their faith life. It is important, however, to take the time to care … Read more...

World Youth Day Last month young people from around the world gathered in Madrid, Spain, for World Youth Day. I have asked Robert Feduccia, who attended World Youth Day, to write a brief reflection on his experience. Robert is a former editor for Saint Mary’s Press who now works for … Read more...

Athletics and Privilege I will confess that even though I spend a great deal of time on the computer, I am not an avid user of YouTube. I have seen, and was amused by, “Charlie Bit My Finger” and the sneezing baby panda, but that is about it. Last week, … Read more...

Catechetical Sunday Several years ago, while serving as the coordinator of youth ministry and director of religious education for middle school and high school in a parish, I had a young, newly married couple approach me saying that they wanted to volunteer, to “just help out a little, nothing big.” … Read more...

Reflecting on the Mission of Catholic Educators One of the great parts of my job at Saint Mary’s Press is that I have the opportunity occasionally to go to other parts of the country and meet with teachers, youth ministers, and catechists. This past week I was lucky enough to … Read more...

The Servant Leader: Year Two One year ago Saint Mary’s Press began The Servant Leader newsletter with the purpose of supporting you in your ministry on a weekly basis with reflections on Catholic ministry with young people, inspiration, and resources. In our first issue last year, I shared the following … Read more...

What Were They Thinking? Have you ever had a moment when working with young people where you stopped and asked yourself, “What were they thinking?” In this week’s Servant Leader, I would like to give you a little glimpse into “what teenagers are thinking” in relation to school. A few … Read more...

Monday, June 20, is World Refugee Day. As explained on the World Refugee DayWeb site, "This day honors the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence, as well as the people who have dedicated … Read more...

In this week’s Servant Leader, I would like to address a few things. First, I want to let you know that The Servant Leader will be switching to its "summer schedule" for the next few months. For June and July, The Servant Leader will be coming out once a month … Read more...

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 … Read more...

Revised Roman Missal As I am sure you are aware, the Roman Missal has been revised. The changes will be implemented at the beginning of Advent 2011. Although much of the language of the Mass will be unaffected, there will be noticeable changes. The implementation of these changes will bring … Read more...