Monday, July 14, 2008

Random-osity

- I feel like I have a lot going on right now.

Getting ready for our annual trip to the Steubenville San Diego Catholic Youth Conference.  Some of you are laughing because the conference is being held in our backyard at SDSU.  While it isn't a trip in the sense of miles, it is a journey into the Sacred Heart of Christ.

I'm also getting ready to go on a vacation/missionary trip to the Dominican Republic.  I really am excited (and nervous) to go.  I'm struggling right now with that feeling of "oh-I-still-have-time-to-get-everything-done-before-I-leave-but-I-really-don't-because-the-trip-is-only-a-few-weeks-away".

- These two stories grabbed my attention today:

1. As you probably know, our world is celebrating the Summer Olympics in a few weeks.  The host country, China, has been preaching (and warning) visitors to be civil and kind during the Games.  Among the many rules include no spitting, no standing for long periods of time in the seating area, and no crossbows allowed (yes, you heard me, NO CROSSBOWS!).

This is all well and good, but aren't we supposed to be civil to each other all the time?

2. If you want to get someone to clean your room or house, give them free gas.  If you want to make new friends, give them free gas.  If you want to lead people closer to Christ, give them free gas.

- I've been blessed to meet a lot of amazing teens, families, young adults of all ages, priests, sisters and fellow youth ministers.  There are two brother youth ministers, Mark Ostriecher and D. Scott Miller, that are in Australia for the celebration of World Youth Day.  Marko and Scott will be blogging from Sydney and I'll be sharing some of their experiences with you (as well as how they've inspired me to be a better youth minister and a better man of God).

- This Friday, July 18, here at my parish, St. James, we will be celebrating the ordination to the diaconate of Ernesto Torres.  If you're Catholic and have never been to an ordination of any kind, you have a moral obligation to go.  OK, you don't have a moral obligation to go, but you really should if you want to see, feel and hear the power of Christ's grace in action.  One of the most powerful experiences in the life of our Church.  I hope to have a special blog on Ernesto later this week.

- A quick shout out to all of you who have been coming to Bible study over the summer.  One of joys of being a youth minister is praying, preparing and leading Bible study.  I hope that those who have been coming (and those who will be coming) have a powerful encounter with Christ.  I know I do.

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