Being Church…
May 13, 2008 174 candidates from Holy Name of Jesus were confirmed. It was a beautiful and moving ceremony. Bishop Pates talked about the gifts of the Spirit and how the youth could live them out, and made the connection with Passion Play. We were privileged to have him attend this year’s Passion Play, and he made a strong connection with the Play and how learning about and living the life of Jesus would help us in our continued life in the Church.
After Confirmation, we had our final class. Many people wondered if we had made a typo when the date of the last class was after Confirmation was celebrated. However, Bishop Pates made the point, as did many of the classes, that Confirmation is not graduation. Our Youth are the church, not in the future, but now.
At the session on being church, the youth were invited to commit to one or more ministries, starting today. I would like to share with you those commitments. I was touched by how thoughtful and insightful they were. Continue to pray for all our youth, but especially for those who were just confirmed, that they would be able to carry out their commitments to God and the church. Just a note: Heavy lifters is a ministry that started kind of as a joke several years ago, when a group of young men decided that was their ministry. We took them seriously and called them to lift things for the rummage sale, set up for Fall Festival, set up chairs for large events such as Christmas Eve Mass, and respond willing to needs they see around them.
The youth were given sheets and here are their responses. They brought up their sheets and a brick, and built a structure, a “living church” with their responses.
- I will go to church as often as possible with my family. I will help work at Vacation Bible School.
- Go to church every week
- Go to church with my family, lector, and pray more often.
- VBS, nursery
- Be a lector, teach Sunday school, be a Eucharistic minister, go to church to VBS, love others, be there if needed, light fires often
- Love others
- When I get my license, I’m going to come to mass on my own accord, even if my parents can’t make it.
- Pray more often!
- Greet w/ my mom more often.
- Get more involved in Church extra curricular activities
- Sunday School & Eucharistic Minister
- Go to Mass EVERY Sunday, Pray more often
- I’m going to pray at the start & end of everyday for a feeling that God is w/me. I am going to get to know my Church community’s members better. I will make time to get to know God better every day & weekly at Mass.
- a leader for VBS!
- commit to doing Vacation Bible School every year. also to pray more often. I will try to go to the adoration Chapel every month.
- I will commit to go to church when I can.
- Come to Mass more often.
- I will… pray much more often than I have been doing.
- Go to church and pray.
- I will pray more.
- I commit to being a more loving and friendly person. Also to pray more and try to participate at Church
- pray more. Help in the nursery. Do VBS & Sunday School.
- Go to Eucharistic adoration.
- pray more often.
- Continue attending Mass, treat my parish as family, love everyone.
- pray
- go to church every weekend, usher, Sunday School teacher, heavy lifter
- I will go to church more often and under my own free will.
- commit to going to church & the pad as much as I can.
- Go to church once a week, attend reconciliation as much as possible.
- Find a new church.
- I am going to try and Pray More often.
- Come and help when I can. Also be nice to those who need it and those who don’t look like they need it.
- Commit to go to church every Sunday Commitment is everything!
- commit to praying more often.
- live and act through God’s name.
- Wednesday Night RE
- Attend Mass & pray more
- I will commit to being a lector.
- Connect to work and school.
- be church
- be more active in Life Teen
- be a Eucharistic Minister or Lector
- Start praying for everyone close to me and do good deeds.
- Do services of the church like Sunday School, nursery and Social Services
- Love people more
- I commit to being a good person
- teach Sunday School
- confession
- Be Nicer to People
- help in the Nursery/Pray more often
- Love people more… Be church
- Do God’s will always
- be church
- Vacation Bible School, help in the nursery, church, go to Mass more
- commit to praying More often
- lector, VBS, pray
- go to church every week & pray more often
- I will commit to VBS (Vacation Bible School). Maybe @ the Nursery
- PRAY
- teach Sunday School
- VBS & Eucharistic Minister
- Become a Eucharistic Minister and a Lector. I will increase my faith life by praying more. I will also have to choose what is good for me.
- be a Sunday School teacher and go to Mass EVERY Sunday.
- Be a Eucharistic Minister and help with Adoration.
- Service and Outreach, Lectoring, Attending Mass twice weekly, Praying more
- be more active in my church and pray more
- love everyone & be a good church member & go to church more often
- I will Do More Community Service & Get My Friends to do it with me.
- help with VBS.
- I will pray more and go to church more often
- be church
- Be an Usher
I do it all the time. I am in one place (usually work or heading home). My children or youth are in another. I can’t get to where they are, and they need direction. Here comes the crisis. Can I stay over night? I don’t have the homework, or band instrument or permission slip or lunch or…..fill in the blank. I need… a new uniform, something for art that was needed last week…a book from the library… something to eat for supper… The questions come, “What can we do until you come home?” “What can we eat?” My brother… did…
A week after the 35W bridge collapse, everyone in our family except our oldest college age daughter went to a family reunion. Our daughter had to work and her schedule was such that she needed to go to Mass at St. Laurence/ Newman center, near the U at 9 in the evening on Sunday. It is our church of last resort when all other times don’t work, and we usually get there several times a year. As we were driving back we watched a beautiful rainbow for about 30 minutes of our drive. I was reminded of Noah and the covenant and the promise that God would love and care for us. At about 9 pm I briefly remembered that Joy was probably at Mass. I knew her schedule was tight and hoped she made it on time. Then came the phone call. A rather hysterical voice could be heard on my husband’s cell phone above the traffic noise. She was lost and late. For the next 20 minutes Tim patiently talked her through finding out where she was and how to get to church—with the 35W bridge out, her normal way of getting to St. Laurence. We got home, dropped the other kids and our stuff off, and immediately Tim and I set out. She hadn’t asked for help, but I just knew that when she got out of church, she would not be able to get home on any of her normal routes and she didn’t yet realize that. Church had ended early and she was not there, but when Tim called, she was already in the dark, headed in the wrong direction and if not lost, at least not knowing where she was going. She had forgotten 35W was closed. We followed her, found her and led her home.