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Life Teen Missions
- The Blessed Life May 22, 2013 Robbie Duginger
- Finding Peace in the Dark May 21, 2013 Robbie Duginger
- Spirit Break Out May 21, 2013 Kiera Regan
- This is Haiti (T.I.H.) May 6, 2013 Paola Flores
- No Place Like Home April 30, 2013 Amanda Cassar
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LifeTeen.com Blog
D.I.Y. Religion: Do We Need the Catholic Church?
You know religion comes from the word “religare” meaning “to bind” - something we may not like. But you know sin? The word sin comes from a German word “Sünde” that means “to sunder” . . . to tear apart . . . to be divided.
And I don’t know about you but I have a sundered heart. I have a divided heart. I have a heart with sin and so I need religion because I have division and I need to be bound back together. I need some binding of my own. And I think God’s people - we’ve been sundered - we need religion, we need religare - we need to be bound. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
The Spirit and The Cardinals
Looking back now, I am thankful for the great gift Pope Benedict XVI has been for the Church over the last 8 years. God knows what we need, when we need it, and always provides!
I’m sure many of you are also curious about how this whole conclave process works. All over the news there are stories covering the physical steps to the conclave process.
There are a couple things that the process is NOT: Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Podcast
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday: 03/10/2013
Don't ever be afraid to run back to God. He's already waiting for you with open arms.
Read more [...]
Why Do Catholics Believe the Pope is Infallible?
The word “infallible” does not mean that the pope is perfect. It also does not mean that the pope knows everything. Instead, infallibility only applies when the pope speaks about solemn, official teachings on faith and morals, and he can't ever change, add, or subtract Christian doctrine.
He only helps define or explain what we already believe, and he doesn't do it on his own. The infallible teachings of the Pope are the result of many years - sometimes hundreds of years - of consultation with the other bishops and theologians of the Church. He is, in effect, voicing the belief of the whole Church. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
Welcome Home
As a teenager, my neat little idea of home was damaged and changed by my parents divorce. So many people go through life feeling homeless. Many people, through loss of job or one unfortunate event after another, end up with no place to live. Even people who live in big houses may still feel like they have no home. Other people, who feel like no one in their house really knows them or understands them, feel as though they have a house but no home. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
Imagine Sisters
“Joy is really a gift of the holy spirit, it’s something that God pours into your heart. And when God invites you to do something and you respond, usually what happens after that is beyond your wildest dreams because you begin to encounter the Lord in new ways, and in mysterious ways that you don’t even really fully understand. But it’s all just so beautiful and I think that’d be the word that captures my life as a sister.
I just feel like I encounter and experience beauty in way that I’ve never understood before. It helps me to trust the Lord more, to trust in His love for me, to know that I belong to Him, that i’m His spouse . . . " Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
How to be Happy
I want a lot of things out of life. I want to be happy. I want to feel like I have purpose. I want to be loved. I want to make a difference. I want to live a life I’m proud of. I want to be a saint. I want chocolate and tacos but not at the same time.
But I don’t know where to find those vague and lofty desires. Are they only talked about in poems and songs? Because so many people around me aren’t happy with their lives, or haven’t found their purpose, or are settling for counterfeit love and a bottle of booze. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
Generation Benedict: Our Sweet Christ on Earth
In the works of Cardinal Ratzinger I met a man of not only extraordinary intellect and clarity, but of a deep faith and profound humility, a man living in the love and knowledge of the Truth Incarnate – in Jesus Christ, the Word of God. And it was (and still is) Jesus Christ who seemed to permeate his entire being, so much so that my own insatiable thirst for Truth, for the very Person of Jesus Christ, became increasingly set ablaze.
In Cardinal Ratzinger I knew I had found a trusted guide and teacher in the fullness of the Christian faith. It was then that I became an unofficial member of the “Ratzinger Fan Club.” Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
The Last Pope Ever: The Truth About the St. Malachy Prophecy
First, while the prophecy is supposed to have been written down by Saint Malachy in the 12th century, it was never spoken of even once before it surprisingly appeared out of nowhere at the very end of the 16th century. For a prophecy that supposedly predicts the Apocalypse in great detail, that’s an amazing fact! Would a true prophecy really go more than 400 years without being mentioned even a single time? I don’t think so.
Second, while the prophecy proves to be rather accurate about all the popes before the 16th century, it is extremely vague and inaccurate for the popes who came after. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
Popularity is Overrated: And Other Advice for the High School Me
Well, a lot has happened in those 15 years, and as I prepare to turn the ripe old age of 33 (my Jesus year), I’ve been reflecting on a lot of hard lessons I’ve learned along the way. If only there had been older adults giving me advice during my high school years, perhaps I could have been saved from a lot of heartache and bad decisions.
But, since I didn’t listen to my parents, I made a New Year’s Resolution to develop a time machine, crank it up to 88 mph, and have a little chat with myself.
If this were actually possible, here are 22 things I would tell the high school me: Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Podcast
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday: 03/03/2013
What if we lived our lives with God as the center instead of ourselves? During this Lent we have the opportunity to turn back to God, to repent, and to commit our lives to Him. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
Forever Alone: An Ode to Singles
Warning: first I’m going to rant, then I shall apologize, and then I will offer a solution for you because I’m nice like that. And because I like you and want you to be happier than you look in your #foreveralone selfie and sound in your #foreveralone tweet. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
3 Things You Should Know About Pope Benedict XVI
I couldn’t help but think, though, that in the world’s excitement to see history made with the upcoming papal conclave and all of the talk about who the “candidates” are – that we have forgotten about the man who has guided our Church through some of the most challenging times in history.
Pope Benedict XVI in his eight years as pope will leave behind an amazing legacy, and one that as a teen you should know about. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
God’s Heartbeat: Are You Listening?
Instead of going into the chapel and pouring out my thoughts or trying really hard to hear Him, I’m just sitting in the silence. His calm, gentle, strong voice always comes to me if I submit to the sacred silence in the chapel.
If I can’t make it to the chapel, I can sit in silence with God in my room. My reflection this week on my silent time has flowed nicely with my reflections on not speeding.
What I’ve learned this week is this: I don’t always have to set the pace. Whether it be in the car, in the hallway, or in the chapel - I can take my time. I can slow down. I can breathe. I can listen to His heartbeat, and strive to live my life to the rhythm of that heart beat. Let God set the rhythm, and experience the freedom that it offers. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
“Still Lolo”: A Story About Fashion, Faith, and Fear
In 2011 Lauren “Lolo” Scruggs was living the life any 23-year-old young woman would dream of. She had recently graduated college and had interned at Michael Kors' studio and the costume department of Gossip Girl. She had reported on Fashion Week in New York, Paris, and Montreal and her online magazine LOLO Magazine was generating lots of industry buzz.
Then, on December 3, 2011, Lauren was hit by the propeller blade of a small airplane and her life was turned upside down. The propeller grazed her skull and left eye and cut off her left hand. She was rushed to the hospital where her parents and twin sister anxiously waited with a room full of friends to hear if Lauren would recover. Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
Praying for My Future Pope
I’ve been to hundreds of youth conferences, camps, and retreats. And rarely one goes by that I don’t hear a men's or women's talk that encourage those who are single to spend time waiting, trusting, and praying for their future spouse. Now I know the analogy can get a little weird if we push it too far, so let’s be careful there. But in the same way that a single person who is waiting for a future spouse makes it a good practice to pray for their future spouse, we as a Church should pray for the future pope. We should ask the Lord to protect him, bless him, and make him ready. We should ask the Lord to give us strength, to encourage us in the interregnum (the time between popes), and to make us a more loving and faithful Church under the care of the next pope.
For me, it took my mind wondering and asking what my next pope would be like to realize how important it was to be praying for him every day. Read more [...]
The Game Changer: How Becoming a Summer Missionary Changed My Life
Looking back at the timeline of our life, there are certain events that stand out as life-changing. These events changed something about us; we became more aware of who we were; we gained new confidence in our gifts and talents; we fostered a new relationship that completely transformed our perspective on life.
When I accepted the position to be a Summer Missionary at Camp Covecrest in Tiger, Georgia for six weeks of Catholic youth summer camp during the summer of 2010, I had no idea that Read more [...]
LifeTeen.com Blog
The Holiest Vocation
About three years ago, I went through a big conversion and in the course of a few months my faith grew exponentially and so much in my life changed. I was reading everything about the Church I could get my hands on, I prayed the rosary daily and I practically lived in the adoration chapel. I was in love with my faith and everyone around me knew it.
However, as wonderful as my renewed spiritual life was, I quickly began to freak out . . . being that holy obviously meant I was being called to be a nun, right? Read more [...]