Summer as Opportunity

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Game nights, movie nights, bible studies, mass and lunch days, baseball games, ultimate frisbee games, praise & worship nights… the list of summer planning opportunities is endless. I’m not referring to the mission trips, Steubenville Conferences, Life Teen Camp, or other “big” events that would demand long-term planning and fundraising. […]

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Cruise Control Engaged?

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I love long road trips. My kids are trained, and can go a full day in the Millennium Falcon (that’s what we call our van) with just a few stops for restroom and stretch breaks. We’ve driven across the country, and up and down the coast numerous times, and our […]

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Lenten Mercy

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There is a clear hierarchy in the cookie realm: chocolate chip cookies, and then everything else. You’re welcome to disagree if you like. It’s a free country, so go ahead: be wrong. My wife, speaking my love language when I’ve had a rough go of something, made me chocolate chip […]

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All About Me

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The words rolled off my tongue quickly and easily, as they do in probably half a dozen or so conversations a day. I was talking with a youth minister who was worried about why she hadn’t been able to do a better job of building a core team. But it […]

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Is the Grass Greener?

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Samuel is one of my favorite characters in scripture. The idea of hearing the voice of God, and not being sure what it really means resonates with me, as does his willingness to answer God with a profound yes. When I was just growing in my spiritual journey, I was […]

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Intentional Christmas

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It was my least favorite part of every Christmas: Mass. My family attended mass every Sunday growing up, and I never had a problem attending, except for this one time per year. There was nothing wrong with that mass, per se, other than the fact that we always went Christmas […]

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All Aboard! Starting the Year as a Team

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It was my second year at a parish, and the Core Team was coming together for our planning and fun day before the semester got started. When I say “Core Team,” I am referring to some people who had said yes just a few days prior along with those who […]

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You Need a Vacation

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My pay-stub was telling me that I had ten vacation days left for the fiscal year, which would end in a month. I was worn out from running three big trips that summer and my wife was tired of changing all the diapers herself. After a short discussion with my […]

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Now What?

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The weeks leading up to a retreat can be more than a little crazy. With skit rehearsals, talk preparations, supply lists, getting the whole Core, and teen leadership teams prepped, arranging priests, icebreaker preparations, etc. our retreat to-do list seems endless. I quite often left one huge thing off of […]

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