The Best Gift We Can Give: Praying For Your Teens

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Her eyes were puffy, and her cheeks flushed. The bottom of her lip was trembling as the fake smile plastered across her face cracked. Her answers to my questions were one worded. My student had clearly been crying. Seeing that something was wrong, I told her she was more than […]

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Three Things to Change if We are Going to Share Our Faith

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Even for Catholics who have encountered Jesus, experienced his forgiveness and chosen to pattern their lives after him, fear, shame, neglect, and false ideas still prevent many of us from sharing our faith. We know we should and we might even want to, but we don’t. What gives? For the […]

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Core Team Spirituality

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A Core Team that prays together stays together. If that sounds familiar, it’s likely because there is a well know quote that says, “A family that prays together stays together”. However, the word family doesn’t need to be changed to Core Team either. After all, Core Teams usually become second families. […]

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Disciplining Out of Love

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She might as well have been wearing a sign reading, “I don’t want to be here.” She deliberately removed herself from other teens and watched without enthusiasm. Ministry rookie that I was, I immediately made her my project. After a while, she had moved from disinterested to actively disruptive. She […]

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Embracing the Chaos

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I remember it well: the panic and craziness that was my first attempt at a parish middle school ministry. I suppose I had it coming. There’s probably a reason you don’t find too many middle school programs called “Chaos!” Our parish Edge program has come a long way from there- […]

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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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Ministering to Ministers: The Value of a Strong Core

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Any youth minister will tell you, a good Core Team is invaluable to your ministry, and having a team of faithful volunteers is what makes or breaks a youth program. Without the support of holy men and women who understand the vision of the ministry and have a desire to […]

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Dive Deeper with Your Core Team

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Growing up I was scared to go on the spinning waterslide into my pool. When I looked at it – I thought it was awesome. I remember many times going up the ladder, trying to sit on the top of the slide, but I just couldn’t get myself to go […]

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Arise and Shine! (John 15:1-8)

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When do you find yourself praying? Is it in times of need? Times of distress? Is it as an obligation before a meeting or so you can look like you know what you are doing before a meeting? How foundational is prayer to your life? Is it the very oxygen […]

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And, While We Were Praying…

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Imagine that your young adult son walked out your front door one day in early December, and that you haven’t heard from him since. Imagine that you get a phone call from the police in late January telling you that they have found your son’s car in front of an […]

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