This past Saturday, several good friends and I ran a race called the Tough Mudder (that's my rear mid back-flip on the right). As you could probably tell from the picture we had a lot of fun, worked hard and got muddy. As I reflected on my experience from that day and on the beginnings of CCFM, and I realized that this race makes an excellent analogy for what the beginnings of many new ministries feel like.

Can you remember back to last summer, where if you’re like me, you spent countless hours planning out your year?  You know, scheduling topics for particular nights, looking through your curriculum, or deciding which curriculum you are going to use.  We all do this kind of planning, and we should be deliberate and intentional about how we determine what our year of youth ministry will look like.  I can’t stress how important it is to make sure that we are forming the youth according to the teachings of the Church; it’s practically our whole job!

Part of my Lenten activities this year include reading a book called “A Lenten Journey with Jesus Christ and St. John of the Cross”, by Rev. George Mangiaracina, O.C.D. This book has a reflection for every day in Lent, which includes the Gospel, a reflection by St. John of the Cross, and a prayer. I have to admit, this hasn’t been easy for me. I am drawn to St. John of the Cross’ spirituality and am so moved by his poetry, but oftentimes the things he says are incredibly challenging. Some days, the reflection and exhortations that he gives are completely contrary to how I live.

This post actually builds on my last post where I told a story of a one armed martial arts student. You can read that story here.

If you’ve read any of the blogs I’ve posted before you might already know this, so bear with me. From June to November 2013 I lived in Burkina Faso, a small West African country nestled between Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. It’s a very tiny country, the size of Colorado. It’s landlocked and as a result of that, very poor. It’s considered to be the third poorest country in the world, and the poorest country the Peace Corps serves.

Last Friday I had an awesome opportunity to put on a tux and go to an event with my lovely bride and leave our four kiddo’s cared for at home. We had a great time, ate some great food, danced, and got to hang out with some good friends. But what I bring to you here today came from the speaker for the event who affectionately calls himself Julie’s brother.

"After I have known itLove works so in meThat whether things go well or badlyLove turns them to one sweetnessTransforming the soul in itself.And so in its delighting flameWhich I am feeling within me,Swiftly, with nothing spared,I am wholly being consumed"- St. John of the Cross
Over the past couple of years, I’ve had a developing relationship with St. John of the Cross. In reading his poems and coming to an understanding of his spirituality, I have realized more and more that I so desire to relate to God the way he does.

Do you ever impose limits on God?  I would like to think that I haven’t, but that just isn’t true.  I’ve known that God can use and work through me.  This has been a recurring theme in my prayer life from the very beginning of my involvement in ministry.  Even though I am familiar with the idea that God wants to use us, I know that I have greatly underestimated the ways in which He wants to use me in particular… well, until recently that is.

I. Am. Sick. This is the fourth time in four months that I have been sick. That’s kind of ridiculous, folks. In discussing my health with several people that know me well, I realized that the reason I have been getting sick so often is because I don’t eat the way I should (I should have said no to those month-old cupcakes). I have gotten into the habit of eating only what is available in the office, which mostly consists of junk food. I haven't been getting the nutrition my body desperately needs in order to fight sickness and stay well.

While I was still in high school, my father thought it was important that I learned to drive a manual. I mean, it makes sense. Who knows when you’ll be on the run and find a car to jump in to attempt an escape and alas - it’s a manual. Then you’re left thinking, “If only my father had taught me how to drive a stick shift.” So, big shout out to my father, for trying to teach me how to drive a stick. I must emphasize try, because I still have no hope when it comes to standard cars. We had our lesson in the parking lot, my dad constantly talking me through the motions. Then, go time.

This semester has been a rough one for me. I’ve struggled in literally every aspect of life: physical, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, etc. But this semester I’ve also prided myself with being brave, being strong, fighting tooth and nail through it all. However the more and more I’ve reflected on this semester the more I had to ask myself, “How can I say I was strong when my “strength” only brought about anger, resentment, and a loss of joy?”

Love. It seems today that we’re all obsessed with it. How to get it, how to lose it, what it means, what it doesn’t mean. Yesterday, while I was at mass, God gave me a glimpse of what he intended love to be. As I was going up for communion, I spotted a couple walking up to receive the Eucharist. The husband was blind, and he was being gently guided by his wife up to the altar. She softly gave him directions and held his back and his hand as she guided him to receive Jesus.

I went on a short trip recently to visit some friends.  Despite the insane weather, I braved the icepocolypse that hit Dallas.  Why’d I risk my life… because these aren’t just any old friends I went to see.  These are my friends that I served with on the Missionary Staff at the Pines Catholic camp last year.  We don’t get to see each other very often because we live in different parts of the country now, so it was really important for me to see them. 

A Message from Kyle Turner, Journey Ministry Leader at St. Mary's Church in Caldwell

I have this friend. This friend is like no other friend I’ve ever had. He hangs out with me every day. He has spent countless hours in the library with me as I hammered out 20 page papers. He has been kidnapped multiple times for just being around me. He has traveled with me across the country. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about my pet rock, Rosario.

Every week, I have the opportunity to go to Daily Mass just hours after an early morning personal holy hour. This morning Mass is held in the perpetual Adoration chapel, so the Blessed Sacrament is exposed right before and after Mass. The priest reposes the Eucharist for Mass and re-exposes Him afterward. But last week, something was different. 

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
 How often do we hear about the importance of these virtues? We are taught to be kind and gentle, to make peace with each other and to love one another.  And yet, these fruit of the Spirit are really not supposed to be our end goal.

I don’t know about y’all, but I could use a telephone call from God every once in a while. Just a simple, “Hello Sarah, this is what I want you to do next in life…” Is that really too much to ask for? I don’t think so. I mean after all, if my desire is to do God’s will above my own then shouldn’t I just wait for Him to tell me what that is?

A few weeks ago, when we were at the National Youth Workers Convention in San Diego, one of the speakers, Harvey Carey, said the following: “It’s not about the gathering. It’s about the scattering. No one goes to a game to watch the huddle."

I grew up as a cradle Catholic, attending Mass every week and going through a traditional religious education program at my local parish.  I believe many people in the Church have grown up this way.  Either that, or they received their catechesis by attending Catholic school.  Whichever category you fall into, I bet you didn’t hear a whole lot of talk about evangelization while you were being formed in the faith.  This is definitely true for me.  It was not until I was in college that I started to become more familiar with evangelization and what it was.