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I just watched youth and adults from Holy Disciples (Puyallup) and Our Lady of Good Counsel (Eatonville) pull out of our parking lot on their way to Sojourner Place - "A Haven for Women in Transition", a home where many of them served in their ONE Week in Seattle back in July. The Archbishop Thomas J. Murphy Courtyard at St. James Cathedral was a pit stop for prayer on their way from one of the Volunteer Chore Services sites where they returned to support a family they met earlier this summer by clearing away a truck load of unused items for donation at St. Vincent de Paul and another load destined for the dump.
Their actions remind us all that living out our Catholic Social Teaching and responding to the call of our discipleship is not limited to one week during our summer or to a mission trip for which we might raise considerable funds to participate. Our discipleship is practiced every day and in our local communities. I am thankful to have been able to witness such selfless care and compassion in action.
The next step for them and for us all is to identify those needs within our immediate community that we are called to fill and to respond to. To engage our families and our parish communities to participate alongside us to grow the impact of ONE Week, ONE Day, ONE Moment.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
RESOURCE - Food Fast with CRS
Join Food Fast 2009-2010
Help young people show others what a difference they can make!
Join Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and assist the poor overseas by holding a Food Fast with your teens. Food Fast is Catholic Relief Services’ 24-hour awareness program for Catholic youth. Focusing on global poverty and hunger, Food Fast offers a journey of solidarity with our brothers and sisters overseas, as a way of living out our Catholic faith.
This is a great way to incorporate Catholic Social Teaching into your program. This can be incorporated into your program during Confirmation, Lent or as a pre-mission trip preparation experience.
To order your FREE resources (available in both Spanish and English) and/or for more information about the program, visit the Food Fast website, or call 1-800-222-0025.
Help young people show others what a difference they can make!
Join Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and assist the poor overseas by holding a Food Fast with your teens. Food Fast is Catholic Relief Services’ 24-hour awareness program for Catholic youth. Focusing on global poverty and hunger, Food Fast offers a journey of solidarity with our brothers and sisters overseas, as a way of living out our Catholic faith.
This is a great way to incorporate Catholic Social Teaching into your program. This can be incorporated into your program during Confirmation, Lent or as a pre-mission trip preparation experience.
To order your FREE resources (available in both Spanish and English) and/or for more information about the program, visit the Food Fast website, or call 1-800-222-0025.
Friday, August 14, 2009
ONE Week - done for Summer 2009!
As I sit here writing this, the final wrap is being put on our ONE Week program for the summer of 2009. Many of the OYYAM staff were able to make it out to the Olympic Peninsula this past week and witness in action the Junior High youth from Our Lady of the Mountain (Ft. Lewis), St. Vincent de Paul (Federal Way), Mary Queen of Peace (Issaquah), Immaculate Conception (Arlington) and St. Gabriel (Port Orchard). They closed out the summer in fine fashion, making a difference in the lives of the people of Forks, WA and growing in their own awareness of their call as disciples to live out our Catholic Social Teaching. To be sure, they were dazzled by the beauty that surrounded them during the beachside communion service led by Deacon Jeff Greer but also both affirmed and challenged by the Body of Christ that they were a part of the entire week.
A big thanks to the communities who shared hospitality by opening their facilities to us and all of the site directors who gave their time and energy in leading our youth in transforming the community and themselves through ONE Week:
St. Anne, Forks, High School - Maryelyn Scholz and Joy Galvez
Our Lady of Good Help, Hoquiam, High School - Ann LaBeck and Tanya Lange
Immaculate Conception, Seattle, High School - Tauno Latvala
St. Michael, Snohomish, Junior High - GerriAnne McMakin and Joy Galvez
St. Anne and Calvary Temple, Forks, Junior High - Maryelyn Scholz and Anthony Lezcano
A BIG thanks to our cooks who kept us well fed and healthy throughout the week so we we would be able to accomplish the tasks we were called upon to do:
Forks, Hoquiam, Seattle, Snohomish - Britta Folden
Forks - Karen Lezcano
Thank you to the adult leaders and coordinators of youth ministry who prepared and planned for their parish participation in the program and provided supervision, transportation, leadership and a supportive presence on the journey of ONE Week itself.
And most importantly, thank you to the youth who gave up ONE Week during their summer to do something for others and not for themselves. Let's do it again next summer!!!!
A big thanks to the communities who shared hospitality by opening their facilities to us and all of the site directors who gave their time and energy in leading our youth in transforming the community and themselves through ONE Week:
St. Anne, Forks, High School - Maryelyn Scholz and Joy Galvez
Our Lady of Good Help, Hoquiam, High School - Ann LaBeck and Tanya Lange
Immaculate Conception, Seattle, High School - Tauno Latvala
St. Michael, Snohomish, Junior High - GerriAnne McMakin and Joy Galvez
St. Anne and Calvary Temple, Forks, Junior High - Maryelyn Scholz and Anthony Lezcano
A BIG thanks to our cooks who kept us well fed and healthy throughout the week so we we would be able to accomplish the tasks we were called upon to do:
Forks, Hoquiam, Seattle, Snohomish - Britta Folden
Forks - Karen Lezcano
Thank you to the adult leaders and coordinators of youth ministry who prepared and planned for their parish participation in the program and provided supervision, transportation, leadership and a supportive presence on the journey of ONE Week itself.
And most importantly, thank you to the youth who gave up ONE Week during their summer to do something for others and not for themselves. Let's do it again next summer!!!!
Monday, August 10, 2009
RESOURCE - National Public Lands Day - Living out Catholic Social Teaching! - September 26, 2009
Are you looking for a way to practice Catholic Social Teaching with your youth, families and parishioners?
Care for God’s Creation...
We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.
Call to Family, Community, and Participation
The person is not only sacred but also social. How we organize our society in economics and politics, in law and policy directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. Marriage and the family are the central social institutions that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.
National Public Lands Day provides a great opportunity to practice stewardship of God's Creation and participate in the work of, and the connection to, the larger community.
It began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. Last year 120,000 volunteers worked in over 1,800 locations and in every state. Now, 8 federal agencies and many state and local lands participate in this annual day of caring for shared lands.
National Public Lands Day keeps the promise of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the "tree army" that worked from 1933-42 to preserve and protect America's natural heritage.
This annual event:
1. Educates Americans about critical environmental and natural resources issues and the need for shared stewardship of these valued, irreplaceable lands;
2. Builds partnerships between the public sector and the local community based upon mutual interests in the enhancement and restoration of America's public lands;
3. Improves public lands for outdoor recreation, with volunteers assisting land managers in hands-on work.
There are sites all across Washington state including Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens National Parks, Magnuson Park Wetlands, Ft. Lewis, Lakebay among others...
What better way to kick off your year of youth and family ministry and provide an outing for families and parishioners to grow closer to one another and Our Creator while serving the greater good!
Care for God’s Creation...
We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.
Call to Family, Community, and Participation
The person is not only sacred but also social. How we organize our society in economics and politics, in law and policy directly affects human dignity and the capacity of individuals to grow in community. Marriage and the family are the central social institutions that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable.
National Public Lands Day provides a great opportunity to practice stewardship of God's Creation and participate in the work of, and the connection to, the larger community.
It began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. Last year 120,000 volunteers worked in over 1,800 locations and in every state. Now, 8 federal agencies and many state and local lands participate in this annual day of caring for shared lands.
National Public Lands Day keeps the promise of the Civilian Conservation Corps, the "tree army" that worked from 1933-42 to preserve and protect America's natural heritage.
This annual event:
1. Educates Americans about critical environmental and natural resources issues and the need for shared stewardship of these valued, irreplaceable lands;
2. Builds partnerships between the public sector and the local community based upon mutual interests in the enhancement and restoration of America's public lands;
3. Improves public lands for outdoor recreation, with volunteers assisting land managers in hands-on work.
There are sites all across Washington state including Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens National Parks, Magnuson Park Wetlands, Ft. Lewis, Lakebay among others...
What better way to kick off your year of youth and family ministry and provide an outing for families and parishioners to grow closer to one another and Our Creator while serving the greater good!
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