Revolution: A Project 2o3 Movement
E3 High School Youth Group Session at St. Mary’s Meets from 6:30-8:30pm.
Project 2o3 Meets throughout the year at various parishes. Check schedule for dates, times, and locations.
Join the Revolution.
If our God is for us, who can stand against us?
Romans 8:31
Revolution within leads to a Revolution Without.
Reflections on the coming year in ministry:
“Rules without relationship, lead to rebellion.” This statement has resonated in my heart this summer. We don't need rebellion, we need reform. We need a revolution. As the current youth minister at St. Mary’s in Swartz Creek, and now also at St. Robert’s in Flushing, I am blessed to share in the work bringing Catholics into a real relationship with Jesus Christ. I have encountered, time and again, the joy of youth and adults when they meet Christ after years of being in the Church that Christ established. Their testimonies are always the same and always beautiful. They always speak of how being Catholic was just a set of rules that didn’t have any reason to them (or if they did, they would probably be so boring it wasn’t worth trying to find out).
Then they meet him.
Maybe it was a retreat. Maybe it was a conversation with a stranger. Maybe it was reading that large print St. Joseph Bible that’s been collecting dust on the mantle. Or maybe it was during the liturgy and something just clicked. Something, for the first time, engaged them where they were at. Then it led to an encounter. The God they always believed in suddenly breaks through their world, and nothing can ever be the same. The joy they always desired has finally found them. Love leads to repentance. Miracles, verifiable physical miracles happen, but are never remembered as the most important thing. The Bible becomes their family story that is still living, active, and life-giving. Habits of sin, some small, some serious, are broken. Relationships are mended. Painful memories are healed. Rebels lay down arms. Prodigal sons come home. Rules now fit within the reality of a relationship. And after all of this, how could they keep it to themselves? They begin, without any training or sales pitch, to evangelize to others. To participate in this process that we simply call Evangelization is both humbling and awesome.
When considering teenagers, the need for this process of evangelization is paramount. Teens are specifically built for great things. Their age, intensity, and hunger for something satisfying are gifts from God. They are looking for joy. They are looking for love. They are looking for something to fight for. They are looking for a revolution. Though we all are, theirs is a desperation for it that can’t be hidden well. Behind all the friends, the dating and the breaking up, the cell phone bills, the rebellion, the fun, the parties, the sports, the meaningless reality shows, the boredom, the hours of “facebooking”, the endless afterschool activities, and the long nights of caffeinated energy drinks and Xbox Live…behind all of these things, lies the desire for God that hasn’t been fulfilled. When the real thing isn’t offered to them, when it’s not offered to them in a way that breaks through their defenses, they, like many of us, settle for substitutes. Substitutes are fun, but without God, the fun withers and that deep craving never get satisfied.
So the work of youth ministry this year is missionary and revolutionary in nature. It’s about slipping behind enemy lines, behind the false pleasures of this world, and even the good pleasures that become false when they become distractions. What youth ministry is about is engaging young people where they are and as they really are. It is leading them into an encounter with Christ. And it is about equipping them to live out their call to holiness in the Church and evangelizing their peers, their parents, and their parish. Ministry is joining in the Revolution we call Catholicism.
The mission this Fall is to have fun, fellowship, and ultimately to bring the youth to Christ, so that all the “rules” of the faith are lived realities within their relationship with their Lord, Savior, and Friend. Please keep the youth, the volunteers, and myself in prayer as we begin this process of Evangelization and Revolution!
If you would like to speak with me, please feel free to contact me at jphilip@smqa.net or through the parish office. Youth Ministry will begin regularly in the Fall on Sunday’s from 1-3pm St. Mary's and 7-9pm at St. Robert's. However, one Sunday a month, we will participate in Project 2o3, a multi-parish youth event held at different parishes in our region. Ministry meets media: look for me, 2o3, and parish youth pages on facebook, search Joseph Philip.
In Christ,
Joe
Join the Revolution.
"If Our God is For us, who can stand against us?" Romans 8:31
jphilip@smqa.net
810.635.3241
Revolution: A Project 2o3 Movement
E3 High School Youth Group Session at St. Mary’s Meets from 6:30-8:30pm.
Project 2o3 Meets throughout the year at various parishes. Check schedule for dates, times, and locations.
Join the Revolution.
If our God is for us, who can stand against us?
Romans 8:31
Revolution within leads to a Revolution Without.
Reflections on the coming year in ministry:
“Rules without relationship, lead to rebellion.” This statement has resonated in my heart this summer. We don't need rebellion, we need reform. We need a revolution. As the current youth minister at St. Mary’s in Swartz Creek, and now also at St. Robert’s in Flushing, I am blessed to share in the work bringing Catholics into a real relationship with Jesus Christ. I have encountered, time and again, the joy of youth and adults when they meet Christ after years of being in the Church that Christ established. Their testimonies are always the same and always beautiful. They always speak of how being Catholic was just a set of rules that didn’t have any reason to them (or if they did, they would probably be so boring it wasn’t worth trying to find out).
Then they meet him.
Maybe it was a retreat. Maybe it was a conversation with a stranger. Maybe it was reading that large print St. Joseph Bible that’s been collecting dust on the mantle. Or maybe it was during the liturgy and something just clicked. Something, for the first time, engaged them where they were at. Then it led to an encounter. The God they always believed in suddenly breaks through their world, and nothing can ever be the same. The joy they always desired has finally found them. Love leads to repentance. Miracles, verifiable physical miracles happen, but are never remembered as the most important thing. The Bible becomes their family story that is still living, active, and life-giving. Habits of sin, some small, some serious, are broken. Relationships are mended. Painful memories are healed. Rebels lay down arms. Prodigal sons come home. Rules now fit within the reality of a relationship. And after all of this, how could they keep it to themselves? They begin, without any training or sales pitch, to evangelize to others. To participate in this process that we simply call Evangelization is both humbling and awesome.
When considering teenagers, the need for this process of evangelization is paramount. Teens are specifically built for great things. Their age, intensity, and hunger for something satisfying are gifts from God. They are looking for joy. They are looking for love. They are looking for something to fight for. They are looking for a revolution. Though we all are, theirs is a desperation for it that can’t be hidden well. Behind all the friends, the dating and the breaking up, the cell phone bills, the rebellion, the fun, the parties, the sports, the meaningless reality shows, the boredom, the hours of “facebooking”, the endless afterschool activities, and the long nights of caffeinated energy drinks and Xbox Live…behind all of these things, lies the desire for God that hasn’t been fulfilled. When the real thing isn’t offered to them, when it’s not offered to them in a way that breaks through their defenses, they, like many of us, settle for substitutes. Substitutes are fun, but without God, the fun withers and that deep craving never get satisfied.
So the work of youth ministry this year is missionary and revolutionary in nature. It’s about slipping behind enemy lines, behind the false pleasures of this world, and even the good pleasures that become false when they become distractions. What youth ministry is about is engaging young people where they are and as they really are. It is leading them into an encounter with Christ. And it is about equipping them to live out their call to holiness in the Church and evangelizing their peers, their parents, and their parish. Ministry is joining in the Revolution we call Catholicism.
The mission this Fall is to have fun, fellowship, and ultimately to bring the youth to Christ, so that all the “rules” of the faith are lived realities within their relationship with their Lord, Savior, and Friend. Please keep the youth, the volunteers, and myself in prayer as we begin this process of Evangelization and Revolution!
If you would like to speak with me, please feel free to contact me at jphilip@smqa.net or through the parish office. Youth Ministry will begin regularly in the Fall on Sunday’s from 1-3pm St. Mary's and 7-9pm at St. Robert's. However, one Sunday a month, we will participate in Project 2o3, a multi-parish youth event held at different parishes in our region. Ministry meets media: look for me, 2o3, and parish youth pages on facebook, search Joseph Philip.
In Christ,
Joe
Join the Revolution.
"If Our God is For us, who can stand against us?" Romans 8:31
jphilip@smqa.net
810.635.3241
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Dates for Project 2o3 events for 2011-2012
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- Sunday, December 18th – Advent Edition, @ SPX, 5-8pm
Fri-Sun, Jan 13-15th - Leadership event, teens help to facilitate One8 Confirmation retreats @ Bethany House
- Fri-Sun, Feb 10-12th, High School Winter Retreat @ Bethany House (interested teens or youth groups must register with us by November (first come, first serve).
- Saturday, March 17th 2-5pm (faith), Mass at 5pm, 6-8pm (fellowship) @ TBD
- Saturday, April 21st – Lock In @ Powers Catholic, TBA
- TBD, Franciscan University Summer Conference, June or July
- TBD, Flint Salem Housing Project, Week Long Service Camp in Flint MI
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