This Week Didn't Go As Planned
Sometimes in ministry, things can either go the way we plan them, or they can take an unexpected turn, for better or for worse. Although we can never plan for every minute to go exactly the way we want, God can. He will always know exactly what your youth group needs. There are a lot of things that can contribute to something not going according to your plan, but we just have to remember that God is in control...

My Ten Commandments of Discipleship
My guidelines and promises to myself in discipling others: 1. Thou shalt not bring thy own stuff into the relationship and make everything about you – So many times I see people do this and do it myself. Something the person I am discipling says triggers something I remember about my own life. It’s OK to share a story, but this can get out of hand quickly...

All Rights Reserved
Recently, I was asked to speak to a group of Music Ministers at a Musicians’ workshop. As I began to speak about the need to have a copyright license to reprint the lyrics to songs on a worship aide, suddenly the room became awkwardly silent. To my surprise, many musicians did not know about the need for licenses....

"When God calls you, you go!"
Those are the words of a 16-year-old aspirant arriving for her first day at the convent in Michigan. This young gal was among several -- including our own Mary Anne Marks! -- featured on today's episode of Oprah in a lovely follow-up to last winter's profile of the Dominican Sisters of Mary...

The Advent Conspiracy, 2010
From the folks behind the Advent Conspiracy, another powerful and provocative challenge to the world...

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

They're back: Dominican Sisters appearing on Oprah again
The Dominican Sisters of Mary will be featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Tuesday, November 23rd. This is a new show that includes interviews with Mother Assumpta, Sr. Joseph Andrew, Sr. Mary Samuel, Sr. John Dominic and other Sisters; as well as on-site filming of the First and Final Profession Masses and this year's Entrance Day, during which we welcomed 22 Aspirants...

7 reasons to go to Confession
1. Priestly absolution is an awesome gift that Jesus gave us. Jesus gave us this Sacrament and wants us to enjoy His grace through it. He told His first priests, the Apostles: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins are forgiven (John 20:22)...

The Catholic Origins of Thanksgiving!
The history books will tell you that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the pilgrims in 1621. Not true. An interesting bit of trivia is that the first American Thanksgiving was actually celebrated on September 8, 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida. The Native Americans and Spanish settlers held a feast and the Holy Mass was offered...

Advent Message 2010
Each year the Church invites us to remind ourselves of God’s plan of salvation for us sinners. Each day throughout Advent we are presented with yet another prophet providing further insights into the Messiah who will be sent by God to take away our sins and to restore our friendship with God...

The story of Jonah like you've not heard it before
You need to set aside about 8 minutes... and listen... staying with it through the end... If only we were all as passionate and animated...

2010 KCYC Trailer

Stop Doing Everything Yourself
OK, I’m still not great at this and probably not even rated as “good,” either, but I do want to improve… A “how to delegate” article over at lifehacker (h/t to Monday Morning Insight) suggests that we need to know what you can delegate, then how to delegate, and then finally (always the hardest step), actually delegate....

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
After a recent Life Night, a Core Member and I were talking about the lack of respect that a particular teen had for the speaker that evening. That general lack of respect seems an overarching theme of our youth today. I commented to him that we have to earn their respect; there is none given until earned....

It's beginning to look a lot like...
…almost Advent. All right, all right, I know. It is way too early to start talking about Christmas, but can’t we start getting ready for getting ready? I mean, wouldn’t it be acceptable to prepare for our time of preparation? I can hardly wait to start waiting...

Well Said... So, What We Do We Do Now?
Kudos to NBC for running a series on The Today Show on the decline of civility. I missed this part of the series the other day, but Lisa gave me a heads-up and I found it online. It's worth passing on because it relates to our families, our parenting, our youth ministries, and what we do here at CPYU. Give it a look. . .

Awesome Middle School Football Trick Play

Pope to Youth: "Learn to love, truly to love, to learn the art of true love"

After a question from a young woman of Catholic Action, Benedict XVI responded, "It is very important, I would say fundamental, to learn to love, truly to love, to learn the art of real love!" He continued: "In adolescence we stop before the mirror and we notice that we are changing. But if you continue to look at yourself, you will never grow up...

Top Youth Ministry Movies you can show to your youth group
There are plenty of movies that are overdone in youth groups (i.e. The Princess Bride, Napoleon Dynamite, The Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings films.). It's not that these aren't good, but there are some great films that often get overlooked. Thus, here is a list of films you can show to your youth group in order to generate great spiritual conversations and foster the discernment of truth in media. This is not an exhaustive list, and I'll periodically add films as I see them....

The Gospel according to... my garbage man
It was about 5:30 a.m. and I was in the middle of my morning prayer. The sun had yet to rise. The coffee was hot and the house, serene. Just then, in the middle of my prayer, apprehension gripped my body and shattered my peace. “Oh no! It’s bulk trash pickup today!” I sprang up from the couch in our prayer room, threw on some warm clothes and within minutes found myself in my back yard....

Relational Ministry is Free
Sometimes when our budget is cut or we can’t afford to buy the next greatest resource or piece of modern technology aimed at reaching teens, we can get down and in a way lose focus on what our mission is. Teens, like all of us are relationship focused...

How to Stop Being Boring

100 Ways to Make a Difference