Suffering from a case of conjunctivitis today, which is a swelling (inflammation) or infection of the membrane lining the eyelids (aka the conjunctiva.)  Ok, so it’s “pink eye,” and I am banished to home as to not infect others.

The oldest daughter promised me a game of pool later in the week, when I have recovered.

The son sent me this Mark Twain quote: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”

The youngest updated her profile with a picture taken from a recent visit and offered this posting: “Wishing a very happy fathers day to my popsicle D. Scott Miller. He’s the best dad out there.”

Not a bad day after all!

If you have not figured this out about me just yet, let me tell ‘ya: I love a good visual – for a blog post, for a power point… whatever.  It’s important.

Therefore, I’m a fan of the creativity that goes into the daily t-shirt sale site:  shirt.woot.com….  Enough to have made two purchases in the past year for my college age daughter.  She suggests that the theme to my selections is that “childhood is now dead,”  but I like to think it was more about reconsidering childhood’s pop icons.  (As always, click on the picture for a larger image.)

  The important work of moving the world forward

does not wait to be done

by perfect men.

– George Eliot
Victoria era author’s
pen name for Mary Anne Evans
who used a male pen name  to ensure
that her works were taken seriously.

And so, our second week of touring the states of youth ministry finds us back in Florida.  We’ll take the weekend off here and hit a beach.  Hope the Gulf oil spill has not ruined that experience too much.

+ The Archdiocese of Miami no longer has a central Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry.

+ In Orlando, the the Diocesan Youth Advisory Board is known as S.A.L.T. (Servant-Apprentice Leadership Team)

+ The Christian Leadership Institute is wrapping up today in Pensacola – Tallahassee

+ One of the Safety Guidelines suggested by the folks in St. Augustine is that “No youth should be permitted to alter their body in anyway (Body piercing, tattoos, shaved head or colored hair) during a Youth Ministry event.”  That’s a good rule!

+ Featured on the front page of St. Petersburg is an episode of the GregCast

+ Baltimore’s Father Leo Patalinghug will be joining Tony Melendez in Venice for a youth rally.

If there are any other links in the Sunshine State, comment away and let us know.

OK, hunker down for a little bit, folks.  This is gonna take some space.  Blame Roy. We are both big fans of Mark Oestricher and, on facebook, Mr. Petitfils called my attention of a recent blog post of Marko’s.  In it, he ponders upon the question of adolescence extending later and later in life into a third stage of “emerging adulthood” and the implications for the Church in utilizing the services of 18-24 year old adolescents ministering with adolescents in our high schools or middle schools.  Read the whole post and the comments, it is an engaging dialogue.

And throughout it all, I was reminded of Paul’s message to the Galatians (3:26-28): For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If racial, social-economic, and gender identity really does not matter to God, why do we think age should?

Paul did not. He reminds Timothy (4:12) to Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

So, Marko is sweating brain development and its impact on ministry, and I’m wondering… does it matter?

We are failing to fully engaging the many generations within our Church into ministry with young people.  I remember attending a regional LifeTeen training a few years back, When it came time for the break-out, a percentage went to the “experienced core team member” group, a few others went to the catechesis group, but the overwhelming majority gathered for the musician / worship leader group – -  and most of them were young adults. And I wondered back then… Is this about involvement in liturgy? Is this about praise and worship music in a Catholic setting? (and/or) Is this about being young adults together?  My guess back then was it was a combination of all with a mix of willingness to be in service to the Lord.

Leaving young adults alone to ministry is not a failure of wrongful placement of trust… It’s abandoning an age group to their own devises in a Church were we don’t dispose Jew or Greek, we do not forsake one who is a slave or is free, or renounce males or females…  They is no place in our Church for the contempt of age-segregation of young people any more.

The rEVOLution in Catholic Youth Ministry must, must, must be us actually living up to our own rhetoric.  Renewing the Vision outlined the challenges thirteen years ago: We are deeply concerned by America’s neglect of young people…. Ministry with adolescents will need to be more comprehensive and community-wide…  the continuing development of the Church’s understanding and practice of ministry needs to be incorporated into a contemporary vision and strategy for ministry with adolescents today.

RTV goes on to elicit a quote from John Paul II’s 1995 World Day of Prayer for Vocations.  You will likely recognize it as the “This is what is needed: a Church for young people…” quote.  Yet imagined if it read…

This is what is needed: a Church that sets aside young people into youth groups or youth liturgies, speaking to their hearts for only the short while of their adolescence hyping upon their hormone-driven emotions and inspire enthusiasm for joy and strength, but not necessarily about the really hard stuff like the Gospels or the Eucharist; a Church which is only bold enough to ask to Confirm your presence for a certain amount of service hours or contact time and not get involved in embarrassingly pulling a “rich young man” demand on a kid and asking him or her to  commit his whole existence; a Church which is afraid to require much because the young people won’t really be good for it, a Church which gives the impression it is incapable of having have given much; a Church which does not fear asking from young people the effort of a noble and authentic adventure, such as the summer youth conference or the workcamp, from which they will quickly return home safe and sound.

Yea, that sounds wrong, does it not?  But how are we programming…?

If we are to be a Church for young people…

> We’ve got to engage the “adult” church to speak to young people’s hearts and enkindle, comfort, and inspire enthusiasm in them with the joy of the Gospel and the strength of the Eucharist. The core team can “represent” but even the most successful youth ministry effort sweats not having enough adults.
> We’ve got to invite young people into the full community and not into a safe segment of the community.  This is us giving much because that safety factor is for us adults who rather not deal with the messiness of adolescence and discount their membership.
>  We’ve got to follow John Paul II’s example and call young people to “discipleship;” follow Benedict XVI’s example and call young people to “making definitive choices;” and not fear asking from young people the effort of a noble and authentic adventure.

OK, I’ve gone on way too long. It is not about adolescence, brain development, it’s about God’s call and God doesn’t card at the door. Comment away… What are the other “We’ve got to’s” if we are to be a Church for young people?

This is a diocese that covers two states… Is that odd?  Can you think over any other state like the First State that has this situation?

+ Always enjoy getting my copy of the e-newsletter Ladders from the Wilmington office.  Director Patrick Donovan is obviously a reader of the blog and will occasionally borrow a blog entry for his latest edition.  Thanks!

We visited Delaware last year and would be appreciative of a comment that points us all to additional links form this state.

Now, you didn’t ask, but I’m about to tell – - I’m the last guy to embrace a military / spiritual battle sort of metaphor for religious speak.

Nonetheless, I fear that we sometimes take servant leadership and confuse it for service catering.

It was the great navel leader Captain John Paul Jones who once said “I wish to have no connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm’s way.”

The Church should not be afraid to step away from a safe and pleasant cruise and be willing to engage in harms’s way.

Sail on! (h/t to Msgr. Pope from DC)

We been to Connecticut before, let’s visit again, shall we?

+ Bridgeport finds youth ministry situated in the Office of Faith Events.

+ A conference led by teens, for teens, Convivio 2010, was held last spring in Hartford.

+ Norwich will be participating in August’s New England Adult Faith Formation Symposium 2010, discussing New Technologies, New Relationships: Connecting with Young Adults.

Comment away with others sites of which we all should be aware!

The 2011 World Youth Day song will not be released until November…

Meanwhile,here is a retrospective of some of the past themes.

All I remember of the Sydney theme, Receive the Power,  is that it had not driven me to dislike by the end of the experience…  which is a high compliment!

Only news of a personal variety today…  The queue function on the blog is working just fine, just having a hard time feeding the monster appropriately.

Flu-like symptoms knocked me out over Memorial Day.  The kids visited while some body aches and pains slowed me down to a gimpy old man for a week. And now, the clock is ticking on a wide variety of stuff…  cleaning empty offices (spent time on that yesterday,) a publishing project, video edits (hope to accomplish those today,) and then banging out elementary curriculum stuff (the rest of the week.)

So, that’s the life of the rock-star blogger.  Pretty overwhelming but we all just keep plugging away- bit by bit, moment by moment, all in service to the Lord and Church. If you’re overwhelmed this week, now that you are not alone.