On Friday of this week, we will commemorate the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Next Monday will be anniversary of the second atomic bomb dropped upon Japan in an effort to bring World War II to an immediate close.

Left behind in the devastation was a fractured and scarred piece of sculpture that has become known as Our Lady of Nagasaki. It came from a village outside Nagasaki, left in this condition by the atomic blast that killed 75,000 there in 1945. Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki of Nagasaki brought the head last spring to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and to the United Nations, where he called for an end to all nuclear weapons. Read more about it in this report from Our Sunday Visitor.

Meanwhile, the issue remains. Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of the Archdiocese of Baltimore (and formerly of the Archdiocese for Military Services, USA) recently offered his Moral Reflections on U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy at a symposium on the ethics of the Obama Administration’s nuclear weapons policy, held last spring at The Catholic University of America.

I’ve been reading Kenda Creasy Dean’s OMG: A Youth Ministry Handbook.  It is a brilliant and worthwhile read.  In it she offers a retelling of the story of a young man named Eutychus from Acts 20: 5-12.

On the first day of the week when we gathered to break bread, Paul spoke to them because he was going to leave on the next day, and he kept on speaking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered, and a young man named Eutychus who was sitting on the window sill was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. Once overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and when he was picked up, he was dead. Paul went down, threw himself upon him, and said as he embraced him, "Don’t be alarmed; there is life in him."

(more…)

In an NCCL White Paper, Dr. Mike Carotta proposes the question “Given all that we now know about adolescent spirituality, good catechesis and youth ministry, how can we enhance Confirmation’s potential to be a more formative experience in the lives of young people?”

Mike wonders if Confirmation has quietly become very functional: the sacramental completion of initiation. Confirmation preparation seems uniformly focused on the fruits of the Spirit, some Catholic basics, the grace inherent in the sacrament, and service projects. Functional and informative.

In his article, Mike suggests that we released Confirmation prep from this narrow – and some would say shallow focus and turned it loose.  Mike wants to know why Confirmation Prep is not more inspirational and transformative.

Many of us are prepping right now for Confirmation Prep, this article should be an essential read.

I was up early this morning… blogging (as is my way.)  I was setting up more posts in the queue, ensuring that I was good to go for most of the remainder of the month.

I paused to review the past week of postings, kind of fascinated how the posts that I had set up earlier this month were actually speaking to my own life this week as well.

Then, at 5:04am local time, it hit.  It was a very brief rumble, probably not lasting for more than ten seconds.  It was my first experience of an earthquake, but, really, I’ve experience more turbulence on a plane. Nonetheless, the  US Geological Survey reports an epicenter within fifteen miles of my place and that it was at a Richter Scale level of 3.6. UPDATE: which seemingly is the largest quake ever in the DC area.

Two observations:

>> It is always fascinating when real life imitates the life inside one’s head.  There has been much shifting grounds around me, yet I remain standing.

>> Just six months ago, Catholic Relief Services has since distributed food to nearly 900,000 people. They are currently providing food to more than 90,000 students in over 270 schools, and monthly food rations to more than 100 orphanages and child-care centers in Port-au-Prince and Les Cayes, benefiting nearly 10,000 children. CRS has provided emergency shelter materials to more than 114,000 people. Please continue to pray for and support our brothers and sisters in Haiti

A portion of a Confirmation homily makes the news?  Now that’s Catholic Youth Ministry News for this week!

SPRINGFIELD, IL – - Recently, Chicago auxiliary bishop Joseph Paprocki was installed as the bishop of Springfield, IL.He closed his Instillation Mass homily with the same way he closes his Confirmation homilies… By SINGING!

Paprocki sang, “Jesus Loves You,” which was written by Brian Littrell, previously of the Backstreet Boys. Littrell now writes and performs Christian music. The new bishop a cappella with the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception choir as backup.

“This sums up my whole message as a bishop,” Paprocki said before breaking into song. (h/t to Deacon Greg.)

Frank Mercadante recently wrote that he was quitting Evangelization for Immauelization.  What’s that?

Immauelization means that as individuals and as parish communities, we’ve got to start looking a lot more like Jesus. Propositional or universal statements of truth do not persuade postmoderns. The title “body of Christ” or “the one, holy, catholic church’ means nothing if their lived experience of us says something very different. We can’t just talk about God’s love—we’ve got to be God’s love. We have to trade in our tendencies towards blasting out disembodied truths to incarnating the presence and message of Jesus. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being real.

How are you as Church embody-ing Jesus, real-ly Jesus, for others today?

(h/t to Roy Petitfils)

BREAKING NEWS:  The National Initiative on Adolescent Catechesis has just released a Survey by Episcopal Region of the Grades Confirmation is Celebrated.  Preliminary reports on the average age of confirmation in Roman Catholic dioceses nationally are available. These reports were the result of a voluntary survey sent to diocesan Directors of Religious Education and Directors of Youth Ministry. Primarily only one person from each diocese responded, however occasionally both directors responded. The reports are divided by episcopal region and include a national report on the back pages. Click to view reports.

Bob Rice recently had a great blog posting regarding The Eucharist and Adoration.

While I’m encouraging you to read the whole thing, for me, the quote to note was:

Our Adoration of Christ in the Eucharist gives us time to truly contemplate the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, and should give us an even greater yearning to receive Him in His body and blood. If only we could come and receive the Eucharist with the same passion and zeal as we often show when we adore Him. Now that would spice up our Mass, wouldn’t it?

What I would add to Bob’s comments, and he would surely agree, is that we can also consume the mystery in Adoration as well.  But we must take greater care when “programming” our communal adoration.  It is challenging to focus our consumption when our senses become overloaded with many other attention seekers – the praise and worship music and lyrics, the spotlighted procession in full vestmented regalia, the sight and scent of incense, neighboring worshippers that have been motivated into an emotional pitch.

Adoration can and should be an opportunity to praise the Lord and, as well, to consider what Benedict asked asked young people in New York during his 2008 visit, “What is God whispering to you?”

Often in youth ministry, we fear risking the quiet with young people…  But, we should never find our efforts with sound and lights, flash and bang, to be in competition with God’s most holy Whisper.

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)

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!