Oh, what is also relevant is that if you want to record yourself, you should push record at the beginning… not half-way through. Good note to self…Relevantradio102411 by CatholicYMblog

We talked pigeon hole effect and the ”chicken and egg” relationship of including young people’s participation more fully into liturgy. I also mentioned posts from earlier this week as well. Listen to the streaming cast and Download the .mp3

Previous visits with Sean Herriott on the Morning Air  show include October, September, August, July, and June.

On Tuesday’s edition of Glee, the producers take on spiritual themes. The show opens as the “semi-clueless jock,” Finn, makes a grilled cheese sandwich and see the face of God in the charred bread.  He then prayed to his Grilled Cheesus (the title of the show) for some special wishes: football success and getting to “second base” with his girlfriend. He is later disappointed when his “direct line to God” through the sandwich is challenged by a trusted adult.

Meanwhile, Kurt Hummel’s father attempts to maintain the ritual (“they’re sacred”) of family Friday night dinner.  Bert Hummel’s subsequent heart attack causes a crisis of faith for all the Glee kids, but

Kurt, whose homosexual character is flamboyantly “out” challenges them as he views God as “like Santa Claus for adults.” While he graciously appreciates the thoughts of his classmates, but does not welcome their prayers because of his perception of the (Church-ish) persecution he has faced due to his sexuality. As in today’s culture, any early (and superficial) conversation in this episode regarding Jesus Christ disintegrates into contentious debate about church and spirituality. Nonetheless, Mercedes boldly asks her friend Kurt to join her at church, in part, because he might “be closing himself to a world of experiences that might surprise him.”

The next day morning after Glee, while talking about evangelization, ArchBalt’s Archbishop O’Brien quoted Pope Benedict in saying that “There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by God.” Kurt, at minimum was surprised by his need to touch something   …more. At his father’s bedside, Kurt later confesses that “I believe in you and I believe in us – you and me.  That’s what’s is sacred to me. And I’m sorry that I never got to tell you that…” moments before his father begins to show signs of recovery.

The hour ends in what other sites have referred to as a Eucharistic moment as Finn consumes his Grilled Cheesus… although I suspect it was more out of temporal desire rather than a sense of spiritual hunger.

It is important to note, however, and I hope to do so this morning on Relevant Radio at 9am eastern (Listen in on the Steaming Audio or Download the Podcast) will update later with the podcast links), that the soundtrack of this episode (see below) is not of the soundtrack of the lives of the Glee kids but of their parents. Both Adam and Ian have taken a relook at Moralistic Therapeutic Deism recently and we must remember that the faith of our children remarkably resembles the “faith of our fathers” / parents. That whole sense of MTD’s cosmic butler in the form of Grilled Cheesus has been passed down culturally through us.

By the way, the hymnal (playlist) was:
> Only the Good Die Young – Billy Joel
> I Look to You – Whitney Houston
> Papa, Can You Hear Me – Yentl (Barbara Streisand)
> I Want to Hold Your Hand – The Beatles
> Losing My Religion – R.E.M.
> Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
> What If God Was One of Us – Joan Osborne

Did you watch Glee?  What was your take on the episode?

One of the voices of the NCCYM will include Julianne Donlon-Stanz.  Born and educated in Ireland, Julianne ministers for the Diocese of Green Bay as director of adult faith formation and young adult ministry. Her “breakout session” will be on Young Adults: The Nomads of Parish Life.

Previous NCCYM podcasts include Mike Patin and Ansel Augustine, Roy Petitfils, Mari Ann Callis and the New Orleans Youth Office.

Yea, and if you think that even begins to hint at Mike Patin and Ansel Augustine as MC’s for NCCYM in NO, well, then, YDK (you don’t know!)

Oh, and BTW, at the end of the podcast, Ansel mentions that he has been taste-testing much in preparation for our visit. It’s not a funky new diet, he was referring to the Taste of New Orleans event hosted by Archdiocese of New Orleans to benefit the Catholic Youth Foundation USA.

Previous NCCYM podcasts include Roy Petitfils, Mari Ann Callis and the New Orleans Youth Office.

Roy Petitfils has served in schools as  a teacher, campus minister, counselor, and administrator. He is currently a clinical associate of a Catholic counseling center conducting individual, marriage, and family counseling. Roy writes a syndicated column, Our Young Church, for adults who work with youth. His C Round workshop will be No More Leftovers! Giving Your Marriage the Attention and Energy It Deserves. He blogs as a youth wallah.

Previous NCCYM podcasts include Mari Ann Callis and the New Orleans Youth Office.

We are starting a series of Thursday podcasts, all in support of the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry to be held in New Orleans on
December 9-12.

First up are John Smestad and  Maruchi Palomo from the Archdiocese of New Orleans.  In part, they discuss the impact of the generosity of the Catholic Youth Ministry field and the Catholic Youth Foundation-USA following Katrina.

Dr. Carole Eipers is Vice President and Executive Director of Catechetics for William H. Sadlier, Inc. She was a key member of the development team for Sadlier We Believe, a catechetical program for K-8. Carole served in parish ministries for over twenty years as a Junior High teacher, Director of Religious Education, Catholic Youth Ministry and Pastoral Associate. She served in both suburban and urban parishes and schools.

In today’s podcast, Carole encourages each of us to “Keep your passion. In spite of the challenges and complexities, there have been enormous strides in what we are doing in all dimensions of catechesis and certainly in the catechesis of youth. We certainly have to keep being passionate about it and giving it our all and listening to youth… we have to be able to proclaim Jesus Christ to youth in a way that answers the real questions that they are asking.