Why this topic today? We have just created a Facebook presence for our Youth Ministry. We invite you to check us out!

If you are a parent and you “friend” your children online, maintain a reasonable distance. At the same time speak with them about who they communicate with and what information they share.

We, on our part, will strive to offer a secure, safe environment.

Today is the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (see my post on that topic here).  This marks the beginning of the 40 day period until the Feast of the Holy Cross on September 14.  This period grew from an ancient legend that the transfiguration took place 40 days before the crucifixion.  Unlike the Joy following Christmas and the solemnity of Lent, this 40 day period seems to have become somewhat lost from observance, but it too is a time of change and renewal for us.

During this 40 days we (as school going people) go through the process of change from the outdoor, carefree days of play and sun in the summer to the rooms and study and friends of school life.  At the same time, the weather outside makes a change from the days full of sun and heat, to a time of shortening daylight and cooling temps.  The church too is making changes in this 40 days.  Fall is a time of celebration of harvest and harvest brings food and life to people.  But there is work to do for a harvest and this 40 days gives us time to prepare for that work.

So, take a little time today to acknowledge the blessing that change can be in your life – before it changes!

Anyhow, Don’t you think it would be awesome to just transform into someone else – even for a minute or two. To not be yourself, but to be something wholly different, something better! Yeah, I thought so.

Where do think the creative cartoon geniuses got the “transformation” idea from anyhow. I think maybe it came from Jesus. That’s right, Jesus. Today the church celebrates the feast of the “Transfiguration of Jesus”. This is the day that Jesus went up the mountain with His disciples (Peter, James & John) and swish-pow-snap He transformed, in a cloud, right before the disciples’ eyes.

Matthew 17
1Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
2And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
4Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”
6When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.
7And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”
8And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

No one has come up with a cooler transformation yet! That God, he sure is awesome.

Since so many of you are going to the lake during the summer I thought you might want to try this.

Here is the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bubble Buster: Ok, now that you watched the video, I have to let you off the (fish)hook.  This is just a hoax video as an ad for the shoes that they show you in the video.  There isn’t a cool new sport for walking on water, but the video was fun, right?

Thank you to the youth and family that gathered for our “Picnic”.

We did get to play a few games outside, even though it sprinkled rain on us and was cold.

We played some cornhole and laddergolf.

Click the link to view the pictures in Picasa.
June 7 YM Meeting Photos

Christ said, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 18:23) What do you think He meant by this statement?  Do you see any ways in which this applies to your own life?

Just think for a couple minutes what some of your “normal” friends are like.  What are their priorities?  Do they care about the Earth, or about their ageing grandparents, or about forgiving others?  What is it like to communicate with these “normal” people?

To live as a Christian means to “witness” to a different way of life.  Loving one another is our special way of life and this love is acted out by forgiving (70 times 7), loving our enemies, being concerned for the poor, the sick or injured, and spending time in prayer.  The Little White Book (for Easter 2010) says that “our witness may not always be dramatic, but even in the small things we do, we follow a very different way of life”.

I am glad to have you with me in this “different way of life”.  God bless you.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This video is the 2nd place winner for a contest by AARP called “U @ 50″ asking respondents to consider life in 30 years.  How does this interpretation fit your thoughts?  How does this fit into the Christian image of life?

I would call this video a parable.  A parable is a story that creates an image in our mind, using something that is familiar (or “normal”) and then turns that image in a way that has us re-think what should be “normal”.  You can check your bible for any number of examples of parable by Jesus (i.e. The Good Samaritan – Luke 10:25-37).

We had several of St. Edward youth gather for “Things beginning with ‘M’” spring meeting.  Tony, Val, Hanna, Logan, Ryan & Dominic participated.

We started the meeting by taking part in the May Crowning ceremony.

Afterwards we went to Room ‘B’ for pizza and some discussion of the May events: Mother’s Day, May Crowning, May Pole, Messiah, Mary & Marriage.

To wrap up the meeting we all made wrist rosary with beads and stretchy string (or ribbon).  The youth enjoyed the challenge and fun of beading and ended up with a great gift to give to their own mother next weekend – made by their own hands.  Domonic found that he has some latent skill in jewerly making and Tony finally found something he wasn’t so good at (his words, not mine).

Check out pictures from the May Crowning and the Meeting in the slide show below or view them on Picasa by clicking here.

How awesome this must have been to see in person.  How many people did it take to do this?

Can you figure out the steps to this crazy dance?

Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dSIL358NM&feature=related

At this months meeting we continued the Lent & Easter theme.  To remind us of prayer and fasting we made hand rolled pretzels in the church kitchen.  From CathlicCulture.org we lerarned that Pretzels were originally developed in Ancient Roman family homes as far back as the 4th Century.  Pretzels are breads made using only water flour and salt to remind themselves that lent is a time of fasting and focus on God – not celebration and rich foods like creams, meats and cheeses.  The “Pretzels” were formed into a symbol of a person with their arms folded across their chest in prayer. 

The Pretzel Prayer:

We beg you, O Lord, to bless these breads which are to remind that Lent is a sacred season of penance and prayer.  For this very reason the early Christians started the custom of making these breads in the form of arms crossed in prayer.  Thus they kept the holy purpose of lent alive in their hearts from day to day, and increased in their soulds the love of Christ, even unto death, if necessary.

Grant us we pray, that we too, may be reminded by the daily sight of these pretzels to observe the holy season of Lent with true devotion and great spiritual fruit.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

We also discussed some Christian meaning for the Jelly Beans given at Easter.

• Red is for the bBlood He gave
• Green is for the grass He made
• Yellow is for the sun so bright
• Orange is for the edge of night
• Black is for the sins that were made
• White is for the grace that He gave
• Purple is for the hour of sorrow

Thanks to www.childfun.com for this list.

After making our pretzels we created fun little Chalkboard Easter Rabbits (I’ll call them T’wabits).  The little chalboards are great for short messages (like tweets on www.Twitter.com).  I found this craft on www.AllFreeCrafts.com and we all had fun gluing them together in funny ways.  Check out the picture show below to catch a glimpse of a T’wabit.

Here are pictures from the Youth Ministry Meeting on April 11th.

to get a better view of the pictures go to: