Thursday, February 18, 2010

And the survey says...


This article from USA Today probably doesn't surprise any of us. It does give a few stats from a recent Pew survey you may be interested in.

The timing on this article is good on my end. Saturday I give three workshops on young adult ministry training for our diocese. This is the sort of thing that is helpful for our 'who are young adults' workshop.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Another Confession

Well, actually two.

1. I love free stuff. Utterly love it. I also fall prey periodically to the buy this and you'll get all this free thing. But when it is just something gratis, even better.

2. I love Bibles. There are so many different kinds.


Guess what this post is about - yup, free Bibles.

First off, while it wasn't really free, I rediscovered the Catholic Women's Study Bible. I needed something to use for my daily prayer. This is a great resource for me. The variety of writers for the reflections is great and keeps me interested and gives me fresh perspectives. A friend had her copy on the youth retreat (lucky girl not only volunteers for another church's youth ministry but her good friend is a youth minister). That got me thinking I should get a copy. As her cover was a red and orange cover, it did not look familiar. Luckily I was going through my book cases on Monday and ran across my paperback copy which is blue and purple.

Second, I got a copy of World Vision's Poverty & Justice Bible. I ordered it, but it wasn't too pricy on Amazon. I haven't really gone through it yet, but there are some interesting parts of it that I will likely pull for reflections when we cover social justice issues or are preparing prayers for our service trips.

What I am most excited about is the free copy of the new edition of St. Mary Press' Catholic Youth Bible. I've been a fan of their youth Bible for some time. This one is great in my opinion. There are more articles and reflections. The charts and graphs are great to help the visual learners with biblical literacy issues. My only mild dislike is the switch to the use of green. I preferred the purple, but that's just me. The content, lay-out, and overall product is great. I look forward to giving this to the kids in our high school RCIA program and slowly replacing the older Bibles as they need replacement.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Finally!

It is finally here - the official website (in English) for WYD 2011!


Can't wait to go! Our pilgrimage is going to take us to Rome & Assisi for a week before we journey to Madrid. I love taking teens and young adults to those cities. The impact that they have on young people is quite profound.

On a traveling note, I will be out of town, if not the country for at least a week of every month from March through August. I think I may be in town for June, though I hope to get a least a weekend up north. That means posting may be sparse, but I hope to keep you up to date on several things as all those travels are for the ministry. Included is a chance to go to Rome for the 10th annual Youth Forum.