Thursday Afternoon & Evening
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Today is the Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, so Father Edwin opened Mass this afternoon by telling us a little about her: Kateri was a Native American Christian who began preaching Christ to her own people, but they were hostile to her evangelization. Many of us might feel the same way today as she did about bringing the Gospel to a world that doesn’t necessarily want to hear the Gospel message.
A verse from the First Reading really stood out in the midst of the work we have been doing:
You have accomplished all we have done. (Isaiah 26:12)
And today’s Gospel hit just right, too:
Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
In his homily, Father Edwin explained that this passage is about allowing the Lord to be the Lord. Our desire for a sense of control in our lives is the opposite of what we need; we need to be saved from ourselves, which is why we call Jesus our savior! In the Gospel, Jesus refers to a farming process that might be unfamiliar to us today: yoking two oxen together forces them to combine their strength in a single direction. To be yoked to the Lord means to rely on Him to guide and do the work with us and for us. The most important thing we can do is surrender to Him. Unless the Lord is the One who leads, anything we do is in vain.
“He has everything under control. All we need to do is keep faithful.”
a statue of Jesus stands just outside of the adoration chapel here at St. Patrick
As we started our last night of games for the week to earn team points, here were the standings after Wednesday:
9th: La Frontera
8th: Fortress
7th: Rin Tin Tin
6th: Santa Monica
5th: Matador
4th: Brick
3rd: Lawn Mower
2nd: Santa Margarita
1st: Umbrella
We played a series of quick games tonight, including an object scavenger hunt, a crab walk relay while building a cup pyramid, and the human knot game. Teams racked up points as we played, and we ended with an insane game of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, Cup!” To play, you follow the leader’s cues to put your hands on your head, shoulders, or knees in whatever random order they decide. The last call of the round is, “Cup!” and the first person to grab the cup between you is the winner. We narrowed it down to three and had one of the most hyped final rounds of all time!
Even though we already heard a great homily from Fr. Edwin this afternoon, he was willing to prepare a talk for our evening session as well. He began by sharing a recent experience of administering the Anointing of the Sick to a parishioner on his deathbed and read to us the prayers that are said. As he left that day, he promised the prayers of our church family. The man died shortly afterwards — and while many might say how sad it is, it is truly a victory and a celebration of eternal life!
How quickly do we forget: our goal is heaven!!
We have the power in this life to open up ETERNAL LIFE for someone by our words. This is an awesome power we have because of what the Lord has done in our lives — how He has moved and proven His love and mercy time and time again.
A picture of the Titanic appeared on screen, and Father asked if the teens even knew what that was. Of course! But had they seen the movie from the 90’s? Not a SINGLE one raised their hands! Oh well… he went on — Our world is like the iceberg, but it has already hit the iceberg! It’s sinking, and people are in danger of perishing. In the Titanic, Rose just lets Jack die… but there was room on that door for him to survive! Don’t be like Rose and let Jack DIE… you have the means to open up the world of eternal life to others!!
In knowing what we know, we can do this.
St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit missionary, led 300k people to know Jesus through his generosity and zeal. He lived among those who were enslaved and shared in their live despite the terrible conditions. When the slavery ships came in, everyone else saw property. He saw people who had an immortal soul, and he went to them with the Gospel message of salvation.
As human persons, we are meant to give of ourselves. Our hearts have been opened this week to know that “it is in giving that we receive.” We have seen how true it is.
When it comes to sharing our faith with those who have none, or even those who need encouragement to keep the faith, we might struggle with a couple of lies. Satan would love nothing more than to destroy any confidence we have in sharing our faith and bringing others to salvation, so we must be aware and be on guard.
Lie 1: You’re not good enough.
Amen! We are NOT enough! But we can point to the one who is enough — Jesus. We worry that we won’t know what to do or say; but Scripture promises us that the Holy Spirit will provide the words and the way (Matthew 10:19).
As a freshman, Father Edwin attended Life Teen at St. Ann, where he met other teens who were seeking and growing in the faith. Upperclassmen talked about Jesus like a friend, but Fr. Edwin only knew Jesus as a bunch of stories from a long time ago. Something began to shift, and he began to really desire to know and love the Lord. The other students didn’t convert his heart, God did. But God used their faith to help convict his heart and move him along in his journey.
Lie 2: You can’t preach because you are a sinner.
In Mark 16, Jesus appears to the eleven and rebukes them for their unbelief and hardness of heart — but then He tells them to go proclaim the Gospel. The APOSTLES are struggling to believe… and Jesus SENDS THEM OUT. The remedy is to go out and preach our faith it over and over again!
“Sometimes the only way to grow is to GO.”
We take a step out into the world and proclaim again and again until our faith and confidence grows. We need to trust what God has said. When we leave this place, we have to share.
“If you don’t go, you won’t be listening to the Lord - you’ll be listening to the lies.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 — We can encourage others toward faith when they are hurting, far from the Lord, struggling, or afflicted with anything because God encourages US in our own brokenness first.
Earlier this week, we surrendered a chain link that represented a lie that is a struggle for us. Tonight, we received someone else’s chain link to carry with us and remind us that there are others who need to hear about the One who breaks chains, saves us, and gives us eternal life.
We spent time in Adoration tonight, just being with and worshipping the Lord. Father Edwin offered to hear confessions, and Core Team members were available as prayer teams to pray with teens. It was a great evening, and really powerful to see so many of us — teens, parents, and adults — entering into authentic, sincere worship.
