Youth Minister's Reflections

20 September 2021: This week we dive into the Gospel of Mark. Jesus has some hard words for us to hear, but these are words that He speaks with love into each of our hearts.

13 September 2021: In this Sunday's Gospel reading Jesus reminds His disciples, and us, that we need to serve others. We can't be disciples of Jesus and not serve others. Welcoming others, especially children and those new to the faith, is one way in which we can welcome Jesus.

9 September 2021: This week we see the importance of turning to God in our sufferings. Isaiah and the psalmist both remind us that despite our suffering we can still rejoice in the Lord and praise Him. Jesus reminds us to take up our cross and follow Him. Finally, James reminds us that our faith has to be lived out in works. It's how we can help others who are suffering that we show our love for them and ultimately God.

30 August 2021: This week we look at the three readings from the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Isaiah prophesies about the Messiah in the first reading and Jesus fulfills that prophesy in the Gospel. James reminds us that we need to be mindful of how we welcome people into our assemblies.

24 August 2021: This upcoming Sunday we see Jesus criticizing the Pharisees for placing too much importance on tradition and not enough focus on the condition of their hearts. We too can get caught up in "following the rules" and forget the chance we have to love our neighbours and God. Jesus reminds us that it's what comes from the heart that ultimately defiles us and not necessarily what goes into our mouth. St. James in his epistle also takes time to remind us that we should be doers of the word instead of just hearers. If we just listen and know the Word of God then we're only going halfway. After all, the demons also know Who God is. We have to go further and turn our listening and knowing into action. We need to step out and serve the Lord and our neighbours, otherwise us being hearers of the word isn't good enough. How can we ever do all this? Simple, we turn to Jesus. Following Jesus is easy. Sometimes we just make it hard for ourselves. Let's turn to Jesus and ask for His help. "Jesus I trust in You."

20 August 2021: This week we take a look at the Ephesians 5:22-32 and John 6:51-58; 60-69. In Ephesians 5 we learn about Christ's love for the Church through the marriage of man and woman as husband and wife. In John 6 we get to the end of the Bread of Life discourse. These two readings go so well together because in John 6 Jesus is inviting us to the wedding feast and Ephesian 5 shows us how God wants to marry us. It's through our Baptism and our participation at the Mass that we can experience this wedding feast in such a profound way.

12 August 2021: This week we take a break in our Bread of Life video series to focus on the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. The Assumption celebrates Mary being brought into heaven body and soul. She is in heaven right now, watching over us and praying for us. The Assumption of Mary, like the Ascension of Jesus, brings us hope for the future when we will be united body and soul with God in heaven for eternity. This is what our future could hold. So let us reflect and ponder on the Assumption and the readings from this Sunday.

5 August 2021: This week we continue with the Gospel of John Chapter Six. Here the crowd questions what Jesus is saying. They knew Him growing up. They knew St. Joseph and Mary. So why is He claiming to be from God? Jesus responds by affirming that He is indeed from God. He continues by telling them that it is His flesh that is the living bread. In future weeks we'll look at how the crowd responds to this claim.

29 July 2021: After the miracle of the loaves and fish we get the beginning of the Bread of Life discourse. Over the next few weeks we will be unpacking what Jesus says about Himself being the Bread of Life. John 6 is the basis for our understanding of the Eucharist being Jesus and this will be an exciting few weeks.

23 July 2021: This week we see Jesus take five loaves of bread and two fish to feed over five thousand people. How can we let Jesus use our small gifts to do great things?

12 July 2021: When we are on mission, even in our daily lives, it is good to take time and retreat and recollect ourselves. Sometimes we need to be creative in how we do it. Other times it can be more formal on a retreat led by others. Whatever you do remember to take that time to reconnect with God in your life.

8 July 2021: Jesus sends His disciples off on mission to preach to the cities and villages. The disciples aren't the only ones who Jesus calls to mission. He calls each of us to be missionary disciples in our lives. Whether it be at school, work, or in our families we can be witnesses to Christ's love. Some of us may be called to go beyond our community and go on mission to other places. If we do we can have even more opportunities to build missionary disciples in other parts of our country and the world.

30 June 2021: This week we look at the second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. He speaks about how the Lord can make us strong in our weaknesses. How do we let the Lord work within our lives?

22 June 2021: This week we see Jesus heal a woman and raise a child from the dead. Both the woman and the child's parents had great faith that Jesus could heal them. We are called to have faith in Christ's love for each of us. Jesus is in our storms with us, but He can also be there to heal us. As we break for the summer these videos will continue. The Sacraments, Scripture, and prayer are always with you as you continue to pursue your relationship with Christ.

15 June 2021: This Sunday we hear the story of Jesus calming the storms. The disciples are terrified and don't know what to do. Jesus questions why they were terrified and why they didn't have faith. What does it mean to ask Jesus to enter the storms of our lives?

8 June 2021:June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Throughout the Gospels Jesus shows us His love and mercy. He calls us out of sin and into greatness, but He doesn't leave us alone to do this. Jesus shares His love with us so that we can love like Him.

1 June 2021: This upcoming Sunday we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi. This feast is dedicated to the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. We will be looking at the Eucharist in greater detail this week.

26 May 2021: This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. To help us prepare for Sunday we look at Who the Trinity is. We will do this both by looking at Who the Trinity is not and then at an analogy to help us understand the Trinity better.

18 May 2021: This Sunday we celebrate the feast of Pentecost. This is when the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Holy Trinity and we are called to have a relationship with Him. How can you ask the Holy Spirit to be part of your life today?

12 May 2021: This Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord. This is an important day because it's the day that Jesus entrusts His mission on Earth to His followers. Now, about 2000 years later, Jesus entrusts us with His mission to spread the Gospel. Next week we will look at Pentacost and learn even more about this mission.