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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Saint of the Week- Don Bosco

CYN is proud to present its new resource of a Saint of the Week. And it seems appropriate to start with the patron saint of youth ministry, St. Bosco. We can learn so much from this faith-filled man. His mission started young when he first had a dream that he was destined to work and form young boys through love; not by strict regulations and punishment. Throughout his life he had many miraculous dreams (about 150 in all) that guided and formed his work.

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After being ordained in 1841, it didn’t take long for him to go to work ministering to young and adolescent boys. He eventually opened multiple oratories where young boys could come for catechesis, school, play, and for some even a place to live. St. Bosco reached out to those kids who know one else would. His work is continued today through the work of the Salesian Order (which he founded) in over 120 countries and over 40,000 priests, brothers, sisters and lay people!

In youth ministry we can take so much from the life of St. Bosco; the way that he reached out to teens, the way he loved them no matter what, and the way he never gave up on them. This week let us pray for his intercession for our ministry and our teens.
                                          

Monday, May 3, 2010

Music Monday - Music I'm Likin ( not a typo )

This week I want everyone to check out Righteous B. Catholic Hip Hop artist and Inner City youth Minister. He started a non profit for inner city youth, check out their site at http://www.dirtyvagabond.com Bob is really serving God and doing great work. He had a series of 3 strokes this past fall and has recovered tremendously through the power of prayer. Righteous B (Bob Lesnefsky) is my brother and my role model. He is the instrument in which God used to change my life. Bob has helped form me into the person and minister I am today. It is a prayer of mine that everyone would get a chance to meet him and see God at work in him and his ministry.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

have you felt awkward lately

In youth ministry if we don't feel awkward we probably aren't doing a good job reaching our teens. It is easy for us to fall into being complacent when we feel like we have a good group of teens and we meet up with them often and things are good. It is so important to remember that we should always be reaching out to kids that we don't know as well as the "youth group superstars". How often are you putting yourself in a place where you are uncomfortable, really leaving your comfort zone to make yourself present to teens. This is a struggle in almost every ministry I know of but if we want to be like Christ and follow in his steps we must put ourselves out there and love the outcast and look for the unloved and show them the love of Christ. If we are sitting in the office or youth center hanging out with the kids we know how will these other teens come to know that they are loved by a God who died for us. So I ask you one more time gave you put yourself in a place that you feel awkward or uncomfortable lately. If you don't feel like this once a week you should look into making a change in your ministry. God bless you!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Music Monday - Music I'm Likin ( not a typo )

This week I want to share someone with you that many of you probably already know about but his name is Jonny Diaz. The first time I heard his song "more beautiful you" I was really moved. It is such a beautiful song to women and a great song to use in a women session in a retreat setting. Here is the video




You can find this on his album "More Beautiful You". It is definitely worth the buy. The whole album is great. He reminds me of Shawn McDonald but a little more chill. If you dont know Shawn McDonald you should check him out too. His most popular song is called "take my hand". God Bless you,

Ben

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Video Challenge

Here is a sample of our video challenge that is sent out once a week to youth ministers who join our mailing list. If you are interested in joining please email us at info@catholicyouthnetwork.com - We must come together and support one another and our ministries.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Music Monday- Music I'm Likin ( Not a typo )

I had the pleasure of seeing Find Vienna live last month at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh. You can buy their CD on Itunes for only $6.93. It is definitely worth the money! I actually grew up with the lead singer and bass player. They are brothers and we went to the same Church & Youth Group. Before they decided to go full time with Find Vienna they were Worship leaders at a Parish in Philadelphia. I heard a long time ago that they had a band and were getting pretty big, but I never got a chance to hear them.  Luckily one of them facebooked me to let me know they were coming to town. The show was awesome! They were great live and sound amazing. I plan on bringing them in to do a show for my Youth Group, and you should too! For booking check out http://www.myspace.com/findvienna

Here is a video of a recent show in which they opened for The Script. If you don't know The Script they have one of the most popular songs out right now "Breakeven/ falling to pieces"





If you want to download one song from itunes to see if you like them my favorite song is "All In My Head"

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Good Videos for Talks

The following video is such an amazing story. Its a story of a Father and Son. The son asked the father if they could run a marathon. The dad said yes and they started training and ran the marathon. After that he asked his dad if they could do a Iron man competition. The father said yes and they trained and did it. The amazing thing about this story is the son is handicap and not able to do any of these things.




This story is a story of the Fathers love for us. He will carry us through the things we cannot do, but we have to remember to ask him. He knows we cant get to the goal without training and he is willing to carry us through all the steps of the battle. All things are possible in Christ. We just need to remember to ASK and God will deliver and help you finish the race! God Bless you and I am praying for you.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Music Monday - Music I'm likin ( not a typo)

What are we listening to? We need to be careful with the music we listen to. We can't tell our teens not to listen to certain songs then on our drive home turn that same song up on the radio and jam out. I think it is important to know what songs are popular and if we can find good songs and make playlists for our Youth Nights that is ideal. I want to give out some names and bands that I am listening to and think you should to. First up B.Reith. To me he is like a better version of Mat Kearney. No rip on Mat, I do love him too. I stumbled upon his CD on Itunes, title: Now is Not Forever. It is one of my favorite CDs right now. 



Saturday, April 10, 2010

Time is of the essence


How we spend our time when we are involved in youth ministry is very important and sometimes a struggle. Since we are so used to being around teens we are thrown into the lifestyle of a teenager.

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Are you wasting your time playing video games, spending too much time checking your facebook your constantly looking at your iphone/blackberry? Are you trying to think of things you should be doing at work? If you answered Yes to any of these questions you need to work on your time management. Something that has helped me in my ministry and how I spend my time is to change my mind set to: do it now! Instead of thinking of things to do or wasting my time not doing anything I set a plan for my week in ministry and get out and do it now! It is so important to make prayer our first priority.

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If prayer is not our first priority and the main focus in our ministry we have already failed. Our personal prayer life is key to a thriving ministry. We lead by example and if we aren't practicing what we preach we are hypocrites.  Nothing makes me feel worse when I am struggling in my prayer life and talking to my teens about going to confession when I myself need to run to the Lord for forgiveness. Staying close to Christ in the Sacraments will take your ministry a long way. 

Put yourself in the mind set of: do it now. Pray now, be with teens now instead of making plans to hang out. God will reward you for your effort. I pray for you in your ministry. God Bless

Proverbs 18:8 
 One who is Slack in his work is brother to one who destroys

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
 2We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

     

Friday, April 9, 2010

How God uses us all

Sometimes is hard to see how God is using us. In ministry many times the devil is knocking on the door and trying to tell us that we are not good at what we are doing and should not be doing ministry anymore. If we stay faithful to the teachings of Christ and and trust in Him leading our ministry all things are possible! This story shows that anything is possible in Christ and that God uses us all. This is truly a remarkable man.



We are all miracles, life is a miracle, our teens are miracles. God walks with us. We need to remember to pray for our teens everyday and that they will allow God to use them.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Join in our mission



Would you like to be a part of Catholic Youth Network? Would you like to receive challenges from other people in ministry and know whats going on in our ministries? Do You have an idea that you need help getting off the ground? Are you in active ministry and looking for a team of support?

Join us at Catholic Youth Network so we can help cater your needs and let us know how we can better serve you! God is good and doing great things in the lives of the youth of the Church, now it is time we serve our ministers. Join our mailing list/email list to receive the latest news and challenges. Email us with your contact information at info@catholicyouthnetwork.com

God Bless,

Ben

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Finally Launched

It has been a while since our last post. We have been so busy getting things ready to officially launch Catholic Youth Network. Please check out our website www.catholicyouthnetwork.com. God is so good and has blessed us with so many great people and we look forward to meeting more great people and having you join our network. Please let us know of any ideas you have and together we can bring them to life. God Bless you

Thursday, February 18, 2010

lent lent lent

It is hard to believe that lent is already here! During my prayer time on tuesday I was asking the Lord what he wanted us to focus on. It is a simple and Great message. He said focus on My love for you. With that, ask yourself why you love me. How do you love me?

During these 40 days lets really search our souls for these answers. Let the Lord embrace you and love you. He desires the peace of you heart, so sit with the lord and be silent. "We love because he first loved us"

Thursday, February 4, 2010

partnership

Catholic Youth Network is excited about its recent partnership with Krizworks LLC. Together we will help form Men of Parishes in to Godly men through many different activities. If you are interested in making your idea a reality please contact us and we will help provide the tools necessary to make your ministry thrive! Email ben@catholicyouthnetwork.com

Friday, January 29, 2010

Work in the making

I am so excited about Catholic Youth Network and all of the work we are starting. We are in the midst of planning our first ever Youth Minister Retreat for this summer. Catholic Youth Network was formed to help Youth Ministers thrive in their ministry, giving them necessary resources and availability of experienced Youth Ministers. To join us in our ministry or for more information please write ben@catholicyouthnetwork.com. God Bless you!!