St. Christopher Youth Ministry

NCYC Friday dinner

2011-11-21T22:07:00.001-05:00

Here is what dominik had to say before our food arrived for dinner on Friday.

Dominik Garcia

I think it's great that I get to go in the first place. At first I didn't think I wanted to come to NCYC, but now I am glad that I did. I love the whole trading concept. It helped people meet others and it got some people out of their shell. I actually met someone who had a relative that raced in the Indy 500. It was really interesting to hear her story and then I told her my story, and that I had lived in Indy my whole life. I also got to see CHEESE HEADS!!!!!! Dear Santa.... But anyways, the trading concept really helped meet new people and to hear where they are from. Also it was funny to see people from Florida praying that it would snow because the had never seen snow. The only session that I went to because it was the only one we were on time for and that we really felt motivated to go to was a music one. The speaker had talked about how music is not as bad as an influence as most people had thought. She had talked about how it can actually be a really good influence. She then played some songs in example that could be a bad influence. After each song she would ask if we knew it. We knew most of them and she just laughed. Overall it was a good session. The rest of the time we walked around and made friends with people. I like the creative corner. The was paint clay and other things that you could make things with. They even had an artist paint a few pictures live. He was amazing. I also got to meet a friend from CYO camp Rancho Framasa that I hadn't seen in awhile. All of the things that we had done in the stadium were beautiful too. The messages they sent were just amazing and couldn't have been put any other way. I could go on and on and on, but I'm going to stop here and end with this:
The lord works in amazing and mysterious ways.

NCYC 2011 dinner of Friday

2011-11-18T22:56:00.002-05:00

This is a thursday evening to Saturday evening event. Tonight at dinner while we waited for our food I asked and several said they wanted to write something. Here are there thoughts.

Sam -
I love experiencing these amazing speakers with so many other Catholic teenagers. My first session today was one of those that you walk in, and you know immediately that this is going to change your life. Sarah Hart taught us that we are Important , Forgiven, and Beloved. She made us tell ourselves this over and over until it was tattooed into our minds and we strongly believed it. She also taught us that we are ALL beloved, important, and forgiven, and we treat each other accordingly . Sarah Hart was a fabulous speaker, and a great deliverer of God's word.

Tori -
This is my second and final NCYC. I am quite saddened that I have to be done with this amazing experience after tomorrow night. This conference is such an amazing experience that is totally worth the money! Last night, the beginning of the conference was so spiritual and influential. The opening session was full of music, fun and dancing. It is so amazing to see 23,000 other Catholic teenagers! I never even imagined sooooo many people gathering together to share their faith together as the young church of Christ! I wish I could participate in NCYC every year they have it. Today I went to the session about music being involved in your life and how it affects what we do. Music is so influential and the songs I listen to are the soundtrack of my life! I advise everyone who is in high school still in two years from now to participate in this amazing experience. There is no doubt in my mind that NCYC has brought me closer to my faith and to God in more ways than I can imagine!!!!!! I pray and worship in different ways. Because of this amazing experience, every time I hold my hands out during mass and throughout the day, I feel God holding my hands. I know that God is with me through it all, no matter so good or bad the situation is. I know that I can turn to God for guidance in everything that I do!!!!!! My faith has grown exponentially since I attended my first NCYC two years ago in Kansas City. I am called to glory because Christ reigns!!!!!!! I wish everyone luck in their journey of faith throughout their life. If you ever need guidance, know that God is there with you to protect you and guide you through it all. Do not be afraid, because God is there with you through it all. May God bless you and keep you safe from harm. I know that I am where I am in my life because of my faith and the close relationship that I have with God, my savior!!! The National Catholic Youth Conference is part of the reason that I am so faithful and religious. To be completely honest, I was no where near as faithful, religious, or as involved in mass before NCYC as I am now! Have a great day and know that I am praying that all of you may feel the love of God with you, as I do. This is the greatest experience of my life and I would not change a thing!!!!!!

Meg:

For starters, the fact that we can attend a Colt's grill and someone stand up in the middle of the restaurant and announce that it is time to give thanks and say grace is hands down, flat out, AMAZING. Watching the whole entire restaurant full of teens pause and pray is only one of the many spectacular experiences through my first NCYC journey. I've began to expect nothing less than love running through downtown. We are all here to grow in our faith. Seeing so many kids my age that are Catholic with me for three days straight continually reminds me how I'm not alone on this walk. There are 23,000 other beautiful teens creating their own footprints on their walk, we are all together in this. I don't often get to feel this united and connected with people my age or really with my faith. This is the single handedly the greatest experience of my life. I haven't ever been so at peace with my body and soul. I have no one to thank other than Poppa himself for working in mysterious ways to help me discover myself and who I want to be for the rest of my life. This Is the life and faith I plan to lead through with. God bless. : ) <3

More pictures on Flickr soon

NCYC 2011

2011-11-18T12:27:00.004-05:00

I have asked some of the kids to write down there thoughts about what they have done so far. Here is what some of them said.

I think Sam typed this up but it could be Megan the author forgot to label it.
Last night was simply amazing . Can you imagine 23,000 people all screaming and dancing for the same purpose ? It's even better that the purpose is to serve our God . If you were ever to feel alone in your faith coming to NCYC will erase any of those feelings . Looking around its comforting to know that you won't ever be alone . And we are having a great time praising our God together here at NCYC !

Kat had this to say
Just seeing the amount of teenagers filing into the stadium as though a rock concert was occurring was amazing! Everyone is so nice to each other and it is truly a site to see. There is no way to describe the feeling you get when you are a teenage Catholic and you are praying with 23,000 other Catholics your age. Plus the trading is always fun! I cannot wait for the weekend to start this morning.

And simply put Steven had this to say
Amazing! Last night was fun music and everything else that you can image.

I have figured out how to use Flickr recently so if you follow this link you can see several pictures I will be posting throughout NCYC.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/testeiner/

More to come later
Tom

Tom thoughts on day 4

2009-06-29T13:43:00.002-04:00

Every year I come OBOC I was believe the reason for the success of this place is the community. Every year I bring youth to this program I see the power that removing some of the distractions from our lives to let us truly interact with each other. To get to know each other in a genuine way instead of through social networking websites, or through texting helps them to see the value in spending time in prayer, and community with each other. the experience of the sacraments on this "Holy Hill" helps them to see the sacrament in a way that is relevant to them, but instad of just longing for a chance to return this place equips them with the skills to see it happen in there own church.

Tori's thoughts on day 4

2009-06-29T13:29:00.002-04:00

This is our last full day at OBOC. We leave tomorrow. My time here has flown by incredibly too fast. Last night, we all went to confession. It was great. We got to sit in the monk seats. It feels so great to know my sins have been forgiven by the Lord, our God. He died for our sins and now he forgives them. I feel so much better now! Immediately following confession, we all went outside the Archabbey church and gave each other the sign of peace. Since we were feeling so much better lots of people were giving each other hugs. It was nice. The barrier of our sins, separating us all has been removed. We were just like one giant community. The community we all formed in the past four days. Before the conference we were all strangers to each other. Now we are brothers and sisters in God's name. The Lord is always with you. Through all of life's ups and downs. God made you and your life the way he intended.

Day 3 Tor's thoughts

2009-06-29T13:15:00.002-04:00

The past three days at OBOC have been fun and full of prayer. I can just feel God's presence with me wherever I go. Yesterday we went and prayed with the monks. They pray differently then us. They pray slower and much quieter. It was very interesting. I am tired by lack of sleep, but the days are so action packed. They are inspirational and moving. I am learning so much! Past the learning, we have lots of fun. Our morning session with Fr. Godfrey is funny he is hilarious. We learn and laugh at the same time. Last night just for some fun , we had a dance everyone was dressed for there favorite holiday, and we all went out and danced the night away. The food is so good as well. This retreat was designed to bring us closer to God and one another, and it is working. God is always with us.

Tori's thoughts of day 2 here at OBOC.

2009-06-27T13:20:00.002-04:00

I have been here for 2 days now at OBOC (One Bread One Cup) and I don't think it could possibly get better. I have learned so much! I truly feel like I better person in God's eyes. We might not get much sleep, but I sure am having a blast. The monks are hilarious. I have met a couple of new friends from other parishes and cities. We are learning so much about the word of God. He cares so much for us, and He gave up his life for us to live. He wants us to spread the Word of God to make more believers. Life doesn't work the way you want it to, life works the God wants it to. Things happen for a reason, and the reason is how God intended for it to happen.

Here is one of the vidoes

2009-06-18T15:30:00.003-04:00

Blake was attempting to win a competition where he worked with one other person to try and get the highest score. This was blakes attempt to help his team.

Other movies

2009-06-12T09:12:00.001-04:00

there are at least two other movie worth seeing and maybe a third. I don't have time to post them but keep looking after we get back and hopefully they will appear.

Tom

Austin's thoughts on thursday

2009-06-12T09:11:00.000-04:00

Austin- This week was fun. My group worked in an old convent turned rehab center. The building was in bad condition. My group was working with Blake's group. The work was difficult and tedious. We began the week thinking all we had to do is paint. Little did we know we had to fill the holes in the wall, sand the puttied holes, prime, then paint. This was a wrong guess however. The work was longer than we expected it to be with many more things to be done. The first day's labor was difficult and we thought that what we did was good, however we had to come in the next day and re-do pretty much all of it over. Wednesday we came in and got on the work. We did a lot to the point we finished early today. We have evening program every day. Yesterday we did something called four corners, where people went to the corners of the gym and talked about their feelings and prayed with the adults. I didn't really know what to do so I just sat there. This week was fun and we did good work. It was a good experience overall.

Chad's thoughts

2009-06-12T09:10:00.000-04:00

Chad- I had fun this week working in these two ladies houses. I was painting inside the living room and up the stairs of the houses. Everyone in my group was pretty cool and I had fun working with them. I would rather be working outside or something cause painting is very boring. Overall it was fun.

Last night

2009-06-10T18:07:00.004-04:00

Well last night two big things happened. first of i was in a skit and it was a planned thing so we knew it was coming but Chad volunteered for and was selected to participate in one of the many fun "training exercises" that they have the kids do for laughs before we get down to some serious stuff. Below is a video of Chad with a pair of panty hose over his head with an orange at the bottom. the object is to get your two hose tied up with the other persons and then pull backwards and then who ever pulls off the other person's panty hose is the winner. Watch to see if victory is achieved below.

Tom's thoughts on tuesday

2009-06-09T23:05:00.001-04:00

Tom- Ok so yesterday we were in a skit. The skit was entitled “Pass it on” all of the youth in our group had a role. The basic jist of it was this.....Chad won a car through a sweepstakes and he could keep it on one condition that he read the note in the glove box. The note said “you don't owe me a thing I've been there to don't let the chain of love end with you” Chad reads the note and then a few years later when he graduates from college his parents buy him a car and he decides he needs to give Herbie the car away. He then takes one last drive to his place of work, Target, and give his car away to a gentle old co-worker played by Austin. Austin enjoys the car a few months till he meets a young waiter played by casey at which point after hearing about casey's troubled life he decides it's time to pass on Herbie. Casey keeps the car till he meets a young married couple that is very poor but very happy played by Mike and Justine. After they finished the meal the saw that some one had left them keys to a car. Happily they take the keys and drive off in the distance. Blake had the only speaking role as he was the narrator, and Jason played the role of the delivery man that brought the keys and envelope to Chad. Pictures below.

Well it's almost mid week and it appears that all of our youth are very tentative to type anything into this little screen. I would suggest that if you want your child to post something of substance during this week that you need to send them a text message encouraging to enter a paragraph or two. I'll keep twisting arms and see what I can get out of them.

Tonight at evening program there will be a super secret adult skit that the kids will make the kids laugh quite a bit. If you are lucky you will see some low grade video of me dancing and making a fool myself.

Blake's one line on tuesday

2009-06-09T23:00:00.002-04:00

Blake-Today was a good day. We painted this convent. Austin and I had to sweep. I don't like to sweep. Austin is a big guy.

Tom- If you are really lucky I might be able to get a video of Blake dancing with a broom.

Casey thoughts on monday late.

2009-06-09T07:55:00.002-04:00

Casey- well today I killed two birds with one stone because I did not want to get on stage in front of the whole camp but I knew I would have to do it twice while I was here at camp and I got both of them out of the way tonight at evening program.

Tom- Casey has promised to write three lines a day I'll see what I can do about getting him to write a little more. Just to exspand on what he wrote he was assigned a position in his work group where he has to get up and speak on there behalf about what they would like to pray for yesterday. the second time he had to get up on stage was when we had a group skit that we performed in front of all of camp. That event will get it's own blog entry with pictures later. More pictures tonight in the mean time all I have are these two on Bo and Justine

Justine's thoughts on monday evening

2009-06-08T19:14:00.000-04:00

Justine- So, today I woke up to a Lion King song and although it was a good song, 6:15 is a little early for me...especially during the first week of my summer vacation. Aaaaaaanyways, not the point....hokay so basically yesterday when I met my group I also found out that I would be working at the Neighborhood Boys and Girls Club. My group got there and we met our site coordinator and she gave us a brief overview of the history of the club and what we would be doing. We first started in the arts and crafts room aka The Discovery Room and we cleaned the walls and the chairs and the tables and some people organized and then we took a lunch break and ate with the kids there. After lunch, we got the opportunity to play with the kids outside. So, we finished up playing with the kids and we then organized all the shirts that they had in the storage closet. Although this may seem like an easy task there was a lot of organizing involved and if you know anything about me, you know that I am not a good organizer. We finished the task, left the club, and much to my surprise and happiness, I got back to the high school and come to find out there wasn't anyone in the locker room so I got my shower right away! It was the perfect ending to a great day(:

Tom thoughts on sunday night

2009-06-08T19:12:00.000-04:00

Tom- Well we have arrived at Chicago and things have went well. The only set back was at the rental counter. We were scheduled to pick up two mini vans but unfortunately one of those vans that was supposed return by another customer wasn't back yet so I had to switch things up and go with a mid sized SUV. It might be a little to tight on the way back. So we got here and after some unpacking and some socializing we found out some rules and found out what we will be doing at our work sites. Casey, Mike, and Chad are all painting this week. Jason is doing yard work. Justine is helping to clean up a boys and girls club and might also do some babysitting. I am going to a senior center and cleaning. Monica is staying at home base and helping to prepare meals and clean up after all of us. I don't know what Blake or Austin are doing yet. The theme for this week is Love Repeated. The idea being that the small acts of love that we show this week for various people can and will be repeated by the people we are serving after we have left. Tonight at our evening program the compared it to one man Jesus doing loving acts that have echoed in our world since. I'll try to put a post up everyday to keep you updated. Hopefully we will get some pictures in my next few entries.

Casey wants everyone to know that he really likes the food. Also Casey's friend Kelsey(who is in his work group) has give all of us fruit snacks and that he likes getting free food from friends.

Jr high youth rally

2009-03-04T15:16:00.002-05:00

So at the last Jr High Youth Rally in Columbus I tired letting the youth do some blogging about the day. This is what happened.......

Maddison, Kasey, Kyle, Anna
We sat in Mr. T's squished car no offense to him but is car smelled funny. We could not stop talking about random stuff and couldn't stop talking about the stupid things we did in grade school. Then we got to St. Bartholomew and “stole” candy from the tables downstairs. The purple shirts are a bit smelly but we gotta get over it. The candy is very good. They try very hard to protect us (as seen in the contract they make us sign /without a lawyer/). We can’t play hookie from the workshops. Also I learned that they can't give out medications or put bandages on us. Also there’s freaky umpa loompas singing gospel songs and there scaring the crud out of Maddison, and Kasey. And they were throwing evil volley balls at us. Jason is hitting us in the head and the umpa loompas have green (lime) hair!! We also have green (possibly barf) bags in our folders. These are the complaints we have from only 20 minutes in. The program technically hasn't even started. They gave us free gum so I guess we can forgive them for throwing beach balls at us. I think I'm gonna develop a phobia of volley ball. I hope my gum isn't poisoned because I love gum and that would ruin it.

Connie and Caroline
Today has already been very hectic and it is only 10:20. Right now we are getting aired up balls thrown at us. It is fun to (not on purpose) hit people in the face with them. I’m just happy we haven't knocked down this laptop quite yet I hope I can take home one of these peace sign balls! The freakiest part so far would definitely have to be the umpa lumpas. I really want to take home one of the costumes
so I can wear it on Halloween. I can’t wait to go to my stations. Caroline and I are going to
s'more prayers and big league chew. I am looking forward to the bouncy house and nerf guns. Also there is a chocolate fountain! That is it for now adios

Tom
Just to review what has happened to this point in the day. We checked in and then after that we waited for the day to start there were lots of beach balls and praise and worship music. After that was done we had our keynote speaker and now we are eating lunch. It is almost time for our individual secessions these are chance for the youth to pick what topics they are interested in. These secessions are Everlasting GOD stoppers – what gets in the way of your faith, sweet tarts – dating and relationships, Now and laters -faith going into high school, s'more prayers – creative prayers, big league chew – finding god in sports, pop rocks – faith and music, Don't be an airhead – Defining your faith.

Johnny
I had the SweeTarts session and the Big League Chew session. I found that the Big League Chew was about more than just sports. It was about God in sports and his influence, or non-influence, on sports games. Many people had many different opinions. The SweeTarts was my favorite. It was about dating and relationships. I had to go on a “date” with one of the girls in the session. So far, this has been great.

Josh
I was doing the Don't be an Airhead and the Everlasting God Stoppers. First, we were in the Gym, playing a bit of volleyball. Than, a humorous play of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was there. (“Now please be a dear and SIGN THE CONTRACT!!!!”) And then we did a few more things that were really fun. We ate lunch and then went to our periods. I went to Don't be an Airhead. I won a game and got an Airhead crown. Then I went to Everlasting God Stoppers, which talked about things that separate your relationship with God. So that was fun. We are about to have free time. This was really fun.

Kyle
So after the beginning, things got better. We watched an awesome play. Then we listened to a boring the speech. The speaker was cool though. Then we went to lunch. It was BBQ. (:p) Then I realized I lost my pen and borrowed one. Then I went back to the gym and lost it. Haha! I felt bad though. Then we went to sessions. They were pretty cool. I got a lot of candy! (:D) Now we are in free time. There's a lot to do. Though I'm a little bored because I'm not doing anything. :( Haha! ;)

David
This retreat is great experience. This experience could change something that may be important to me.

Tom
As expected this youth rally is a really good trip. We closed out the retreat by taking a short trip to the outlet mall nearby so everyone could pick one piece of chocolate from the awesome specialty chocolate store. I went with a black cherry truffle. I made the right choice! Alright Ceili is about to come on. They are always so good!!!!!!

Josh
There is this big yellow smiley face ball that me and my friend were playing with. He and another person were playing with it and I tried to be monkey in the middle. It got loose and the whole crowd decided to play with it. Then, the ball got up onto the stage and the band members decided to play with it. They played a song while we were jumping up and down trying to hit it. When it got on stage, the lead would kick it. It was so much fun to play that little game, and even more fun to realize that I was one of the main people who started that chain reaction! (=D) But then, after a while, he said that we need to stop playing with childish things... but it was still fun to toss it around. Oh, and Ceili is AWESOME!!! I better end this entry, before the battery runs out. Later!!!

Jason
I did the Big League Chew session and the Sweet Tarts session, I thought both of them were really great. Then we had dinner which was ok, next we went to the concert with was pretty good, it sure was fun but the music wasn't that good, but fun just being there. I think that I might come back here next year. That food was good but the lunch meat was pretty spicy. Overall I thought that the whole thing was pretty good. I think that you guys should do it again because I think that it brings some people closer to God. Well the battery is going to run out so I better stop, hope that this was helpful. Oh, also thank you for the chocolate.

KC
Kyle, Anna, and Kasey found bob aka joe our friend from youth group bowling. We had cool classes we each got door stoppers. And we learned not to be afraid to stand up to things that are put in the way of your faith. We each had other classes as well. Dinner was delicious. We went to the out let mall and got chocolate thank you Tom. We then went to the concert and heard the band they mentioned Maddison's name. The drummer said Kasey;s glasses were cool. Anna gave him some gum and he chewed it. Then we went to MC Donald and we meet a different kind of catholic people and got drinks. Then we drove home

Maddison
After the morning assembly we went to our sessions and the actor playing Charlie was being funny. Then lunch was this really gross pork sandwich and like no one liked it. So then we did stuff and dinner was AWESOME, trust me. PERFECT! Lol. Then Mr. T took us to the Edinburg outlet mall and he got us chocolate. Then we went to the Ceili Rain concert and I got all the band members autographs. Mary thought the guy from the opening act was cute and so yeah... I had so much fun! I’ll def be going back next year. BYE!!

The Fray

2009-02-13T14:45:00.002-05:00

There is a new song out by The Fray called You found me. The song makes me think of the psalms. The first line of the song starts off "I found God on the corner of First and Amistad" and from there the singer goes on to talk about some of the struggles he has had when he needed people in his life and they weren't there. When you look at the psalms you need to keep in mind that the writer weren't just trying to write the bible they were pouring there feelings out in poetry to God. Sometimes it can get downright violent and mean because the author was angry at the time. Look at psalm 74:1 the author is questioning what God is doing. Yet if you continue reading you look at the first line of Psalm 75 is giving thanks to God for his wondrous deeds. It's so interesting to me that in the bible we have a vast array of emotions in one section of the bible. I guess you could call it top 40 section of the bible. See everyone on Sunday.

Upcoming things and other thoughts

2009-02-06T13:51:00.002-05:00

So the other night I had this crazy dream where I thought I was being hit by something and I couldn't feel my arm anymore. Well I was sleeping on it funny and I had cut off the blood flow. Anyway I woke up and was scared and just about pushed Stephanie out of the bed onto the floor. Fortunately she was so asleep (heavy sleeper!!!) that she didn't notice so make sure you don't tell her if you see her. Speaking of my wife I was telling her what days I was going to be gone on trips this summer and she told me she might be able to go with us to Catholic Heart Work Camp in Chicago this summer. I was so excited if she comes it will be extra awesome I promise! Ok so it is official we got the weeks I wanted for both summer trips. So just as a reminder it will be June 7th through 13th for CHWC and June 26th-30th for One Bread One Cup. check these websites for info on each. http://oboc.saintmeinrad.edu/ for OBOC and http://www.heartworkcamp.com/ for CHWC. We have forms for each of these trips up on our website www.saintchristopherparish.org. Fill out that basic form and turn it with your deposit and your spot will be saved! I'll leave you with two things first is a reminder that if we get 25 people to go to NCYC that I will let you shave my hair in a mohawk for the trip. the second thing is this link to youtube with one of my current favorite videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRH3iTQPrk More blogging later!

Welcome to the youth ministry blog

2009-01-21T14:35:00.002-05:00

So I decided I should start a blog that will keep some random thoughts plus things like descriptions of events or videos of things we have done. The first two post were some skits we did a couple Sundays back. The youth were supposed to pick some bible events and make sure to include them in there skit. If you would like to make comment go ahead it just won't go up right away because I have to approve it. If you have any questions email me at tsteiner@saintchristopherparish.org. Have a great day!!!

By popular demand!!!

2009-01-21T11:51:00.003-05:00

Jesus walks on fish and water

Action news team!!!!

And now the other two

2009-01-21T11:14:00.005-05:00

The many props group!!

Its the Ellen Show!!!