We have a new POPE!!!

It's CARDINAL RATZINGER!
Now, Pope Benedict XVI!

How cool is it that the name he choose is the same name as our church!

Everyone look forward to this upcoming Lifenite on April 24th, for more information on our new pope and celebrate in the Popelympics!!!

Lifenite Planning & The Start of the Conclave

Here's the link to view the movie Fadi put together to honor John Paul II - http://home.ripway.com/2005-4/288728/JPIImovie.wmv

This past Sunday night we were able to put all of our collective minds together and create future Lifenites based on topics and ideas all of you (teens & peer ministers & future peer ministers) came up with on your own. These include topics ranging from prayer to chastity to exorcisim. These are all great topics and will make some wonderful Lifenites.

Today, April 18th is the start of the conclave to begin the election of our new Pope, the 264th successor of St. Peter. All 115 cardinals from 52 countries representing five continents are being sworn in to secrecy in the Sistine Chapel and they will decide whether or not a vote will be taken as early as today. If a vote is taken we can expect to see smoke as early as noon or at about 7pm. When the new pope is decided and accepted then we'll get to see white smoke and hear the bells of St. Peter ring. These are very exciting times!

Please pray for the cardinals to use all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord) to help guide them in their voting.

Also say a prayer for our amazing youth minister, Cassi, as she flies today across the country to Oregon for a wedding.

God Bless all of you!!!

Honoring the life of a Saint...

Truely, we witness the acts of a saint among men.

Pope John Paul the second was honored this past Lifenite. He showed us how to be Christ-like, how to live Christ-like and in the end to die Christ-like. Fadi put together a wonderful video that pays tribute to JPII's life and contributions to the Church and the whole world. I will link it here (once I get it hosted) for anyone to download and view.

We also got a detailed explaination of what comes next. Who leads the Church and how do we choose our next pope? Here are some links which some more good reading if you need a reference.
- http://www.archatl.com/pope/Brief_Backgrounder.pdf
- http://www.archatl.com/pope/Papal_Transitions01.pdf

Continue to pray for the soul of Pope John Paul II whose words to us "Be not afraid" are a witness to trust in our Lord in all things. Also pray for the cardinals in Rome who are gathered together and will soon have to vote for our new leader of the church.

See everyone who can make it to Teen Idol this upcoming Sat. at 7pm!!!

God Bless!

God Bless Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) died April 2nd, at 9:37pm just following the celebration of the vigil for Divine Mercy Sunday.

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Pope John Paul II by joining in praying this novena provided by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Novena for John Paul II




Here is your homework for this week:

In light of both the pope's and Terri Schiavo's death you are required to read Gospel of Life written by JPII. It helps bring into coherence the Church's teaching of the sanctity of life.

God Bless!

Christ is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!

Welcome to the Easter Season! We hope everyone has enjoyed feasting after a long Lent. There has been more than enough candy, chocolate and good food in our own house to last a while.

A lot has happened since our last post. We had Holy Thursday and Good Friday which all led up to Easter Sunday last week. Good Friday was our enactment of the Passion. If you want to see pictures from it please comment with your email address. Cassi got some great shots. A special thanks go to all the teens who were involved and spent so long practicing for it (also a quick shoutout to Bridget who was my spotlight gal).
The pieta scene from the Passion Play

Yesterday as most of you should know Terri Schiavo passed. Though it may seem like everything is over; the fight for her life, the chance to correct a wrong now is definitely not the time to stop praying. We need to continue to pray for Terri's soul and the souls of all the faithfully departed. Prayer works in many different ways. When you pray for others it's not just them that reap the benefits of that prayer, through that communication with God your relationship with him only grows stronger which in turn strengthens your faith and the power of your prayers. It is like a scythe, one of those grass cutting tools that you use like a golf club. The blade of a scythe sharpens as you use it. The more grass you cut with it the sharper it becomes and the more efficiently it cuts. Same is true with prayer, the more you pray the sharper your prayer becomes. Along the way you may hit a few rocks and stones that dull the blade, but that's what reconciliation is for. Not a bad metaphor if I do say so.

This Sunday we don't have Lifenite but those who are interested a group will be going bowling after the Teen Mass. Come and join us for some bowling fun!

God Bless!