Claims - Introduction

The introduction to "Claims" was lots of fun. You guys are hard-core debaters, and it's going to be incredibly helpful.

It's funny how we have such strong opinions about things that we all admit are fairly trivial in the grand scheme of things. How easy it is to fight over musical tastes or books or movies. And I don't mean disagree, I mean straight up fight. Of course, opinions are one thing, and Faith is another.

So, as it's said, it's always best to know how deep the waters are before diving in. To know what you're about and what you believe before "looking for a fight," as we jokingly said in passing on Sunday. So it's always helpful to be able to arm yourself with friends and knowledge when you go out into a world that isn't exactly made for our ease of mind. As we go forward in the series, I hope we'll be able to equip ourselves with accountability buddies, and the ability to understand what we've always been taught, so that we will be able to gently teach it to others, whether or not they are influenced by it.

Remember...

"The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out."

Proberbs 18:15

Much love!

Ceci Galvin

CYM, St. John the Evangelist

Sacrificial

It was certainly fun for us this past Sunday night to see you guys running around the field, lifting and sprinting and doing wacky activities. Many thanks for getting all your members out of the radioactive zone, and special thanks to those who sacrificed life and limb (figuratively) to help their teammates.

Games are one thing, and real life is another, however. Hopefully none of us will be asked to give our sight, speech, legs, or life for something as horribly drastic as the scenario we dreamed up for you last night, but, as we said, there are always going to be little sacrifices along the way of a faithful Catholic life, if we're doing everything right. Whether it be time, material possessions, our own personal sense of comfort, or even the image we have of ourselves--we're all going to end up sacrificing some things for our own good and for God's glory. These are little things that somehow always tend to seem immense when we're in high school, but when we looked at them in comparison Sunday night to what people have sacrificed for us--how trivial it all might appear.

These days, it's hard to tell just what we'll be called upon to sacrifice as young Catholics. There is a resonating quote typically attributed to either Archbishop Charles Chaput or to Cardinal Francis George that goes, "I expect to die in my bed; I expect my successor to die in jail; I expect his successor to die a martyr."

It can be scary, and if/when stuff starts to go down, we'll all have each other to lean on and trust and be a part of together. But, in the meantime, it's enough to know to sacrifice the little things, a la St. Therese the Little Flower, for the glory of God. So the next time your little sibling is bothering you? Offer it up. Actually ask them about what they want to talk about. The next time your school is seeming overwhelming? Ask for help and conquer it. Sacrifice a little bit of the idea of being the smartest person on the planet in order to turn in a job well done at this moment in time.

It may seem trivial, it may seem trite, but it can only help to make the world a better place; so that when that day does come where we all have to band together for the really big sacrifices, we'll at least have had some practice.

Much love!
Ceci Galvin
Coordinator of Youth Ministries
St. John the Evangelist