When I was a full-time youth minister (shorthand for coordinator or director of youth ministries in a Catholic Church), one of the most heartbreaking moments was just before a retreat or conference when a young person would say something like, “Thanks for the invite. I really want to go. And I’ll go next time! It’s just... I’ve got this ::insert random sport, social, or family event. My ::insert parent, coach, teacher, or friend:: really wants me to go.”

Most of the time, I knew (I KNEW!) that if they went, it would likely change the trajectory of their lives (and afterlives). But if they didn’t, the opportunity would be missed and the pressures and competing pulls of adolescence would prevent them from ever prioritizing their Faith again.

On Monday, I dropped my daughter off at her new school for KinderCamp. The next day, she turned five. And this weekend is Father’s Day. Blend these up and you get a dad thinking quite a bit about his relationship with his daughter.

One day, there is a good chance some young man is going to come along and ask if he can marry my little girl. I’m going to ask him if he thinks he is worthy of her.

This weekend’s Gospel focuses on the central mystery of our Catholic Faith—the Trinity. The eternal Creator. The eternal Redeemer. The eternal Advocate. Three in one. Eternally.

The quick definition of mystery is “something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.” So, yeah. I’m not going to try and explain the Trinity in a small column. I’ll leave that to the ordained professionals. Instead, I want to focus in on that one word: “mystery.”

I’ve noticed lately that most of my close friends are geniuses. I’m serious. If Kim Jong gets us with a missile, I’ve got a friend who failed. Another friend is basically MacGyver and the government regularly asks him to invent things. And the list goes on.

Have you been confirmed? No? What are you waiting for!? If you are in 3rd or 4th grade, contact Sr. Susan Marie. If you will be in 6th-12th grade next year, reach out to our youth ministries coordinator, Mady. If you are a high school graduate and still alive—email me at dlins@oloj.org.

But if you have been confirmed... what are you so afraid of?!

The disciples were huddled up in a locked room. They were frightened for their very lives. They dared not speak the name of the Lord or they might be put to death.

The Catholic Church recognizes, understands, and even remembers that the Bible did not simply fall from the sky intact. It was written by the Holy Spirit through the followers of the One True God and compiled by the early Church.

The Church has always relied on the Magisterium, Sacred Scripture, and Sacred Tradition. All three. Put simply: God entrusts the same Church that He trusted to record His Word—to interpret His Holy Word. It only makes sense. That is what the Magisterium is responsible for. In that light, let’s look at the purpose of the Ascension.

Many just assume it is when Jesus’ purpose on earth was complete and he was finally able to go enjoy his home in heaven.

Parenthood seems to be one long string of graduations. No, I’m not talking about preschool, elementary, middle school, high school, and college. Those are for the children. I am referring to the parents.

Kids just keep growing up and as the parents start to finally master that “level of parenting,” the kids evolve into something new. It’s the parenting equivalent of “Oh. You think you are running the show, high school varsity popular kid? Here comes college where nobody knows you!”

Here are some parenting graduation moments: when they become mobile, become verbal, recognize they have free will, discover the opposite sex, get a license... The list goes on and on.

Humans have been trying to figure out love since creation. Look at the variety of ways it is treated in popular songs over the last 70 years. “Endless Love.” “Crazy In Love.” “All You Need Is Love.” “Love Me Tender.” “I Will Always Love You.” “You Give Love A Bad Name.”

Some think love means you can’t get someone out of your head. But love must be deeper than infatuation, because love shouldn’t be something that burns so brightly and burns out so quickly.

Some think love should be exclusive, reserved for those closest to us. But love must be wider than exclusive earned membership, or we wouldn’t have been commanded to love our enemies.

Since my entire ancestry is rooted in farming, it pains me to admit that not all farmers are honest 100% of the time. If they were, there would be no need for branding or spray painted markings on livestock. After all, livestock costs a small fortune and it is all too easy to go “shopping” for free animals on neighboring farms.

Before anti-theft techniques began being used, stealing from other flocks was quite common—and it is against this backdrop that Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

There are topics people are so passionate about that the mere mention elicits a landslide of opinion and thought. It is as if some unsuspecting innocent wandered a bit too close and set off a bomb.

I know someone who feels that way about firearms. I know another friend who feels that way about Star Wars. I know several friends who feel that way about their football team. And yes... I know too many who feel that way about politics.

I could NEVER know enough who feel that way about Jesus Christ and the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church he founded.

The first words of this weekend’s First Weekend are worth reflecting on: “Many signs and wonders were done among the people at the hands of the apostles.”

You see, they had received the Holy Spirit and were emboldened. They were inspired. They were strengthened.

These first followers answered the call of the Holy Spirit. And as they received the Spirit, it compelled them to pass it on. Those who truly receive the Spirit are unable to contain it. It must spill forth, overflow, and spread.

If you believe the sins of your past and/or present are too great for your future to be blessed by God...

If you believe your anger or hurt has made it so that you will never be able to trust the Lord again...

If you believe God is either cruel or uninterested...

If you want to change, but you just don’t know how to take that first step...

Palm Sunday is here—and with it, the holiest week of the year. It is time. Everything Jesus said and did was building up to this. His passion, death, and resurrection.

But there was one final thing he did before it began. He prayed. In fact, “he prayed so fervently that his sweat became like drops of blood.”

A condition called hematidrosis is a very rare medical condition that causes a person to sweat blood from the skin. Medical professionals have hypothesized it results from extreme “fight or flight” responses. And wouldn’t this make sense given what Jesus knew was waiting for him over the next several hours?

First—a quick reminder about the parish mission on Monday and Tuesday at 6:30pm. Please don’t miss out. And if we’ve never met, please find me and introduce yourself. It would be my honor to meet you.

This Sunday’s gospel is about the adulterous woman. And I often wonder about the men in the crowd who had been clamoring for her death. How many of them had committed adultery?

In my experience, I’ve found that people who have struggled with a particular sin fall into one of two categories: they are either the most compassionate... or the first to condemn.