The Beauty of Life

This coming spring I will be marrying the woman of my dreams. Not only is she beautiful and smart, but she is the most faithful person I have ever met. In preparing to receive the beautiful sacrament of marriage there are a lot of things you have to discuss. I mean when you get married it is for life and there are certain things that should be discussed such as children, financials, where you're going to live, and how to be there for each other. Recently the big topic has been children. As a youth minister I work a crazy schedule and a little more than a year after we get married I plan on going to World Youth Day. Questions like who will stay home? How many kids do we want? The other day as Megan and I talked about this I just smiled.  I had to be the luckiest man in the world to have found a woman who is so open to life and understands the beauty of the gift that God gave her.  She sees life as gift at conception.

When I think about the conception and birth of a child I think of the Holy Family. If you think about it God could have easily just put Jesus on this earth without having Mary give birth to Him. God came to Mary for a reason not only because she was completely pure, but it was necessary for her to bear Jesus in her womb. It was necessary for Jesus to be born from her womb.  At the moment of birth I can only imagine the joy that was brought down into Mary seeing her child there.  Through this image it shows us the beauty of woman and the beauty of child birth. 

Today, a child seems to be a burden more than a gift. A child is seen as the consequences of the mistake someone made with their boyfriend or a money guzzler that people cannot afford.  When we look at a life in this way they are no longer a person. They are seen as something we can toss away, but they are way beyond that. They are gift not only to you, but to this world. Even after birth they should not to be forgotten or left. They are a life that we are called to care for until they can care for themselves. Joseph did not abandon Mary and Jesus after Jesus was born. He cared for that life until Jesus could care for himself. He was Jesus' earthly father and guardian. 

In a lot of ways I sit in envy of Megan. She gets the gift of bearing a child for the first nine months of his or her life. For those nine months she is the one to nurture and care for the child not me. Yes I do understand that a man is necessary for the conception of a child and a man has a duty to care for his spouse because those nine months are hard. I just find a beauty in the gift of a child being born. For me though I am lucky that my future wife knows the importance of life at conception. She understands that the gift given to her is necessary to continue life. Life is given to each individual from conception to death where we will enter eternal life with God our Father.

An Answer Found in Prayer

I sit in silence. Not knowing what to say or do. Looking up into the face of Jesus.   Wondering what God's next step for me was. Wondering why I hear nothing.  Desiring for God to shout His plan to me, so I no longer sit in disarray. This is how my hour of prayer would go. I constantly would sit questioning God, telling Him what I wanted, and asking Him to just tell me His plan.  This though was not how my hour went the other day.

Recently, I have been so busy I have failed to give God that time that I owed him. I failed to take 30 minutes from my day to just sit and talk with him. I had plenty of time to take naps. I had plenty of time to watch my favorite TV shows and even time to watch them repeated over and over again. I now blame my pride for those moments thinking I was faithful enough and could do my work without prayer. This prideful mentality drastically changed a few weeks ago.  Every month one of my parishes holds 24 hour adoration on the first and third Friday of the month. Every month I would find an excuse until this past one.  For some reason I had this strong pull to sign up for an hour.

As my hour neared I knew I could not sit in silence for an hour in meditative prayer. As I rushed out of the door I grabbed one of my prayer books that seem to have collected dust from the lack of use over the past couple months. As I got to adoration I knelt down again not knowing what to say or do. After my short prayer I sat back in my chair and began to stare into the face of Jesus. Again I questioned Him looking for some kind of answer for what was next, but as I did this I felt another pull. As I looked down next to me I realized the book that I had grabbed was The Secret of the Rosary by St Louis de Monfort. As I began to read I was entrenched in the pages seeing the beauty the Rosary had done in so many peoples lives. The outpouring love of God seemed to jump off the pages to me as I read about the Beauty the Rosary had done in so many Saints lives. I felt I had found the clarity I desired for the past few months. As I closed the book I knelt down one more time and began to pray my Rosary I wore around my wrist. So many times God had pointed towards the Rosary, but I chose to ignore him. 

God did not lead me to the Rosary by accident, but to lead me closer to Him. My greatest struggle in life would have to be purity of mind and body. I felt I could battle this on my own, but have to come to realize I have been looking for help in the wrong places. God chose our Holy Mother Mary for a reason to give birth to Jesus Christ. Her purity from sin is the purity that each of us should desire in ourselves. Through the Rosary I not only find Jesus, but I feel the purity being poured out.  There is a need for prayer in our lives and God has provided us ways to pray even when we know not what to do. Answers are not always found by those seek, but are given to those who wait.

Manliness: As Taught by Teens

Yes, I will admit to you right now that a bunch of teen boys taught me to be a man. Now when I say taught, I am not meaning that they sat me down in a classroom and lectured me on what it means to be a man, but they showed me in a completely different way. Last night the teens of my youth group blessed me with an opportunity to witness manliness at its finest.

First, lets start with how these men came together to teach me how to be a man.  This past year I challenged my teens to do a special night for the opposite gender. The ladies were going to do a super bowl party for the guys and the guys were going to do a dinner and a movie for the ladies. They sounded like great ideas, but the guys just didn't seem motivated. The ladies on the other hand were incredibly organized and seem to work so hard to make sure the men had a great time. They decorated cupcakes and brought snacks, and each lady gave each guy a present. It was adorable and I loved it and I thought to myself how will the guys every make it up to the girls. The girls went all out for the guys and I could barely motivate the boys to get themselves to plan let alone actually put on the night. This dinner night seem like it was going to be a total bust. Or so I thought.

Yesterday. I witnessed a completely different side of the teens in my youth group, especially the men. The men didn't only spend the entire day decorating the hall, but I had stop them from trying to turn the parish hall into a five star restaurant.  These men didn't hold anything back. They covered the hall with led lights, they cooked a spaghetti dinner, and even made sure that every woman got a flower. Not only did all the women look like princesses, but the guys made sure each of them felt that way. Making sure the women knew they looked beautiful and completely serving them in any way possible.  To witness this was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.



As a man there are certain times that make you feel so manly that you need to go cut down a tree or wrestle a bear (might also be because I live in Alaska). Last night was one of those times. It wasn't because the guys were having a beard growing competition or trying to see who was the strongest. The men were just true servants to the women. They showed not only to the women, but to themselves the beauty in what it means to be a gentlemen. I not only witnessed, but learned what it meant to have a true servants heart. It wasn't from a book or a lesson taught from a teacher, but from the individuals that I am suppose to be teaching.  God's beauty comes from the most surprising places.  Tonight it happen to be a handful a teen guys.

The X-Men Reflection

Ever since I was a little kid I always wanted to have some kind of superpower. I was obsessed with the X-men and thought it was the coolest thing to have a power. I would even sit in my room staring at different objects trying to move them with my mind. I promise one time  I actually moved an empty soda, but I could be wrong and it could have just been the wind. Even today I sit and think how cool would it be if everyone in the world could have superpowers.  The thing is that everyone really does have super powers. 

Have you ever thought what does it mean to have a super power?  It normally consists of someone having a great talent or gift that most normal people don't have.  Everyone around me has talents and gifts, so doesn't that mean everyone has super power. Some people will say that they earned their super power through hard work and dedication. Some people will say that they inherited their super power from their parents because their parents were incredibly smart or athletic. I would say all those are factors in honing your super power, but the only one to give super powers is God. 

Before we go any further, I should clear up any discussion on who is the greatest super hero and that is God.  When you can name a super hero that can create a universe, perform many miracless, and die and resurrect himself to save millions of souls then there will be a discussion, but as of right now God is the greatest super hero.  A lot of times I like to look at God as the more perfect version of Professor X. He is not only the leader of all the X-men, but he also teaches everyone to trust in the powers they were given and use them for good and not evil. The main difference between the world the X-men live in and our world is that God grants every person with a gift.  For instance, the greatest super hero team that I have ever witnessed in my life is my family.  I have one brother who I am pretty sure is the smartest human being to walk the earth and another brother who has devoted his life to helping those that are ill.  I have a little sister who if she got anymore talented she would be the next wonder woman but in real life. Above all else I have a mom who has taught each of us everyday what true sacrifice means.  You can argue with me that all of these gifts aren't super powers, but I wont hesitate to tell you your wrong. 

Today, I spent a lot of time sitting in my office in prayer.  Trying to argue with God that I am a normal man that has very few gifts. God just doesn't allow me to accept that. He constantly reminds me that all I need to do is constantly put Faith in Him, that He will give me the ability to spread the good news. Take a moment today and think: Have I relied on the gifts that God has given me? Am I using these super powers to answer his call? Only through God can we truly use our super powers to their max potential. 

Just to clarify Nightcrawler is the coolest superhero. Mainly because he is super vocal about his faith.

Superman for a Day

Have you ever wondered how it would feel to save someone's life? You see in all these super hero movies people with powers who swoop in at the last minute to save a person from some sort of tragedy. Just imagine having the speed of the Flash or the strength of Superman and knowing you have the ability to save someone's life. Some of you may have never thought about this, but I seem to every single night as I fall asleep.

I will be turning twenty four in about a week. It got me thinking about all the different things I've done in my life. From being the awkward quiet kid on retreats to running my first confirmation retreat to the loud crazy youth minister I am today.  There is one thing that has stood above the rest from those years and that is my desire to change lives. What does that mean to me? As much as I would love to be Superman or the Green Lantern it's not going to happen. There is something that I can do.

First, the best way to save someone's life is to introduce them to God. Now, I'm not saying to go up to someone and ask them if they know who God is or walk up to someone and recite the bible to them. The single best way to introduce someone to God is to show them who God is to you. "Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use words." -st. Francis. God should never be based off words but by the way you live. To introduce someone to God is to show someone that you love them unconditionally. That is the true introduction to God.

Second, the way to saving lives is to step out. While working at camp Chosatonga I was constantly challenged to step out of my comfort zone. Which became such a blessing and To be honest I would not be doing the work I'm doing now in Alaska if I was never challenged to step out at camp. Think if Superman never stepped out and just hid so no one would find out his secret. He would never been called a hero. We are called to not just own our gifts but to step out and use them to help others.

Thirdly, never forget to look for those who truly need the saving. I catch myself all the time thinking that my struggles are the worst in the world. Forgetting that people every day are struggling to stay warm or struggling to eat. I use to think that not having my dad around was the worst thing in the world. Then I realized some kids today have no parents and we're never lucky enough to be told by one parent they are loved. That doesn't forget about those around, but also look around and see who needs help.

Finally, my last point seems to be the most important and that is never forget to tell the people around you that you love them. Sometimes that is the only time they ever hear that. We are never going to be heroes like you read I'm the comics. We can be heroes to the people around us. Being a true hero is not swooping in at the last minute to save the day, but is the constant desire to love each and every person around you every moment of every day.

Ministry is What you Make it

This past year has been one of the most eye opening years of my life in ministry.  Now, I am not just talking about youth ministry, but ministry as a whole.  Ministry is something that every person is called to in their life. Ministry, to me, is encouraging others to create a personal relationship with Christ through service, prayer, and the sharing of God's word and our own personal relationship with God to others.  Recently, I have been inspired to minister to everyone around me in so many different ways.  I mean you see such holy people like Pope Francis who is not only preaching the Gospel, but is living it.  He especially calls each of us to be charitable and servants to those who may not have anything. The question is: Are we called to be exactly like Pope Francis?  Not exactly. 

Now this is when all the people who work in ministry are like Jake what are you talking about. I think you have lost it. (which I probably have) But the reason I say not exactly is because ministry is different for every single person. Seeing the difference in our Popes is a prime example.  Pope Francis has been that example to how we should go out and support the poor.  Pope Benedict was a great example of how a person should live a prayerful life and he continues to be that example today as he has dedicated the rest his life to prayer. These two holy people held the same position, but approached ministry in two different ways. Both preached the gospel. Both lead our church towards God. Both were prime examples of how we should live our life. Both approached ministry in different ways.

Like I said previously, ministry should be part of every single person's life, but ministry should be made your own. A lot of times people question the way I approach youth ministry at my parish in Juneau. They see me acting like a fool with my teens and playing a lot of games. While I talk to my teens I tell a lot of stories about my life and never shy from showing emotion. (Yes I do look like a crazy man in youth group) The only thing people fail to see is those times inside and outside of youth group that I get to talk to my teens about Catholic teachings on a more personal level. Those are the moments I cherish the most and come to find important to me in my ministry. I could try to copy all the other youth groups I have been to or helped out with, but then it wouldn't fit me or my group.  Anyone who tells you that there is only one way to minister to teens is wrong. The only constant I have found within ministry is the teachings of the Catholic Church.  How we get that to the people around us is all on our own.

 Ministry is what you make it. Some people may think that I'm just the crazy youth minister in Juneau, but I know I am doing God's will in the way he created me to do it. I'm not suppose to be a priest right now or go out and fully dedicate my life to feeding the hungry. Right now I am suppose to be here in Juneau and helping teens develop a relationship with Christ. God calls each of us to make disciples of all nations. Each of us are called to make those disciples in our own way.

A New Friend and Inspiration

I have lived in Alaska for little over a year now and recently more than ever I have been getting inspiration to write more and more.  This writing will be a little different from the rest of my writings recently. This writing really has nothing to do with any part of my life, but what I have witnessed from a man that people know little about. A man who comes and goes at the church that most people see as the strange guy who talks to himself. Recently, this man has a completely different effect on me. This man's name is Gary and has become somewhat of an inspiration to me.

First, I feel that I should introduce you to Gary. Gary is the homeless man who seems to live in the woods somewhere near my parish and always seems to be around the parish when I am working. Gary has many different problems that are quite visible to others and cause people to avoid him most the time. When I first got to know Gary I was slightly scared of him to be honest. Whenever he was around he would pace back and forth cursing at himself and talking to himself. He was always a person to say hi, but still I tried to avoid him because I never knew what he was going to do. This idea of Gary has seriously changed in the past few weeks. Especially today.

Today, was the first day of snow in Juneau, Alaska. Which means everything is completely white and it is absolutely freezing outside. (very different from where I grew up)  All you really want to do is stay inside and curl up I a ball. Well it being the day before our diocesan Synod, it meant that the snow was just another obstacle in the mass amount of work we had to do today.  First part of this long day of moving chairs and tables was unloading a packing truck. As I climb up in the truck to grab the chairs I turn to find that Gary is there to help me out. No one asked him but he just seemed to show up.  As we begin to unload the truck I have my first conversation with Gary. Now, let me remind you that I have been here for a year and Gary is always around.  Today was different. Gary being homeless I ask the normal question like "how are you staying warm" and "how is the snow treating you". Gary answers those questions with simple answers. Gary then begins to tell me how he hopes everything is alright and how he thinks he could fix our door if we need him to. To most people this means nothing, but to me I saw a completely different side.

Among the other parts of the conversation Gary began to show me that he just cared. He made sure I didn't lift things by myself so I wouldn't hurt my back and checked if I needed anything before he disappeared somewhere else. To me he seemed to be that angel who would be there when I need him and then disappear. For some reason though Gary talking about the door stuck with me. People walk through those doors every single day, knowing that they are old and letting air blow through them, but Gary was the one who stepped up to take initiative. For the first time I realized that to Gary all of us at the parish aren't just people he sees everyday walk by him. He has an appreciation for all of us.

I said in the beginning of the blog that today Gary became an inspiration to me. He is. This man has almost nothing but the clothes he wears on his back. He comes and goes at the church trying to make sure not disturb people, but always willing to step in and help. People don't seem to notice him for the little things he does, but when he is looking for food or a warm place to stay for a while. Gary to me became much more than that. He today showed me what it means to be a person of God. He asks for very little, but seems to give so much.  Sometimes the people in this world who have the bare minimum seem to know the most about how to properly live.  Everyone seems to have their own "Gary" in their parish or community. Stop and think for a minute: This person has so little and asks for even less. What can I do to show Christ to this person.  I know after today I will have a different look on Gary and I hope the rest of you will do the same.

"All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do."  Galatians 2:10