Oddwalk Ministries

Category: reflection

friends, oddwalkia, reflection

We Will Miss You, Colette – Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

Colette

Colette and Shannon

Colette Kennett passed away yesterday. She was a great friend and mentor for me, especially as a professional youth minister. As I have said to many other people, there is no way that I become a youth minister (or at least a good one, hopefully) without first crossing paths with Colette.  She was a giant in youth ministry, but she was much more than that.  She was also a giant in kindness, friendship, compassion, encouragement, empowerment, and joy.  When she told you to “make it a great day”, she truly believed that you had the capability to do that.  She believed in people so much, that it often made her seem naïve and gullible.  While those things might have been true to some extent, all of it stemmed from this ability she had to see the very best in everyone and give them the benefit of the doubt.  She beat back cynicism and hatred with light and love.  Additionally, she was always laser focused on the people she was with, to the point that you felt somehow like you were part of her inner circle. It sounds silly, but that’s really how it felt. The truth is, she made everyone feel that way.  Personally, for me, I can’t tell you how often she encouraged me as a youth minister, musician, husband, and father. She believed in my potential, and made me feel like I could do anything.

As for youth ministry, speaking as former CYO teen, she and her teams created a youth ministry world that helped us live out the ideals and challenges she embodied.  I challenge you to find a more active, committed, and enthusiastic diocesan youth ministry than the one she set up.  For instance: because the biggest venue in our rural diocese could only handle around 600 people, the attendance at our annual Diocesan CYO Convention had to be regulated.  Parishes could only bring six teens, since nearly every diocesan parish brought a group.  There was so much anticipation about these events that arguments broke out in many of these parishes each year when, inevitably, some teens that wanted to go, could not.  The attendance at these conventions could have easily doubled.  It was pretty remarkable for our rural diocese.  In addition to a great convention, she encouraged and facilitated hundreds of service projects, sporting events, dances, social gatherings, prayer services, and concerts.  She facilitated a diocesan-level teen leadership council that rivaled none.  Those teens worked hard, facilitated and planned events, and would have done anything for Colette.

I could say much more, but I’ll simply say this: I miss you, Colette, and promise to now work even harder to carry your spirit and joy with me everywhere I go.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

-Shannon

 

friends, oddwalkia, prayer, reflection

Fly High, Super Sam

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Super Sam

Hello everyone.  Shannon here.  As many of you already know by now, our buddy Super Sam Santhuff passed away this past Friday, September 19th.  You may remember Sam from this blog post from this past May:

http://oddwalkministries.com/oddblog/2014/05/11/super-sam-his-light/

This morning, on a Facebook page dedicated to Sam, I shared the following reflection, which Orin has encouraged me to share here:

Yesterday, my wife Erin and I were given the great privilege of singing this song at Super Sam’s funeral. Thanks so much to Matt (Dad) and Cassie (Mom) for this amazing opportunity. It was truly an honor.

In the weeks following Cassie’s post in March revealing that Sam’s cancer had returned, I, like the rest of you, was trying to focus my prayer. I, of course, believe in a God who works miracles, but I also knew where this road could lead. To be grounded, but believe that, with God, anything is possible, is always a weird place to be. This lead me to seek guidance in scripture, and in particular, the first part of the Gospel of John, which was speaking of Jesus, the Word. Three things jumped out at me. 1. Jesus was, is, and always will be. 2. None of the life around us came to be without Jesus. 3. The Light (Jesus) shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. This was the confidence in faith that I was looking for. I was reminded that no matter where Sam’s journey led, Jesus would be present through it all. While I, of course, prayed fervently for Sam’s complete healing, I knew that no darkness, no suffering, no death could ever extinguish the light of Jesus. This is where the song came from. I was not looking to write a tribute to Sam. I was looking for a way to pray about and for Sam.

Sam reflected (and continues to reflect) God’s light for all of us. Even in his death, Sam is proving that no darkness can ever shut out God’s light. Look at what he has inspired! Look how many lives he touched! Look at how a little boy who exuded goodness was able to capture the hearts of so many! Could we not do the same? Many of us carry with us attitudes of cynicism, anger, mistrust, polarization, and selfishness. Sam carried none of those. Sam carried God’s light, not his own, which is what drew us so closely to him. Imagine the impact we could have on our communities and the rest of the world if we chose to do the same.

Here is the song, as posted on Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/oddwalk/his-light

 

bible, liturgy, oddwalkia, reflection

Another “Any Given Sunday” Reflection

Shannon’s turn again at Any Given Sunday – take a read!

First, check out the Sunday readings here!

“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want…” This line, from Psalm 23, is one of the most recognizable lines in all of scripture. I know I’ve heard it most often when someone is worried or afraid and is in need of a few words of comfort. What does it mean, though? What does it mean for us? For you?

Let’s break down the line, “The Lord is my shepherd”, word by word. If you were to say, “The LORD is my shepherd”, you would be making a pretty definitive (and very powerful) statement about how your life is ordered. Letting ANYONE else tell you what to do is hard. Giving your life over to a God you believe in through faith, but cannot always see in a conventional way, can be very difficult. It might even make you look a bit crazy to those who do not know the Lord. That is, however, what our Lord requires. Remember what Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me…” Jesus said that right after calling Peter ‘Satan’ for questioning that Jesus’ life would end by being killed at the hands of the chief priests and elders. Peter, no doubt, feared that his own life could end the same way. This is the same Peter, though, who in our first reading today was able to stand up and publicly say: “Let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” No longer was Peter afraid of where discipleship with Jesus might lead him. Through faith, and filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter could confidently state who Jesus was and is. Jesus is Lord. The LORD is my shepherd. Can you say the same thing?

Next, if you were to say, “The Lord is MY shepherd”, you are making this faith VERY personal. In the Gospel today, Jesus says things like: “…and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…” and “…the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice…” This suggests a shepherd (God) who is interested in being very close to His sheep (us). That is very Good News. And God has done God’s part in all of this, affording us all the opportunity to be extremely close to Him through the sacraments, through prayer, doing service in God’s name, and even through devotionals like adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Are you doing your part to grow closer to God? Are you taking advantage of these opportunities, or are you making God do all the work?

Finally, if you were to say, “The Lord is my SHEPHERD”, you are stating without a doubt that you recognize God as your leader/guide and know that your role is to be part of the flock. It can be very difficult to see ourselves this way. After all, God created us unique and special, right? Right, but all of us have in common the urge to sin, the need for God and others, a shared mortality, etc. Recognizing that we are part of a community with God at the head, a community that leans on one another in good times and bad, can help us to be free of this need to live our lives on our own and for ourselves. Let God be your shepherd and be free! As Jesus says in today’s Gospel: “…I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Let God tell you what that ‘life’ is supposed to be about. Then you can say with confidence, “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want”.

bible, liturgy, oddwalkia, reflection

Orin’s Contribution to Any Given Sunday

Here’s Orin’s most recent contribution to the great resource Any Given Sunday:

Click here to view the readings from the USCCB

Perfection – raise your hand if you’ve ever gotten a 100 on a quiz.  I have; but I also recall a time when I saw that grade on the top of a test or a paper, and knew, really, that I could have done better.  I didn’t answer a question fully, I misspelled something, the teacher overlooked an obvious error, rushing to get everything graded.  Raise your hand if you’ve ever planned a party to perfection – right down to the last detail, only to have the guest of honor arrive early, or the cake fall to the floor, or some other disaster occur.  Truth be told, we often strive for perfection but rarely ever achieve it.

Yet that is what Jesus asks of His disciples in this Sunday’s Gospel: “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Whoa.  Be perfect like God the Father is perfect?  Talk about an unattainable goal.  It’s nearly unreasonable, this challenge placed before us.  For mere earthlings, humans with the stain of sin, it sounds impossible, at least while we are still living on Earth.  We know though, that Jesus never calls us to things we can’t attain somehow, someday. You’ve heard maybe that God doesn’t call the gifted, He gifts the called.  In what ways can we work, with God’s help, toward this perfection God asks for?

Well, take a look at the first reading, where God asks the Israelites to “be holy” because God is holy.  A definition I like for the word holy is to be “whole” – that is, to be complete.  Especially within our faith lives and journeys, our goal is that wholeness, that unity and oneness with God. The Lord tells Moses how he should instruct the Israelites on that same journey: to not keep hatred for one another, to not pursue revenge, and to love all. The Psalm continues the teaching – the Lord is kind and merciful, and so should we be.  The word mercy sums up this journey, doesn’t it?  Be merciful to those around you in need.  Be merciful to those around you who harm and persecute you.  Be merciful to yourself when you fall short of the life God asks of each of us. In fact, when Luke writes this same teaching in his Gospel, he doesn’t use the word perfect, he uses – you guessed it – the word merciful instead.  Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians adds the layer of humility, and in fact reverence, for what God has created in you, the human being.  No one belongs to Paul, or Apollos, or to Cephas: all belong to the Lord.  And it is in belonging to the Lord, on a journey to holiness, with mercy toward one another and toward ourselves, and aware of the mercy the Lord has shown on each of us, that we ultimately can be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect.

liturgy, NCYC, oddwalkia, prayer, quote, reflection

An Outward Sign of Christian Dignity

prayerleader-200wAt NCYC last month, Oddwalk had a couple conversations (in person, on Twitter) about the appropriateness of the young lay leaders of prayer, and specifically their vesting in albs and leading a communal blessing by signing themselves (as directed in many places in the Book of Blessings).

It could be that the folks we had conversations with (one adult, one youth) weren’t the only ones to have concerns. The NFCYM has posted a wonderful resource explaining the catechetical, pastoral, and legal reasons that what we experienced at NCYC was exactly what was needed for that time and place.

A couple quotes to draw attention to:

The question and answer of proper liturgical vesture involves both clear instruction from the Church and mistaken notions from many of its members simultaneously. Frankly, it is a wrongful notion to describe a lay person leading a formal prayer service in an alb as “looking and acting like a priest.” In fact, at NCYC, the youth presiders were looking and acting exactly as they should: like a lay person leading prayer.

Again, in brief, a catechesis of liturgical vesture is one that begins not with the difference of ministry or station, but on the common community shared by all in the dignity of their baptism. There is no ordination without baptism (and all the sacraments of initiation: Confirmation and Eucharist, too). There is no “priestly vestment” that does not begin first with the garment of Christian faith laity and ordained alike the alb with which we are all “clothed in Christ.”

As a ministry especially concerned with justice and specifically the joy we can find in our having been created by God and given a Christian dignity that is indelible, we are so pleased with how the NFCYM has addressed the concerns – as too we are pleased that there are interested people, especially youth, willing to make their voice heard about matters important to them.  Please take some time to read the whole document!

Edit, 12/7/14 – new link to article: http://www.ncyc.info/2013/logistics/leaders/alb.htm

oddwalkia, reflection, scripture

Shannon’s Contribution to Any Given Sunday

Here’s Shannon’s most recent contribution to the excellent resource Any Given Sunday!

Click here to view the readings from the USCCB

Each summer my wife and I head to southern Missouri for the yearly Cerneka cousins float trip on the Courtois River.  This is one of my favorite yearly events, as I don’t often get to see my extended family. The Courtois River, like many rivers in that part of Missouri, is mostly narrow and shallow, winding its way through beautiful Ozark country.  Along the way, we occasionally see rock outcroppings and small bluffs along the river’s edge.  Every now and then, you will find one of these small bluffs at a deeper place along the river.  Often, my cousins will stop at these spots so they can climb up the bluffs and jump into the water.  Since the river is deeper in these places and bluff jumpers can’t see too far below the surface of the water, some of the cousins will swim over to that spot to check for unseen rocks or boulders that could cause serious injury (or worse) to the jumpers.  Once that check is done, the fun begins!

When we first started taking these trips and we’d end up at this spot on the river, I would choose not to jump, out of fear that something bad might happen to me.  To my way of thinking, I was a lot safer if I didn’t jump at all.  After a few years, I mustered up the courage and would join in the fun.  In those moments, I figured I didn’t have much to lose.  I was single at the time and was pretty sure I would be unharmed.  There was no thought of tomorrow, just the excitement of the moment.  As I grew older, though, and became a husband and father, my outlook on life shifted.  I could no longer think only of myself.  I could no longer disregard the possibility of danger or the consequences of my actions.  My responsibility to my family had to take precedence over everything else.  Actually, that’s not true.  My commitment to Christ and His Church began to take precedence over everything.  My vocation as a husband and father has flowed from that commitment.  Rather than making choices in my life out of fear (I won’t jump because something might hurt me) or with no real sense of responsibility (I will jump because I don’t need to worry about consequences), I now try make choices out of a love for my God and my family . I now have the freedom to be what Christ is calling me to be because I am choosing to live for Him rather than for myself.  I know that Jesus loves me and will take care of my family and me, no matter what life brings.  It would be foolish for me to place any other priorities above that relationship.

In today’s first reading and in the Gospel, we have clear examples of people being directed to act against their relationships with God.  In the first reading, seven brothers (along with their mother) are being tortured (eventually to death) and are being told they must eat pork, which would have been a violation of God’s law.  Each of them refuse, and ultimately choose death, confident that God will someday raise them up.  These brave men knew that obedience to God was far more important than their own lives.  In the Gospel, the Sadducees (who deny the possibility of Resurrection) are trying to twist Jesus into a legal knot, by asking whom a woman might be married to in heaven if she were married to seven different brothers here on earth.  Jesus reminds them, as he always does in these situations, that God is not bound by earthly laws.  There is no need for marriage in heaven.  Those who are raised will be with God forever.  Nothing could be more important!  Often, we can get tangled up in the various expectations the church places on its members.  Why are there so many rules?  Why can’t I do what I want?  These guidelines show us how to live as disciples for Christ now.  They also help us keep our eyes on the ultimate prize, which is heaven.  Let’s all say YES and live for Him!