It’s been a while

It has been awhile since I have posted on the blog and I hope to make it more regular. We are coming to the end of my first year of being youth minister at St. Alphonsus. The word that comes to mind to sum up everything is Grace. I have felt God’s Grace with me thoughtout the year. Whether it was through the youth on Sunday nights or our Core teaming planning on Tuesdays, God has kept me safe in his arms his year.
But, just as our confirmandi reflected on retreat last weekend and will experience this Tuesday, once you experience the Grace of God you feel called to share it! I am excited for what this summer and next school will bring. There are alot of plans in the works and I can’t wait to tell you about them all. Please pray for us as we put together a year that will please Our Lord. You are in my prayers.

Prayers Please: The Passing of former Pastor Fr. Douglas McCormack

Fr. Douglas McCormack, the former Pastor of St. Alphonsus Liguori parish, passed away suddenly Monday, Feb. 15.
His funeral will be held Saturday, Feb. 20 at 11:00am at St. Alphonsus.  Calling will be at the church, Friday, Feb. 19 between 4:00pm & 8:00pm.

Read More about Father Doug.

Fr. Doug at the Dedication of St. Alphonsus Liguori Church

Video: Cardinal fail

Cardinals aren’t infallible.

NCYC 2009 Video

We had a great pilgrimage to Kansas City back in November.  One of our pilgrims, Marshall, made a video of the trip.  Enjoy!

Former Speedskater Now Religious Sister

With the Winter Olympics underway, a great story about a gifted athlete that heard God’s call.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Twelve years ago at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, a 17-year-old speedskating prodigy named Kirstin Holum was tapped for future greatness.

Kirstin Holum of the USA at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

When Holum placed sixth in the 3,000 meters – one of the most grueling disciplines in the women’s program, a lung-scraping four-minute bust of lactic acid torture – speedskating insiders predicted a golden future and speculated she may not even reach her peak for another decade.

Like many of the longer distances, the 3,000 is regularly dominated by older athletes, as it can take years to build up the requisite reserves of aerobic capacity and deep-tissue resilience. At Nagano, 32-year-old Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann of Germany claimed the gold.

Holum was born into speedskating royalty. Her mother Dianne was a world-class speedskater who won Olympic gold in 1972 and reached even greater heights as a coach, mentoring the legendary Eric Heiden to his clean sweep at Lake Placid in 1980.

Despite an ongoing battle with exercise-induced asthma, Holum was a champion waiting to happen. Instead, Nagano would signal the final time she would pull on a pair of skates with competitive intent.

From that point on, her life began an entirely different journey.

“Speedskating was such a huge part of my life,” Holumn said in a telephone interview with Yahoo! Sports. “I still loved the sport, but I had this incredibly strong calling that it was time move on and take a different path in life.”

Continuing reading this amazing story here

Dominican Sisters on Oprah!

Oprah has had some interesting guests on her show over the years. But, what if she spoke to religious sisters to find out more about what they do day in and day out? Well, in a recent episode, Oprah did talk to some sisters. The Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist from Michigan did a great job.

See the rest of the interview after the break…

Youth Ministry Blog!

Hey guys,

St. Alphonsus youth ministry now has a blog!  Why do we have a blog?  Great questions!  We hope to post all sorts of things here for you, interesting internet stories, videos, random musings from the youth minister, prayer requests, or other things.  It is basically a spot to find some pretty cool stuff.

We hope post at least on Mondays and Thursdays of each week.  Maybe more if there is a bunch of stuff we want to get to you, but you will at least get 2 AMAZING (not guaranteed) posts a week.