OLG
La Habra Thoughts for 2014-2015
Summer
Life Nights
Since the year in my opinion, ends in May with
Confirmation then the first thing we do is the Summer Life Teen Life Nights.
This year we had a lot of activities as well as a Mark Study throughout the summer.
We went bowling we went to the beach we watched movies and had game nights. It
was a fun summer with a good turnout for the Gospel of Mark Bible studies.
LIFT
Team Summer Retreat
In August we had our LIFT Summer Retreat so that
everyone gets to know each other and then we end it on Sunday with a day at the
beach and a Bonfire!
Friday-This
is our first gathering as the new LIFT Team. Ray has selected the new team and
we have some returning and many new members. It is a large team and we don’t
all fit in the youth room so we have most of it in the patio area in the back.
There are many personality evaluations mixed in with expectations and one on
one interviews so that we can get to know each other better. It was a great mix
of activities.
Ray has
a gift for finding the Christian message in any movie or TV show. He showed a
few clips from various shows. One of my favorite is the show Joan of Arcadia.
Another was a clip from The Sandlot. He pulls different themes from the clips
like teamwork. We also use music to create a soundtrack about ourselves. All of
these various mediums are a jumping off point for a lesson.
Saturday
We have more activities, more bonding, a lot of ice breakers and some games. I
ducked out because I needed to go to Mass since I had to work on Sunday and the
plan was to go to Mass as a team on Sunday and then to the beach ending with a
bonfire.
Sunday I
joined them at the beach right after work. It was fun, relaxing and a great way
to enjoy the time together. We started the bonfire, roasted hot dogs and had
s’mores. One of the new guys, Alex, decided to make it a two in one combo.
Eeeewwwww!
Confirmation
1
Ray asked me to consider becoming a Confirmation
Teacher this year. I do not like teaching Confirmation because I have done it
for several years and it is just not fun for me. It feels like pulling teeth.
The teens usually do not want to be there. I have had teacher’s aids before but
they were mostly just there. They didn’t really do anything. Ray asked me one
Sunday before going to church and asked me to pray. So during Mass I ask God
and God simply responds, “Can you say no to Ray?” I made a commitment to
helping Ray and that includes doing whatever is asked of me. Ray promised me a
great helper, Miguel. I met Miguel when James brought him earlier. So I told
Ray I would teach Confirmation.
The best thing about teaching Confirmation 1 was
Miguel. He was a true aid, a co-teacher. He has a great heart and mind and
desire to share what he knows with the teens. We worked well together. Except
for one time where I was on a roll and did not ask for Miguel to jump in and
after class he called me out on it. He was ready and waiting and I never called
on him. Miguel is a gift and I am thankful to have had him as my co-teacher.
Lift
Team Winter Retreat
My favorite thing about the Lift Team is the way Ray
teaches them to become leaders. He provides a lot of teaching moments to
develop their skills. LIFT Team Winter Retreat is the best retreat experience.
I wrote up a whole report about it but the gist is that I drove up with Ray and
his friend Lisa and we got everything ready. There was so much snow that we
needed chains to make it up there. We were in charge of the cooking and
cleaning. Since cooking is not my thing I volunteered to clean. It sounded good
at the beginning of the weekend but by the end I regretted that a bit. I was a
little sick before the weekend end so I was not at 100% health. Opening and
closing the large refrigerator to pull things out and put things in probably
did not help. The other downside to cleaning is that I missed out on the ice
breaker activities after meals since I was busy cleaning. The first night we
watched a movie. The movie was the recent version of the Secret Life of Walter
Mitty and the theme was You Are Extraordinary. Ray has a gift for watching any
movie or TV show and pulling out Biblical themes from it.
After cleaning I was always able to make it in time
for the talks and the sharing from the soundtracks. Ray had each of us submit a
song that reflects a theme in our lives, family, friends, road trip and so on.
There are about 20 songs I think. Then we go around in a large group and we
share why we picked that song. So we will do family and each person plays their
song and then explains why they chose it, what does it mean to them. I was
really impressed with the openness of the teens to share. We also had a lot of
activities that also tied in neatly to aspects of the movie including pizza
making and a scavenger hunt. The snow fight at the end was fun to watch. I have
been on many many retreats and this team retreat was the best retreat ever. It
really helped the team to become a family. After the retreat the LIFT Meetings
were every week and we started adding all the dressing to the skeleton of the
retreat starting with a theme song.
Life
Teen
We lost one of our core members, Lori, but we gained
a new member Nick. It was great having a new set of eyes and musical talent.
Nick has added to our life night in many ways. I’ve always wanted to include
some praise and worship into our meeting and with Nick’s help we have been able
to do that. Darin, Dave and Tania and I continued our commitment to our teens. I
have been praying and hoping for an adult woman to help but we are still
waiting. Confirmation students are required to attend 3 Life Nights so many
times they are coming because they have to. But we have some that come because
they really want to. It is a mix bag of kids but for the most part I believe we
are planting seeds of faith.
Confirmation
2 Retreat
It was great to return to Camp Buckhorn and the
greatest of blessings was to have Father Ed up there with us. Ray had me in
charge of check in for the retreat which since it was my first time was quite a
learning experience. We had three busses, 100 students plus our team and Ray
was already up at the Camp with Hannah, Jon and James. Once everyone was on
board the busses left and we arrived at Camp around 8:30pm. The weather was
great in my opinion, no rain and no snow! The food is always great, the retreat
went well with the exception of some issues on Saturday night everyone had a
great experience. The proof of which was when we returned and Father Ed asked
for people to share we had 6 kids say how the retreat, and the team and Ray
helped them to grow closer to Christ.
LA
Youth Day
Ray is in charge of the opening and closing Ceremony
in another part of the convention center. This year he decided to do a retreat
for Confirmation 1 on a different day and only those who wanted to come to
youth day would attend. Of course there was also the incentive that it counted
for 2 absences. We ended up carpooling and we only had about 30 people total
including the leaders. It was a great day. On the Last day of the Religious
Education Congress Mom and I went to the Closing Liturgy. We were having a
tough time and it was a great liturgy. I love running into people I haven’t
seen in a long time. Our musical director from our old parish was leading a
section of musicians. It was so nice to see her in action again. Mom arrived at
the arena first so I went looking for her. An arena full of people and as I am
looking I run into 4 team leaders from my church group. It was a lovely miracle
to get to see them.
The
end of the year
After LA Youth Day I know Ray took a group to the
Orange County Youth Congress aka OCYC. I had to work but I heard that the teens
had a blast I believe 20 people attended. The rest of the year seemed to just
run out on us. LIFT Team Leaders have to reapply. Confirmation students have
interviews to assess their knowledge. We had a nice thank you/goodbye seniors’
potluck. One of our team leaders joined the Air Force so he left in the
beginning of May. There was a Rite of Acceptance Mass for 1st Year
Confirmation and of course the actual Confirmation Mass. We practiced lining
up. We forgot to practice lining up to take a picture before Mass, that took
longer than expected. The last item for the LIFT Team is the information
session for those interested in joining. We had a great turn out.
It was wonderful and I am looking forward to next
year.
Edited to add:
Edited to add:
2015 started off great and then flipped in June. I left OLG and Youth Ministry at OLG. 2 weeks after that my youngest niece Kiara died on Father's Day in a tragic accident.
It has been a difficult time and prayers are appreciated for the whole family. her parents Perla & Zhong and their 4 kids. .
I live on Instagram & Twitter and you can find out more about my year
there.
