The first annual Parish Picnic will be held on Saturday, August 24, 2008!!

There will be

• hotdogs,
• chips,
• lemonade,
• rootbeer floats,
• face painting,
• volleyball,
• basketball,
• frisbee,
• bean bag toss,
• and of course the playground all available on our very own parish grounds!!

The picnic will last from 12 (noon) until 4pm.

Please join us!  And if you’d like to help out with serving the food or working in the background for a shift please contact Michelle and let me know!!

Thank you to those who have already volunteered so much of your time and agreed to help on the day of the picnic.  You’re gift of time is greatly appreciated!

As much fun and faith sharing as we had at CYX, the storms on Satuday night wrecked havok for one teen present at the retreat.  Nicoletta Codutti from St. James the Less in Highland left CYX early to be with her family after her house was struck by lightening and caught fire.  No one was injured in the fire, but let us keep Nicoletta and her family in our prayers as they rebuild they’re house.

We were reminded in the readings this past Sunday that our home is not a building; it is in Jesus, and of course our family as an extension.  The Codutti family may have lost their house and their belongings, but they have not lost their home.  Let us pray for them to not lose hope during this difficult time!

For more information and information on how you can help, visit the St. James the Less, Highland website:  http://www.life-ministry.org/.

Thank you to our Director of Religious Education who opted to use the Vacation Bible School annual Service Project to help the Codutti family!  And thank you to all who donated!

This year was our first year at CYX, and we’re already looking forward to next year!  We’ll definitely be more prepared (no forgetting towels or sheets!!) and I’m sure it will be even more fun.  We heard and sang some great music, watched praise dancers from Ss. Monica and Luke, experienced age-determined learning sessions, met teens from other parishes in the diocese, had free time at Camp Lawrence with a BBQ!, and a dance Saturday evening.  We got to see live feed from Austrailia during the World Youth Day Mass, and more locally, the teens from the Diocesin Youth Council acted out the Passion, the Rag Man, and some less serious skits (like the “Whose Line is it Anyway? version of explaining the weekend’s rules).  We had parish time in the evening which included a foot washing ceremony along with individual sharing.  All in all it was an exhausting yet awesome weekend filled with faith and fun!

Read more at http://www.dcgary.org/youth/cyx/index.htm.

See photos from CYX on our photo page HERE as well as on the diocesin photo page HERE.

Don’t forget there is an evening mass now on Sundays!! Mass starts at 6:00 pm. This new mass is perfect if you’re busy Saturday hanging out with friends or working, and if you want to sleep in on Sunday. We’re also going to start having our meets after this mass! Details to come soon.

Shaping up to be the biggest ever! The cross is making its way around the diocese, and youth ministry leaders are making their way around their towns tracking down those last-minute permission forms, etc.! CYX 2008 is already the highest-attended ever (both in attendance and parishes represented), and we haven’t gotten to the late registration period yet! More important, we welcome at least three new parish groups this year (St. Joseph/Dyer, Ss. Monica & Luke/Gary, St. John Bosco/Hammond). I am blown away each year by the willingness of teens to make Christ a significant part of their summer. Even if you are not attending CYX 08, please remember the young people in prayer as they prepare for their pilgrimage.

- Excerpt from Youth Ministry Notes (week of 6-22)

CYX registration is happening now!  If you’re not registered yet, you’re already late.  Let me know as soon as possible if you plan to go.

Registration closes for good on July 7th!!

By Katrina B. age 14

On January 25th, our youth group visited the Deep River Water park to ice-skate for the soldiers. We raised money for soldiers overseas and made care packages with a homemade cards included with each box. We met at the Gathering Room and drove to Deep River. The entire youth group skated for a few hours and just had a fun time. There was also a warming house where people could get food or other drinks (hot chocolate! Yum!) Everyone was enjoying each others’ company, and many people made new friends. It was snowing outside. Luckily, it wasn’t very cold. Overall, everyone in the youth group had a great time. It was a great night filled with winter fun.

by Emily D, age 15

On December 13 our entire youth group, including some new members, visited the Dyer Regency Nursing Home. While there we passed out hand-made Christmas cards and visited with the residents. It was such a touching experience for all of us. Knowing that we made their day just by simply having a conversation with them feels like such a great accomplishment. When we got there everyone seemed a little nervous, but once we realized how nice and sweet the residents were, we opened up more and had a great time. Overall, we enjoyed talking with the residents and being with each other.

After many all-nighters, our website is now up and functioning. There are still some bugs, and if you come across any please let me know. The site consists of a Newsletter front page, Event Calendar in the right margin, and two links so far: one o the “Meet the Youth Ministers” page which is still under construction, and one to the “My(YM)Space” forums which are fully functional though always under revision. The Newsletter will showcase events or happenings that have been going on in Youth Ministry and sometimes point towards some future happenings that do not yet have their dates set (and therefore are not in the Event Calendar). The Event Calendar stores all the Youth Ministry dates in it. Mousing over a date or clicking on a date or the name of the month will show what is happening that day/month. The “Meet the Youth Ministers” link will (when finished) go to a page that shows pictures of our Youth Ministers and tells a little bit about them. The “My(YM)Space” link, as previously stated, navigates the user toward the Youth Ministry Forums. In order to access the forums, one must create a username and password and follow the onscreen instructions carefully. Once a registered user, I have posted in the forums a guide to requesting permissions to actually view and interact with the forums. Once given permissions, ;users have access to posting topics, responding to others’ topics, and an in-site messaging system (Private Messages or PMs for short). For the safety of our teens, I will only approve members if I know who they are so my suggestion is to let me know via email or a phone call what you plan to make your screen name so that when I see it, I’ll know who it is. (Just a suggestion to make registering faster.) I hope you enjoy the new website!

Six Flags Fright Fest

On October 27, 2007 our youth group went to Six Flags Fright Fest. Everyone had a great time even though it was crowded. We had to get up really early in order to catch the bus at St. Joseph’s. On the bus ride to the park, we talked to our friends, met new ones, and played with our phones. We got to the park just as it opened so that we had plenty of time to ride rides, hang out, and walk through the haunted houses. At first glance you could tell it was Halloween. Everything looked old, haunted, an in perfect disrepair. Cob webs hung from every sign. Some rides were even renamed: Deja Vu was renamed Devil’s Turn. When it got close to dark, monsters started running around scaring people who weren’t paying attention to them, and when it got dark they would scare you even more. It was kind of cold, but no one noticed too much, and the little cold was worth it. On the bus ride back, almost everyone slept. We got back to St. Joe’s at midnight & were picked up to go home,. It was a really fun trip and I hope to see everyone and more on our next trip!