AmericanPapist Comments
I think it's great to see teenagers getting others excited about faith. You're right about the pitfalls of trying to be "cool". But to be honest? There aren't a lot of just normally cool Catholics out there.
My favorite?? Lino Rulli. He's the only guy I know of who can reach a younger audience without having to pander. linoatlarge.com is his website; maybe I'm wrong. :)
Katie
As a 24 year old male, who considers himself a cool Cat ;), I find this to be somewhat insulting. I don't need to be talked to like a gangster, just give me the radical Truth of the Church and its deep and rich traditions. This banal juvenile crap is what is keeping the vocations away.
yeah, teens usually resent it when you talk to them like they're intellectually inferior.
A new magazine for Catholic girls ages 12-18 published its first issue last month. True Girl is a great Catholic alternative to the usual teen girl magazines.
Did you read the online version? First it highlights a visit from EWTN's Father Corapi with a very short paragraph. Unfortunately, not much stubstance from his talk other than "pray for more priests". Farther down the page is a lengthy article about two Dominican sisters who were just released from prison after serving their sentence for pouring blood on a nuclear underground missile silo. The article included all their peacenik propoganda. Of course they also have to mention how they bonded with Martha Stewart during yoga class in prison.
Yes, this sort of thing can easily backfire--we seem to think young people don't know when we're trying too hard to be "down" with them. But Catholics, especially young ones, _are_, by definition, counter-cultural in North America (everywhere in the West, really) right now, and I think anything that gets their attention is a good start.
You can't much more old school than the papa, can you? And it seems to me that John Paul the Great NEVER spoke down to (or tried to be extra cool with) kids. He just spoke the Truth and they followed in DROVES. Pope Benedict XVI seems to be following the same pattern with roughly the same result.
Gangsta talk? Is a magazine peppered with that going to help much if it's not accompanied by large amounts of orthodoxy? We should pray that something good comes of this. God can use anything to His benefit.
If you have to try to be cool, then you definitely aren't. I saw that stuff constantly when growing up and that is probably why I hated going to church so much.
It wasn't until I went to Rome in college and saw the Church and her history as it is that I really began to love the Church. The Truth is what sells. Don't try to "dress it up."
I found this simply absurd. There's absolutely no need to speak to young adults in this manner. After all, what is the point in writing something like that? To get them to closer to God? I'm no expert, but I doubt the Holy Spirit speaks to young people as though He were Snoop Doggy Dog.
Or perhaps it's because I'm 27 that I just don't get this lingo since this is not for people over 25.
I'm 19, and I never liked all that kind of stuff. I've never really enjoyed going to the Lifeteen Masses because it's all dumbed down.
thanks for the great feedback, I've updated the post having read through the latest issue.
It seems like a lazy way to reach teens. It doesn't challenge them- the way the true path of Christ challenges us.
As a college student, I would not be caught dead reading or writing about my faith in such a manner.
I can remember that because of styles of youth minstry like Altared, that I never became involved in youth group activities.
Although, one of my fondest memories of my Catholic high school education was when my religion teacher, with a doctorate in theology, explained why The Matrix could not be possible according to Divine Revelation.
I frequent this blog but I must have missed this post...I just saw it now. I am from the Diocese of Marquette and Bishop Sample is my bishop!
I know the Altered Issue of our diocesian paper is pretty cheesy...infact, our diocisian newspaper isn't all that impressive but our diocese, like many out there, is improving, and Bishop Sample is a sign and (will be) a cause of that.
Our diocese is rural and covers a huge surface area, we are often overlooked. In fact most people don't even know that our part of the world (the UP of Michigan) exists. But Bishop Sample, a priest from our own diocese, is a remarkable man. At his ordination he called for more vocations, he is the spiritual advisor to a couple of my friends (one who is now entering the seminary), and after his ordination he traveled to every vicariate to meet the people (sometimes having to travel 6 hrs to get there).
And while our little diocesian newspaper might not reflect the true potential of our diocese and the greatness of our young Bishop, you will see it in time has we start to blossom under our new leadership. You will see heroic things from Bishop Alex Sample. Every diocese should be so blessed.
PS Don't worry about his orthodoxy :)
PSS I'm young, 24 years old, and a revert to the Faith.
kef33 - thanks for your comment. I, too GREATLY admire Bishop Sample and have heard wonderful things about him.
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