I am a great uncle once more. My niece, DaLayna, welcomed a cute little fellow, named Draven McCoy (Patin) into the world. And yep, I suspect he will be spoiled.
DaLayna is a great mom…and I can’t wait to see her parents as grandparents…
and I can’t wait to teach him all kinds of things (evil grin!)
Seriously congratulations and love to my proud family.
Welcome, young Draven. I pray you are happy, healthy, and holy all your life long.
It is official. I am now 45.
Nope, I don’t feel much different. And that’s okay.
I got greetings from all kinds of family; one of my favorite came from my sister-in-law Mona. She said, “Tomorrow you’ll be closer to 50 than you will be to 40!” You just have to love family. They can be real prophets of hope.
My lving family gave me a gift basket with some of my favorite treats: wine, sweet tarts, healthy snacks, and some nice shirts. Really sweet.
One of my favorite treats was this lovely cake my daughter Meg (and her good friend Kim [way to go, Moose!!]) made for me with my favorite team, the CHICAGO CUBS (who are in second place in their division as of this writing, thanks very much!) The cake was tasty, but what was more cool was the loving thoughfulness to do it for me.
My (immediate) family and I went to one of our favorite restaurants, Miyako’s, and I enjoyed and celebrated my life. It was a good time for me to realize how blessed I am–a great, loving family, a nice home, decent health, and I get to do what I enjoy. I’d even like to believe that my best is yet to come.
And hope the same is true for the Cubs.
I was invited to speak to a small group of youth ministers on Sunday afternoon and then speak to a regional gathering of teens that night.
It was a good trip; some of the highlights were:
• supper with teens from one of the parishes…it was very neat to see teens very vibrant and committed in their faith. Special thanks to Tom E. (my faithful driver/host) Cindy L. and teens from Ascension for sharing some of their time, pizza, and “good news” about their parish. Side notes: Jeff, could you have eaten that last slice of pizza? And, be careful, guys, I may come out of semi-retirement to join you for a Tuesday night hoops game…don’t worry ladies; I won’t break into your Pilates class.
• I went to mass Sunday where a vibrant priest used bubbles to make some pretty cool points about Jesus being the way, the truth and the life. I missed his name, but I was very impressed with worship at St. Matthew’s.
• I had to smile in a big way when I saw some folks from Holy Family, who I’d met in February. It was great to see Alex P. And to visit for a few minutes with Ms. Alfie, but what really got me was when parish teens showed up for the evening talk wearing t-shirts with “got Mike?” embroidered over the heart….and “godisnowhere on the back “neck” of the tee. Alfie got me good on that one.
• There were 300 teens there from 10-12 parishes. St. Nicholas church was host for the youth gathering while Christ the King was the site for the adult ministers meeting. Mary Ann H. From Holy Spirit was my contact person; thanks for keeping all info flowing.
Good things are happening with youth in the diocese of Richmond; I am impressed with what I’ve seen in my visits there in the last 2 years.
And some good news…my spring travel “season” is about done.
May has only one commitment for speaking (and that’s okay). I’ll enjoy the family, some updates on the web page and maybe a minor league baseball game (New Orleans Zephyrs) or rare golf game.
More as we go!
I am NOT MAKING this one up.
You’ll love this…they announced Cardinal Ratzinger as pope, my daughter said, “Dad?”
“Yes, Meg?”
“This new pope must be cool, huh?”
Wanting to let her make her own decisions, I asked, “Well Meg, I’m not sure, why do you say that?”
Well, the lady in the cafeteria said, “That RAP SINGER will be our next pope!”
(Rat-zinger = RAP SINGER)
About 20 college students from Aquinas College, led by 2 great seniors, Jackie and Rachel, as well as their staff leader Eric, did a fantastic job in preparing a rally for 100 teens. Rachel was even kind enough to get me tea for my sore throat. (Be on guard, Rachel! Jackie has some ideas for you!)
The theme was based off the gospel of the day (Jesus, the good shepherd, telling us that he came that we might have life and have it abundantly)…they worded it “More than Just OK”. Another cool theme!
I was impressed with the décor…they made the sin, tress and clouds with balloons and streamers and paper. I was also impressed with the joy of how they FREELY gave of their time and welcomed the high school students with such joy.
They had an awesome group doing liturgical movement; it was Hispanic with beautiful costumes and a deep sense of prayer. There was also the local Catholic High school capella choir who was very impressive as well.
The celebrant’s homily was also a highlight for me. Fr. Mark talked about NO SHORTCUTS in building a relationship with Jesus. I needed to hear that; it’s so easy for me to not treat this relationship with care and to take it for granted.
And it was great to see my friend, Mark M. He is a class act and does good work with so many good groups across the country, including the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry’s Board of Directors. It is always good to be with ministry friends and laugh.
Here I am speaking in Austin in January just testing out some new web page technology. Thanks Rob for the technology and Karen for the pictures.
Over 200 6th through 9th graders gathered at a very cool 4-H camp in Jackson’s Mill, West Virginia (boyhood home of Stonewall Jackson, Civil War General). The theme for the rally was “The Eucharist: Christ’s Present of Presence”–one of the neatest titles I have seen all year!!!
I want to thank the adults who were such good hosts to me….Mike and Linda H., Nancy S. (what so you mean my hair is too short?), Vince (yes, I can call you Vince even if your students can’t!), Father Jim and Jessica (what issues????)
I was impressed with the teen leaders (high school students) who led the day. You could tell they had been working on it for awhile!
Another neat touch was the music…done by a group led by TamI A…including junior highers on drums and guitar and the odlest being in college…very impressive.
I was a little confused though…geography wise. From Pittsburgh to Jackson’s Mill, I saw the California University of Pennsylvania, and towns called Houston and Washington. It is a small world after all.
I was invited to speak to close to 300 teen leaders from schools across south Louisiana for their workshop : CAUTION–LEADERSHIP CROSSING. Michelle C. and her team of student council leaders did a great job of decorating the gym in the highway sign spirit.
I’ve been blessed in my life to hold leadership positions and to watch young people assume leadership. I still get a big kick out of doing trainings for young leaders…I’ll be doing some this summer at the University of Notre Dame, the diocese of Lafayette, and my local church, the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
If any of you are interested in learning more about any of these experiences, e-mail me at
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As I flew to Wichita for their youth convention, I knew that Pope John Paul’s time was short. All the news reports were saying it was a matter of time.
I was actually doing a workshop on peer pressure for a few hundred teens when I got the word about his death. All workshops were cut short so we could pray together within an hour after his death. It was amazing to see 700 teens gathered in prayer for this purpose.
When I wasn’t involved with the convention, I absorbed as much TV as I could, and learned so much more about the Pope than I had previously known.
There are certain moments in history when people will ask “Do you remember where you were when…?” (September 11, 2001 is a moment like that.) I smile when I think that, at the moment of Pope John Paul’s death, I was among young people, talking about peer pressure . He was energized by young people (I can see why!) and I hope (in all humility) that I was sharing a message he would have approved.
John Paul’s legacy is rich. Many print articles, web sites, media specials are chronicling his contributions. I sense it is just beginning. His examples of prayer, preaching, teaching , touching people were a true witness to real discipleship, a LIVING faith.
I went to Denver (1993) and Toronto (2002) celebrations of World Youth Day. I don’t have a “I got to see/touch the Pope!” story [sorry!]. I did feel the enthusiasm, the hope, the energy shared among teens and young adults WITH John Paul. Those memories are among the highlights and “purest” moments of youth ministry in my 20 years of working with teens.
On TV, I saw a Jewish orchestra conductor who “worked” for the pope who said that working for the Pope made him want to be a a better Jew. I do know, in watching him, in learning more about him, in reflectingon his life and death, John Paul II has helped me –I know I want to love Jesus more.
Thank you, John Paul, for seeing and touching me. Rest in peace.
It was awesome to be with some neat young people in Wichita. The youth board there who planned the convention were a spirited, fun-loving group. Their theme had to be one of the most “creative” ones I’ve seen all year: “Get Er Done…for the Glory of God.” No, I did NOT dress up as Larry the Cable Guy (though I once WAS compared to having a speaking style like Jeff Foxworthy!!)
Chris E. and David W. did a fantastic job in running a smooth convention. I was so impressed with the teens as we spoke about peer pressure. I was most impressed with some young men who wanted to talk more about dating pressures.
The closing mass was celebrated by bishop-elect (Monsignor) Michael Jackels. He was to be ordained and installed as bishop the next day. I thought it was pretty cool that he was with the teens in the midst of all that was happening.
