Fall 2005 Newsletter

REAP Team Newsletter
Read It and REAP!

GIVEAWAY #16 – Lord of the…Beans?!?

Veggie Tales are spoofing one of Paul and Heather’s favorite epics, “Lord of the Rings” with their new hit movie, “Lord of the Beans” (released on DVD on Oct. 31, 2005). To win this trivia question, you must watch one of the trailers for this soon-to-be hit movie. The question is…What are the Scaryman’s minions that Toto Baggypants and the fellowship will face in their journey? Be one of the first five people to reply to this email with the correct answer, and you will win a huge, very cool movie poster of “Narnia…The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. Any correct response will be rewarded with a smaller Narnia movie poster. Here’s the trailer for the movie Lord of the Beans [1].

News from our last giveaway!!! AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Andy F., Justin B., Maggie H., Clarissa B., Alison L. and Cecilia W. each received a free t-shirts for knowing that Mr. Tumnus, the fawn, was the first creature Lucy met in Narnia. Numerous others received small participation prizes. Congratulations! Here’s a picture of Mr. Tumnus and Lucy [2] from the upcoming (Dec. 9, 2006) movie. Here are some awesome trailers for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [3].

BLOG Babblings

Paul's recent ramblings [4]: first things first [5]; Catching Crawdads with Jeremy [6]; every youth minister’s dream [7]

Heather's recent ramblings [8]: I like to party, drink and have a good time [9]; Looking for Hotties? [10]

Evangelize Your Friends – Goin’ Fishin’*

More Perfect Bait…Emailing Blogs
Blogs have a new feature – you can email any you choose to a friend. A great way to evangelize is to read through the blogs on the OYM website [11] and when a friend comes to mind for any of them, email them the blog. These blogs revolve around faith but are also fun and interesting.

*Spreading the message of the Gospel is easy and non-threatening when you do it like you’re fishing – throw out bait (invitations, a comment about your own faith journey, a book, etc.) and then wait to see if they “nibble”. If they’re interested, draw them closer to the truth of Christ within you. But, never shove faith down their throats (like you wouldn’t shove worms down a fish’s mouth).

FUN STUFF :)

Save the Animals – Noah’s Ark Game [12]... Very Addicting!

REAP TEAM NEWS:

Supporting REAP – In addition to our team members and prayer warriors, REAP also seeks financial sponsors. If you or your family would be at a place to donate monthly to the REAP Team, or even give a one-time gift, it would help us more than you could imagine.
Funeral Support to REAP - Some of our sponsors have chosen to give a financial gift to REAP in the name of a deceased friend (instead of giving flowers), and some have asked that wedding or anniversary gifts be given to the REAP Team. How cool is that?!? Praise God! If you need want more information on this idea, you can email paul@reapteam.org [13].

Ask Heather

If you have a random question about LOVE, SEX, or RELATIONSHIPS, please send it my way (heather@reapteam.org [14]). You might see your question published in future editions of this nifty little newsletter.

FREAK DANCING
Heather – What do you think about freak dancing? I want to live chastity, yet so many friends do this at dances. -Seriously Confused Guy

Dear Seriously Confused,
I’ll never forget my senior year mixer. I was president of Student Council, one of the coordinators of the mixer, and then I found myself “freaking” on the dance floor with a guy I had never met (and didn’t even after). I remember, for a moment, thinking it was cool that this guy approached me – I took it as a compliment. Then, I looked over and saw our club sponsors, teachers who respected me, looking at my dancing with concern and disappointment. I’ll never forget it. Although I realized my behavior was wrong, I didn’t know why. Now I know why... complete response [14].

WOMEN PRIESTS?
Since many people ask me why women are not priests, I thought I’d refer you to an awesome response I found a few weeks ago. It’s a video response, so if you have DSL or cable to watch it, I HIGHLY recommend you make the time. Here’s Billie Sue’s ideas [15] on this topic.

“I think the real role models to teens shouldn’t necessarily be athletes or entertainers or artists. They should be people in your community, people who you can talk to when you have a problem. People you can see on a daily basis and watch how they carry themselves.”
- Rapper Nelly, CosmoGirl, May 2005, p. 139.

This just in…

Heard about the new movie... Constipation? I know why - it’s not out yet. (hee hee hee)

COMING SOON...

Meet for Vocational Discernment
A group of vocation directors in the St. Louis area that serve their respective congregations are initiating a discernment program for young adults called Explore Your Call [16]: A Discernment Program for young adults ages 18-35 years of age. Held on the Second Sunday of the month from 5:30-7:00 pm in Fontbonne U's. Library Board Room.

Evening LifeTeen Mass in North County
Holy Trinity in St. Ann now has a 5 p.m. LIFETEEN Mass every Sunday evening. Anyone in the area is welcome. Directions to Holy Trinity [17].

Music Madness

Nathanael’s Creed
An awesome local band, Nathanael's Creed (you may remember them as the headliner for the REAP Team benefit concert this past December), has just completed recording their new CD, "Brighter Still," - it is now in Nashville for pressing, and will be available to the public soon. Their first CD Release concert is scheduled for Saturday, November 19 at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Ferguson, and they will do another concert the following Saturday night, November 26 at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in St. Ann. The REAP Team highly encourages you to support this band in any way that you can. For more information, or to schedule this band to play at your parish or school, call Steve Givens at 314-830-4948 or go to www.nathanaelscreed.com [18].

CheerUp Charlie
Hey everyone! Paul wants you to check out his new favorite band, Cheer Up Charlie at www.cheerupcharlie.com [19] They are amazing! Not only is their CD a permanent fixture in the Masek family van CD player, but the REAP Team has been utilizing their song “More” as an after-Communion meditation on senior overnight retreats. If you click on their Music/Video link, you can see them perform their classic hit “Pray”; it’s kinda fun, so check out these wacky kids if you have a sec.

Spirit and Song Website allows you to listen to contemporary Catholic music online at anytime. www.spiritandsong.com [20]

YOUR NEXT YOUTH GROUP ADVENTURE –

“The Edge [21]” has the largest Laser Tag arena in the Midwest, Mini Putt-Putt, video games, climbing wall and more. This outstanding Belleville establishment, owned and run by a Catholic family, is inexpensive and even allows for group pizza parties while you play. Call in advance and tell them Rich referred you and talk to Mary Dahm-Schell for group packages.

Paul’s Column

Porn and Strip Clubs
Paul – I would like to pray for my boyfriend. When we first started dating I realized he liked porn movies and going to strip clubs. He makes it seem as if this is ok, but my spirit just doesn't feel right. As infrequent as it is, is it ok? I am not certain on how to talk about this with him. Any tips, ideas, advice would be much appreciated.
---I Need Help

Dear I Need Help -
I can understand, of course, your embarrassment. But, you are certainly not unique; just a couple of months ago I spoke with another young woman who was upset because, in her case, her boyfriend dropped her off at her home early on a weekend night to go to a strip club with his friends. She, like you, is a beautiful young faith-filled woman, and she too was hurt deeply by her boyfriend’s behavior. You asked, “As infrequent as it is, is it ok? I don’t know what to do.” I have a few thoughts, and a few suggestions. complete response [21].

When you begin to study, look up to Him and think: 'O Lord, how worthless this knowledge would be, if it were not for the enlightening of my mind for Your service, or for making me more useful to my fellow men.'
-St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

The DaVinci Code

Those interested in knowing the truth about St. Mary Magdalene and Dan Brown's portrayal of her in "The Da Vinci Code" can turn to a new web page [22].

"To Be Christ in the World" by John Henry Cardinal Newman

Dear Lord, help me to spread thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with thy spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of thine. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel thy presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me -- but only thee, O Lord! Stay with me, then I shall begin to shine as thou dost; so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Lord, will be all from thee, none of it will be mine, it will be thou shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise thee in the way thou dost love best, by shining on those around me.
Let me preach thee without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to thee. Amen.

Quizzes Rock

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you? Find out here [27].

JOKE TIME...

Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says, "Slim, I'm 83 years old now, and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?"
Slim says, "I feel just like a newborn baby!"
"Really!? Like a newborn baby!?"
"Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants."

Have You ICED Yet?

ICE - In Case of Emergency. Store the word " I C E " in your mobile phone address book, and against it enter the number of the person you would want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency". In an emergency situation ambulance and hospital staff will then be able to quickly find out who your next of kin are and be able to contact them. It's so simple that everyone can do it. Please do. For more than one contact name ICE1, ICE2, ICE3 etc.

"I ask that you never despair, never grow weary, never become discouraged; that the roots from which we grow are never severed; that you keep your faith despite your weaknesses, that you always seek strength in Him; that you never lose that freedom of spirit for which He has liberated man; that you never spurn that love--expressed by the cross, without which human life has no roots and no meaning."
"I ask this of you." - Pope John Paul II

Pro-Life Postings…

Curious about Stem Cell Research [28]? This website provides awesome answers.

Why the Terry Schiavo case matters [29]...

For Parents/Adults

MEET THE MILLENNIALS [30] Article by Walt Mueller (This article originally appeared in Living With Teenagers magazine)
"I'm glad I'm not raising kids in this day and age." I'm sure my dad isn't the only grandparent who's uttered those words in recent years. "It seems like it's so much harder for kids these days," he's told me on several occasions. "So many pressures and choices on your kids. I don't envy you at all Walt." Read the entire article [31].
Catholic Blogs [32] – Blogs (personal articles on a variety of topics) written by staff and friends of the Office of Youth Ministry are not just geared to teens. In fact, many of the articles/blogs are written for adults and even the ones focusing on teens issues speak to parents, teachers or youth workers trying to understand and help their kids. With a new feature, you can now also email any blog to a friend, child, niece, nephew, etc. Here’s a list of the most recent OYM blogs [33].

DEEP THOUGHTS... (Sometimes real life is frightening)

2005 Darwin Award Winners...

When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California, would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked...
A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his Vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. So he shot her.
An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.
Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.
The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 5 a.m., flashed a gun, demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.

Cool Websites...

Anime blending with Catholicism – Do you like Anime cartoons, hip hop music, computer games, and the Catholic faith? Then this is the web site for you. Check out phatmass.com [34]. Paul's personal favorites on the site are the cartoon SuperPope [35], and the game Pope Wars [36].
Vatican Radio broadcasts [37] - In more than 40 languages to every country via all long, medium and short waves and, for the last four years, listeners have tuned in via the Web. These methods have required listeners to stay close to their computers or radios. Now, with the latest development, listeners can simply connect their iPod into their computers, download the audio programs they want, and listen to a clear sound from the Vatican anywhere, anytime.
Eating Issues; Finding Balance [38] – Interesting site, recommended by Walt Mueller, for those struggling with EDNOS”, or “Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified.” and non-extreme disordered eating. Whether you're male or female; overweight, underweight, or somewhere in between, if you're constantly thinking about food, dieting, exercise, and weight, we're here to help. There's a better way to live. It's all about finding balance.

* Browser Discretion Advised: REAP does not necessarily endorse, support, or condone the organizations/sites included in this newsletter. Not all material on the websites provided are healthy or encouraging for the soul. If we refer you to a specific part of a website (a song, article, etc.), know that browsing elsewhere on that site or links from that site may not be prudent. If we recommend a site as a whole, it's usually safe.

(To be removed from this e-mail list at any time, simply send a message to paul@reapteam.org [39] with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line, and your e-mail address in the body of the note.)