How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1. The way you encouraged your youth to attend Steubenville conference this summer – from the charming pleas to your parish after Mass to nagging your students in person during Open Office – you did it, you made it happen. Thank you.
2. The way you figured out the hassle of finances, fundraisers, transportation, chaperones, rooming lists, compliance requirements, and registration – you did it. Thank you.
3. The way you gave into wearing matching shirts with your teenagers – you did it, and you look great. Thank you.
4. The way you pray with and for these teens through their highs and lows of life. You are Christ’s hands and feet – you are doing it with such love and grace; you are such a gift to them. Thank you.
5. The way you eat pizza for 50% of your meals with a smile – you’re doing the Lord’s work, my friend. Thank you.

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Father Chris Martin shared, near the end of Mass today, that sometimes we make presumptions. And that’s not good.

Presumptions can be obstacles to evangelization.

Perhaps we presume that everyone who attends one of these conferences has a relationship with the Lord, or perhaps we assume that everyone who came here this weekend is Catholic.

Father Martin called up to the front of the room a young man named Alex, from Topeka. Fr. Martin explained that Alex had attended this conference last year, and at the time he was not Catholic. And now he is, because an invitation to become Catholic was extended to him last year during this conference. Alex was met with a thunderous round of applause.

There’s more.

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As Christians, many of us have questioned or been questioned about our faith, especially regarding God’s existence. Those of us who have “come out of the womb with a Rosary in my hand” like Mike Gormley have been taught about the Bible for years and perhaps have not gone to great lengths to question anything. In his case, Mike says, “I was never really taught how to pray, I was taught how to repeat.”

God: the Uncaused Cause

With his love for science, he describes how he began to question his faith in high school as a result of not feeling intellectually honest when saying the Creed in Mass. Mike desired the truth; he wanted to know WHERE evil comes from. He even turned to researching Islam, Judaism, Atheism, and several other philosophies.

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Four THOUSAND high schoolers are on their way. Four thousand high-energy, over-caffeinated, spent-four-hours-on-a-bus, in-desperate-need-of-fidget-spinners teenagers and their patient chaperones are about to arrive at the campus of Missouri State University.

Because amazing things are about to happen at the first weekend of Steubenville Mid-America:

The prayer pins, the t-shirts, Frisbee on the quad, and dare I say it: the Cross Clap!

All of these contribute to radical environment that makes the Steubenville Conference an entity all its own.

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That burning in your heart right now? Don’t worry it’s not heart burn. You are experiencing the post Steubenville fire! Your heart is filled with the love of Christ and the joy that He gives to those who follow Him. You sang. You prayed. You danced. You listened to the Holy Spirit speak truth into your heart through some amazing speakers. You took way too many selfies and maybe even a picture with Mama Bear. You experienced the mercy of God in confession. You witnessed Christ truly present in the Eucharist. Now that we’re reminiscing, don’t you kind of wish you could stay forever? I hate to break it to you, Peter, but you have to come down from the mountaintop!
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