Pro Life March in Washington DC

Well, we definitely had an adventure getting to the Pro Life March. We had bus trouble (to say the least) but it made it into a pilgremage and opened our eyes to what God can do. He can make us walk into the Pro Life Rally in the Verizon Center amongst 20,000 other people at the exact moment that the bishops are processing into Mass when we knew there was no way we would make it to the Verizon Center at all. God is Good and Merciful!!!

Enjoy the pictures from the day. It was something these kids won't ever forget!

South Carolina Catholic Youth Rally for Life

The South Carolina Catholic Youth Rally for Life took place this morning at St. Joseph in Columbia. 500 youth, speakers, praise and worship music by the house band, Mass with the bishop--and all before 11:30am :)

We then drove to USC, parked, and joined hundreds of Pro Life supporters for the Stand Up for Life Rally at the Statehouse. We heard speeches from local politicians, and personal testimonies from the group Citizens for Life.

The Knights of Columbus led us in the pledge of allegiance and Heaven's Hogs {a motorcycle club} were there giving out free hot chocolate and coffee.

There was literature about the Pro Life movement, as well as, brochures on every aspect of Respecting Life--from the womb to the tomb.

It was an incredible thing to watch all these young people being a witness of the Gospel and standing up for what they believe.

I encourage anyone who has never been, to put this on their calendar for next year and plan to attend. You will be changed!!

Here are some pictures from the morning:

Bishop Robert Guglielmone giving a homily during the youth Mass

A Teen Speaker

The Band: Wannabe Stephan

Fr. Andrew Trapp during his testimony to the youth

Bishop Guglielmone speaking to the youth

Our Youth from Our Lady of the Lake

Stand Up for Life Rally at the Statehouse

Columbia, SC

Half of our group

The other half of our group

During the March to the Statehouse

South Carolina Youth Rally for Life

Click on the link for more information on the South Carolina Youth Rally for Life!
http://www.catholic-doc.org/ym/files/youthrally2010update.pdf

Fall Confirmation Retreat 2009

Here are the long awaited pictures from our Fall Confirmation Retreat.

It was a lot of fun and great day of bonding!

EXALT!

Exalt was awesome!

We had 18 youth and 5 adults there from Our Lady of the Lake.

Here are a few of us after with Fr. Bernard.

EXALT!

I wanted to let you all know about a great opportunity for our Jr. High and Sr. High Youth. I know some parents have been asking "why can't the Jr. High kids do the same great things the Sr. High are doing". Well, here's our chance to get our Jr. Highers involved in a really powerful night.
Once a month, our Midlands Deanery will be participating in Exalt. You're probably wondering what this is, so let me explain. It's a night where teens from our deanery will come together for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, hear a talk from a priest, deacon, or youth minister(changes every month), and praise our Lord through praise and worship music. Sounds awesome, right?
This will be the first Wednesday of every month at St. Peter's downtown from 6:45-7:45pm.
You can either carpool or drive your teen there. Some of the high school kids were talking about going to get dinner beforehand, so we may meet at Bellacino's in Irmo and go from there.
I will be emailing this out to the parents, but wanted you guys to have a heads up since we've been talking about more things for the Jr. Highers.
I'm super excited that this will be offered to the younger grades. We tried this a couple years ago with the high school and it was a really great evening!

And We're OFF....

I just wanted to take a minute to blog about the awesome retreat we just had. It was the first Confirmation Retreat {there is one at the beginning of the year and one before they are confirmed} and there were almost 50 Confirmation kids here. Witht he 13 peer leaders who put on the retreat, that made for an amazing day! Everyone was so great. From skits, to small groups, to community building games, to snacks, to wonderful young people who came with open minds and open hearts, I couldn't have asked for more.

After Teen Mass we'll have our first night of Religious Ed, Confirmation Classes, and Sr. High Youth Ministry. So, we're off..... oops...gotta go. The pizzas are being delivered :)