No sex?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/19/college.anti.hookup.culture/?hpt=Sbin

Check out this article about how one college junior is taking matters into her own hands.

Almost There

So I'm almost a college graduate.

It's really mind boggling to me that these four years have flown by. I already have a job lined up for the fall and a job to start saving some money for when my parents cut the cord. It's kind of nerve racking but I know God will take care of me as He always has.

If you haven't heard, I'll be working at Elon University in the fall as the Peer Ministry Coordinator. Basically, I'll be in charge of getting people involved with campus ministry and creating a vibrant, engaging Catholic presence on campus. I'll be coming up with fun stuff to do like cookouts and capture the flag as well as spiritual stuff like Adoration and Bible studies. I'll also be motivating the CCM Eboard who I'll be living with in the Newman Center on campus.

It's going to be a great transition from learning Catholic theology here at the Abbey to effectively applying my knowledge to my career in ministry. I'm pumped!

As I look back on my years at the Abbey, it's kind of bittersweet. I have gotten to know some great people and learned some fantastic things but at the same time I'm ready to move on. I have changed a lot (hopefully for the better) while being here at the Abbey and I have been told that I will change a lot in the next 3-4 years as I become a professional youth minister.

Big things are happening. Please keep me in your prayers. You are in mine.

Matt Merry

Can you trust birth control?

Hey guys,

Here is a video that reveals the truth about abortion and planned parenthood. Did you know that "the pill" doesn't necessarily stop ovulation? Sometimes it thins the lining of the uterus so that a conceived baby will be unable to receive nutrients and will be aborted without the mother even knowing that a baby has died in the womb. Please watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaTywSDmls

Feast day of John Bosco

Today is the feast day of John Bosco, the patron saint of one of my very close friends. Here is the link for New Advent's brief biography of Don Bosco:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02689d.htm

Feel free to visit and boost your knowledge of awesome Catholic saints!

For now, I would like to share a story with you from back when I was in Italy. My friend (Adam Trufant) and I ventured via train to Turin in the Northernmost part of Italy. Our destination, aside from eating delicious swordfish and drinking white wine in the piazza, was a pilgrimage to St. John Bosco's grave in the Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians.

Upon arriving in Turin at night, we were diligently adventuring for a youth hostel to rest up for the night when we got lost. Downtrodden and nearly hopeless, we came upon a wall containing a sculpture of Mary, help of Christians and Adam says, "hey, I've been praying to Mary for guidance tonight" and a feeling of comfort filled the two weary travelers.

We strolled up to the gate of what appeared to be a boy's school (Don Bosco founded a series of boy's schools as orphanages) and we gazed inside. A car of three men dressed in black rolled up behind us and said "Are you looking for the hostel?"... "yes sir"... "well, this isn't it". Wait a second, are those priests? Hold up, is this one of Don Bosco's schools? Adam quickly explains, "sir, Don Bosco is my patron saint and we're here on a pilgrimage to his grave." The men shuffle around inside the car and say some brief phrases in Italian and then invite us in for some delicious soup and drinks. What a huge blessing!

But that's not it.

After about an hour or two of food and fellowship with two peculiar french Salesian priests, we were offered a very unique experience. They took us to Don Bosco's first grave where he had been prior to his current resting place in Our Lady Help of Christians Basilica. Then they showed us a PHENOMENAL church built by Don Bosco with vibrant blues and purples, golds and greens, and glorious statues of saints lining the walls giving us a feeling of being in the communion of saints. This was no typical tourist trip.

After all of this, they gave us a ride to the hostel and got yelled at by the security guard for blasting their 90's American rock music as we pulled up.

The next day, Adam and myself took our trip across Turin to visit the beautiful church where Don Bosco rests, incorrupt. We spent over two hours praying and soaking up the splendor of the environment before heading out for some swordfish and white wine. Happy ending :)

Happy feast day of Don Bosco! God bless you.

Matt

The Angelus

Dear readers,

Please enjoy this short history of the Angelus that I found today. The Angelus is a short prayer that can be prayed around noon and shows us how Mary was chosen to bring God into humanity. The Angelus is a short prayer and it is BEAUTIFUL! Enjoy

http://www.ewtn.com/library/Prayer/ANGELUS.HTM

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary; and she conceived by the Holy Spirit. (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee...)

Behold the handmaid of the Lord; Be it done unto me according to your word. (Hail Mary...)

And the Word was made flesh, And dwelt among us. (Hail Mary...)

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, you Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection, though the same Christ our Lord. Amen!

Christmas is coming. Prepare for our Savior!

Blessings on you and your family!

The wonderful Savior of the world is almost here. The most important birthday of the year is upon us! What are you doing to prepare? God will become man, humbled in a manger for all to see. Here is a very beautiful message from our holy father Pope Benedict XVI.

“He stoops down – he himself comes down as a child to the lowly stable, the symbol of all humanity’s neediness and forsakenness. God truly comes down. He becomes a child and puts himself in the state of complete dependence typical of a newborn child. The Creator who holds all things in his hands, on whom we all depend, makes himself small and in need of human love. God is in the stable. (…) God is in the cloud of the poverty of a homeless child: an impenetrable cloud, and yet – a cloud of glory! How, indeed, could his love for humanity, his solicitude for us, have appeared greater and more pure? The cloud of hiddenness, the cloud of the poverty of a child totally in need of love, is at the same time the cloud of glory. For nothing can be more sublime, nothing greater than the love which thus stoops down, descends, becomes dependent. The glory of the true God becomes visible when the eyes of our hearts are opened before the stable of Bethlehem. (…)God – from the time of Adam – saw that his grandeur provoked resistance in man, that we felt limited in our own being and threatened in our freedom. Therefore God chose a new way. He became a child. He made himself dependent and weak, in need of our love. Now – this God who has become a child says to us – you can no longer fear me, you can only love me.”
Pope Benedict XVI Christmas Mass 2008

I pray that the Lord's birth blesses you with renewed vigor and a strengthening of spirit for the new year. Make a worthwhile new year's resolution like praying a meditation or a rosary every day. There is no joy like hope in the Lord. God bless you and your family during this holiday season!

I need your advice!

Recently I have been thinking about my direction in life. I've felt called to youth ministry since high school and I still do, however, I also feel called to marriage and I want to be able to support a family. I'm in a pickle.

I know I want to do youth ministry. Youth ministers don't make much money.

I know I want to have a family and I want my wife to be able to stay at home when we have kids. I need money to support them.

I've recently felt called to do some sort of public speaking about Theology of the Body. Maybe I could do youth ministry at a parish and then do speaking engagements for some extra income. Maybe I should look for a diocesan level job for a little more money.

Basically, I want to serve the Catholic church. I want to support a family and I want to do youth ministry.

Any advice?