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“Connected” — Keysis Life Night on Nov. 14
November 12, 2010
This Sunday’s Life Night starts with the “Cell Phone Olympics,” challenging you to show off your texting skills. Our discussion will draw a parallel from modern communication to our deep need to connect to God through prayer. And so the goal of this Keysis Life Night is to answer the questions “what is prayer?” and “why do we need a prayer life?”
Join us this Sunday at Keysis Life Night for a sharing of food, fun, friendship, and faith. If you’ve been busy and haven’t visited Keysis in a while, we’ve missed you and we’d love to see you! Bring a friend. Meal starts at 6:30 p.m. Keysis runs from 6:30-8:30 p.m. as usual.
For Keysis Parents: Theology of the Body, Sept.19
September 3, 2010
The Gospel story of Martha and Mary is well known. Mary is sitting and listening to Jesus and ‘not doing anything’ to help. Martha, on the other hand, is busy doing all of the work. But, according to Jesus, she is not busy with what is important.
Each week at Keysis, we try to set time aside for the teens so they can hear and learn about “what is important.”
As we put together the topics we’ll cover at Keysis this fall, the team asks that you join us for a parent introduction to something the church calls “Theology of the Body.” Now this may sound complicated and intimidating, but it’s really not. In fact, it comes from a series of simple daily talks given by Pope John Paul II about how we can understand the mystery and beauty of what God wants to tell us about our bodies.
As parents, we need to hear about this — and I ask you to please put this in your calendar right away and join us.
Ray and Kelly Ramirez, parents of two Keysis teens, will offer parents an introduction to the Theology of the Body on Sunday, September 19 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. in Angela Hall at St.Thomas. The Keysis teens will have their regular meeting at the same time, however the Theology of the Body topic will be presented to them at a later date after we receive your input.
Ray and Kelly are certified as presenters by the Theology of the Body Institute. The presentation is for parents, and any friends you would like to invite. Following the presentation, there will be time for questions & answers. I hope to see you there! In the Peace of Christ, Deacon Kevin
Remembering Holy Week
March 28, 2010
Tonight at Keysis we talked about remembering… remembering our past and making it present in the here and now. This is especially true of the days ahead during this Holy Week… the “three days” known as the Triduum – Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Saturday night.
We gather as the people of God during these days of liturgy and prayer and ritual actions to remember the saving act of Christ, the miracle of his resurrection and to celebrate our faith and identity as Christians. All serve to remind us of who we are in and through Christ. Over the course of three days we take the time to recall and experience from our past that which makes us who we are as Catholic Christians.
For Holy Thursday, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, we talked about the reception of the Holy Oils by our entire faith community – because we received salvation as a community. The washing of the feet of the disciples, Our Lord’s example and mandate – sign and symbol of the service to which we are all called. We remember the institution of the Eucharist by Our Lord at the Last Supper.
For Good Friday we spoke of the Cross – the means of our salvation. God’s love is so powerful that not even death can defeat it. We honor and venerate the cross as a means of our new life.
At the Easter Vigil we light the new Easter Fire and from that the Paschal Candle reminding us that Jesus is our light in the darkness. We proclaim that Christ is Risen and his resurrection provides light and new life!
The blessing of the Easter Water is a symbol of the new life of Christ’s resurrection and of our baptism. We renew our Baptismal Promises and rejoice that the power of sin and death can never overcome those washed in the waters of baptism that flow from Christ.
We gather as family to re-tell the wondrous stories of our salvation and draw strength as we remember. The Scriptures we hear proclaimed help us relive and celebrate the entire course of salvation history. As the Easter Vigil Liturgy continues we are strengthened with the spiritual food of Christ’s Body and Blood through the Holy Eucharist.
There can be no Resurrection without Death – no empty tomb without the cross of Calvary. We closed the evening with praying and walking the Stations of the Cross by candlelight, taking turns carrying the cross, praying… and remembering.
God’s Will
January 26, 2010
A suggestion was made during our last core team meeting to create a discussion blog as a way to recap the topic of the week, fill-in those who couldn’t make the meeting, and provide a discussion forum for the weekly challenge. Please give feedback on facebook and the website as well as to the core team when we meet about what you like and dislike about this idea. Here we go for the inaugural Keysis blog.
God’s Will – Proverbs 16: 1-7
I’m sure that this topic is not one unheard of to your everyday cookie cutter Catholic, but truly understanding and accepting God’s Will in its completeness may not be so common. Maybe our faith is not as strong as we think it should be. Maybe we have yet to hear God’s voice in the clouds. Maybe we just simply haven’t tried to understand because we think that it is too complicated.
Not too long ago there was a high school senior who was very active in his youth group and parish community. He was your All-American kid: good grades, didn’t drink, team captain, & the prom king. Everything a mother could ask for. He felt confident in his faith and personal relationship with God.
Once in college, he met a group of kids who attended weekly Mass and he started to go with them. As the year went on, he started to replace these kids with a more popular crowd. He still continued to attend Mass weekly, he was a cradle Catholic you know. These new friends of his were good kids, but constantly pushed the boundaries of the straight and narrow. The constant scene of bad influences slowly created a downhill spiral: finding weak excuses to skip weekly Mass, forgetting others to look out for #1, forgetting family, and eventually cheating on his girlfriend.
The last event was a wake-up call, “How had I gotten so far off track?” I started attending weekly Mass consistently again and even attended an extra Mission that was taking place at the parish I attended. After graduation, I chaperoned a high school service trip that my brother wanted me to attend with him. And it was Amazing! It had such an impact that after moving to Decatur, I sought out an opportunity to help with the youth and still love every minute of it.
Now what does that have to do with God’s Will? God’s Will is not some heavenly proclamation, but instead, a series of tiny events. Neither my fall nor my rise occurred because of one choice. Rather, the collection of choices either dimmed or brightened the image of God’s Will in my heart. You have to ask for guidance in prayer, of course, but more importantly to have to “ACT” and “DO” with love and service. Not every friend or acquaintance you have is going to be a good person, but with a strong support system the majority of your work will be good and holy.
That was my mistake: I cut off my support and life got out of hand. My brother brought me back. Who is your “go to” friend in faith? When the road get hard and you get lost, and it will happen, where will you turn to get back on track. God’s Will is not about the destination; it is about the journey.
