Play Like A Champion Today! - Last Training

Last PLACT Training This Sunday
CYO Athletics has it's last Play Like A Champion Today! training for the school year this Sunday, May 3rd at 1:00pm in the Isaac Orr Conference Room. Coaches planning on attending this training should aim to arrive 15 minutes early to fill out a pre-training survey. The Isaac Orr Conference Room is located at the Chancery, at 910 Marion St. Seattle, WA across the street to the North from St. James Cathedral. Any coach planning on coaching next season should take this opportunity to get the training done when there's not conflicts with practices and other sport related events. This information can also be found at the CYO Athletics blog. For more information about Play Like A Champion Today! please review our website.

Reaching New Heights

OYYAM is launching a new fundraising campaign to make improvements to Camp Hamilton’s High Ropes Course. Our online fundraising goal is to raise $20,000 for a new element and to improve this integral part of Camp Hamilton by the start of Summer Camp.

For those unfamiliar with the high ropes course, it is used by CYO Summer Camps, Environmental Education, Ascend and other retreats throughout the year. It is a fantastic experience for youth and young adults who wish to develop team skills such as: goal setting, problems solving, communication and cooperation.

Once these new elements are in place, your parish or school can hire a facilitator and use the element in the off season for your own retreats and team building.

Please help us reach our goal by donating or forwarding anyone to this site: http://www.firstgiving.com/cyo so they can make a $5, $10, $15 or more donation. Anyone who donates $100 or more will be recognized on a plaque at the course. Every little bit helps to get us to the overall goal. This campaign runs until June 15th so please help us achieve this objective.

Use the link on the left to donate at anytime or to send information to others. Thank you for your generosity!

Junior High Student Parent Retreat!

Today's Psalm verse is:
"Let all the earth cry out to God with joy."
Ps 66:1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a
Today marks the memorial feast day of Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church

Spots are still available for the Junior High Student Parent Retreat coming up next weekend (May 8-9) at Camp Hamilton. Right now we have several people registered but need several more for this event to happen. This is a great opportunity for families to come together and enjoy prayer, relaxation and reflection.

Maryelyn Scholz’s experience and dynamic presence and the great outdoors at Camp Hamilton promise to make this a weekend worth attending for everyone who comes. For those of you who have not been out to camp since Discovery Lodge was built a couple of years ago and our roads were significantly upgraded this spring will enjoy the easier access to camp and the flush toilets.

The application deadline has been extended to May 1st for interested families. Please download and forward the attached registration form to any interested families and be sure to register soon!
Registration Form

YA Service Team Application Deadline Extended

The application deadline for the Young Adult Service Team is now moved back to May 15th even though we have begun interviewing the candidates for the upcoming year.

You can download the Application here:
YA Service Team Application
Here is the Description of the Application Process:
Application Process

Choir for Young Adult Conference Mass

Today's Psalm:
"One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord."
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14

Are you a Young Adult? Do you enjoy singing or playing an instrument? Would you like to join the choir for the Mass at the Young Adult Conference? Then come to our first rehearsal on Wednesday, April 29th at 7 pm located in the Newman Center of the University of Washington! Check out the Young Adult Blog and then click on the Young Adult Conference sub-blog for more information! Have a great and blessed weekend!

Release of abducted nephew

As many of you may know, the nephew of Isaac Govea from the Vicar for Clergy Office was abducted in front of his home in Tijuana a little over a month ago. As you can see from this news item from KIRO.com, he was just released. This, of course, is very happy news. It prompts us to give thanksgiving to God but also continue to hold in our prayers those that are still captive, those that choose to resort to these actions and all of those impacted by this type of violence, wherever it may occur.http://www.kirotv.com/news/19265039/detail.html

Camp Hamilton Roads!

Hey Everyone!
Check out the wonderful updates on the roads that lead to Camp Hamilton in the Retreat Ministry blog! There are pictures and descriptions to show how much better your drive will be when coming out to camp. Potholes were filled and repaired, making your journey a lot faster and safer for your car!

Since the Psalm for today is the same as yesterday, I thought I would leave you with the Saint of the day - Saint George!
"If Mary Magdalene was the victim of misunderstanding, George is the object of a vast amount of imagination. There is every reason to believe that he was a real martyr who suffered at Lydda in Palestine, probably before the time of Constantine. The Church adheres to his memory, but not to the legends surrounding his life.
That he was willing to pay the supreme price to follow Christ is what the Church believes. And it is enough.The story of George's slaying the dragon, rescuing the king's daughter and converting Libya is a twelfth-century Italian fable. George was a favorite patron saint of crusaders, as well as of Eastern soldiers in earlier times. He is a patron saint of England, Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Genoa and Venice."

Today's Psalm is:
"The Lord hears the cry of the poor."
Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

The Lord hears the cry of those in need and in rememberance, OYYAM is presenting an opportunity for you to serve a neighboring community! The Young Adult Ministry office is now offering a service trip to Browning, Montana to serve the Blackfeet Nation / Reservation from July 18 - 25, 2009. Check out the Young Adult Ministry Service Opportunities blog for more information or call Frances at 206.382.4846!

Adolescent Catechesis Workshop coming up!

Today's Psalm is:
"The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty."
Ps 93:1ab, 1cd-2, 5

Hello!
Just a reminder that the Adolescent Catechesis workshop is coming up on Thursday, April 23rd at Christ the King Parish in Seattle from 9am - 3pm. This is not just for those who coordinate youth ministry. This workshop is a great tool for anyone doing catechesis with adolescents!






To register, please call toll-free: (888) 723-2433
Payment by credit card required for phone registrations.

If you have any furthur questions, please contact Tauno Latvala at 206.382.2o19 or tauno.latvala@seattlearch.org.

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Today's Psalm verse is:
"O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!"
Ps 8:2ab and 5, 6-7, 8-9

In reflecting on this joyful verse, I can see how this radiates the goals and message of our office. Today has been filled with busy planning meetings, preparations and hard work to bring Christ's name to our community. It is so important for us to be fruitful in this mission and we hope to enrich our community's lives by helping you to experience the joy of Christ through our programing and support.

It is a very exciting time of year, with new life beginning to bloom and final details being solidified for our spring and summer programing. Some highlites of the day include several of us helping to prepare for the Hispanic Young Adult retreat this weekend, the Athletics department was finalizing the Track & Field medals, Frances and I were working heavily on the upcoming Young Adult Conference (on May 16), and this morning, there was an Ascend planning team meeting where some wonderful brainstorming took place with some awesome youth ministers! Today was a good day :) It is so great to see each person working hard to get tasks done, helping their peers and getting excited for whats to come! Hopefully you had as much of a productive, happy day as we all did :) Praise the Lord, for he is wonderful!!

Eric Genuis Concerts

Today's Psalm verse is:
"Rejoice, O hearts that seek the Lord."
Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9

I think that this is such a fitting verse for today. We have been getting word that a wonderful world renowned Catholic composer and virtuouso pianist named Eric Genuis is touring through Washington performing free-will offering concerts during the end of April and the beginning of May, first in Port Angeles and secondly in Yakima, respectively. I love the phrase that "singing is like praying twice" and I think that fits so well with the psalm verse and this wonderful set of concerts that Mr. Genuis is providing. He is collaborating with 3 other extremely talented musicians - a vocalist, violinist, and trumpet player - to create a series of beautiful inspiring music for us.

As a devoted Catholic father of four children (two boys, one adopted girl, and four year old Anastasia with Down Syndrome), having suffered with his wife Leslie the pain of seven miscarriages, Genuis is a frequent performer at Catholic conferences and Prolife events across the country as an inspiring witness to the Gospel message of LIFE, and the resurrected life we live in Christ. Don’t miss this absolutely wonderful event!

The first concert is on Monday, April 27th, at 7:00pm, with seating beginning at 6:30pm at:
Queen of Angels Church (360) 683-4057
209 west 11th Street
Port Angeles, WA

The second and third concerts are on May 1st and May 2nd, 2009 at 7:00pm at:
Holy Family Parish (509) 972-7908
5315 Tieton Drive
Yakima, WA 98908

May your spirits be lifted to Heaven while listening to these musicians "praying twice" through the musical talents that God has given them :) Let us strive to seek the Lord with our whole heart in all we do in our daily lives using the talents that God has specially given to each of us! Please see the fliers below for more information on the concerts and have a wonderful rest of your day!

We're Back!

Hey there!
We hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter filled with time to relax, reflect and rejoice in the resurrection! The OYYAM Staff members are all back in the office and back to busily working together in creating wonderful ways to help you and your family build on your relationship with God.

Today's Psalm is:
"The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord"
-Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22

In reflection on that psalm, we invite you to check out what the Outdoor Ministry staff members are up to on their blog! Every day, they work hard at brainstorming and implementing ways to help you see and experience God in nature, from the various Summer Camps to Environmental Education. They love what they do and would love it if you checked it out to see everything they have to offer! Check out their page via the banner link to CYO Outdoor Ministry on the left and then feel free to explore all of their subsequent links and blogs. Have fun exploring and a great rest of the week ahead!

Image courtesy of www.ewtn.com

Holy Thursday

Greetings!
Today is Holy Thursday, the first day of the Easter Triduum. May we sit with Christ during His Last Supper and may we not abandon or betray Him in our hearts.

We have all been busily preparing for spring and summer programming and are very excited with what we have to offer! Check out each ministry area's blog for more info.

The Office will be closed tomorrow, Good Friday, April 10th, in oberservance of the Holy Day. We will also be closed on Monday, April 13th as part of the Easter holiday.

From the Office for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, we wish you and your family a very blessed Easter! See you next week!