News from All Around:

As a former employee, (back in the ‘70’s – geesh!) these are sad days indeed in the Delaware Valley.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Archdiocese of Philadelphia will merge or combine 19 offices and ministries. The Office of Youth and Young Adults, which operates the Catholic Youth Organization, will close, though the Archdiocese said the youth sports programs will continue on "with no change on the local level." Camp Overbrook, a summer program for children, has been eliminated, along with the St. Peter Claver Center for Evangelization. Read more from the Philadelphia Inquirer

Ahhh, some good news …

SALFORD, ENG — A new guide to help with the development of youth ministry has been published by the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation (CYMFed) on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference Department of Evangelisation and Catechesis. Called to a Noble Adventure – A Vision for Catholic Youth Ministry in England and Wales was launched  included as part of CYMFed‘s Members’ Meeting, which took place at the Salford Diocesan Centre last week (13 June 2012).

The document identifies four goals:

> Our young people feel accompanied, that they feel that the rest of the Church is walking alongside them and vice-versa
> They hear a positive call to live as disciples of Jesus Christ and be rooted in the Church
> They are enabled to share as fully as they can in the life of the Church, however demanding that might be
> We ask young people to go out as prophetic witnesses – inviting the Church and world to be renewed in faith, hope and love

You can find out more about CYMFed and order a copy of Called to a Noble Adventure by visiting CYMFed’s website. Of course, our e-buddy Jack Regan has got the full story here.

News from ‘Round Here:

Monday was a pretty busy day… a little desk time and then out for a meeting related to our proposed pilgrimage route, a lunch check-in with my boss, a meeting with the rector of the seminary regarding world youth day domestic, and a planning meeting for the 50th anniversary for the Msgr. O’Dwyer Youth Retreat house… whew! The night finished with a ride in my just returned son’s new car!

Tuesday started our formal goodbyeing with Georgina Vaca who is leaving our offices to serve as a materials development specialist for Catholic Relief Services down the street. One-on-one supervisions in the morning led to a lunch with the DYYAM staff and then back to the office for an announcement of two more departures on the e-team.

My new computer arrived Wednesday, my first upgrade in technology since starting here seven years ago.  We had some glitches with power cords and some programs but our IT team worked it all out.  The e-team celebrated G with appetizers and margaritas in the evening.  The e-team met in our new staff meeting configuration and it seemed to be working out pretty well, I snuck out for a brief break in the afternoon, then walked Georgina through her leave-taking and attended the opening mass for the Fortnight for Freedom.

Early Friday morning I was up but not moving. I got back into blogging and set up eight posts between doing favors for my son and a very recent ex-employee. The late afternoon involved a readjusted date and an early night – still catching up from a busy week.

Saturday I was out delivering a package which morphed into taking some pictures on the proposed pilgrimage route which morphed into running over to the daughters for some lifting.  In the evening, I served as a gentlemanly “plus-one” for a wedding. Sunday involved a looooong breakfast with a dear friend, some nappage, and not much else. It was a reasonably quiet weekend, which was a little due.