News from Around:

ASAN FRANCISCO, CA — Some parents and coaches involved in Catholic Charities’ CYO sports programs in the Bay Area are balking at a new requirement that a prayer be recited before all games, the archdiocesan newspaper Catholic San Francisco reports.
CYO athletics director Courtney Johnson Clendinen told the archdiocesan weekly she has received some “pushback” from parents and coaches in Marin County over the mandatory pre-game prayer. The parents and coaches complained, “This is not church,” Catholic San Francisco reported.
“She has gotten some positive responses but also received five or six unpleasant phone calls and six or seven critical letters, she said,” reported the archdiocesan weekly on Oct. 7. “In writing the prayer, the idea was to ‘try to make it as interfaith and ecumenical as we could while still maintaining who we are with our Catholic identity,’ she said. More from the California Catholic Daily.

ARLINGTON, IL— The area’s first Catholic youth rally sounded more like a mass football drill than a faith outreach, with young people screaming and slapping their knees in unison.

“No practice,” shouted Mike Patin, the nationally acclaimed youth speaker, to his young audience as they tried to keep up with his drills. It was as if to say they need not fear a youth rally steeped in doctrine, but they would see their faith in a fresh, new way.

“We hope everyone leaves here tonight — parents and students like — recommitted to being people of faith,” said the Rev. Robert M. Egan, C.S.V., president. More from the Arlington  local edition of the Chicago Tribune.

MILWAUKEE, WS — A group of youth ministers has launched a new organization aimed at revitalizing southeastern Wisconsin’s young Catholic community. And they are hoping to draw hundreds to its debut gathering at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 at St. Josaphat Catholic Church on Milwaukee’s south side.

Arise is aimed at bringing together young Catholics of every stripe, whether they are currently practicing or not, said Tom Klind, assistant youth minister at Christ King, St. Pius X and St. Bernard parishes in Wauwatosa. The evening’s service will be a mix of contemporary worship and orthodox practice, including Eucharistic adoration.

"There will be something for everyone," said Klind. The target audience is age 18 to 40, but it’s open to anyone, he said.

Already 100 people have signed up via Facebook.

Arise has won the support of Milwaukee Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hying, who will offer the benediction at St. Josaphat. More from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal.

Eight days a week… Now that we moved this series of reports from Tuesdays to Mondays, we are going to moved the reports to recap all the way through the weekend, therefore, this past week’s news covers an eight day week.

News from ‘Round Here:

Last week began rather lazily but it was like a started gun went off mid-morning and I have been sprinting ever since.  I was to run out materials mid-morning for the Equip process that was occurring with over 1200 Catholic school teachers on Monday.  We were to have seven sites.  My co-worker, Margaret, called in that morning and indicated that she was in the hospital.  She was hard pressed to let go of the possibility that she would still be in the hospital Monday and unable to teach.  We committed to making a plan at 5… but I actually went into immediate planning more after that call.  An alternate fo0r Margaret was sought and found, delivered my deliverables, worked with “the sub” (who did an awesome job on short notice, Thanks, Ken) and then went to the hospital around 5-ish to do a corporal work of mercy and visit the sick.

Monday found be teaching at two sites rather than one, because it was a better use of time and energy to have our sub only do one prep rather than two. The hour break between classes was sucked up with transport between classes.

Tuesday we started off the day with supervision meeting and a boatload of side-tracking issues. There was an evening meeting with the O’Dwyer Retreat House Board.  Wednesday was a near-door-closed day as I pounded out some overdue materials as well as an overdue (it matters to me) e-newsletter.

Thursday was a Department of Evangelization meeting, checking in with all the staff, including our recoveree, ad then off to dinner and a speaking gig with the Diocesan Youth and Young Adult office in Wilmington Delewarre, based on Changing the Game and A Place for Us.

Friday morning we had an interview for the O’Dwyer Administrator position and then spent the rest of the day setting up the weekend.

Saturday we hosted both a World Youth Day reunion with our Archbishop as well as an invasion of youth ministry students from Franciscan University in Steubenville.  Afterwards, we had a pizza dinner and they visited with four local parish and school youth ministry contacts.

Yesterday, the students woke to banana and blueberry pancakes.  They were off to mass at St. Veronica’s, then to visit Sacred Heart of Jesus/ Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. Their morning travels concluded at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary… An African-American Parish, a recently merged parish with a significant Hispanic population, and America’s First Cathedral.

The toured the sites of Baltimore through the afternoon, visited a few parish youth programs in the evening and then visited with the Division staff into the night. It was a joy to be able to spend time and prayer with them.