Like in the Beatles’ song Eight Days a Week, youth ministers work so hard it is like working eight days a week. Here continues a weekly series to serve you over your next eight days with eight notes for your information and formation. Pass these along in your e-newsletters (and offer Project YM a little love in the process, please.

1. The foundation of youth ministry is a constant gift of self.  It is mid-January and are you feeling fatigued and worn out?  Reclaim the dream.
2. Stephanie Caro recently posted this quote from John Stott “I was hungry and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger. I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release. I was naked and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance. I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health. I was homeless and you preached to me the spiritual love of God. I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me. You seem so holy, so close to God, But I am still very hungry –and lonely –and cold.”  A tough examination of conscience worth re-sharing. Reconsider the dream.
3. This weekend, we celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday.  Please see Selma if you have yet to have seen it. (Youth Specialties  has a discussion guide for the movie, by the way. Here is a link for Glory, awarded best song Sunday night at the Golden Globes.) Our cover image and our poster commemorate the his life and witness. (click to enlarge, right click on larger image to download/ save image as…)
4. If we have learned any lessons from Martin Luther King Jr., then they must included recognizing and celebrating the worth and dignity of another. Our friends producing the Video Catechism have a great short film emphasizing that point.
5. Martin Luther King, Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35. Surely, he could appreciate the necessity of a young leader managing up.
6. The challenge of living towards the dream is giving up / sacrificing today for the hope of tomorrow.
7. Always make sure that your dream is built upon who you is rather than who you ain’t.
8. Pope John XXIII encouraged us to consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. For dreamers like yourself, we ain’t got nothing but love, babe, eight days a week.

This week, in our efforts to cultivate content for you to use in e-newsletters, we offer notes on considering the dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Catholic Youth Ministry.