The goal of Life Teen
"is to completely transform the idea of what youth ministry is in our
church and what it can be," said the director of events for the
Mesa-based organization. "It needs to be more dynamic. It's not meant to
be boring, but to be an experience on Sunday night and not just a
class," said Stephen Lenahan. "Everything in our church is so grand, why
not for our youth on a Sunday night by showing them the beauty of our
church?" Lenahan, who works in Life Teen's Atlanta office, made the
comments to The Catholic Sun, newspaper of the Phoenix Diocese, during
the organization's mid-June conference in in Scottsdale. The annual
Catholic Youth Ministry Training Convention, sponsored by Mesa-based
Life Teen Inc., was an opportunity for new and seasoned leaders to be
renewed and affirmed in their ministry. The conference had as its
"Inspire," and it didn't disappoint the 700 attendees with its 60
breakout sessions lead by well-known youth leaders offering practical
and comprehensive training. Topics ranged from how to balance a budget
and lead a youth group meeting to relational ministry and dynamic
environments.
Born during the turbulent era of the French Revolution, Saint Jeanne Jugan rose above hardship and a lack of formal schooling to become a profound vessel of Christ’s mercy. After losing her father at a young age and working through her youth as a kitchen maid and nurse, her life radically changed one freezing night when she encountered a blind, paralyzed elderly woman with nowhere to go. Jeanne carried the woman back to her own home, placed her in her own bed, and began a lifelong mission of radical hospitality. This act of profound love blossomed into the Little Sisters of the Poor , a thriving community dedicated to sheltering and honoring the destitute elderly. Despite later facing heavy trials—including being unjustly sidelined and stripped of her leadership by a controlling chaplain—Jeanne accepted her obscurity and exile with a joyful spirit, resting her complete trust in God's hidden providence until her death in 1879. In our daily lives, Saint Jeanne Jugan invites us to lo...