In the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man ends up in eternal suffering, where he can see Lazarus enjoying heavenly delight. He begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers about their eventual fate if they don't change their ways. Abraham tells the Rich Man that they need to listen to Moses and the Prophets. If they don't listen to the warnings of such prophets, then they still wouldn't listen - even if someone should rise from the dead!

Well, not only do we have the stories of Moses and the Prophets, we also have the stories of Jesus - who did rise from the dead. Besides all that, we are fortunate to have the stories of modern prophets as well - the young people among us who are surfacing as leaders in our church.

On September, 25, 2004, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee held a leadership training day for young people in middle school and high school, for and the adults who minister with them. The day was called, "You have prophets - listen to them!"

There were leadership tracks that were offered during this training day.

Mike Patin was the keynote for the day. He also led a workshop called, "Super Glue or Silly Putty? You want youth leadership that lasts!" His keynote challenged adults to listen to young people, even when their messages are difficult to hear. He challenged teenagers to listen to those most unpopular youth in their schools and parishes. Just as the rich man didn't want to pay attention to Lazarus, we often don't want to pay attention to the classmates who "don't fit in" for one reason or another. Mike's workshop had young people consider the obstacles to youth leadership as well as the benefits of youth leadership, and the call to be leaders in the mission of the Church. For more information about Mike Patin, visit www.mikepatin.com.

Dennis Kurtz led a YES! (Youth Encounter Scripture) Congress on the Bible. High school youth at this training learned how to lead Bible faith sharing sessions, using the Lectio Divina method with the Catholic Youth Bible and materials from Saint Mary's Press on each Sunday's gospel. Lectio Divina involves a process of reading a Scripture, meditating on its deeper meaning, praying about it, and resting in God's presence. It also involves an action step, a decision to live your life differently because of the message of the Scripture. To learn more about the YES! Congress, visit www.smp.org.

Ralph Stewart presented to middle school youth a program called, "Let's Get Rolling." It is a peer ministry training, published by St. Mary's Press in their "HELP" Series: Retreat Ideas for Ministry with Young Teens. He helped participants think more deeply about their Catholic identity, and their opportunities for leadership. They practiced different leadership skills and became more aware of their gifts. Ralph is the director of East Side Child and Youth Ministries, in Milwaukee.

Kathie Amidei presented two workshops for high school youth who were already acting as leaders in their parishes. One was for teens who are involved as catechists for younger children. Some such teens are part of their parish's regular weekly Christian formation sessions. Some work during the summer at their parish's "Vacation Bible Schools." Others might assist with Children's Liturgy of the Word on certain Sundays. These youth learned about child development, teaching methods, and how to engage children's hands, heart, and heads. Her other workshop focused on teens who were peer leaders at their parishes, active in retreat ministry or Christian formation sessions with middle school youth. Andrew Metz and John Metz presented that workshop with her. The participants discussed qualities of Christian leadership and opportunities in their local communities, and worked in small groups on leadership skill activities. Kathie is an associate director of general catechetics and child ministry in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Office for Lifelong Faith Formation.

Jenni Oliva presented a workshop called, "How to be a faithful and cool Catholic leader" with two teenagers, Emily Paprocki and Peter Leannah. They introduced the participants to characteristics of learning communities, using clips from different movies and stories from their own experiences as parish youth leaders. They distributed lollypops of different colors and asked everyone to start licking them, so that their tongues would all turn different colors. Then they divided everyone up by color. Those who finished their lollypops merely had to stick out their tongues! They also involved the young people in creating skits to illustrate the different characteristics. Jenni, Emily and Peter attend St. Matthias parish in Milwaukee, where Jenni is the director of youth ministry.

To learn more about learning communities, visit:
http://www.tomorrowspresent.org/researchpagefive.htm

For more information about youth leadership opportunities, contact Tomorrowspresent@archmil.org