It's ON!!!

‘Tis narry a week ‘til the epic battle which is the annual CYFM God’s TYM Olympics will begin. Youth groups from around the Hudson River Valley will come together to compete for the coveted Golden Tau. Alliances will be made, frozen T-shirts will be broken, food will be eaten: only one will win.

To the St. John’s youth group (my youth group) I exhort you to follow St. Ignatius’ great advice: to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and to ask for no reward (because you’re not getting any, short of winning.) Be stout of heart, even when toes are stepped on, faces are planted in the mud, elbows are thrown, stomachs are too full to eat another doughnut, it is then when victory is within reach: you just have to choose to go for it.

Remember, when St. Lawrence was being roasted alive, he didn’t complain about the pain: he said “Turn me over, I’m done on this side.” When Mother Teresa was rolling in the muddy gutter, she didn’t complain about the filth: she just acknowledged that crap happens and went on serving Christ. When Lucifer was trying to take over Heaven, St. Michael didn’t just step aside and say, “Fine, you win.” No, he drove him out with the battle cry, “Who is like the Lord?!” (Which is essentially the original “Who’s your daddy?”)

So fight hard faithful disciples. The Golden Tau will soon be ours.

To the rest of the youth groups, you can ignore the above advice. Remember that all good things come from sitting back, relaxing, not getting too excited about these things. Take it from Hank the Hippie, it’s all about peace and love. No need to get overly competitive, man.

It’s only ten days away. Let the epic battle commence!