Teen Venture Youth Ministry

Hey Everyone,

I know this isn't exactly news to anyone but we are still working on the website.  Hopefully it will be ready to go fairly soon.  Thanks for being patient.

Nolan 

All high school teens are invited to Six Flags Great Adventure on Monday, June 30.  

All kids going into 7th, 8th, or 9th grade are invited to come to Splish Spalsh Waterpark on Monday, July 7.

Contact the Office of Youth Ministry for more details... (516) 935-2444 or nreynolds@olmrcc.org

As of April 1 & 2 St. Joan of Arc and St. Michael Communities are meeting again.  Here's the schedule:

St. Michael Community - Meets every Tuesday in the Cafeteria from 6:30-8:00 PM

St. Joan of Arc Community - Meets every Wednesday in the Convent Basement from 7:00-8:30

A much-too-belated HAPPY EASTER to all! However, the Easter Season is just getting underway!

Each year when we celebrate the Lord's Resurrection, it always seems to bring up a lot of discussion. Usually, the media releases some kind of Anti-Catholic/Anti-Christian film or TV special like that wacky documentary about Jesus' bones being found along with his "wife" and other members of his family. At any rate, there has always been and will always be speculation about the Resurrection.

Here is a great article by Mark Hart that talks about this subject... click here

Included here are Mark's 15 Quick Facts that point to the truth of the Resurrection:

Number One – There was an empty Tomb
The
founders of other “faiths” are buried in tombs or had their ashes
sprinkled over foreign lands. Not Jesus. Modern “scholars” and
directors can claim what they want on their cable specials…the truth is
that the tomb was empty.
Number Two - The Tomb had a Roman seal
Clay
was affixed to a rope (stretched across a rock) and to the tomb,
itself. The Roman seal was pressed into the clay. Break the seal, you
break the law…break that law, you died.
Number Three - The Tomb had a Roman guard
The
“guard” was at least four men, possibly more, of highly-trained
soldiers. These soldiers were experts in torture and in combat, not
easily frightened off by a band of fishermen and tax collectors. Had
they fallen asleep or left their post they would have violated the
law…resulting in their own execution.
Number Four - The Tomb had a stone
Most
scholars put the weight of the stone at about 2 tons (4000 pounds),
probably at least seven or eight feet high. This was definitely a “team
lift” or “team roll”, not movable by just one or two men.
Number Five - There were post-resurrection appearances, to many
Over
a span of six weeks, He appeared to a variety of groups of various
sizes in different locations. He appeared to over 500 at one point - a
huge number to be an outright “fabrication”. Not to mention, the people
whom He appeared to didn’t just “see” Him, but ate with Him, walked
with Him, touched Him…Jesus even made breakfast (Jn 21:9).
Number Six - The martyrdom of witnesses offers proof
Would
people leave their businesses, careers, homes and families, go to the
ends of the earth, die horribly gruesome and painful deaths and forsake
their previous “religious beliefs about salvation” all to protect a
‘lie’? Not one of them, while being beheaded, fed to lions, boiled in
oil, crucified upside down or burned alive ‘changed their story’.
Instead, they sang hymns of trust and praise, knowing that the Lord who
defeated death would raise them up, too.
Number Seven - There is still a Church
If
the resurrection was a lie it would have died off centuries ago. The
Christian Church is the largest institution of any kind in the history
of humanity. This Church began with the apostles following Pentecost,
the year Christ rose. It has conquered empires, withstood attacks
(inside and out) and grown in spite of the sinfulness of its members,
because it was founded by Christ, Himself, and is guided and protected
by the Holy Spirit.
Number Eight - Jesus prophesied that it was going to happen
Jesus
told people that it was going to happen. It didn’t “take Him by
surprise”. And He didn’t just say “I’m going to be killed” (which
others might have seen coming) but also that “I’m going to rise on the third day”. Those details aren’t ironic, coincidental or fortune-telling…they’re called prophecy, and true prophecy comes from God, Himself.
Number Nine - It was prophesied in the Old Testament
it
was foretold centuries before Christ, Himself, was born or lived it
out. Hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah, what He would say, do,
live like and how He would die – they were offered centuries apart
by people God selected (who never met, by the way). Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Zechariah, Hosea, Micah…just to name a few. They all pointed to
Christ’s death and resurrection hundreds of years before they occurred.
Number Ten - The day of worship changed
Following
the resurrection, tens of thousands of Jews (almost overnight)
abandoned the centuries old tradition of celebrating the Sabbath on the
last day of the week and began worshipping on the first day of the week the day on which the Lord, the Christ, beat death sealing the new and final covenant with God.
Number Eleven - The practices of sacrifice changed
Jews
were always taught (and taught their children – Deut. 6) that they
needed to offer an animal sacrifice once a year, to atone for their
sins. After the resurrection, the Jewish converts of the time, throngs
of them, stopped offering animal sacrifices to God.
Number Twelve - It is unique among other world religions
No
other religious leader of any consequence every actually claimed to be
God, except Jesus. No other religious leader ever did the things Christ
did. No other religious leader ever backed up their “religious voice”
with resurrection. Confucius died. Lao-tse died. Buddha died. Mohammed
died. Joseph Smith died. Christ rose from the dead.
Number Thirteen - The message is self-authenticating
This
proof goes back to the original point, namely, that a humble heart is
enlightened and illuminated by far more than logic or reason. A true
believer doesn’t need all the facts to believe in the resurrection,
because the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us, intimately and
powerfully. St. Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 4. Blind and
hardened hearts will never see God, not until they acknowledge that
they are not Him.
Number Fourteen - The miraculous ending fits a miraculous life
You
want logic? Christ healed the blind, the deaf and the dumb. He fed the
masses, cured the lepers and forgave the sinners. He made the lame walk
and brought others back to life. He multiplied food, walked on water
and calmed storms with His mere voice. The miracle of Good Friday is
that He didn’t call on a miracle. He died. The miracle of Easter Sunday
is that He rose from the dead…a miraculous end, to a miraculous life.
What else should we expect?
Number Fifteen – (and the only answer we really need)…Jesus is still the answer
The
world cannot offer any cure for suffering. The world can ignore it,
berate it, debate it, bomb it and medicate it…but there is no cure or
point to suffering separated from Jesus Christ. In Christ, our
suffering has a point and it has worth. Apart from Christ, suffering is
pointless and fruitless.
There is no fountain of youth. There is no miracle drug. There is no cure for death except Jesus Christ.

You have found your way to the online home of Into the Deep Youth Ministry, most specifically as it is at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Hicksville, New York.

The intention of this website is to: 1) Create a place for up to date information on youth ministry programs and events, and 2) Provide a forum for teens, leaders, parents, and inquiring minds to connect to discuss everything from upcoming camp trips to the major league baseball season to the meaning of the Beatific Vision!

This is the online community for everything Into the Deep at OLM. Feel free to create an account and start using the forums, or just browse our pages on the menu bar up top to learn a little more about Into the Deep and all that is happening at Our Lady of Mercy.

Pax Christi -

Nolan