{"id":21064,"date":"2012-08-09T12:01:37","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T17:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=21064"},"modified":"2012-08-09T13:49:41","modified_gmt":"2012-08-09T18:49:41","slug":"funwithinfaith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/08\/funwithinfaith\/","title":{"rendered":"Having Fun (and a Few Laughs) Within the Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As a Youth Ministry I have an eclectic set of things in my office at work. I have pens on the shelf next to softballs, I have Catholic Youth Bibles next to candles and a slew of board & card games next to paper.<\/p>\n

I have crosses on my walls, pictures of saints, posters on different faith topics.<\/p>\n

I also have a cardboard cutout of Pope Benedict the XVI in my Youth Ministry Office. And a Jesus action figure.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, people think that Catholics can\u2019t (or shouldn\u2019t) have a sense of humor about their faith. Yes, sometimes things are taken too far and become sacrilegious. And that\u2019s definitely not good (think Nicki Minaj at the Grammy’s<\/a>). But it\u2019s often forgotten that our faith calls us to have not just contentment, not just happiness, but joy.<\/p>\n

Sure, we\u2019ll struggle, sure there will be sorrow and difficulty (and trust me, I\u2019ve had my share of these things), but in all this, we\u2019re called to take joy in the Lord, to delight in Him.<\/p>\n

Sometimes that joy and fun in our faith comes in the form of a cardboard cutout or an action figure or a song. Right now, one way joy and fun in our Catholic faith is spreading is Internet memes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One great site (among many) is LOL Saints<\/a>, run by a great Catholic man of faith, Jeff Geerling. Check \u2018em out, laugh and enjoy.<\/p>\n

In all we do as Catholics, we should denounce that which is sacrilegious. But we must also remember, to have that joy and a little sense of humor in our faith too.<\/p>\n

\u201cDelight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.\u201d \u2013Psalm 37:4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a Youth Ministry I have an eclectic set of things in my office at work. I have pens on the shelf next to softballs, I have Catholic Youth Bibles next to candles and a slew of board & card games next to paper. I have crosses on my walls, pictures of saints, posters on… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":153108,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/7-lessons-i-have-learned-serving-in-youth-ministry\/","url_meta":{"origin":21064,"position":0},"title":"Lessons I Have Learned Serving in Youth Ministry","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"September 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Fall is an active time around most of our parishes, and it\u2019s a time full of incredible hope for another year of catechetics. I\u2019ve been blessed with almost a decade of working in youth ministry and witnessing the incredible ways that the Lord can work in the lives of high\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lessons I have learned in youth ministry","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/LessonsLearnedinYouthMinistry-550x275.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/LessonsLearnedinYouthMinistry-550x275.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/LessonsLearnedinYouthMinistry-550x275.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27322,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/austindcyc55\/","url_meta":{"origin":21064,"position":1},"title":"Porta Fidei: Austin DCYC 55","author":"Rita Suva","date":"November 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The excitement is growing. Austin DCYC is 50 days away, January 18-22, 2013. Every year, the numbers grow. Last year the number was nearly 2200 teens. Last year, more than 80 parishes of the 130 parishes in the Diocese of Austin participated. Ask a teen from your parish that has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Youth"","block_context":{"text":"Youth","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/youth\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/door-140x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":616,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/a-catholic-new-media-group-in-austin-tx-yes-please\/","url_meta":{"origin":21064,"position":2},"title":"A Catholic New Media Group in Austin, Tx?! Yes Please!","author":"Rita Suva","date":"March 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Austin Catholic New Media\u2026 I\u2019m excited for this endeavor! As the Director of Youth Ministry at St.Ignatius, Martyr Parish here in Austin, I use media quite a bit. From music to YouTube, Facebook to text messages, blog reading to blog writing and more, media is an integral part of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4756,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/09\/how-stuff-works-cat-e-what-catechesis\/","url_meta":{"origin":21064,"position":3},"title":"How Stuff Works: Cat-e-what? (Catechesis)","author":"Rita Suva","date":"September 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cGo, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. \u2013Matthew 28:19-20a Ever see one of these and felt thoroughly confused? CCC, CCD, CEP, CYM,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/catechetical-sunday-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":136212,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/08\/fearless\/","url_meta":{"origin":21064,"position":4},"title":"Fearless","author":"Ablaze Ministries","date":"August 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cYou will only go where your fear allows you to go.\u201d Well, isn\u2019t that just a crippling statement? We like to think of ourselves as limitless. In our day to day lives we think, \u201cI will say that hard truth that needs to be said. 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