Totally Catholic Youth Ministers Lounge

Are you in youth ministry and you've had it with crazed parents? Rollin' your eyes at the pastoral council? Tired of administration work? Love youth? Love the Church? Appalled at parish politics? Looking for some good games? For a creative ways to teach a lesson for Religious Ed? Just need a place to veg out and say "phew! Someone outside of the parish to talk to!"? Grab y'r Starbucks, turn the computer away from the staff's eyes, grab a seat on a donated dusty couch and let it all go.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Happy Birthday, Fr Mike Scanlan, TOR!

Today is Fr. Mike's 75th Birthday!


I helped Shirley and Fr Mike's secretary a bit. There were tons and tons of people there-mostly students, a good number from the community and several staff and faculty. The Mayor was there and proclaimed tomorrow to be Fr Michael Scanlan day! Even the Bishop came. What a great party!

The two things I love most about Fr. Mike is that he said "yes" and that he loves the kids.

I was a student at FUS when Fr Mike was the President. He would often walk from the Friary across campus to the classrooms just so that he could see and be among the students. Once, when I was here, he flew back from a conference just to be at an all campus Mass with us-and he was returning to the conference, but he said "I had to be with the kids!". We whooped and hollered and cheered.

It inspires me a great deal that Fr. Mike said yes, even in the midst of tremendous odds. I think most people are familiar with the story of when Fr Mike became the President of Franciscan University and there was a "for sale" sign on St Thomas More Residence Hall. He insisted-much to the boards' disapproval-that the kids be mandated to be in households, that the sports program would be cut and that Mass had to be a priority as well. He was also largely responsible for ensuring that THIS Catholic College would indeed be CATHOLIC, in all the fullness and glory of the Church.

Today we have 8 Residence Halls, 3 daily (usually full) Masses, long lines for Confession, a 11 youth Conferences that reach 35,000 teenagers (he started the Conference office, where I work), Adult Summer Conferences that reaches over 2,000 each summer...oh, the list goes on and on and on.


Think what we can do if we say Yes and let God work through us! I don't think he ever envisioned or planned to become a world traveler and that the University would have grown to the extent that it did. But he said yes, and thousands upon thousands have been touched by God because he did not fear, he just said yes.

There are only two people that I admire to the point of gushing. I work with major names in the Catholic world and it doesn't faze me in the least. But it's Pope John Paul II and Fr Mike that simply bowl me over with their faithfulness and love.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, I agree. I never attended Steubenville, but visited once. The kids didnt love him. They adored him. I have never witnessed so much love on a campus in my life. He was giving an evening lecture on the gifts of the spirit. The room was filled to oberflowing. What I saw between him and the students, and within the student body blew me away.

Mike in Maryland

11:07 PM  

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