My hope is that through these articles, more people will gain a better understanding of our youth and youth ministry. Also, I hope that the ones who are now working with our youth will find some added inspiration for their ministry and that more people will be called to serve in ministry to our young people.

Sort of goes back to the old phrase, "It takes a whole village to raise a child." We have all heard it said in these terms as well, "It takes a whole Church to raise a child." Thus one person cannot do it alone, it takes everyone. My hope is that these columns are touching each of your lives in a way that will lead more deeply to this.

With that said, my last column spoke of sharing in the applause, and again I thank each of you for all you are doing for your parish, community, and our young people. Continuing with this, we need to look more deeply into the challenges of youth ministry and our response to this.

In my early years of ministry in the diocese, I heard a phrase that has stuck with me and helped me many times over. The phrase was short and simple, "accept them where they are at."

As we think about this, we quickly remind ourselves that each individual is different, coming from different backgrounds and different walks of life. And, for any of us who continually work not just with our youth but all people, we know that at times, this can be difficult because of the diverse number of personalities. We do have to look at each person individually and, yes, accept each one where they are at. Our young people challenge us, but keeping this thought at the forefront can be the stepping stone that allows us to deepen our ministry to the youth and to all people.

This statement recently took on a whole new meaning for me. Many times as I have prepared groups for camps, retreats, etc., I have used this phrase. But for the first time in my life, this phrase was used for me. This past weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to begin a four weekend experience "FE Y VIDA", a formation program for Hispanic Youth Ministry. It was during this weekend that for the first time in my life, the language spoken was all Spanish. I thank Father Mike McAndrew for spending the day translating for me. What I quickly realized was that even though I could not speak any Spanish, this made no difference in the lives of everyone gathered. I truly was welcomed into the community with open arms. I was accepted where I was at. No questions asked, just accepted. For the first time I was on the other side of the fence. Throughout this day, I gained a deeper appreciation of what our Hispanic community goes through. But to a fuller extent, what I witnessed was the true meaning of Church.

This weekend simply reinforced some of the things I have been trying to share; it does take a whole Church to raise a child, and each member, no matter what their background, is a part of it. And we should always accept others where they are, and yes, allow others to accept us where we are. A humbling experience, but a lesson well learned.