“Think about what would happen if New Advent, Catholic Answers, Busted Halo, and Ignitum Today all fused together into one website for youth…”
I teach 7th grade. Don’t worry, I’m completely sane, even at the end of the school year when my students’ hormones are raging and the scent of summer fills their nostrils. Granted, there is a glint of melancholy laze in each of their eyes throughout the day, but when we start religion class, its on like Donkey Kong. The deep questions get asked, the passion comes out and the spiritual vibrations that come from my students’ intellects blares through the desks like a mystical tidal wave inundating the lesson with intense, real truth.
There’s a reason they like Religion class more than grammar. I’ve always held strong to the theory that our adolescent youth desire Christ more deeply than any other age group. Don’t get me wrong, kindergartners can give you a ridiculously cute rendition of “This little light of mine”, but teens, especially the ones I teach catechism to, have the ability to kindle the fire from the spiritual realm, flail it about in constant inquiry and, at times, even control it.
If my own experience and my years as a middle school teacher have taught me anything, its that kids now-a-days still have the same questions, the same nagging desire to be one with their Creator; they just have to sift through more layers of darkness to reach the light.
YOUCATholic.com is my response. This site is designed for teens to enter into dialogue with people who know the faith and are effective in explaining it to them. It consists of formation courses, Q & A forums, blogs and social media outlets that provide our young soldiers of Christ with the basic training they need to answer their most profound questions, to satiate that constant longing for the Divine and to ultimately discover the immense joy of being Catholic. It appeals to Catholic, public and home schooled teens alike. It is the safe-haven resource that I wish I would have had when I was a weak, impressionable, cocky and curious kid.
YOUCATholic.com launches on June 10th. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our blog.
Who we are: We are a team of youth ministers, teachers, bloggers and catechists who have gathered together to create a Catholic catechetical formation that is both loyal to the magisterium and dedicated to those who are preparing themselves for the Sacrament of Confirmation and living their Catholic faith in both the real and digital world.
What we do: YOUCATholic.com is a community of like-minded, traditional Catholics that have been called to teach and learn the Gospel together using New Media. It consists of an open forum, a leveled series’ of nine-week courses that certified catechists have designed to feed you the meat of your Catholic faith. It is a formation program that allows you to get to know your faith independently using the YOUCAT, YouTube/Vimeo and blogging/vlogging to help guide you toward the profound truths that are found in the Catholic Church.
We are not here to start religious arguments nor convince you that you need to go outside on the sidewalk and tell every passerby why you are Catholic. Our goal is merely to prepare you for the moment when people realize you are imitating Jesus and they ask you, “Why?”.
Check us out @ YOUCATholic.com
