Christian Mocek

Young Voices: The creative pivots in providing ministry at a distance made necessary by the pandemic need to go further. What do we have to do to make human connections in a time when those things are in short supply?

Young Voices: I decided that if I couldn't find the words to pray, maybe others could and I could put them together into something we could all use. I asked my friends to share their prayers with me.

Young Voices: Quarantine has been an unexpected spiritual practice in so many ways. One thing I hope is that it is teaching us to be connected.

Young Voices: If what I have now is the ability to trust in what's possible, then I have everything.

Advent is like taking a deliberately slow walk surrounded by sprinters. One looks left and right only to find people passing by. All headed toward presumably the same finish line.

 

Young Voices: The Spirit arrived in the place I least expected her — at the kitchen sink after a long day, stilling the restlessness and healing the brokenness of my heart.

We go through multiple transitions throughout our lives. Each transition hopefully makes us more able to face the next. But there is no doubt that sharing a few encouraging words goes a long way. 

Young Voices: As a Christian people, joy is our banner and hope our anthem. However, those words can be elusive concepts until they are grounded in a story that speaks to the present time and place.

Young Voices: Though this phrase may sound like something from a book by Martha Stewart or Marie Kondo, it actually comes from a foundational spiritual belief of mine: the state of one's dinner table is reflective of the state of one's life. 

Young Voices: The election's over. In one sense I'm sad to see it go. I've been heartbroken for the two years since President Donald Trump was elected. That night, this date, two years ago, my wife and I were celebrating our second wedding anniversary.

Young Voices: It wasn't her sickness that captivated me, although it was the reason I learned about her. Claire Wineland had a unique and charismatic way of turning hardship into blessing.

Young Voices: The "nones," those who claim no affiliation with religion, do not believe in a church that is a sedentary, out-of-touch, and immovable fortress guarded by men in brightly colored dresses and pointy hats.

Young Voices: The greatest example we can set for our children is to invite, share the table and break bread with those who believe different things, even things that are against what we believe to be right. 

Young Voices: The #MeToo movement is a wake-up call to fathers. Our sons are next to us, listening to us and being socialized by our reaction to what appears innocent but we know is not.

Young Voices: The church can learn some lessons from the way millennials — people about 22 to 35 years old — engage with charities. This generation is very generous, for example, but over 90 percent of millennials would never financially support an organization they don't trust.

Young Voices: Life's great adventure is in not knowing what will happen next. Lent is a time to strengthen our resolve so that when hard times come, God is where we first turn.

Young Voices: The rest of the year is full of distractions of friends, commitments and technology. Seldom do we have the chance such as in winter to sit and wonder, pray and discover God within ourselves.

Young Voices: After acts of violence such as the Texas shooting or the Newtown shooting, it is easy to seclude ourselves into the safe enclaves of what we know and understand.

Young Voices: St. Benedict understood that vocation plays out much more in daily tasks than in extraordinary moments. I understand that more than I ever have, now that I am a father.