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Religious educator and speaker Pete Burds leads teens in a song at the 2013 kickoff event for Cardinal Virtue, a teen apostolate for students in the Middleton and Cross Plains areas. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
MIDDLETON — The sights and sounds of “panda ball” and mozzarella sticks fresh out of the oven meant it was time to start another year of Cardinal Virtue.
Cardinal Virtue is a Catholic youth apostolate that aims to engage high school students in the Middleton and Cross Plains areas.
The group recently held its kick-off event at St. Bernard Church in Middleton.
Guest speaker
The theme for the evening was called “Living the Dream” and the special guest was Pete Burds. Burds is the Director of Faith Formation at Saint Thomas More High School in Milwaukee. He has also been a speaker at events across the country and will be the keynote speaker at the Frassati Fest weekend for high school teens in January of next year in Wisconsin Dells.
Burds got the teens active in his talk by having them share with each other their craziest dreams they have ever had while they were sleeping, and also their biggest dreams they have in real life.
He then took them to another step of thinking, asking them to consider what is God’s dream for them, and whether they are living it.
His example of a dream come true was when he met the band Switchfoot, his favorite band. He had a chance to talk with the band’s lead singer, Jon Foreman, about a variety of topics, including Catholic saints.
Burds said he knew a lot about Foreman beforehand, but didn’t know him personally. He said that’s like some relationships with Jesus. Catholics can know a lot about him, but not know him. Burds said that is a key first step to knowing what God’s dream is.
“God has a dream for you,” he constantly reminded the teens. “Every single moment is a chance to live the dream.”
How to live the dream
He told them there are three things everyone can do to start living the dream: love God, love others, be loved — and he said the third one is sometimes the toughest one to accomplish.
Burds told the teens they could look to the saints for help and guidance because they lived God’s dream for them. He talked about St. Ignatius of Loyola, who spent part of his life trying to live his own dreams about being a great military leader, then later opened up his heart to God and lived God’s dream, which led to the forming of the Jesuits.
“You’re made for greatness,” Burds told the teens.
He closed his talk with a song. The teens joined him in singing “Everything I am, everything I long to be, I lay it down at your feet.”
Other events
The year is just getting started for Cardinal Virtue.
Like last year, teens that go to Middleton High School get to take advantage of late start days by going to Mass at St. Bernard and having sharing breakfast afterward.
There is also a Dead Theologians Society group within Cardinal Virtue. This group meets on Thursdays and learns about the lives of the saints in order to help them live out better lives according to God’s will.
For more information on Cardinal Virtue, visit its website at www.CardinalVirtue.com or its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CardinalVirtue