Two Neat Sites for Teens and Their Parents

Hi all,
Just had to tell you about two cool sites I discovered this summer for teens and their parents. The first is Maureen Wittman's blog No Question Left Behind. Blog author Maureen says,

This is a place where teens can go and feel comfortable talking about heavy and not-so-heavy topics. It is a peer-to-peer platform where teens can trust that their fears, struggles, and questions will be heard and answered by those who struggle with the same issues.I put together a team of teenagers and young 20-somethings to answer the questions of teens. The team worked to answer all inquiries in the framework of Catholic teaching. I already have 200 Q&A's ready to roll so you can count on this blog being around for the long term.Please pass the word along. If you work with youth in your high school, parish, or diocese, please link from those websites or mention in your bulletins.

So check it out!

Earlier this summer my daughter and I attended a great day conference by my friend Doran Richards on Maidenhood: it was a good, Scriptural, very positive presentation of the changes that take place in a girl's body that make her a woman. Doran did such a wonderful job of presenting the material discreetly and beautifully: my daughter's reaction was not "ick!" but "Wow!" I wish I had gotten this presentation when I was twelve years old: I can still remember the uncomfortable classroom lecture by a health teacher on menstruation, down to the smell of the lineoleum. But at the Blessing God's Way presentation, we spent the day making raspberry leaf tea, discussing ways to take care of the body God gave us, reading Scripture, and making a fun scrapbook. Really much more memorable. Just so you know, this isn't a "sex education" talk: not at all! My eleven-year-old daughter was very comfortable (and she freezes up pretty quickly when she's not!).

One of my favorite parts of the talk was when Doran, (who is totally pro-life and anti-contraception as well) explained how the birth control pill alters and disrupts the cleansing cycle of our bodies, and my daughter was disgusted by the very concept of the thing. I think Doran's right on the money when she perceives that the best way for Christians to raise kids who are pro-life and Christ-centered in their thinking on fertility is for Christians to tackle this part of a girl's education. She does a wonderful job! So if you have a pre-teen daughter, check out this program!

Review in The Florida Catholic

Check out this great review of the series in The Florida Catholic. Here's a snippet:

Have you ever been lured into a bakery by its delightful aroma and beautifully decorated delicacies? You fall in love with that mouth-watering chocolate cake, but when you take that first bite it tastes like nothing.
How disappointing! The piece is dry, stale and you feel the beginning of indigestion.
That is the feeling I got when I read the popular teen series “The Clique,” written by Lisi Harrison, about a group of girls who are materialistic and backstab each other but still remain a “clique.”
Fortunately, this type of book is not the only choice for teens and their parents. Something genuinely appetizing has arrived in the form of a fiction series for teens: “John Paul 2 High,” published by Sophia Institute Press, a Catholic publisher. read more...

The Passing of a Young Knight

Marc Girard, 18, looked like your ordinary Catholic teenager. But he was not.

He had a Facebook page. He was a part of the Fairy Tale Novel Forum (even though, like most guys, he hadn't read the books :) ). He was careless about spelling. He hated having his picture taken. His avatar was a man making funny faces. To his four younger siblings and to most of his friends, I am sure he sometimes seemed very ordinary. Even though he took his Catholic faith seriously, and sometimes challenged his high school friends on different issues.

His friend Paul Ethier was surprised when Marc told him that he was planning to join the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, who had a friary near the Girard home in Griswold, CT. Marc was accepted as a postulant, and was going to join the Maine, NY friary in August.

The Girard family had been through a lot. Last year they suffered two hardships in a row: first, their home burned down. The only thing in Marc's room that survived the fire was his picture of Padre Pio.

The family lived on a trailer through the winter, but then this spring, the property was foreclosed.

Marc's father Thomas was working hard to keep the family together. In his free time he helped the Friars of the Immaculate on their outreachs: this past spring he was "Grand Master" knight for their group, The Knights of Lepanto, as Catholic fathers and the friars "initiated" their sons into Catholic knighthood. The photo at the top shows Marc carrying a "penance pack" of 15 pounds of rocks during the "intiation."

Thomas found a new house for the family, and they were going to move on the first day of July, yesterday, in fact.

The day before the big move, Thomas took his two sons, Marc and Lucas and daughter Hannah swimming at a pond down the street from their old house. There was an island a short distance from the shore, and they decided to swim out to the island.

Marc took his younger brother Lucas, 11, along and they swam safely to the island. Mr. Girard took their daughter Hannah, age 7, in his arms and came along behind them.

Hearing his sister Hannah screaming, Marc turned back and the boys saw her bobbing in the water. Their father was gone. Marc stopped several feet before reaching the island. He sent Lucas ahead and went back for his father and Hannah.

Marc swam out to Hannah. He pushed her towards shore until she was safe, told her to pray, and then dove back in to find their father.

He died trying to save him.

Rescue personnel speculate that Mr. Girard died of a heart attack suffered while swimming. Marc was brought to the hospital, barely alive. His mother Carol, some of his friends, and the Friars of the Immaculata prayed with him. He received the Annointing of the Sick and was blessed with a relic of St. Padre Pio. Then at 1:50 AM, on the Feast of the Precious Blood, he died.

It is terrifying how fast death can come. Earlier this past month, Marc was on the forum (screen name: The Illustrious Marceg) and on his blog, joking and laughing with his friends, running for "President" on the forum against Barak Obama and Mr. Darcy, and offering "words of wisdom" about following one's vocation:

Topic: Lord, what are You calling me to do? (Read 460 times)
Illustrious Marceg

Peasant

member is offline
Joined: Feb 2008

Gender: Male

Posts: 30
Re: Lord, what are You calling me to do?

Jun 19, 2008, 10:35am

I was so happy to find a thred wich focased on vocations. Just some words of wisdom, First, you are so right when you say long and short term vocation. Like being a good student was mine and being a good son, but now that I'm done with school. It's now to be a good son as well as a good friend. In August I will be leaving to enter the FI (Fransican Friars of the Immaculate) and am very excited about doing so. The thing is though, in my case, I'm almost poitive that this is Our Lords will for me, but as I grow closer and closer to the day i leave, I get spiritually attacked more and more (with emotions and worries such... I'm not talking about Emily Rose stuff ). I was warned by two very holy Friars about temptation and think it would be very helpful to everyone on this fourm especally for those who are looking into religious life. And that is that you will be tempted in ways you didn't think were possible, and if you do end up entering religious life it's still pretty hard. Its the transistion of being more contempt and 'unplugging' your self from the world. Many of the Saints went trough temptation and trial so just be prepaired and persivere. This also goes for those who are asking the question "what do you want from me". Satan will try to lead you against your vocation, just pray, hope, and don't worry and you'll end up doing His will.

Marc was ready to follow his call from God. But this week, he was called to be a hero. And he answered, without hesitation.

I am so sorry that Marc couldn't save his father, and that he couldn't save himself. But I am struck by his courage, and I will always remember him. Marc's friends were unanimous in calling him, immediately and from the start, a true knight.

I'm a novelist: I write modern adventures in which young adults carelessly tagged as "knights" and "ladies" battle modern demons and dragons. My friends and I play games and hold ceremonies similar to that of the Knights of the Lepanto: serious but always a bit tongue in cheek. We have to ask ourselves at some point: is any of it real? Are we really knights and ladies, or are we just moderns playing an odd game?

And then life overtakes us, and for a moment I recognize that for some of us at least, it is real. For Marc, it was real. He truly attained knighthood.

Just now I went on the Fairy Tale Forum and voted that Marc be elected president-forever of the Forum. Post mortem yes, but I think his qualifications are out of this world.

I love to write about young men who are heroes: it's one reason why I retell fairy tales. Marc Girard is a hero to me, a real knight of Our Lady and the Sacred Heart. I am so honored that he was part of our little online group and that our paths intersected for a short time.

Please pray for Carol Girard, and for the remaining children, Adam,17, Jaqueline, 15, Lucas, 11, and Hannah, 7. Pray especially for Lucas, who witnessed the entire tragedy.

As the Girard family has been under such financial stress, I can only imagine that this tragedy has left them even more at risk. I would like to ask the Christian community to consider helping them during this hard time. I know how much it helped our family when we suffered the loss of our son Joshua: please let this family know that they are not suffering alone.

Condolescences and donations can be sent to:

Carol Girard
c/o the Ethier Family

133 Lake Shore Drive

Pascoag, Rhode Island

02859

UPDATE: a fund has been set up for the Girards at the local Bank of America.

Bank of America

590 West Main St (Rt 82)

Norwich, CT 06360

Until I find out if they have a way to make donations online, I will continue to collect donations through my PayPal account and send them to the Bank of America fund.

My husband and I attended the funeral at St. Mary's Church in Connecticut. It was beautiful. I hope to post more about it later.

St. Padre Pio, pray for us. The first martyrs of Rome, pray for us.

For more about the Girard family, see this link from the Friars of the Immaculate.

Update: Since some of you have asked, by all means feel free to copy or excerpt this post for your own blog or email. And yes, the family does need financial help. If you would like to make a donation through Paypal, you can send a donation to me at regina@reginadoman.com. Attach a note saying that your donation is for the Girard family and specify the amount in your email. I will make sure it gets to them.

I am looking into finding out if they have a paypal account of their own that we can use instead: when I find out anything, I will post. But for now, feel free to use my address, and I will have the money sent to them. Thank you!

Christian Frank on Catholic Moments!

Hey check out Christian Frank's interview on the Catholic Moments podcast! His interview is about halfway through the podcast.

Listen Here.

Book Two: Vengeance, Sort of

Q: When is Book Two coming out?

A: Soon!!! The book is written, and I'm working on editing it now. We're hoping to get it done in time for Christmas. (Great present, hey?)

Q: What will it be about?

A: Some threads (but not all!) that were left unresolved in Book One will be picked up, namely: what happens to Tyler Getz. Is he going to stand for Allie dumping him for Catholic guy, George? And is George going to stand for what Tyler does next?

The best part of this book is that we get to find out what Celia Costain, principal's daughter, thinks about everything at John Paul 2 High. Is she really "perfect Celia?" Or is there more going on beneath the surface?

And as for the other questions -- who's the shooter? Where's the poltergeist? -- you'll have to wait and see because if I say more, I'll spoil something!

Keep the book in your prayers: as I know from being a writer myself, prayers really do help the story.

Peace out,
Regina Doman,

Series Queen

PS: Any other burning questions? Post in the comment boxes. We'll answer - if we can. ;)

John Paul 2 High mentioned on the Rosary Army Podcast #227!

Regina Doman talked about the John Paul 2 High series on the Rosary Army Podcast #227! The interview begins at about 15:50 into the show.

Cha Cha Moment

So my brother Joe and his friends are fooling around with the Cha Cha service on their cell phones (text 242 242 with any question, and you'll get an answer). They're asking things like, "When did the Great Papal Schism occur...?" "Who founded the Catholic Church?"... "Who's cuter, me or my friend?"

...They ask, "Who is John Paul 2?"

The answer comes back: "John Paul 2 High is a new Catholic book series written by Christian M. Frank...."

Everyone in Joe's class (he works at a Catholic high school) said, "What did it say?" since Joe's jaw had dropped.

"Dude, my sister worked on that book! That's her thing!"

"No way!"

So go figure. Of all the things they could have said about John Paul the Great...

...well, I guess I'm honored.
:)