Friends. Before I give you my reflection this week, I want to make you aware of some changes coming up in my life. I will be leaving Salt Lake City in June to move back to Idaho. My wife and I will be living in Caldwell Idaho and I have accepted the position of Youth Minister at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church. I am very excited about returning to my home state. Since 2002 my wife and I have gone from Twin Falls (where I spent many years working with teens in shelter homes and a detention center), to Boise (where I worked at a shelter home), to Nampa (where I worked 4 years at St. Paul’s Catholic Church as youth minister), to Murfreesboro TN (where I worked 3 years at St. Rose of Lima as youth minister) to Salt Lake City where I have been working full time at Judge as a campus minister and part time at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church as a very part time youth minister.
This fall, I will begin my 16th year working with teens and my 10th year working in full time youth ministry for the Catholic Church. I have had the opportunity to speak to Catholic youth and adults in 6 different states (including Hawaii). I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to New Zealand and minister to Catholic youth at retreats there. I have made many friends and I suppose a few enemies as well. Despite many failures and successes, I can proudly say that I have given my very best to the teens and communities I have worked with over the last 16 years. My wife (and my mother) both feel that at times, I have overdone it a bit by working too hard. However, I don’t regret overdoing it at times and I think sometimes it was necessary to reach a goal. I have always had the mentality of “go hard or go home”.
As I look back over these years, I realize how much I have changed as a person (mostly for the good I think). I also continue to be amazed at how much the teens I’ve worked with have changed. I’m always a bit stunned when they come back to visit me as young adults and I see how much they have matured physically, mentally and spiritually.
The Gospel reading at Catholic Mass on Sunday related the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. There is so much that could be said about this reading. I find it fascinating that Jesus is visited and draws strength from two saints, Moses and Elijah. I could write a whole commentary on the significance of this as it relates to the Catholic theology of the communion of saints. I also love how Peter, James and John are confused about what to do as they witness this “preview” of the fullness of Christ’s glory. Not sure of what to do, they suggest building a tent for the visitors. As they leave they are not sure what to make of Christ’s statement about being raised from the dead. Again, this would make a great topic for a reflection. But right now, in my life, the most significant theme of the Gospel reading is that of “change”.
Then and now, Jesus is still the source of all the good “change” in our lives. Just as He was transfigured and His glory revealed, we can be changed by him and thus glorify him through our own actions and example. As Christ changes us, the victories over our sins, faults and failures always bear witness to the people around us of Christ’s life changing grace.
As we continue through Lent, I challenge you to focus on allowing Christ to make changes in your life that will last longer than 40 days.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark (9:2-10)
Jesus took Peter, James, and John
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them,
and his clothes became dazzling white,
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents:
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;
from the cloud came a voice,
“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves,
questioning what rising from the dead meant.
About The Tattooed Catholic…
Jean Pierre “Pete” Espil is a Catholic Youth minister who has worked with teenagers and youth for the last 16 years. He has spent the last 9 years in full time ministry but prior to that he worked with teens in shelter homes, treatment centers and detention centers. He grew up in the state of Idaho (USA) and currently lives in Salt Lake City Utah (USA) where he works as the Campus Minister at Judge Memorial Catholic High School. He also travels to speak to Catholic youth in different states and countries when time allows.
His approach to youth ministry and the practice of his Faith falls somewhere between St. Benedict and Dog the Bounty Hunter. Unorthodox in style and appearance, Pete loves to break down stereotypes about what a “Christian” should look and act like. He has a BA degree in Linguistics from Boise State University (Boise, ID) and is an Oblate in the Benedictine tradition.
When he isn’t working with teens you can find him practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, playing his drums, or spending time with is wife, Catholic Recording artist Jaime Thietten.
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