The Blessed Sacrament Restoring Scouting?

There is much talk about the state of scouting in North America. And rightly so. Youth are the future. Their proper formation in the fullness of truth is a big deal. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise but it did when I discovered that scouting ‘is’ being restored through the Blessed Sacrament. It is Christ among the youth that enflames hearts and gives them a shape and purpose to their noble longings.

Although there are several new Catholic scouting groups emerging on the scene, or some would say from the ashes of the Boy Scouting Movement of America, it is the Federation of North American Scouts that has caught my attention. Founded by a priest with cells being established across the globe, one in Philadelphia, another in Toronto, a handbook that reads like a survival manual crossed with a youth catechism with shades of knighthood, what is not to like!

The Blessed Sacrament is at the center of this scouting movement. He is there in times of procession, adoration, and in times of benediction and prayer. Under the blue skies and under star light, the Lord’s real presence shines and transforms the natural beauty of nature and scouting into a supernatural experience with the Divine.

Remarkable.

When our Lord wishes something done, he always seems to send clusters of workers and saints into the vineyard! Here are some of the groups that have made Christ their foundation to scouting.

See http://www.fneexplorers.com (North America)

Let this photo and video essay tell us more.

A Prayer For Youth

We offer to you, loving God, the Gifts and needs of youth.

Bless them with your guiding grace as they face challenges and opportunities in their lives.
Tough their hearts with the gentleness of your love, that they may know they are valued and valuable beings.

Send your spirit of hope to their lives, that they may believe in themselves and know they are needed in this world.

Grace them with the gift of joy that they may celebrate life through laughter and tear alike.

Guide us, as we continue to grow in our appreciation of the many gifts of young people, in the ministry opportunities we offer to them in the journey of faith we walk with them, in our shared mission as a community called to discipleship in the world.

We ask this in Jesus name.

Amen

St. Aloysius Gonzaga, patron of youth, pray for us.

Prayer Commending Oneself to Mary
O holy Mary, my Mistress, into thy blessed trust and special blessing, into the bosom of thy tender mercy, this day, every day of my life and at the hour of my death, I commend my soul and body; to thee I entrust all my hopes and consolations, all my trials and miseries, my life and the end of my life, that through thy most holy intercession and thy merits, all my actions may be ordered and disposed according to thy will and that of thy divine Son.

Amen.