A Magnifying Glass

This past Saturday, the 20th anniversary reunion was held for the youth group God’s Gang. I was a leader of that group for over a dozen years, and while working with God’s Gang I met some of the most amazing people God ever created (including the woman who eventually became my bride). God’s Gang was an instrumental part of my early formation as a youth minister; being in this group changed my life forever. At our reunion, it was my awesome privilege to give a talk honoring Billy Patty. Billy was not only foundational for the establishment and ongoing development of God’s Gang, but he is a hero to me – simply the most amazing Christian person I have ever known. Here is the text of the talk that I gave honoring Billy. If you can learn from him even a portion of what he has taught me, you will be blessed!

Billy Patty. I have been given the awesome responsibility of honoring you, my friend. Jenny Vlahutin, who I want to give props to right now for being the one who spearheaded this whole event, has asked me to honor you in 3-5 minutes.

That is like asking you to give a ‘commercial’ at God’s Gang in two minutes. (Billy would frequently give a mini-teaching, called a commercial, at God’s Gang before we had our official teaching). And, I mean that with all of the love in my heart. How could Billy, so full of the Lord’s wisdom, be asked to synthesize his thoughts on any topic in two minutes? And how can I honor a man who has touched so many lives in 3-5 minutes? But just like Billy always really tried to stick to his time limits, I will try to stick to mine. But, as it was ‘back in the day’, you may need to be a little flexible about how long I speak, as you were often so flexible with Billy.

Over twenty years ago, a man had a vision. Long before the Steubenville/St. Louis youth conferences, long before the current Office of Youth Ministry existed, long before Life Teen, long before the abundance of youth groups here in St. Louis, and long before the REAP Team, a man had a vision for a parish youth group.

That man’s name was (and this may be a surprise to you), Fr. Murphy. But, he was a good priest, and he knew the gifts of his parishioners. He shared that vision with a layperson, and asked him to carry out that vision. But Fr. Murphy did not share that vision with just any man. Fr. Murphy, prophetically, asked Billy Patty to start a youth group at St. Lawrence the Martyr Parish. And Billy Patty disobeyed his pastor. He did not immediately start a youth group at the parish!

You see, a more foolish person would have immediately started a youth group, perhaps with a BBQ or a swimming party. Then he or she would have asked teens what they wanted to do, and organized some really fun float trips, dances, and other social gatherings. But not Billy Patty. He decided to pray, every day, for over three years, asking the Lord what to do and how to do it.

So, the first thing we can all learn from Billy Patty is the importance of prayer.

One thing about Billy Patty is that he knows God. And, he knows well the truth of the biblical passage “Unless the Lord build a house, those who build labor in vain.” He knows that a vision is a great thing. The Bible says, “Without a vision, the people perish”. I hate to imagine where so many teens, including so many of us, might be had Billy not pursued God’s vision. But Billy also knows that, as Proverbs says, “Without wisdom, even zeal is not good.” So, he sought the Lord. And waited. And prayed. And waited. And consulted others. And prayed some more.

So, if you want to learn even more from this great man, consider the example of Bill Patty. If you have a vision for what God wants you to do, pray for the wisdom of what to do with that vision. And pray some more. Eventually, with the right people on board and the right timing and foundation in prayer, God’s Gang began with that famous Life in the Spirit seminar 20 years ago. And, we are the fruits of all of that vision, prayer, and wisdom.

But don’t forget the one thing that I think, more than anything, is lacking in today’s world. Self-sacrifice is necessary to bring forth God’s vision. Now that you all are adults, can you more fully grasp the enormity of what Billy and Ruth did for all of those years? They opened up their house to a huge group of teenagers every Wednesday night for over a dozen years! Can you imagine that? Sometimes 60 or more teens invading your VERY NICE house every Wednesday night, many of whom you don’t even know and have never met? Buying soda and candy every week for these same teens – many of whom never said thank you or truly appreciated the sacrifice? Letting them eat candy and drink soda (and spill it) on your carpet? And sometimes they allowed these things to happen while they were out of town for 2-3 months at a time. Half a dozen people even had keys to their house. Can you imagine doing that with your own home today? Think about it…

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that we have all learned the importance of self-sacrifice, for a far greater cause, from Billy Patty.

Bill Patty is a pioneer in youth ministry. And one of the things that Billy has taught all of us is the importance of prayer. It is important to know about the Lord, but the most important thing is to know the Lord. And, Billy knows the Lord.

If you have ever called Billy and Ruth’s house to speak to one of them, and Billy answered the phone, you know his consistent greeting – “Praise the Lord, Bill Patty speaking”. Those three words “Praise the Lord”, summarize this amazing man’s vision of life. (In a lesser way, “Billy Patty speaking” summarizes his life, too J) Everything we should do, all that we should be, is not about us. It is about the Lord. He is the creator. He is the source of all life.

I love God’s Gang. I love all of you. I love Billy Patty for being open to the Lord to working through him, so that all of us could be touched by God’s love.

At a time in the history of St. Louis when there was nothing like God’s Gang available for teenagers (and there never will be anything like God’s Gang ever again, by the way), Billy and Ruth Patty opened their hearts and homes to us. Some people, like the folks from Arnold (remember them?) drove 45 minutes one way each week because this Catholic Charismatic youth prayer group met a deep hunger in the lives of teens.

I once heard someone say that our job is to be a magnifying glass for God. Remember Mary’s prayer in the Magnificat? “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior”. Just as a magnifying glass can concentrate the rays of the sun and start a fire, Billy Patty has done that here in St. Louis. His life has been a clear vessel for the Lord to use to set his young people on fire, and change their lives forever. Every once in a while, a person enters your life, if only for a short time, so that you can look to that person. Bill Patty is that kind of person – totally mask-free, whose faith is a constant inspiration and whom we all aspire to be like.

Those young people who were set on fire through the commitment of this man are many of you, now adults. And some of you here today married those young people, who were formed in large part because this man had a vision, and listened to God for the wisdom to carry out that vision. Some of you are children who are being raised now by parents who have been inspired to love unselfishly by the example of Billy Patty, and his lovely wife Ruthie. Let’s offer a big round of applause to Billy and Ruth, and to the Lord for creating them and using them to magnify His love in all of our lives.