Two years ago, I spoke to a group of underprivileged students about the importance of education and community leadership. In that presentation, I created a simple acronym to get my point across.The acronym “I CAN” stands for Identify Changes; Act Now. So what needs to be changed in our world, our communities, our schools or our families?
It is easy enough to identify situations in the world that need to be changed: poverty, bullying, abuse, hatred and war. However, the second step is more of a challenge.We need to act now to make change a reality.Age cannot be an excuse.
If we see that poverty exists in our community, do we decide to donate our gently used clothing to non-profit organizations or do we volunteer our time at food banks?If we see there is a new student in our school who sits sadly alone, do we invite that student to join our group of friends? If we realize we are constantly arguing with our parents, do we apologize and try to improve the relationship?The list is endless.
Each day we can easily identify changes that we can make to improve the world by being Christ for others.
We are all part of Christ’s body; we are His hands, His feet.Through our words and actions, Christ is present, making the world a better place.
But we need to take our own initiative.
No one can force us to make changes.We need to choose to take the time to smile more often, to visit the lonely, to go abroad to help the poor or do whatever we feel is necessary to bring Christ’s presence to others.
And as Blessed John Paul II reminds us, “The future starts today, not tomorrow.”
(Gagliano, 20, is a life sciences student at the University of Toronto.)