Speaking Out

There used to be a time when I thought of Mass as just an obligation; something I had to attend to please God. It was after going to Madrid for World Youth Day 2011 that my eyes were opened. I understood that I had been approaching the Eucharist in the wrong way.

October is a special month for Catholics because it is the month Pope Pius XI chose in 1926 for the first World Mission Sunday. Falling on Oct. 23, it is the day we remember missionaries such as priests, sisters and lay people who continue to dedicate their lives to living out the gospel through prayer, action and love.

Crisp air, fiery-coloured leaves, pumpkins and apples — the smell of autumn is in the air! It’s October, and Thanksgiving is upon us.

If you have seen a Christian movie, you probably know that many are cheesy, low-budget films that are rarely lucky enough to make their way into theatres.

One would think, as a teenage girl, suicide should be the very last thing on my mind. But in a recent conversation with my grandfather, I’ve had reason to reflect on just how much Canadians have changed their perspective on assisted suicide and what a contrast it is to his generation.

I can’t express the sadness my heart feels at the rising rate of suicide among young people today. The numbers are staggering and I feel helpless thinking of so many who have lost hope.

I see the world enduring endless strife and conflict. But beyond this chaos, I see people standing to fight for humanity.

Maybe I should get a phone. Almost everyone I know has a phone, but at the age of 17, I’ve never had one. At first it was because of my parents. Now that they have given me the opportunity to have a phone, I’ve been weighing the possibility.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias is encouraging his clergy in the Archdiocese of Mumbai to imitate the recently slain priest, Fr. Jacques Hamel. The French priest was brutally killed by two men proclaiming loyalty to the Islamic State on July 26.

In the short two weeks I spent in Poland for WYD, I underwent a profound spiritual revival, one which I had been searching for over the last few years.