Youth Speak News

If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do? Most Catholics would say they’d donate to charities and give a hand to those in need. If only we all had time and money, we could do the things we want to do and be the good Catholics we want to be.

It’s easy to think that way, but it’s not true. We have time and we have money. The problem is how we spend them. Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost the concept of what we want and what we need. This balance is especially difficult for students. We don’t think twice about spending $4 on a coffee, but hesitate to give a homeless person our spare change. We say we can’t afford to sponsor a child overseas, but we all have laptops and iPods.

It’s all about setting your priorities. There’s nothing wrong with having possessions, but they shouldn’t hold us back from living our lives for others. In a society that pushes us to be the best at all costs, we can easily be distracted by greed and vanity.

We need to go back to the basics and never lose sight of what really matters: our relationship with God.

TORONTO - Tiffany Harrington spearheaded a school initiative to send sleeping mats made out of plastic milk bags to orphans in Haiti. Her efforts saw 12,000 milk bags — and counting — collected, which are then crocheted into the mats.

This community spirit helped Harrington, a Grade 12 student at Monsignor Paul Dwyer Catholic High School in Oshawa, Ont., win one of 20 TD Bank Scholarships for Community Leadership. Harrington, Miranda Dela Cruz, a Grade 12 student at Francis Libermann Catholic Secondary School in Scarborough, and Wei-En Wong, a Grade 12 student from St. Robert Catholic High School in Thornhill, are the only winners from Toronto-area Catholic schools.  

Each of the 20 scholarships is valued at up to $70,000, which includes up to $10,000 per year for tuition to a post-secondary institute in Canada and up to $7,500 for living expenses and books. In addition, winners are also offered guaranteed summer employment with TD over their four years of school.

There are two ways to live. You can merely survive or you can thrive.

Jesus Christ became human so that all of us might thrive, that we “may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). But while Jesus promises life to the full, He also gave all power and authority to the Church to be an instrument of guidance and grace for all of God’s people.

If Christ calls us to resurrection, then it is through the earthly kingdom — the Church — that we come to that new life. Of course we should receive the sacraments and pray, but we should do so while entering into the fullness of the liturgical life of the Church.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church poses this to us: “What is the Church if not the assembly of all the saints? The communion of saints is the Church” (946). The saints, enjoying God’s glory now, are always praying for us. If we want to get closer to Christ, then we should be learning about the ones who knew Him best and learning about their holy witness. The Church’s feasts throughout the liturgical year highlight this fact. In all her wisdom, she understands that we need help in attaining our heavenly goal, giving us shining examples by which to live. Far from distracting us from the source and summit of our faith — the Eucharist — the liturgical feasts lift us up and point us back towards Christ.

VATICAN CITY - With fewer than three months to go, preparations for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid are heating up and organizers are promising a “fiesta,” adding a Spanish flavour to the traditional opportunities for prayer, friendship, music and religious education.

As of May 7, organizers reported 347,965 youths had registered for the Aug. 16-21 event, which Pope Benedict XVI will attend. The figure included 5,439 from Canada. The Italians — always a big contingent at World Youth Day — were leading the pack with 65,196 registrants, outpacing even the Spaniards by more than 10,000.

While registering has benefits — including priority seating at papal events — young people seem to know they won’t be turned away, and so, an earlier estimate of 1.5 million participants seems to be right on track.

“We can’t predict how many will register at the last minute,” said Fr. Eric Jacquinet, the official in charge of the youth section at the Pontifical Council for the Laity, the official sponsor of World Youth Day. At WYD Paris in 1997, he said, 300,000 young people pre-registered and there were 1.2 million people at the closing vigil and closing Mass with Blessed John Paul II.

Before the 2011 March for Life in Ottawa, I always assumed I’d be able to take on any pro-choice arguments and brush off any criticism that came my way in response to the unpopular, “sexist” and “outdated” pro-life beliefs I held. The only problem was that I’d never actually heard those arguments or received that criticism — until the march.

The most memorable and impacting part of the march was encountering the pro-choice protesters along the side of the streets as we walked through our nation’s capital. The unfamiliar conflict was unsettling and uncomfortable. The lingering impact of these protesters, though I didn’t realize it at the time, would ultimately lead to a renewed perspective on this complex issue.

I was shocked by the anger of many on the pro-choice side, especially in contrast with the overall joyful and peaceful atmosphere of the march. Some of them were swearing at the marchers, singing vulgar chants and holding offensive signs.

OTTAWA - Whether it was the national anthem, the music echoing from Parliament Hill or the chants erupting in the streets of Ottawa, the voice of the 2011 March for Life was a youthful one.

That voice first belonged to 16-year-old singer Carly Taylor, who began the May 12 pro-life march by singing of O Canada. But she was quickly joined by the estimated crowd of 15,000, including thousands of youth and young people from more than 70 schools, chaplaincies and youth groups from across Ontario.

“You’re the landlords here,” MP Royal Galipeau of Ottawa-Orléans told the young people gathered in front of Parliament Hill. “People like me are just the tenants.”

Galipeau was one of more than a dozen speakers and witnesses to take the podium. That list also included Mario St. Francis, a former model and actor who came to the march from Washington.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - A bone belonging to St. Maria Goretti has been added to the new altar at St. Francis of Assisi parish in Mississauga in honour of young people.

Joining the relics of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi — which were transferred from the old altar at the end of March — it is a “first class relic,” said Fr. Joseph Grima, pastor at St. Francis of Assisi. Grima said this means the bone has documentation from the Vatican confirming it is from St. Maria Goretti.  

Grima said he chose the relic of St. Maria Goretti because she presents youth with a model of purity to look up to. “In our society today we’ve kind of lost the idea of conserving or giving our purity to the Lord,” he said.  

“This (the presence of relics in the altar) is a good reminder to us that when we celebrate Mass, we celebrate with all the saints and angels in heaven.”

St. Maria Goretti was only 11 years old when a young man named Alexander tried to rape her. She resisted, and consequently, the young man killed her. Before dying, Maria forgave him. The murderer later realized his wrongdoings after a dream he had of Maria and went to apologize to her mother.

She chose to die rather than submit to the young man, said Grima. “She believed it (her virginity) was a value that she wanted to hold dearly.”

(Gagliano, 20, is a life sciences student at the University of Toronto.)

VICTORIA - Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is inspiring young men in a new way — through a Catholic apologetics and discussion group named in his honour.

“I saw (him as) a real positive role model of masculinity,” said Mark Theobald, a teacher at St. Andrew’s Regional High School, who founded the group in March. “In our society, if we live our faith we are counter-cultural and he experienced that as well.”

Frassati’s Men’s Group meets monthly at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Victoria to discuss issues facing young Catholic men such as chastity, prayer and the relationship between faith and reason.  It targets men ages 18 to 30, aiming to encourage the faith of Catholic men after high school. The group’s most recent meeting on May 13 discussed how promiscuity undermines masculinity.  

Pier Giorgio Frassati was a social activist who devoted his life to helping the poor in his hometown of Turin in Italy. He died of polio in 1925 at the age of 24 and was beatified in 1990 by Blessed John Paul II.

Youth are the future. In both the Catholic community and beyond, it is the youth who will shape the world of tomorrow.If we want a better tomorrow or if we see issues that need alteration in the world today, it is the young people who can make these changes.

But sometimes age can be used as an excuse for inaction.Too often, many may feel they are too young to do anything that will leave a lasting impact.

A classic example of how youth are powerful enough to make a difference can be seen through the actions of Craig Kielburger.

He identified what needed to be changed by recognizing that child labour and slavery were wrong.Then, he acted to free the children from their poverty by founding Free the Children — when he was only 12 years old.

But we do not have to be the next Kielburger.Making changes in the world can start in our own daily lives. How can we be Christ for the world?Where is Christ absent and how can we include Him?

TORONTO - Coinciding with the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the downtown Toronto chapter of the Serra Club will be holding its fifth annual vocations fair May 14-15.

“It’s an opportunity to promote vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life and to affirm those who have responded to this call,” said Zinnia Milburn, the club’s vice-president of vocations and vocations fair co-ordinator.

Different religious orders such as the Loretto Sisters and the Capuchin Friars will have booths set up to talk about the good work they do. As well, various Catholic lay organizations such as the Focolare and World Marriage Encounter will also be participating.

Taking place at St. Augustine of Canterbury parish in Toronto, this year’s theme is “Bring the light that shines to the world.”