Youth Speak News

OTTAWA - The small chaplaincy office at Carleton University is filled with the smell of salami, ham, chicken, cheese and freshly baked bread. The university is quiet on a Saturday morning except for a lively group of Catholic students making sandwiches. When they’re finished, they pack juice boxes, granola bars and bags of socks and set out for Street Patrol.

Held on Oct. 23, Street Patrol is a ministry derived from St. Patrick’s Church in Toronto and was brought to Carleton by a former student named Michael Manulak. It involves a group of four to five people reaching out to homeless on the street, speaking with them and offering food, snacks and drinks.

If I only had an hour left to live, would I say my life was good? What would I call the purpose of living and what would I be bringing with me from this life? I certainly hope I wouldn’t say that most of my life was spent stressing over school work and trying to live up to other people’s expectations. But I believe that is what many young Catholics would say.

The Friars' essay contest contest for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is now open.

Co-sponsored by the The Catholic Register and the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement-Graymoor in Toronto, the top prize is a 32 GB iPod touch.

The theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is: “One in the Apostles’ Teaching, Fellowship, Breaking of the Bread and Prayer.”

There are experiences that leave  impressions on us for the rest of our lives. Last summer, while visiting the Vatican with my family, I was lucky enough to have had one of those experiences.  

Thus far in my life, I have been blessed to do more than my fair share of travelling around the globe. By the age of 15, I had set foot on three different continents, visiting several cities across North America, Europe and Asia. While it’s exciting to marvel at the beauty of God’s creation in every corner of the Earth, I was completely unprepared for the wonder and majesty of the Vatican.  

VICTORIA -Natalia Zapotoczny doesn’t think Catholic youth know as much about the Church as they should.

The first-year sciences student at the University of Victoria is doing something to change that. She is the founder of Warriors for Christ — a group of young people who gather to pray and become more exposed to Catholicism through conversation and questioning.

It also strives to help its members get prayer out of the on/off switch phase and turn that into a prayer life.

During lunch, as I’m talking with my friends, I hear the headlines that make their day. This goes something along the lines of: the latest stunt from a reality show on TV, the newest video game to hit store shelves and the best dancing couple to fend off elimination.

TORONTO - More than a century after his death, St. John Bosco is still reaching out to youth.

That message was evident on Oct. 5 when St. Benedict parish hosted the relic of St. John Bosco. The founder of the Salesian order, St. John Bosco dedicated his life to the service and salvation of young people.

“I’ve heard so much about St. John Bosco but seeing him in person is truly inspiring,” said Harold Lumilan, a member of the youth group at St. Benedict’s parish and second-year psychology student at the University of Toronto.

It is difficult for youth to stand up to pressures placed on us by mainstream media.

For example, the media pushes us to be physically perfect and tempts us to believe we should judge others based on their appearance. In contrast, the Catholic Church teaches that we should accept one another no matter our appearance.

TORONTO - The popular novel Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert first inspired a motion picture — now it’s inspired a group for young adults to explore the spiritual side of eating.

Run by Faith Connections, the young adult ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph, a group of eight will meet bi-monthly to share a meal together and embark on a spiritual growth journey in a program called “Eat, Pray, Share.” Broken up into six sessions, the program began Sept. 29 and runs until Dec. 8, with a seventh session planned as outreach to those who are hungry.