Youth Speak News

TORONTO - Student advocates for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation mobilized their school communities to take action against malaria in cities around the world for World Malaria Day April 25.

The foundation, created by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, aims to promote respect and understanding about the world’s major religions and show how faith is a powerful force for good, using the eradication of malaria as a common goal. Students in Toronto were no exception.

Canada’s capital will play host to its first Youth Summit this month, taking the torch from Quebec City which started hosting the youth gatherings in 2005.

The bilingual event in Ottawa May 21-24 promises to draw up to 500 young adults, ages 17-35, who will participate in activities and events centred around the theme “Sent!”

According to organizers, the theme is meant to bring participants to reflect on their personal role “as missionaries in today’s Church, particularly amidst other young adults.”

Dear youth: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit exist. They are real, so is Mother Mary, and I have experienced their intercession in my life more times than I can count. The Bible is a living text, directly inspired by God, and I have been a witness to its truth. Wait, you don’t need me to tell you these things. You read publications like this one because you already know all this — because you are a believer.

As believers though, are we complete in our relationships with God simply because we know He exists? I can’t speak for the lot of us. However, based on experience, there are a few epiphanies I can share regarding what it is we — as youth — lack in our relationships with Him.

TORONTO - A Newman Centre evening aimed at revitalizing Catholic social justice work in downtown Toronto got people talking mainly about who wasn’t there.

The April 19 gathering of about 60 people for Mass, potluck dinner and discussion was supposed to draw young people, but couldn’t compete with exams, the start of summer jobs, moving dates and all the other commitments students face in the spring.

When Jesuit Father Jack Costello looked out at the grey-haired crowd in the Newman Centre chapel he said he would have to adjust his homily to fit an older crowd than he had expected.

The media in Canada often show an anti-Catholic bias. Few things are more misrepresented than the pro-life movement. That’s why I was very interested to do a television interview on Newfoundland Television (NTV) on Good Friday during the annual pro-life walk.

At 9:30 a.m., I joined a crowd of around 300 pro-life activists holding pro-life posters in the parking lot of the Health Sciences Centre, Newfoundland’s largest hospital. Sadly, hundreds of babies are aborted here annually. During the peaceful demonstration, I joined my friend Steve and his seven-month pregnant wife Angela. This was their first year at the walk and their witness was great.

TORONTO - When she volunteered for the Toronto archdiocese’s Office for Refugees’ Catholic refugee sponsorship conference in January, 25-year-old volunteer Emily Anderson noticed a marked absence.

“I know from experience volunteering with other organizations that there is often a lot of youth involvement, especially with mandatory high school volunteer programs, so I saw a real void and thought it’s probably because there’s not really an outlet for the youth to know about these kind of circumstances,” Anderson said.

Every year, Easter Sunday Mass can be described quite accurately by one word: filled. The rafters are filled with the angelic voices of the choir, our hearts are filled with the joy of Christ’s resurrection and, quite noticeably, the pews are filled with people.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our churches were always that packed? Alas, the holidays conclude, attendance decreases and Mass is once again celebrated by the regular flow of parishioners.

{mosimage}Hawthorn School for Girls sent its first team of students to Peru over the March break to get their hands dirty and learn about partnering with the locals.

The Toronto independent school’s trip was inspired by a presentation given by alumnus Kristina Douros last year, then a 24-year-old student at the University of Western Ontario who spent nearly four months in 2008 volunteering with Condoray, a 47-year-old rural development project.

Condoray, a  training centre devoted to human, social and religious development and promotion of women in the Cañete Valley of southern Peru, is a centre for higher learning where villagers can learn how to be “promoters” of growth and improvement and then implement these in their own communities. The spiritual and religious activities of Condoray are overseen by the Prelature of Opus Dei.

“The remarkable aspect of Condoray is that it is run by Peruvian women for Peruvian women,” Douros said. “These women know the needs of the people, they have lived it and are still living it. The leaders live in the communities and many of their children are very involved.”

The issues targeted are not projected by outsiders who do not fully understand the situation and this is why Condoray is so successful, Douros added.

Abercrombie. Hollister. Apple. BlackBerry. Nike. Starbucks. The invitation to consumerism is all around us, and living on a university campus doesn’t offer much help.

With government and provincial loans, students often feel like they have just won the lottery and can spend “their” money without a care in the world. As such, many post-secondary students graduate with high debt and financial woes.

TORONTO-“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This quote, from Mark 10:17, is the theme for World Youth Day 2010, and helped set the mood at the archdiocesan Palm Sunday event at St. Paul’s Basilica and St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto March 27.

Hosted by the Office of Catholic Youth and in its eighth year, the event consisted of about 30 volunteers, and averages around 400-500 participants annually.

The event began at St. Paul’s Basilica with praise and worship songs. Susan HooKong-Taylor and Ana Da Costa, who wrote and performed “Song of the Cross” for Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day 2002, delivered lively music for the crowd. Da Costa said it is “very hopeful that youth are gathered here today.”

After much clapping and joyful singing, Archbishop Thomas Collins delivered a catechesis on integrity, hypocrisy and reconciliation. Collins ended by answering the question that the theme poses, saying that to inherit eternal life we must live with integrity and show forgiveness to others.