Youth Speak News

TORONTO - Fifteen hundred students at St. John Paul II Catholic Secondary School cheered excitedly during a 2013 assembly to welcome students back to school after a long summer vacation.

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Most people think education is a rather simple process: you go to high school and graduate, then move on to college and graduate, and ultimately find a job and start living your life. However, it often isn’t that straightforward.

Some are searching, some have found and some are sharing God’s love in a story that follows the apparently separate lives of a dozen people until they collide — literally — and their eyes are opened to the power of Christ’s cross.

“Some people are starving around the world,” I used to say to myself, when an unfinished meal was thrown away. In the couple times I let this comment slip to other friends, the response was usually the same.

“It’s not like I can send them my food,” or “It’s my meal, I can do what I want with it,” both of which are valid points.

LONDON, Ont. - Despite the winter winds howling outside, youth ministry specialist Dan Moynihan and his team are busy preparing to welcome hundreds of high school students to camp this summer.

One of the hardest things about moving to a small town is integrating into the community. After my last column was published, I was offered a job in northeastern Alberta and found myself moving to the town of St. Paul. It’s the centre of the diocese and at approximately 6,000 people it’s the smallest municipality I’ve ever called home.

Editor’s note: Robert Adragna, a 16-year-old student at Toronto’s Bishop Allen Academy, spent his Christmas break experiencing the beauty of Antarctica through the Students on Ice Antarctic Youth Expedition. Here he shares insights on his journey to the final southern frontier and how it relates to our Creator.

Antarctica — the vast, white, mysterious continent at the farthest reaches of the southern hemisphere. Some see it as a land of untamed wilderness, others as a land of science and research. To me, the meaning of Antarctica transcends the boundaries of our physical world. It is a living testament to God’s almighty presence on Earth and a symbol of our obedient but benevolent relationship with Him.

“What are you?”

That is a great question — and it is not one that I am asked much. Honestly, I am glad people do not ask this of me often, because I rarely know what people want to know when they ask.

TORONTO - Adrian Durlej, 17, was handing out toys, toiletries and food to underprivileged children in the Philippines over the Christmas holidays when one child’s choice fuelled Durlej’s passion for helping others.