| Written by Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News,
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 OTTAWA - Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast’s first annual charity dinner raised more than $50,000 for youth ministry.
Proceeds from the sold-out Oct. 28 event will go to NET Ministries Canada, a program to evangelize high school age youth, and Famille Marie-Jeunesse (Family of Mary’s Youth), a new movement of lay and consecrated young people headquartered in Sherbrooke, Que.
Archbishop Terrence Prendergast said he hoped to see Famille Marie-Jeunesse expand to create a mission in Ottawa. Fr. Martin Proulx, the community’s leader, said he expected members to start evangelizing in francophone parishes after Christmas.
Prendergast is chairman of NET Ministries, which is headquartered in Ottawa. Every year, NET sends 70 young people to evangelize in parishes and high schools for a nine-month period. The ministry has expanded to 11 countries. The young NET evangelists touch the lives of an estimated 30,000 youth a year, said spokeswoman Lizanne Tourigny.
Prendergast, who had just returned from the Synod of the Word in Rome, said the renewed attention on sacred Scripture’s impact on the church’s life would have far-reaching effects.
“The Pope said evangelization needs greater commitment to the Bible,” the archbishop said, adding “such as we’ve heard tonight” from the young people who gave their testimonies at the dinner.
“Among the dangers on which he shed some light there is the ‘arbitrariness’ with which the Bible is used, the ways it is interpreted outside of the understanding of the church, subordinating it to ideologies and not the truth,” he said.
He encouraged young people to deepen their familiarity with the Bible to assist them in discerning their vocation in life.
“In the witness given this evening by young people associated with NET Canada and Famille Marie-Jeunesse, I think you will agree with me that the Lord is doing marvels in our midst and that this work has only just begun,” he said. “What we see here is the tip of the iceberg of what God is doing with young people throughout the world.”
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Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News |
| About the author: |
| Deborah Waters Gyapong has been a journalist and novelist for more than 20 years. She has worked in print, radio and television, including 12 years as a producer for CBC TV's news and current affairs programming. She currently covers religion and politics primarily for Catholic and Evangelical newspapers.
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