Youth Speak News

{mosimage}The overall picture of teens today is surprisingly positive — teens today are drinking less, smoking less and less inclined to bully each other than teens in the past 20 years — but when it comes to religion, the statistics might seem a little more puzzling, says Reginald Bibby , a sociologist from the University of Lethbridge in Alberta . A growing number of teens are less likely to identify themselves as religious, he said, but the percentage of teens attending weekly hasn’t changed.

“The thing that is concerning is the middle has dropped out,” he told The Catholic Register, referring to the group of teens who would have formerly said they weren’t sure if they believed in God, but attended church occasionally. “It’s as though Canadians just aren’t as ambivalent. It’s either yes or no and the pattern is very much the same in adults.”

{mosimage}Another school year has ended, but instead of spending my summer in Florida visiting friends and family, my destination this year is a little farther south — a rural village in the Andes mountains of Ecuador.

My journey to Ecuador actually began in January 2008 when, along with 11 other students from my school, I travelled to the Dominican Republic to build houses in a small, impoverished village. To say that spending a week without running water, electricity or cell phone service was life-altering is a bit of an understatement.

These days, it is not uncommon to find people complaining and brooding over a malfunctioning iPod or a misplaced flash drive. With our attachment to material things, either one of these minor problems could throw our entire day askew.

So, why is it that our possessions and technologies affect our happiness so much? When did we become so dependent on money and material? And when did we begin to get the notion that these things would bring us joy and satisfaction?

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Planning has begun in the Ottawa archdiocese to host the 2010 Youth Summit/Montée Jeunesse next May 21-24.

Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J.,  said he has great confidence in the direction the youth leaders will provide after a preliminary brainstorming session June 20. He noted the conference will takes place over Victoria Day weekend and coincides with Pentecost next year. It is expected to draw hundreds of youth up to age 35 to the nation’s capital.

Faith plays a central role in a lot of the decisions we make, including our career choices. Common questions we ask might include, “What brings meaning to my life?” or “What is God’s purpose for me on this Earth?”

Many youth want a job that enables them to live out their faith on a daily basis. But the challenge is not in finding a job that lets you live your faith but rather in enabling yourself to live your faith in any job. Ever since I graduated from high school, I have worked in a number of different jobs that have provided me with many experiences and growing pains. What I discovered along the way is that I like to help people and in doing so, I developed myself as a servant leader.

Recently, I was able to interview a family that was donating a large amount of money to a school in memory of their teenage son who died in a terrible car wreck in February. Tears came to the eyes of his father as soon as he stepped into the room to talk to me, and later, after they’d made their presentation, this couple held each other and cried in front of me and two teachers.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Two students from Blessed Mother Teresa High School in Scarborough got to follow in the footsteps of their school’s namesake this year as they joined nine other students in a trip to India.

The students visited missionary projects run by the Loretto Sisters and visited locations that had strong ties to Blessed Mother Teresa, who was a Loretto Sister before she founded the Missionaries of Charity. The first-time trip was made in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Lorettos.

{mosimage}Famille Marie Jeunesse will welcome 300 youth to join them for its 20th Youth Council — a bilingual weekend of prayer, skits, teachings and more, taking place June 26-29.

Famille Marie-Jeunesse is a movement of lay and consecrated young people living in community in Sherbrooke, Que. The community follows a Marian and eucharistic spirituality and is one of five similar households around the world.

{mosimage}TORONTO - L’Arche Canada has published a youth Bible study to inspire teens and help them find their calling in life.

Exploring Your Future: A Youth Bible Study with Jean Vanier aims to help teens counter the bad influences that can throw them off the path to success.

“The youth of today are the adults of tomorrow,” said Jessica Vorstermans, an educational initiatives facilitator for L’Arche Canada, based in Toronto.

It’s almost the end of June. Usually in a student’s mind this means the school year is coming to an end. I’ve often simply seen it this way until now, as this will be the last month of my high school career. I will never have to deal with hard-to-understand math teachers or the 12-minute run our gym teachers force us to do.

Yet, in some ways, no matter how nagging some of those memories are, they always seemed to bring a smile to my face and a good laugh with all my friends. But do the good times stop as soon as graduation is over? I hope not.