Youth Speak News

My favourite holiday is Christmas and because I'm Ukrainian Catholic I celebrate it on Jan. 7 instead of Dec. 25.

{mosimage}Kayla Cornale has gone from being her younger cousin Lorena’s hero to hero in the eyes of the global community. The 17-year-old was featured on CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute aired live globally on Dec. 6 from the American Museum of Natural History in New York for creating a learning program using music to help autistic children communicate called Sounds into Syllables. 

One event that I always look forward to during the Advent season is the blessing of the Nativity scene at my parish, St. Justin Martyr in Unionville, Ont. Every year, before the lighting, parishioners gather outside, in front of the manger, to sing Christmas carols. The nativity scene is blessed with holy water and then lit. This is the true meaning of Christmas for me, as I get to congregate and celebrate the season with my fellow parishioners and my family and reflect on the Nativity. But other people might argue against that.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - Students, newly arrived refugees and guests chatted over platefuls of chicken, lasagna and vegetables inside St. Marcellinus Secondary School’s dimly lit auditorium while live piano music floated through the air. This was the scene during the fifth annual Christmas Refugee Dinner held Nov. 29.

Editor’s note: If you are scrambling for gift ideas during this third week of Advent let us assure you that there is an alternative to the cult of shopping mall madness. We challenge you to root through our free or inexpensive homemade last-minute gift ideas guide. Give with a social and ecological conscience in the spirit of Bishop St. Nicholas of Myra whose compassionate generosity, albeit twisted by our modern day consumer culture, points to a greater reality — the greatest gift of all: the coming of Jesus Christ.

Happy Advent
from the Youth Speak News Team

OTTAWA - Ottawa’s new archbishop looks forward to skating on the Rideau Canal, something he’s missed doing since studying at the University of Ottawa 37 years ago.

Last spring I trekked up to the University of St. Michael’s College to hear a presentation by Anna Halpine, founder of the World Youth Alliance (WYA). The story she told was absolutely inspiring. When it ended I introduced myself and asked how I could get involved.

TORONTO - “Twenty-four kids. Three faiths. One planet” is the slogan for Kids4Peace, a summer camp that aims to bring peace to the Middle East a dozen families at a time.

LimeWire, eMule, Morpheus, BitTorrent and iMesh are all free music downloading sites that young Canadians are all too familiar with.

Sometimes I think of myself as the candy man, or my place of work, the local pharmacy, as a candy store. Pills come in all colours, shapes and sizes and the druggist mixes them with love to make the world feel good. However sweet the job is I have developed a few cavities. 
 The thing that’s shocked me most is the amount of birth control and emergency contraception (morning after pill) that is literally handed out like candy to girls not even 15 years old.