Youth Speak News

The typical image of poverty is often presented to us when we walk down a busy street. We see a man or woman holding a coffee cup, baseball cap or some other vessel to receive the pocket change of passers-by. 

Lockdowns brought upon by COVID-19 over the past 11 months have spawned a number of activities to keep peoples minds and spirits up.

Man’s search for God lies at the very core of the soul. So it comes as no surprise that God can be found in art that springs forth from that powerful place of divine recollection: music.

I couldn’t help but cry and scream as I saw a baby decapitated, dismembered and disemboweled 10 minutes into watching the movie Unplanned.

The year 2021 marks 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines and Filipino Catholics worldwide are joining to celebrate this milestone as the faith of a people that has endured.

Canada’s provincial and federal politicians essentially locked the country down again over Christmas because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Tightening restrictions intensified the dreariness, the darkness and coldness of a Christmas season in Canada. These limits on freedom were even instituted in communities that were faring well with flattening the pandemic’s curve.

While University of Toronto students are still closed off from campus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the institution’s interfaith book club is still coming together in an ecumenical spirit online.

Dinner table conversations at my house often turn to the fond reminiscing of the teenage life of my parents.

In a year when everything was virtually, uhhhh, virtual, Michael Paglia and his music students at All Saints Catholic Secondary School in Whity, Ont., were honoured for their contribution to this virtual reality. 

The new year has arrived, a time many seize as an opportunity to reset, make resolutions and start fresh. This year, I’m sure the question resonates with many around the world — could 2021 please be better than 2020?