This Month, Meet the Future
As this issue was about to go to press, I received a letter from a young man in our diocese. “I am 17,” he wrote, “and I am pursuing a vocation to the priesthood. As a teenager who is greatly involved with the church, I enjoy relating to other teens who enjoy the church as much as I do. The only problem is that you never see any in the public eye… I would like to see more of my peers talking about their experiences – in life, in the church, with Christ.”
I was happy to tell my correspondent that in fact our September issue would be dedicated to teens and their faith. In our cover story, for example, Catholic student-athletes discuss their quests for success on both the athletic and spiritual levels. Our guest columnist, an 18-year-old from Wilmington, writes about her dearest hopes as she moves on to college. And you’ll read about Technology Without Borders, the effort of several UNC-Chapel Hill students to bring computer education to a mission in Mexico.
In fact, our diocese is rich in teenagers who care and think deeply about their faith. Two of them, Elizabeth Penny and Lauren Schnepper, both from St. Ann Parish in Clayton, were winners in the annual essay contest sponsored by the Glenmary Home Missioners. They were asked to answer the question, “What is a missionary?” Describing experiences like helping her brother with physical therapy, making baby blankets for Raleigh’s Catholic Parish Outreach, and helping to re-roof a house on a mission trip to Murphy, NC, Penny quoted Mother Teresa: “We can do no great things – only small things with love.” And Schnepper wrote that the missionary experience is accessible to everyone: “All you have to do is believe and show others that you believe. Every day go out and live the way that God has asked us to, do simple acts of love, and do not speak harshly of others… Loving everyone and showing them the presence of God in your ife is enough to spread God’s word to everyone you meet.”
Two other young essayists, 8th graders at St. Paul Education Center in New Bern, were brought to my attention by St. Paul parishioner James Coneely. Ashley Schaefer and Anthony McLawhorn wrote about Respect for Life. In a wide-ranging look at life issues from chastity to euthanasia, Schaefer concludes, “Life is a valuable and delicate thing… By learning to respect myself, I learn to respect others.” And McLawhorn observes, “Different people have different treasures, but human life is the most precious one of all…God gave us such an amazing gift, and sometimes we throw it away like it is nothing.”
It is often and truly said that our Catholic youth are the future of our church. Judging by our essayists and by some of the teenagers you’ll read about this month, prospects for the church in Eastern North Carolina are bright.
Leading us into that future is our new shepherd, and the new Publisher of NC Catholics, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge. His inaugural column appears in this issue.
Thank you for your ongoing interest in NCC, and for your input. You can write me at 715 Nazareth Street, Raleigh, NC 27606 or reece@raldioc.org.