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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1987)
Page 4 • Foith Today ON PILGRIMAGE' “Jesus looks with love upon every hum an being. . . My wish for each of you is that you may discover this look of Christ and experience it...I think that it will happen when you need it most.... When everything would make us doubt ourselves and the meaning of our life, then this look of Christ, the awareness of 3the love that in him has shown itself more powerful than any evil and destruction, this awareness enables us to survive.” (Pope John Paul II in his 1985 apostolic letter to the world’s youth) What kind of a conversation can adults and teens hope to have about Jesus? Some people experience pangs of apprehension and nervousness when it comes to speaking openly with teen-agers about the role of Jesus in life today. They fear, perhaps, that the teen-agers will regard them as “too religious.” Or they doubt their ability to carry on such a conversation well. _ Jesus may be at the center of Christian faith. But when should he be introduced as a topic of con versation among teens? It is interesting to note that wherever Pope John Paul II goes on his world pilgrimages, he in troduces Jesus as the topic of con versation when he is with teen agers. How does he do this? In 1985 the pope wrote a letter to the youth of the world. In it he meditated at length on the en counter between a young man and Jesus in the Gospels. The young man, who had many possessions, had come to Jesus to ask how to attain eternal life (Mark 10:17-31). All the words of this gospel story are important for young peo ple, the pope said. “One can say that these words contain a par ticularly profound truth about man in general and, above all, the truth about youth.” At one point, the pope express ed this wish for youth: that they would one day experience what the gospel story about the young man means “when it says: ‘Jesus, looking upon him, loved him.’” This “loving look of Christ con tains, as it were, a summary and synthesis of the entire good news,” the pope added. This “look” of Jesus is reveal ing. It is a look that affirms the human person in a way that only Jesus Christ can do, the pope said. “Only he ‘knows what is in every man.’ He knows man’s weakness, but he also and above all knows his dignity.” People need this look of love by Jesus, Pope John Paul told the world’s youth. People need to know that they are loved, “loved eternally and chosen from eternity.” Moreover, he added, this look of love, and the awareness it brings that one is loved, “becomes a solid support for our whole human existence.” f^9«9*9*9*9»9*9»9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9*9 CHILDREN S PLAGE A model for youth By Janaan Manternach NC News Service D ominic Savio was born in 1842 in a small town near the large Italian city of Turin. Both his parents work ed to support their 10 children. Dominic’s father, Carlo, worked as a blacksmith, shaping metal in to things like horseshoes and keys. His mother, Birgitta, was a seamstress. As a boy, Dominic helped his parents at home and in the blacksmith shop. He learned from them how Catholics live and pray. Dominic was a strong child. He walked to and from the country school five miles from home. After school he did chores for his parents and then his homework before playing. When Dominic graduated from the country school, his father took him to Turin to meet a famous priest, Don Bosco, who directed the Turin Oratory, one of Crossword Puzzle ACROSS 1. One of Italy's best schools. 2. Dominic visited the and poor. 3. Dominic stopped many the best schools in Italy. He ad mitted Dominic as a student. Don Bosco today is remembered as St. John Bosco. Dominic and Don Bosco became close friends. Dominic could talk over any problem with this understanding priest and Don Bosco challenged his young friend to grow. He encouraged Dominic to be friendly and helpful to everyone. Dominic made friends easily. His cheerfulness attracted the other students to him. He had a gift for understanding their pro blems and cheering them up when they were down. Dominic’s classmates admired him because he was honest and brave. He wouldn’t lie, cheat or steal. He was a peacemaker, stop ping many arguments and fights. He stood up to bigger boys who tried to bully him and his friends. There were many teen-age gangs in Turin. They tried to force Dominic and his friends to join them in stealing and hurting inno cent people. He never gave in to their threats. Dominic organized his friends into a group that would try to do as much good as the gangs were doing evil. He chose Mary as their patroness. Members promised to be helpful, to pray and to become leaders in sports, studies and Catholic living. Dominic’s concern for others reached outside the school, too. He went with Don Bosco to visit the sick and poor. When he was 15, he became very sick, perhaps with tuberculosis. Don Bosco decided Dominic should go home until he recovered and became strong again. But Dominic never returned to the Oratory. He died at home a short time later. Not long after Dominic died, Don Bosco wrote a biography of his young friend. Pope Pius X in 1914 called Dominic a model for young people. In 1954, Pope Pius XII canonized Dominic a saint. St. Dominic Savio’s feast is March 9- (Ms. Manternach is the author of catechetical works, scripture stories and original stories for children.) DOWN 4. Dominic's friend, now o soint. 5. Large Italian city near Dominic's birthplace. 6. Pope Pius X called him a model for What do you think? □ What was it about Dominic Savio that attracted his classmates to him? What did he do with his friends to help improve his town? From the bookshelf Perhaps what is deepest in young people is longing. They yearn for what already exists, as well as what one day might come about for them. In the book Nineteen Hats, Ten Teacups, an Empty Bird cage and the Art of Longing, by Cooper Edens, longing is presented as a desirable quality. Visually and poetically, the words and pictures of the book take readers into the experience of “longing.” This is an easy book to read because it is simple and appeals to the imagina tion. (The Green Tiger Press, San Diego, Calif. 92101. 1986. Paper back, $8.95.) 4»noX - 9 upnj. g odsoq y :umoq sjq6« c >P!S Z tJoioiQ ' k :ssoj3y — S»3/NSNV
