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.)
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