Teen SpiriT - A Celebration of Teen Talent & Christian Faith
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Reflections
“If you are still searching for your path in life, know that it’s ok to feel a little frustration. This is a marathon, not a sprint. God have made us for Himself and our hearts will always be restless until they find their rest in Him – our lives are a search for who we really are and when we find God we will find the answer." (Based on the writings of Nick Vujicic and St Augustine)
“God doesn’t love you if.... God loves you always. Remind yourself of that when feelings offailure,loneliness and despair come over you. Comparing yourself to others will only make you feel that you don’t measure up or worse still, make you feel better than others. God only wants your best effort, not perfection. You are you, loved by God, imperfect and beautiful." (Based on the writings of Nick Vujicic)
"Therefore, my advice to you friends is turn away from troubled and anxious reflection on your own progress, and think about the good things which God has done. In this way, instead of becoming upset by thinking about yourself, you will find peace and relief by turning your attention to God...." (St Bernard of Clairvaux)
"I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions, says the Lord." (Joel 2:28)
"It is one of life’s most humbling yet most uplifting and liberating experiences to make a good confession, taking the risk to expose your very weaknesses to God, only to be met with love, compassion, understanding, forgiveness and best of all, a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning."
"We all hope for a better world – in order to change the world around us we have to start with ourselves. Be the change you wish for others."
"Most of the time, what God seems to like is the small, the unexpected, the quiet, the ignored, those that the world cannot imagine could ever do anything of value. ..... In the ordinary life of Mary, the extraordinary takes place. When you follow Mary’s example, you will not go astray. When you pray to her, you will not despair. When your mind is on her, you will not wander. When she holds you up, you will not fall." (Based on the writings of Amy Welborn and St Bernard)
"Forgiven" by Sanctus Real
"Please help me Lord to see others as you see others; to see their needs and not just my own. Please help me to serve, to give, to live a life of love, that in giving generously, I will share your joy and know the truth, that it is more blessed to give." (Tony Bower)
Faith gives us an anchor in a raging sea, calm in the midst of chaos, vision to know right from wrong, and the courage to express it.
"To live without faith, without a heritage to defend, without battling constantly for truth, is not to live but to 'get along'; we must never just 'get along'." (Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati)
“Remember what plans I have in mind for you – plans for peace and not disaster – to give you a future and a hope. When you call to me, and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you search for me you will find me, when you search for me with your whole heart, I will let you find me.”
Jeremiah 29: 11-13
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Click to download pdf version of Be Yourself!
When she was asked to become the mother of the Messiah, Mary’s faith enabled her to give a humble and generous response.... Mary’s faith was frequently tested during the public life of Jesus, especially when she witnessed the rejection of her son. At the foot of the cross, her pilgrimage of faith had its moment of most severe testing. Mary continued to believe that, because Jesus was the Son of God, His sacrifice would bring salvation to humanity.
John Paul II
Jesus, I thank you for my friends.
Help me to see my friends with your eyes,
so I can see when they are hurting on the inside
even though they don’t show it on the outside.
And most of all, give me your heart
and your love for my friends
so that I could love them as you do. Amen
“But I ask you, is it better to be resigned to a life without ideals...or rather....to seek the truth, goodness, justice, working for a world that reflects the beauty of God, even at the cost of facing the trials it may involve?”
John Paul II
"So, do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10
Jesus told them this parable: one of you with a hundred sheep, if he lost one, would fail to leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the missing one till he found it? when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders then, when he got home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, I have found my sheep that was lost."
"Let no one disregard you because you are young, but be an example to all the believers in the way you speak and behave, and in your love, your faith and your purity."
“I know that you young people have great aspirations; that you want to pledge yourselves to build a better world. Let others see this, let the world see it, since this is exactly the witness that the world expects from the disciples of Jesus Christ; in this way, and through your love above all, the world will be able to discover the star that we follow as believers.”
Pope Benedict XVI
No hole too deep where He cannot reach you.
No mess you are in where He cannot get you out.
No thing you have done where He cannot forgive.
No life too bad where He cannot redeem.
No one too lost where He cannot find.
No pit of despair where His hope cannot touch.
No darkness too dark where His light cannot shine.
No hole too deep where He cannot reach.
Tony Bower
Just think, you’re not here by chance, but by God’s choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are.
He compared you to no-one else, you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that his grace cannot give you.
He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfil his special purpose for this generation.
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“No need to recall the past,
no need to think about what was done before.
See, I am doing a new deed,
even now it comes to light;
can you not see it?
Yes, I am making a road in the wilderness,
paths in the wild.”
"The future starts today, not tomorrow."
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us: It’s in everyone. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
There was a rebellious teenager who rejected his father’s upbringing.
Full of pride and and headstrong, the son heads-off to a far-away land,
leads a wild life of adventure, and squanders everything of value.
Not until he’s confronted with failure and despair, does he return home,
repentant and willing to do anything to win back his father’s favour.
To his surprise, and the surprise of others, he’s welcomed, without question, into his father’s loving and forgiving arms.
No amount of time, no amount of money, and no amount of rebellion could get in the way
of the father’s unconditional love for his returning son.
“…while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming.
Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. “
Quick! Bring the finest robe …. and put it on him.
Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet…..
We must celebrate….!”
