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Teens answer call to stewardship through CDA
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
March 20, 2008
It’s not only adult Catholics who are answering the call to stewardship through the annual Charity and Development Appeal; a growing number of teenagers are, too.
Some of this youthful response is a direct result of one teen, Mary Elizabeth Zabilski. The 16-year-old has been donating her time to help those less fortunate since she was 5.
Zabilski, whose parents are co-chairing the 2008 CDA, wanted to motivate her peers to embrace stewardship through the appeal and spoke on the subject at the Southwest Youthfest March 7 in Glendale.
“I am here today because I believe that being a steward is what I was created to do and I hope that by sharing this with you, you too will respond to your call,” Zabilski said.
She challenged 4,000 of her peers to volunteer or pray for CDA-funded organizations that support the community’s homeless, unborn and others in crisis. Zabilski told the teens they could also support the appeal with both prayer and financial contributions.
“She can speak with credibility about stewardship because her own life is full of gratitude for Christ’s love and equally full of generosity in sharing that good news through word and deed,” Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said.
Zabilski said that her years serving an evening meal to some of the Valley’s homeless as a volunteer clearly helped them, but they also helped her become more Christ-like. They taught Zabilski the virtues of respect, gratitude, patience, humility and love.
She remembers a few years ago serving the food line on taquito night. There were more people than taquitos.
“A homeless boy, probably half my age, was so eager to share his favorite dinner with a woman that he didn’t even know,” Zabilski said. “I learned from him that we really are meant to share everything with others, no matter what it is that we have.”
MaryBeth Mueller, executive director of the Division of Education and Evangelization, agreed. Mueller said the widow’s mite is a good parable for the teens to embrace.
“She didn’t have much, but she graciously shared what she had. That is what we are asking of our students,” Mueller said.
Following Zabilski’s lead, Mueller created an easy way for Catholic high school students to share what they have.
Students enrolled in a theology class received CDA donor and prayer cards in the days following the youth festival. Hundreds of teens filled out pledge cards in the first week.
The result isn’t surprising. Mueller already sees students living out their call to stewardship through service projects in their social justice classes.
“From those who are richly blessed, much is expected,” Mueller said. “Our students are wonderful about sharing through a variety of projects and time.”
Monica Gallagher, a senior at Bourgade Catholic High School, committed part of her prayer time to the CDA before she was handed a pledge card in class. She was among at least 35 teens who filled out a CDA pledge card through her youth group at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.
Jen Pitera, Gallagher’s youth minister, showed the CDA video during a meeting. Then she asked the students to choose an organization they saw in it and commit to praying for that group throughout the next year.
“I didn’t really realize how much it affected my community,” Gallagher said of the CDA.
She was most familiar with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul because fellow Bourgade students volunteer in one of its dining rooms weekly. Some are in the video, so Gallagher is praying for those who work and volunteer there.
“Your prayer is a powerful tool in helping this work,” Pitera told the youth group. It accounted for half of the prayer pledges the cathedral submitted to the CDA.
The teens who have responded to the CDA so far did so for more than just a class or youth group initiative. The students are answering God’s call to stewardship as outlined in “Stewardship and Teenagers: The Challenge of Being a Disciple.”
The U.S. bishops approved the document in November. It describes stewardship as doing something for others even through small acts of kindness.
“You are in a unique position to reach out to your peers and share with them the unconditional love of God,” the American bishops wrote. That can be through an encouraging word, a pat on the back or a helpful hand, the document said. Each action brings “joy and relief to another.”
Bishop Olmsted already sees local teens putting their faith into practice through prayer, gratitude and service in the parish and community.
“We see this in the many service projects they fulfill in our parishes and communities, in their eagerness to serve at Mass and to pray for an end to abortion,” the bishop said.
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