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It’s a global giveaway!
Life Teen plans first global service project
By Ambria Hammel, ahammel@catholicsun.org
September 18, 2008
Hundreds of Catholic teenagers will be cleaning out their closets this month before heading to Mass.
And no, their mothers didn’t make them do it.
They will be donating their spare clothes as part of Life Teen’s first global “Life Night.” The international Catholic ministry for high school students wants youth leaders to focus on social justice from a scriptural and practical standpoint.
Dubbed “Give It Away Now!” the evening of catechesis, prayer and fellowship will be in honor of St. Vincent de Paul, whose feast day is Sept. 27. The donations will go to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
“The hope is to tie this into ‘What does everyday charity look like?’” said Lisa Eperson, Life Teen’s resource director who wrote the night’s lesson. “What would it look like for us to really enact in a larger way, the corporal acts of mercy?”
The idea came from Mark Hart, Life Teen’s vice president and “Bible Geek,” who wanted to promote social justice and charity among youth. He longed for something tangible that the 1,100 parishes using the Life Teen program could do as a family.
Local youth leaders jumped on board with the idea.
“The cause itself is great and to help teens simplify their excess is good, too,” said Eric Porteous, coordinator of youth ministry at St. Patrick Parish in Scottsdale.
He expected some of the parish’s teenagers to really embrace the idea of giving away what they don’t use.
Craig Plenn, coordinator of youth ministry at St. Benedict Parish, also anticipated a positive response from his teens.
“We have some very good kids with very generous, giving hearts,” Plenn said.
Plenn expects St. Benedict teens to donate a couple of hundred pounds of clothing toward Life Teen’s 50,000-pound goal.
“Teens respond really well to service projects,” Eperson said.
However, some youth leaders agree that other teens won’t be as eager to accept the idea of less is more.
“I think some of the kids are going to be shocked by the teaching,” said L.J. Curley, who helps lead the St. Benedict teens. “I really love the emphasis that charity isn’t just about helping the poor, but about de-cluttering our lives so we open our hearts to God.”
The curriculum suggests emphasizing that point by creating an environment to look like a typical teenager’s messy room. The Church calls Catholics to poverty of spirit. Attachment to material goods prohibits union with God, the lesson says.
“Our lives are so full, so cluttered, that we rarely ever experience true need,” the curriculum continues. “Tonight is about getting rid of the excess so we can reconnect with our deepest need for God and in turn put the needs of others above our own.”
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