Teen Talk
March 15, 2011
“Teen talk” is a series focusing on young people. In collaboration with the Office of Youth Ministry of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, members of the Youth Ambassadors of Christ (the Archdiocesan Youth Council) are asked to answer one question. The answers offer a chance for these youth to highlight aspects of their own faith in their own words.
This week's question: “What is the most important lesson your family has taught you about God?”
Jacqueline Jaramillo, St. Luke the Evangelist Parish
This isn’t necessarily my favorite scripture but I came across it the other day and it really made me think. This is a quote from Jeremiah 17:9, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things...” As teenagers we are faced with the challenges of peer pressure and the ways of the world. We want to have boyfriends [or] girlfriends to hang out with, call or text. We want someone to talk to. The world and society tells us to follow our heart but God is telling us to lead our hearts to Him. If we give our hearts completely to Him, then He will bring us the love and joy we all need. Our most important task as teenagers is to guard our hearts and the only way we can successfully do that is by giving ourselves completely to God and letting him dwell in our heart. We have to continue to resist the temptations and pressures of the modern world and remain faithful to God and our Catholic faith.
E. Desmond Taylor, St. Mary of the Purification Parish
Ephesians 1:16-17, “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” This is my favorite scripture because there are so many people who have helped me in my life. Many men and women of my parish, neighbors, family and friends have been there to support me. As a teen it has been important for me to have people to support me, I have been blessed to: attend Catholic Schools where teachers and counselors supported me; [be] selected to the Archdiocesan Youth Council where I have worked with other Catholic teens and adults who love God and His teachings; and serve as Junior Supreme Knight of the Knights of Peter Claver, where I have met many Catholic youth who are trying to make a difference in our community. I am thankful for all the people God has placed in my life.
Jacob Kucherka, Sacred Heart Parish (Rosenberg)
My favorite scripture passage is John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.”
It just reminds me how much God loves us that He would give us His own Son so that we can be saved. It’s just my favorite remembrance of God. †