Catholic Teens - November 1, 2005

Hey All--
Today we celebrate All Saints Day. Why a day for All the Saints? How many
days are there in a year? 365....and how many saints are there? A lot more
then 365! So we have a day, a Holy Day, to remember and celebrate all the
saints in heaven. It's a good reminder to us that they are there to inspire
us and pray for us--and again that we are never alone!
Tomorrow we celebrate All Souls Day. The annual day set aside to pray for
our deceased brothers and sisters in Christ. We do this out of love and
charity. Some ask, why pray for the dead? If they’re in heaven, they
certainly don’t need our prayers, and if they are in hell, well, no amount
of prayer will help. So why pray for them? The answer is the age-old
Catholic teaching on Purgatory, the place where all those who have chosen to
follow Christ, but fallen short, i.e. died with the stain of sin on their
soul, go on their way to Heaven. Purgatory is that place of purification
people pass through, in order to be made worthy of Heaven, to see the face
of God. For nothing impure can exist in Heaven. (Rev 21:27 "…nothing
unclean will enter it [heaven].")Spirit.
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Question of the Week!
"What is a Novena? Please explain."
-Ok...I will :-) "Novena" is Latin for the number 9. It's a tradional
method of prayer. You pray for something or ask a saint's intercession for
some particular intention for 9 days. And on the 10th, you look for the
answer. It dates back to the Apostles. After Jesus ascended into Heaven,
what did His Apostles do? They went back to the upper room and prayed--and
prayed some more, waiting for the Holy Spirit Jesus had promised to send
them. After 9 days, the Holy Spirit came, we celebrate this day as
Pentecost.
There are formal Novena prayers. Check out <www.ewtn.com> for a bunch of
them. Or you can make up your own words and pray if for nine consecutive
days. My wife and I prayed several Novena's to St. Joseph asking for God's
guidance as were dating each other--trying to discern whether God was
calling us to marriage. I'd say it worked out pretty well :-)

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Upcoming Events:
-St. Peter's Youth Group for 8th Grade and up--meets 1st
Sunday of each month from 630-800PM. Next meeting is this Sunday,
November 6th!
God bless you!
Phil Lawson
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may
live as you wish." --Mother Teresa