Faithful Magazine - September 08

Faithful

SEPTEMBER 08

NEW MAG FOR CATHOLIC GIRLS

Faithful - Spreading the Faith Welcome to the first ever copy of Faithful magazine! This mag aims to help Catholic girls and perhaps other Christian girls in their faith as well as being an interesting read.

This mag is free to download and I do not ask for any donations at all. I just want to spread the faith and share the message. So please tell everyone you know who might be interested and help spread the word!

Thank you, Anna xx

Contents 3 - About the editor 4 - Prayer? Boring?

5 - Lonely 6 - Fun Stuff 7 - Saint Space 8 - Zacchaeus 10 - Books 11 - ABC Saint Wordsearch

12 - You are beautiful

13 - Flying Dove

15 - Do you spend enough time with God?

16 - Footprints in the Sand

17 - Abortion 18 - Saving Santa Maria School

22 - Famous people

of the Old Testament Quiz

23 - Purity 24 - A Teenager prayer

25 - Answers

This Magazine is available for free download from the website http://www.faithfulmagazine.webs.com You can subscribe to our mailing list to make sure you never miss an issue. Please feel free to email me using the contact form on the website if you have any ideas for the mag or comments about it.

2

About the editor s f e i l e B My

Hi! My name’s Anna and I live in the United Kingdom.

I’m 13 years old and about to enter Year 9 (Eighth Grade in the US) this September. I’ve been a Catholic all my life, but it’s only in the past 2 or 3 years that I’ve really gotten to know Christ and grow in my faith. I do not pretend to be an expert on the Catholic faith, but I am just doing my best to spread the faith and keep it alive.

I decided to make this magazine because I could not find a Catholic girls’ magazine in the UK.

I’m just going to outline a few things I feel strongly about here as there is not much space. I think abortion is murder and life is sacred with no exceptions for God made us all. I believe having sex before marriage is wrong. I believe in all that the Catholic church teaches and try to stay true to this. This magazine will probably reflect my beliefs a fair bit.

Likes Reading ! ! !

Computing !

Maths! !

!

Dislikes

Cheese!

! !

Cooking

!

Emailing

!

Pink

!

Marmite! !

!

!

!

!

!

!

lemon

!

!

!

Listening to Music ! !

English! ! ! ! ! Typing! ! ! ! ! !

Website design French! !

Purple

Tomatoes

!

Church

3

!

!

!

Oranges

Swearing

Licorice !

Lots of People

? r e y Pra Boring?

Rememb er to liste n as well a s talk wh en you pray as God may be t ryin you some g to tell thing too !

You may be thinking prayer is boring or you may be thinking no, I love praying to God. Well, to you folks who think it’s boring I’m here to help you see how to make it into something more and to those of you who think it’s great already why not stick around - you may find out something new and get some new ideas. can physically see God we if as t no it’s e us ca be rd Prayer can be ha s r here are some ideas and tip ve we Ho e. fac to e fac him to and talk to get you started. ve to make it into something When you pray you don’t ha words. Just say what you fancy with long old-fashioned to set aside some time a ide od go It’s ! rry wo n’t do feel and distractions, but that doesn’t each day to pray without any y other time of the day. an at d Go to k tal n’t ca u yo mean ing more often are: Some easy ways to start pray d for keeping you safe ★ At the start of the day thank Go another day for you to ng idi ov pr d an ht nig the g rin du enjoy. offer up a quick ★ When you are enjoying yourself or in your head to thank prayer perhaps in a whisper God. like to change such ★ If you see something you would ietly ask God to change the as a person suffering just qu in need. situation and help the person s nds you could think of any sin ha ur yo ing sh wa are u yo n ★ Whe God to wash them away just k as d an tly en rec d itte mm you have co dirt on your hands. as you are washing away the d for bringing you through ★ At the end of the day thank Go another day.

4

Abbie sat down in the corner of the lunch hall and opened up her packed lunch.

She glanced around her at all the happy faces. Children laughing and joking with their friends. She thought about how she had used to do just that until recently. Abbie had been part of a group of friends, but then they just started to ignore her and she was left on her own. Because Abbie had always been part of the group she hadn’t really known anyone else she could be friends with.

“Hey! What’s your name?” Abbie was shaken out of her thoughts as she looked up and saw a girl she had never seen before standing in front of her.

“Umm... Hi, I’m Abbie. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before...”

“No, you probably wouldn’t have, I’m Leah and I’m new to this school. I spotted you sitting on your own over here and I thought you looked a bit lonely.”

“Well, yeah I s’pose I am really, my friends just kind of deserted me.”

“Oh, that’s terrible. D’you wanna talk about it? I mean I can see you’re upset about it.” Leah said as she sat down next to Abbie.

“Yeah, I do really. Thanks.” So Abbie started to relate how she had always been friends with these three girls, Jess, Grace and Lucy, when suddenly, a few days ago, they had started to blank her and almost refused to talk to her.

Leah listened carefully until Abbie was finished. Finally she said, “They really were mean to you.” Then after a pause she asked, “Do you believe in God?”.

“Kind of I suppose,” replied Abbie, “but what has that got to do with this?”

“God has everything to do with this!”

“But how? And why did he make this happen to me?”

Lonely itor)

By Anna (the Ed

“There is always a reason why God would want us to do something, we just have to trust him.”

“I still don’t get it...”

“Well, maybe God didn’t want you to be friends with them because they were a bad influence and he wanted you to make some new friends.”

“Yeah maybe, but I still don’t really understand God would make people suffer or allow people to kill each-other.”

“God doesn’t make suffering but he sometimes allows it to happen, but only because he intends to bring good from it.

Evil is usually caused by our free choices.”

“Are you a Christian then?”

“Yep. I’m a Catholic.”

“Huh? You just said you’re a Christian then you say you’re a Catholic.”

“Yes, a Catholic is a type of Christian.

However, not all Christians are Catholics.

There are also Protestants who are then split up into many different groups, including Baptist, Methodist, Church of England, Congregationalist.”

“Oh so how do I know which one is best for me?”

“It’s best to find out more about each different denomination first. Wanna come to the library?”

“Sure!”

Abbie followed Leah to the school library and they spent the rest of the lunch break reading about the different types or denominations of Christianity. After reading about it, Abbie agreed to accompany Leah to her church on Sunday.

Fiction

5

f u f F

u n

S

t

Guess the Saint

Jokes!

See if you can guess who the saint is using the 4 clues below.

rents? please his pa in a C ’t n ld u Why co ’t Abel.

He just wasn

Clues: 1. This saint was martyred when she was only 13 years old.

2. This saint made a promise to God never to stain her purity.

3. This saint was killed because she refused to marry.

ely to was most lik t e h p ro p h ic Wh t lenses? wear contac (Isaiah) “Eyes – aiah”

4. This saint was still happy even as she was going to her death.

ter test baby-sit a re g e th is Who the Bible? mentioned in ery deep Goliath to a v d e k c ro e H .

David sleep.

So do you think it is... ☐ St. Agnes ☐ St. Maria Goretti ☐ St. Philomena ☐ St. Therese of Lisieux

first aspirin?

Who had the . d two tablets Moses. He ha

(answer on next page)

Women of the Bible Anagrams Unscramble the letters to find the names of twelve women from the Bible.

Answers on Page 25 Uthr

Aratm

Adboher

Serteh

Ryma

Rahatm

Anhnha

Hrasa

Libeseath

Ragha

Bilagai

Ianom

6

Saint Space The answer to Guess the Saint is... St.

Agnes!

About St. Agnes

St. Agnes was only a young girl of 13 when she was martyred for her faith. She is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape victims and virgins.

Agnes had made a promise to God, to never stain her purity.

She loved the Lord very much and hated sin even more then death! Many young men wanted to marry Agnes because she was very beautiful. She would always reply “Jesus Christ is my only Spouse.”

The Governor’s son, Procop, was very angry when she refused to marry him. He tried to get her to marry him by giving her rich gifts and promises, but she kept saying, “I am already promised to the Lord of the Universe. He is more splendid then the sun and the stars, and He has said he will never leave me!” Procop accused her of being a Christian and took her to his father, the Governor. The Governor promised to give Agnes wonderful girls if she would only deny God, she refused. He put her in chains to try and change her mind, but her beautiful face shone with joy. Next, he sent her to a place full of sin, but an angel protected her. At last, she was condemned to death. Even the pagans did not want to see such a lovely young girl going to her death.

However, Agnes was as happy as a bride on her wedding day. She took no notice of the people who begged her to deny God and save herself. “I would offend my Spouse,” she said, “if I were to try to please you. He chose me first and He shall have me!" Then she prayed and bowed her head for the death-stroke of the sword.

Her feast day is January 21.

7

Zacchaeus

By Tanja Cilia It was a cool, crisp, spring morning in Jericho, a beautiful town that lay in the valley of the River Jordan, right between the river and the hills.

Sometimes, he minded that his fellow Jews did not really like him, but at other times he was not worried at all, just as long as he had the money to buy the things he wanted. After all, money, not friendship, was the more important thing in his life.

There was a smell of baking in the air; the women were already making bread for breakfast, and everyone else was yawning, stretching, and getting out of bed.

“I’m so excited!” said Zacchaeus to himself. He knew that on that very special day, Jesus, the person they called The Prophet of Nazareth, was going to pass through his town, on His way to Jerusalem.

Zacchaeus, whose name means pure, clean, just, and righteous, was very very short. So he realized that to be able to see Jesus, he had to leave his house early, because otherwise with people standing in front of him, this would be impossible.

Like everybody else, he had heard about Jesus, and what a good man this person from Galilee was. But there was something else that made him curious. He had heard that Matthew, one of the disciples of Jesus, was a publican like himself. He wondered how it was possible for a rich man to be a disciple of someone who didn’t even have a house of his own, and who owned only the clothes on his back. “How could a publican live without money, and lots of it?” he wondered.

He kept asking himself questions like this as he huffed and puffed and bustled his way towards the main road, from where Jesus was going to pass.

So he had some breakfast and put on his best clothes and the special cloak that had cost a lot of money, and his new leather sandals. Zacchaeus was a rich man, and so he could afford the best of everything. He probably had the best house in the street, and ate the best food that money could buy.

Zacchaeus did not have many friends.

This is because he worked for the Romans, and the Jews did not like either the Romans or the people who worked for them.

Jericho was a very important town, because anyone who wanted to go to the Big City had to pass through it. So people like Zacchaeus, who worked for the Romans, made a lot of money. They were called publicans. They collected the tax from the people who used the toll gates, and the people who lived in Jericho, but they also asked for more money than they were supposed to, and kept it for themselves.

“Oh! Bother!” he exclaimed, as he saw the crowds that had already gathered.

Even though he was an important man – or so he thought of himself, at least – nobody was willing to give up his position at the edge of the street, to let him though and stand in the front. And Zacchaeus knew that he was so short that he could never, ever, catch a glimpse of Jesus on that day, even if he stood on tiptoes.

He did not want to ask people who lived along the main roads for permission to look out of their windows – he was sure they would not let him do so. So he nearly returned home with a sad heart. But suddenly, he thought of something.

“I have a brilliant idea!” he exclaimed, as he struck his forehead. “I know what I’ll do; I will climb a tree and see his from there. I will satisfy my curiosity and see what all the fuss about this man Jesus is about! He must be a special person, to have so many followers leave everything and follow him!”

Zacchaeus loved his money, and the more he collected, the better he felt.

8

So the short man bunched up his robe and his cloak, not minding that he was creasing the expensive fabric.

Jesus stopped talking. He stood right beneath the branch where Zacchaeus was, and looked up. He said, “Zacchaeus, come down! I want to eat at your house today!”

Zacchaeus gulped, and nearly fell out of the tree in his excitement.

He started climbing a sycamore tree and the people looked at him and laughed, passing silly comments about him.

“He knows my name! How can this be?” he wondered, and almost slid down the branches in his hurry to get closer to Jesus.

Now the sycamore tree is a big tree, and at the time it was a very important tree because the poor people used to gather its fruit and eat it, and some people even used to boil the leaves and eat them like we would eat lettuce or cabbages.

Some of the people were angry when this happened, because they thought that Jesus should not go into the house of someone who worked for the Romans. They muttered nasty things about Zacchaeus, and said that he did not deserve to have Jesus as his guest. They did not even think of being happy about how Jesus was actually going to stop at their town, rather than just passing through.

Poor Zacchaeus! He snagged his clothes on the branches of the tree as he climbed, and scratched his arms and his legs on the twigs as he tried to find a comfortable perch from where to look out for Jesus.

“He’s coming!” exclaimed Zacchaeus, when he saw people’s heads turning, and heard an excited babble of voices. And indeed, Jesus and His followers were walking leisurely along the street, talking amongst themselves. Although he had never seen Him before, Zacchaeus could immediately make out which one of them was Jesus. Although he was dressed in a simple robe like all the others, He had regal dignity and bearing, like a King. Now he realized what Matthew saw in Jesus!

Many people grumbled because they thought they deserved to have Jesus in their house more than Zacchaeus did. They all thought he was a bad man because he stole money from others. But Jesus did not judge, accuse, or criticize Zacchaeus. He just invited himself over for lunch.

Zacchaeus felt special. He had been singled out by Jesus, from the hundreds of people present. He bustled along the street, holding his head up high, with Jesus by his side, to show everybody that he was the special friend of this special person.

Zacchaeus fixed his eyes on Jesus.

This person was special; you could tell that just by looking at him. Zacchaeus wanted to reach out and touch Jesus, and he wanted to follow Him like all the others were doing.

But that would mean giving up all his money, and his lovely house, and all his things, and Zacchaeus did not want to do that. His mind and his heart were telling him different things, and he was feeling so mixed up.

Now Zacchaeus was sure of what he had to do. He turned to Jesus, and in front of all the people, he said to Him “Lord, right now I am promising you that I am going to give half of my belongings to the poor.

Jesus reached the sycamore tree where Zacchaeus was hiding between the branches. He stopped, “What’s happening?” people began asking one another, “Is the Master tired? Does he want to sit down?

Does he want a drink of water? Shall we fetch him something to eat?”

9

But that’s not all. If I have cheated anyone by taking more taxes that I ought to have done, I will give them back four times as much as I took extra from them. I promise you this, Jesus…”

Jesus smiled calmly and said, “Salvation has come into this house today, because Zacchaeus is also a Son of Abraham, because the Son of Man came to look for the lost, and to save them.”

Books I love reading and as I have become closer to the Lord I have tried to get books which will enhance my relationship with him not destroy it. Here are some I would recommend.

Did Adam & Eve have Belly Buttons? And 199 other questions from Catholic teenagers.

By Matthew Pinto This book contains 200 questions and answers for the young catholic about different aspects of the Catholic faith. The questions come from Catholic young people from throughout the US. Although this book is written for specifically teenagers it is for people of all ages who want to learn more about the Catholic faith.

The Giver

by Lois Lowry At the age of twelve, Jonas, a young boy from a seemingly utopian, futuristic world, is singled out to receive special training from The Giver, who alone holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life.

Dark Blue: Color Me Lonely

by Melody Carlson When Jordan starts to make new, more popular friends, Kara feels totally burned by her former best friend's icy rejection. These dark blue days are almost more than she can take, until she makes a life-changing discovery. To get there, however, Kara must make some major choices about who and what she's going to believe in and if she'll ever trust anybody - including God - ever again.

10

An ABC of Saints

By Tanja Cilia Hidden in the grid below are the names of 27 Saints, which all begin with the letters A, B or C. Find them by searching in 8 directions. Answers on Page 25.

AARON ADAM ALBERT ANNE BARBARA BERNADETTE BRIAN CECILIA CORNELIUS

ABIGAIL ADELA AMELIA ANSELM BENEDICT BERNARD CARLA CEDRIC CRISPIN

ABRAHAM AGNES ANGELA ANTHONY BENJAMIN BEVERLEY CATHERINE CLEMENTINE CYRUS

C

K

S

N

C

V

A

D

A

B

Q

B

T

E

A

A

O

N

Y

E

R

I

A

R

E

N

T

W B

L

D

T

E

I

A

C

R

L

N

Q

T

C

L

R

E

E

M H

N

M B

I

E

E

E

W O

I

A

G

L

L

R

E

A

A

D

L

D

M M R

A

H

N

A

E

C

R

R

I

J

A

I

V

A

N

G

A

A

B

S

A

A

C

I

N

N

C

A

D

E

I

M

L

S

N

M T

U

R

N

E

E

R

A

L

B

N

R

V

A

L

B

E

R

T

E

N

B

W I

A

N

A

A

I

M B

A

N

T

H

O

N

Y

U

M C

C

C

L

E

M E

N

T

I

N

E

A

S

N

Z

Y

E

L

R

E

V

E

B

N

I

P

S

I

R

C

Y

V

D

C

I

R

D

E

C

A

G

N

E

S

Z

C

Y

R

U

S

W S

T

J

N

O

R

A

A

Y

N

A

I

R

B

Z

C

A

J

E

S

X

T

D

T

11

A

you are beautiful Today we are bombarded with images of super-thin ‘perfect’ women. We are told we do not look good enough and we must change the way we look. However the Bible tells us we need to look at appearance differently. God says you are beautifully and wonderfully made.

God does not look at our outward appearance, but at our hearts just as he says in 1 Samuel, chapter 16, verse 7: “God does not see as man sees; man looks at appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

God says true beauty is to be found in your character, your kindness and your love for him.

Put your beauty on the inside where it will last as it says in 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 3-4: “Do not dress up for show: doing up your hair, wearing gold bracelets and fine clothes; all this should be on the inside, imperishable: the ornament of a sweet and gentle disposition this is what is precious in the sight of God.” This means you should not spend all your time making your outward appearance look good, but improve your inner qualities as well.

However this does not mean you cannot make yourself look good. It is okay to wear a bit of makeup if you would like to and do you hair so it looks good. This should not be done though, just to get attention and attract boys.

When you do attend to your outer appearance think about you inside as well. Is it as beautiful as your outside? If the answer is no think about how you can improve it. Do you need to kinder or more generous towards others? Do you love others as you love yourself?

12

Flying Dove

By Tanja Cilia

IN THE TIME of Kang Hsi, one of the early Ching Emperors, in the quiet village of Wanhsien, lived a charming little girl whose name translates as Flying Dove.

She was a lonely little girl; since she walked with a limp, none of her peers wanted to play with her because she could not run fast enough to keep up with them.

So one lovely spring day, Flying Dove decided to start making herself useful by going to the river to fetch water for all those people in the village who had no one else to do it for them. She was going to start doing this by means of two large clay urns hung at either end of a yoke she would carry on her shoulders.

Flying Dove’s family was very poor, and so her parents appreciated the fact that sometimes, the people whom she helped used to give her a piece of fruit, or a handful of rice, or an egg, to thank her for her aid.

One of Flying Dove’s jars had a tiny, hairline crack down the side; but there was nothing she could do about it, because her family could not afford to get it mended. So she always lost some of the water on her way back, because since she limped, and the water was heavy, it sloshed about, and it took her a long time to return to her village. But nobody minded, just as long as they had enough water in which to cook.

With her conical hat pulled well down in order to protect her from the sun, Flying Dove made the journey to the river and back about five times a day. Everybody was amazed that such a fraillooking girl had such stamina.

When the next spring came around, Flying Dove realised that something beautiful had happened.

13

On the left side of the path leading towards her village from the river, there was a profusion of flowers in all the colours of the rainbow. Breathless, she hurried home to tell her mother about the beautiful sight.

Her mother, usually such a sad person, clapped her hands with joy for the first time in years, and all the people in the village came out of their homes to see what the matter was.

They all went to see the miracle that had happened on the track; and then the wise man of the village explained to them that the dribbles from the cracked clay pot had watered the ground and caused the seeds to sprout.

What’s more, he said, he had realised that Flying Dove, because of all that exercise, no longer walked with a limp; her own kindness had caused her to cure herself.

However, although she could now run even faster than the other children, she did not waste time playing; instead, she encouraged them to be like her, ever helpful to others. Soon afterwards, the villagers had only to scratch the ideographs for their names on their water jars, and leave them outside the house; laughing, happy, united band of children used to leave for the river in along procession to fill them up, without even once complaining and all with a spring in their step.

When it comes to commitment and responsibility, remember that unless a grain of wheat is responsible and committed, it will remain in the ground and not bear fruit.

But the grain of wheat that is committed and responsible will bear fruit; even though it knows it has to die to achieve this. It will give birth to a whole ear of wheat, that will either be used to make flour for bread to feed us, or else as seeds for even more ears of wheat.

So whichever way you look at it, when you are responsible, by not relying on others, and committed, by always giving your best, you will be a true, good, and kind friend to everyone, and Jesus lives in you.

14

Do you spend enough time with God?

Do you set aside time to read your Bible?

A) Yes, everyday!

B) Some days, when I feel like it.

C) No, never. It's so boring.

How often do you pray?

A) Every evening as well as throughout the day.

B) Some Evenings / When I remember C) Never.

How long do you pray for?

A) A good long while. I love talking to God B) A little while. I just don’t seem to be able to get stuck in.

C) I don’t pray!

Do you attend church?

A) Yes, every Sunday B) Occasionally.

C) No, what’s the point?!

How many Bible verses have you memorized?

A) Loads!

B) A few C) None

Results Mostly As Well done! You’re really making an effort to spend time with God. Mostly Bs Good, you’re making some effort. However you could try to go to church more often and read your Bible and pray more regularly.

Mostly Cs Oh dear, you really don’t seem to be spending enough time talking and being with God. Try going to church on Sundays and praying a bit each day. It may seem like hard work, but after a while you’ll really learn to enjoy it!

15

Footprints in the Sand One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the lord about it. “Lord you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your time of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

16

Abortion Why is Abortion wrong?

To answers this I shall start by giving some Bible verses.

Every part of a child is formed by God with utmost care: “You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth. Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.” – Psalm 139:13-16 God creates and forms each child with a plan: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.” – Jeremiah 1:5 We must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves: “In every way I have shown you that…we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus...” - Acts 20:35 This tells us that God knows us and has a plan for us before we are born and before even out conception. Life begins at conception and who are we to end it? Despite what people say or how they word it, Abortion is murder. It is the killing of an innocent human being whom we should be protecting not destroying.

What can we do to stop it?

Pray for those who have had abortions and those who have been affected by it.

Pray for those who are thinking about having an abortion and those they listen to for advice.

Pray that the world will see the truth in what they are doing and focus more on others rather than self.

Research the whole Abortion matter and see what the Bible, Catechism, Popes and faithful Catholics have to say.

17

Saving Santa Maria School

By Tanja Cilia and Jennifer Gladen Rita Harris looked forward to another day at Santa Maria School.

The old English school had been around for many years. Even Rita’s parents and grandparents went there.

As Rita made her way into the classroom, she anticipated all the great things she’d learn about God. However, when Sister Francis, Rita’s teacher and Headmistress, entered the room, Rita knew something was very wrong.

“There’s no easy way to say this,” she said. “The city wants to tear down the school during winter break to build new homes.

Rita stood up even though her legs felt like jelly. “What? Can’t they build somewhere else?”

Sister Francis shook her head. “Our building is old and in need of many repairs. It would cost too much to fix it. “ Rita glanced around her classroom. Everyone stared at the floor.

The school had always been Rita’s favorite place. She wanted to learn everything she could from Sister Francis.

As the days passed by, Rita and her classmates grew sadder. She wished there was a way to save the school. She couldn’t bear to see the wonderful place torn down.

18

Well, she wasn’t going to sit around anymore and let it happen.

Soon it would be winter break and everyone would split up and go to other schools. She needed to act fast to succeed in saving Santa Maria School.

The next day, Rita talked to Sister Francis. “We have to find a way to save the school?”

Sister Francis shook her head. “I’m sorry, dear. The only way is if we prove we have the money to fix it up. Unfortunately, we don’t.

I’m afraid everything is all set.”

Rita couldn’t believe her ears. How could Sister just give up?

There had to be a way to come up with the money. Maybe if she held a bake sale, she could donate her earnings to the school.

Over the weekend, Rita did just that. However, when she gave the envelope to Sister Francis on Monday, Sister smiled and thanked her. “But we’d need more than this. I’m afraid it’s just too much for us.”

Rita frowned. She wouldn’t hear of giving up the school without a fight. After school, she went around the neighborhood to collect donations. She walked around with her decorated coffee can with the words “Donations for Santa Maria School.” Neighbors were sad to hear of the news and gladly donated their spare change.

19

On Tuesday morning, Rita brought in the coffee can, filled to the rim.

Sister Francis smiled.

“This will help us. It may even buy some time to come up with the rest of the money we need. But how?”

Rita thought about that question all through the day. She told her friends before class and they wanted to help. “If we all work together, maybe we can come up with the money we need to save our school.” ©2008 Samantha Bell

Rita wondered what else she could do. She already collected money and held a bake sale. She needed something bigger.

“What could be bigger than a bake sale?” Bernadette asked.

That’s when an idea hit Rita. She rushed to the head of the class.

“Listen, everyone. I think we can save our school. However, we need everyone’s help. We’re going to have a ‘Save Santa Maria Sale.’ Bring in anything your parents can donate. We’ll also have treats for sale.” Everyone agreed that was a great idea.

News spread, and their sale ballooned into a great event that took over the school yard.

20

The day of the sale, Rita and her friends brought everything sellable to the school: books, clothes, toys, porcelain, china and even furniture. Rita included activities such as making candy apples and watching jugglers and clowns.

Sister Francis smiled at the response. There were enough things to hold the sale for weeks instead of just one day. At the end of December, Rita and Sister Francis tallied up all the donations.

They had more than enough money to save the school.

In fact, they were able to build a new library. Sister Francis named it Children’s Library in honor of all the children who rallied together to save Santa Maria School.

©2008 Samantha Bell

Shortly after winter break, Rita sat in her classroom once again in anticipation of what she’d learn. This time, when Sister Francis walked in, her smile warmed Rita’s heart. Instantly, Rita knew Santa Maria School would be around for many years to come.

21

Famous people of the Old testament

Quiz

1.

Who were the first two humans God created? a. b. c. d.

2.

Who was told, by God, to build an Ark? a. b. c. d.

3.

Moses David Noah Joseph

Who killed Goliath? a. b. c. d.

5.

Moses Jonah David Noah

Who led the Israelites out of Egypt? a. b. c. d.

4.

Andrew and Eve Adam and Eve Adam and Evie Cain and Abel

Moses David Solomon Jonathan

Who was thrown to the lions? a. b. c. d.

King Darius David Daniel Joshua

Bonus Question: 6. Who was Moses’ sister? a. b. c. d.

Mary Miriam Martha Esther Answers on Page 25

22

Purity First let’s look at the meaning of 'purity' Purity n. The state of being pure.

So it means the state being pure. Now pure can have many meanings: Pure n. 1. free of flaws or imperfections; unsullied 2. free of foreign material or pollutants 3. free of immoral behaviour or qualities; clean 4. of a branch of science, done for its own sake instead of serving another branch of science.

The one that we are going to talk about is No. 3: 3. free of immoral behaviour or qualities; clean OK, so lets focus on this section 'free of immoral behaviour or qualities' No-one that has EVER been on this earth (except Jesus Christ) has been free from sin. We have ALL sinned. Some of us say that we have only done little sin but there is no such thing, sin is sin no matter how small or big it is, in God's eyes, sin is all equally bad. So we have all done immoral behaviour right?

Therefore no one can really be pure however we can all do our best to try to be as pure as we can.

Thanks to PurityPink for this article. http://www.puritypink.webs.com/

23

A Prayer for Teenagers Jesus, you know what it’s like to be a teenager, You know how much I love to play and laugh, How impatient I am to hurry and grow up, How I’m longing to change the world, Though sometimes it seems quite scary.

Help me to stay calm, give me peace within me, Guide my thoughts and words to what is good, Let me create peace around me, be like you, peaceful and loving towards all i meet, Let me be gentle to those who are bringing me up, So that all my energy is guided by your holy will, Which is our peace, and the strength of all mankind.

Amen

24

Answers ABC Saint Wordsearch

Famous People of the Old Testament Quiz 1. b - Adam and Eve 2. d - Noah 3. a - Moses 4. b - David 5. c - Daniel 6. b - Miriam

C

K

S

N

C

V

A

D

A

B

Q

B

T

E

A

A

A

O

N

Y

E

R

I

A

R

E

N

T

W

B

L

D

T

E

I

A

C

R

L

N

Q

T

C

L

R

E

E

M

H

N

M

B

I

E

E

E

W

O

I

A

G

L

L

R

E

A

A

D

L

D

M

M

R

A

H

N

A

E

C

R

R

I

J

A

I

V

A

N

G

A

A

B

S

A

A

C

I

N

N

C

A

D

E

I

M

L

S

N

M

T

U

R

N

E

E

R

A

L

B

N

R

V

A

L

B

E

R

T

E

N

B

W

I

A

N

A

A

I

M

B

A

N

T

H

O

N

Y

U

M

C

C

C

L

E

M

E

N

T

I

N

E

A

S

N

Z

Y

E

L

R

E

V

E

B

N

I

P

S

I

R

C

Y

V

D

C

I

R

D

E

C

A

G

N

E

S

Z

C

Y

R

U

S

W

S

T

J

N

O

R

A

A

Y

N

A

I

R

B

Z

T

C

A

J

E

S

X

T

D

Women of the Bible Anagrams Uthr - Ruth

Adboher - Deborah

Ryma - Mary

Anhnha - Hannah

Libeseath - Elisabeth

Bilagai - Abigail

Aratm - Tamar

Serteh - Esther

Rahatm - Martha

Hrasa - Sarah

Ragha - Hagar

Ianom - Naomi

25