Teen Corner

TEEN CO

ORNER

by Natalie Sutton and Kateri Foos

happy happy new year! new year!

We all have finally been able to kiss the year 2020 goodbye and must admit, it feels pretty good. It was a year that was like none before, especially since we have the coronavirus to thank for all the carnage it has left in its path. Pretty much all of us know someone who has or had coronavirus and we must all pray that 2021 provides the coronavirus a door to walk out of, away from all of us.

Through all of the sadness, pain, and agony many of us had to go through in 2020, we have to look back and remember what good things this year gave to all of us. We have to agree that, with all the shutdowns, the year 2020 presented us with a lot of alone time to ourselves. Before the onset of the pandemic, many people were busy with work and all they wanted was alone time. 2020 blessed us with that. Hopefully, most of us spent that alone time trying to grow a closer relationship with the Lord, and if we did, then we owe 2020 a big thanks for that opportunity.

With 2020 out the back door, it is now time to focus on this brand new year that God has given us. Unfortunately, with a new year ringing in, the coronavirus is still with us. But with another blessing of 2020, we now have a vaccine that can help us defeat coronavirus. With this vaccine, we think many people have hope that 2021 is the year that everything will return to normal.

Besides the vaccine, we have an even greater thing to look forward to in this new year, given to us by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. Pope Francis has declared this year the “Year of Saint Joseph”. The “Year of Saint Joseph” began on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in 2020 and will end on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception this year. With this year, the Church has also granted a plenary indulgence. Years like this are exceptionally special because they provide us with multiple opportunities to get closer to Christ and to deepen our prayer lives. Saint Joseph could not have been a better pick. He is one of the greatest role models we have besides the Blessed Virgin Mary. Saint Joseph was an obedient, tender, and loving foster father to Christ. Saint Joseph was just an ordinary man who was a carpenter when he had to take on the incredible duty to be the foster father of God’s son.

He did this through obedience and took great care of Mary and Jesus through it all. Saint Joseph gave up himself in love. All of us should get particularly close to Saint Joseph this year and follow in his footsteps.

Perhaps many of us have heard of Fr. Mike Schmitz. If you haven’t, he is a priest within the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota. He is an author and speaker and also has a YouTube channel with great videos for anyone to watch, especially teenagers. (I, Natalie, tend to watch his videos a lot at school for my religion classes.) Fr. Schmitz has created a podcast called “Bible in a Year.” The podcast takes place every day for the entire year, and guides both Catholics and anyone else who listens to it, through all the books of the Bible. The reflections presented by Fr. Schmitz help us to better understand the readings more in depth, rather than if we were to just quickly read over them. The podcast is a great way to spend 20-30 minutes each day during 2021.

In January, the month that has started off this brand new year, there are many great saints who have feast days, including Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint John Bosco. Saint Thomas Aquinas was a great man and Dominican who studied very much and as some of us may know, wrote the Summa Theologica. It is a very difficult read in our opinion, but if you want to challenge yourself this year, perhaps you may want to attempt to read it. As for our younger readers, Saint John Bosco was a priest who had a great love for young children and teenagers and helped them grow closer to Christ and get to know Him at a younger age. For teenagers and younger people, it is good to pray to Saint John Bosco this month (and really all the time) because he knew very well how to bring young people to Christ. We both hope that all of you have the best 2021 possible. And while 2020 is still fresh in all of our minds, reflect back on it. While reflecting, though, don’t recall only the bad things that happened, but also the good things. No matter how bad a year can be, especially 2020, there is always something good that the year can bless us with.

To 2020 we say: You were not easy to deal with, but with the alone time and downtime you presented to all of us, you helped us remember that down time is the perfect opportunity to get close to Christ.To 2021 we say: Don’t be too hard on us, but we all believe you will be the year that we grow in faith, love, and, most importantly, hope.

Following are helpful links to go along with some of the things we talked about, including Fr. Mike Schmitz’ videos. And also check out an amazing book written by another faith-filled priest, Fr. Donald Calloway, Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, which we hope to discuss in the coming months ahead.

Father Mike Schmitz YouTube channel: https: //www.youtube.com/channel/UCVdGX3N-WIJ5nUvklBTNhAw

Link to Father’s Bible in a year podcast: https://media.ascensionpress.com/all-biblein-a-year-episodes/

Father Donald Calloway’s book: https://www.fathercalloway.com/booksand-gifts/consecration-st-joseph-wonders-our-spiritual-father