What a gathering of our Confirmation candidates at the newly refurbished and renovated Hall at St Francis Xavier Lavender Bay!
We were graced with Bishop Terry Brady's presence and around 250 people to prepare for the great event next Sunday.
We were inspired by the witness talks of three young people: Stephanie Silva a 15 year old from Loreto; Matheus Cardoso an 11 year old Confirmation candidate; and Georgina King, 16 from Ascham School. Here are their talks.
Stephanie Silva
Good afternoon/morning, my name is Stephanie Silva and I am 15 years old. I am here today to talk about my faith and how I am a witness to God.
Since the age of two, I have been praying the Our Father. I even prayed to angels to keep me safe and guide me. But at this age how could I have known the meaning of prayer? Was this the magic incantations that ensured Santa will give me presents or perhaps the key to getting a bigger Easter egg?
As a child, I thought like a child – I enjoyed the lighting of the candles after the mass, singing hymns. I then got lost in my own world without understanding what the homily was about.
But as a young adult, I have begun to see beyond the routine of Sunday morning mass. You learn more about the Eucharist and the meaning of Christianity. I learned more about my faith through the actions of my parents. This was then re-enforced by my teachers who taught me about the life of Christ.
Prayer is and always has been an important part of my life. Our family sometimes has a ‘Family Prayer’ before going to sleep. We do this mostly when we have special concerns. We pray from the heart. It’s not like a routine or repetitive prayer of The Rosary. As said in the Bible, “When two or more pray together, God is in the midst of their presence.” Through the years, I’ve witnessed my prayers being answered. My brother got accepted into Aloysius and my dad got a job during times of high unemployment. Payer was especially important for me during my first years of high school. I was introduced into a new world of new people, I had so much work and there were always issues with friendship circles. Prayer was my connection to God and I used prayer to talk to Him and ask for guidance when I felt lost or upset.
What I find sad is that as children get older, many lose their relationship with God. Even attending a Catholic school, people don’t consider going to church the norm. Those people don’t understand why I go. I go to church because it is my time to reflect. It’s my turn to do something for God. I thank Him for letting me live another week, for providing me with food and for watching over me every day. When I got to high school, I came across many people with different upbringings. Their upbringings may challenge yours and may challenge what you believe in. But know that you have your own morals and values which you should stand by. That is the purpose of your upcoming confirmation. You and the Catholic community recognise that you are wise enough to know what is right and wrong in your heart.
As a Christian, I also have to see that I put my faith into action. I live out the Gospel through simple actions in my everyday life. I enjoy taking part in the youth choir at St. Mary’s Church, I am a peer support leader at school, I take part in school liturgies and I go to community service once a week. As a peer support leader, I am able to be an example to my girls though my actions. In community service, I have learned to show compassion and selflessness which are values that are taught by Jesus. These are core values of my faith.
Many people are raised with different beliefs. But what do you believe? Do you believe in God the Father, do you believe in Jesus who died for you, do you believe in the Holy Spirit that gave you faith? Unless you learn to love the Christ who died for you, you will never make the choice internally.
You’re not children anymore and today you are invited to confirm your choice.
Our salvation can never be based solely on good works but by choosing the love of a forgiving God.
I am Stephanie Silva, I’m 15 years old. I choose Jesus, this is my faith – this is my choice.
Matheus Cardoso (11)
Good afternoon, my name is Matheus. I was invited here to talk about my faith in God.
Although I am only an eleven years old, I have been through a lot of difficult moments in my life.
In 2008 when we moved to Australia, It was a hardest time for me. Having to say goodbye to my relatives, friends and my country, Brazil, was quite sad.
I had imagined that I would never see them again.
Another challenge for me was the English language. When I started school at Cammeray, I couldn’t understand anything. I had missed my old school and I felt lonely. In that time even though I couldn’t understand anyone I had felt trustworthy that everything would be alright.
Every night before sleeping I would quietly pray the “our father”, thanking God for bringing me to Australia and asking him to make my English better so that I could make new friends.
I noticed that He listened to me and helped with my problems by sending special people into my life. After some time I slowly felt at home, when I realised that out of the corner of my house we had a church, just like the one we used to go in Brazil. It made me feel more welcomed. It was the church of St. Mary’s where I would go every kids mass with my family. All that I asked came true: God had never left me alone.
The people here were very friendly to us. It made me feel much happier. I felt so happy that I even decided to help other kids in the same situation as myself at school.
After all my experiences, I am thankful to God for all the good and bad things that happened, especially because with his love for me as I feel strong enough to face other experiences.
I would like to thank Edwin for letting me speak and helping me throughout my journey and everyone else for listening.
God Bless us!
Georgina King, 16
Hey everyone,
My name is Georgina and I am currently in year 9 and attend mass here at St Mary’s. I have come today to talk to you about my faith and the relationship I have with god. Tonight I want you all to forget that I’m a speaker. I want you to treat me like a friend and trust me. Tonight I’m here to share my experiences with God and tell you, that I understand what you may be going through. I would like to point out that never in your life should you think God is your superior. He is your friend, your guidance and most importantly he will always be there for you, whether you know it or not. Sometimes it may feel like he isn’t but he always is there by your side.
At times, your faith in God may fade but it doesn’t matter as he will always be there to show you the way. In my eye, there are images of good and evil, many are distracting and can distract you from your faith in God. As you enter high school these distractions may become more obvious and some of these are, Relationship and friendship problems, increase in workload and all of these may tear you away from God but at the end of the day he will be there waiting for you.
I’ve entered high school for 3 years now. It has become the same old, you know trying to fit in my social life with my school life… and I’ve managed. But I never started off this easily. I remember when I first entered high school I would question God. I knew God existed, I knew there was a God, and yet I still questioned, if there was a God why is there so much hunger, poverty, conflict in today’s society? Why are there so many relationship and friendship issues in ordinary people’s lives? Why? That was the question. I faced my first problem, where I had to question God, in year 7. But this time it wasn’t me asking from the outside behind a glass window. I was asking God a question about myself. A personal matter close to the heart. And this was, who am I? my problem was that I had lost my identity, I couldn’t find myself and I didn’t know who I was. I first realised this when I had a major argument with my close friend. This argument lead me to think who was I? What had I done wrong to make us fight? Had I changed? Should I change for her? For the better or the worse? What was the better? What was worse? These were the questions running through my mind. To be honest, this whole time I thought I was alone. But I remembered that there was someone there for me: God. I asked God for help, I didn’t write him a letter or secretly talk to him, or even wish and hope for a miracle, I simple just prayed, talking to him, asking him, and looking for answers. And gradually answers came. It wasn’t given to me on a silver platter; it wasn’t like searching it up on the internet and then one straight answer coming up. God was somehow giving me options and entrusting faith in me, trusting me to choose the right path, the right answer. And, I did. I picked the path that told me who I was. And throughout this whole incidence, who had provided this comfort? The security? It was god who had been with me every step of the way. And this is just a small detail and example of your life. The main point is, if you are in distress, if you are struggling with anything, just talk to God. Ask for guidance, it’s that simple. Don’t be afraid to talk about God, to say to your friends proudly that you asked for advice and guidance, and you got it.
Don’t be scared. We face fear every day; it’s a natural part of life. But fear is nothing compared to the ways you overcome it. So… who here has had a nightmare? And out of all those people how many of you have been “saved” by your parents? This is exactly what happens with God. You will always have fear in your life but there will always be those who come and save you, who will wake you up. And that is god. He will be the one that wakes you up and gives you warmth and confidence. Fear is spirit. This is demonstrated from the word of God. Timothy 1:7 “for god wasn’t given us spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”. The more of the divine love of God we receive into our lives, the less possibility the fear can grip onto. So here’s an example of overcoming fear. So there’s a man robbing a bank. In the midst of all this a woman comes up to him and tells him to put down the gun and give himself up. What gave this woman such incredible courage? She was the man’s mother and her love for him overcame that fear. What this story depicts is that there will always be fear in this world but there is also all that hope that can help you overcome fear – all that warmth out there and god is a source of that warmth.
There will come a time in your life when people mock you for your beliefs. Whether it be a stranger or even a close friend, there will come a time when the people around you will not agree with your faith. I know that when this happens, your first reaction is frustration and discontent. I know your passion towards God, may lead you to blame those that mock you. But tonight, I want you to understand that God loves everyone and you should do so too. Instead of blaming them for mocking you and not believing in god, sympathise with them and understand they are in need of guidance too and instead of hating on them, pray for them. Pray that they can find the same faith in God as you did. Pray that they can understand that God loves us all and will always be there. I also believe that you have the comfort of knowing that you have God’s guidance and you have him as a personal friend and advisor in your heart. No matter what anyone says, they can’t change the fact that you believe in god, you have faith in God, and he will always be there for you.