Youth giving alms to youth

At our high school Youth Group last Sunday night, we watched a video on Lent by “Catholic Central”. The hosts explained that Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word, “lencten”, which means spring. Spring is a time when the days lengthen. So, Lent is a time for our spiritual lives to lengthen and grow. Our group discussed Lenten practices under the heading of the three disciplines: prayer, fasting, and alms giving. An alm is “a material good given to the poor as an act of charity”, the video noted. Our discussion ended with a question from me which invited them to give alms.

I told them that the Super Bowl squares were a fundraiser for our “youth program” which means their Youth Group. Thanks to the dozens of parishioners and friends of the parish who participated in the squares, we raised $3,000. The question to our teens was, do you want to keep this for our group (which we could definitely use for our weekly dinners and other expenses) or send it to the youth in Haiti at our sister parish?

The situation in Haiti with the revolution the past several months has been horrific. There is crime and violence all around the pastor, families, and teachers at Notre Dame de la Visitation. School has remained in session mainly for the children to eat. A parish in Baltimore is sending money to Notre Dame for the children’s meals, and has asked us to contribute to the salaries of the teachers (about $946 a month at the current, weak exchange rate of the goud). Two weeks ago, I wired $1,355 to Fr. Andre at Notre Dame which was the remaining amount of our parish’s collection (around $9,000) for Haiti last year. My estimated guess is that the total of $4,355 will pay the teachers now through the end of this school year.

Our teens answered my question quickly and unanimously: send the money to Haiti…!