������Ƶapp

{mosimage}GRAVENHURST, Ont. - The Teopoli Summer Experience, like a summer kids camp but with spiritual formation, is currently recruiting counsellors (teachers), lifeguards and health care professionals to make this 33-year-old tradition continue.

The camp offers swimming, canoeing, arts and crafts, sports, music, culture, drama, theology, daily Holy Mass and rosary.

{mosimage}ANCASTER, Ont. - “Thank you, Lord, for giving us food!” A chorus of voices could be heard down the main hall of , as students sang “superman grace” at lunch time.

Sixty university students from across Canada had arrived, filled with enthusiasm, for the “Come to the Living Stone” conference in Ancaster, Ont. Jan. 22-25. This bi-annual student leadership conference, hosted by the , enabled student leaders to share a weekend of workshops, keynote addresses by vocational directors and youth workers, prayer, music, friendship and other activities.

{mosimage}KING CITY, Ont. - Parish youth groups and yearly events can and often do fade into non-existence after a few years. Leaders burn out, decide to move on or simply aren’t getting the assistance they need.

But that isn’t the case with the Christ in Others Retreat held every year in King City, Ont., just north of Toronto. The community has been hosting its series of COR non-stop since 1984 with the leadership of Fr. John Yake, chaplain at Villanova College.

{mosimage}Editor������Ƶapp note: this is the second place winner of the Friars’ Student Writing Award sponsored by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and The Catholic Register. Victoria Huryn, 17, is a Grade 12 student at Toronto������Ƶapp Hawthorn School For Girls. The contest is held in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. All six winning essays are to be published.

---

One — a word undeniably miniscule in quantitative terms, it nevertheless is of no small consequence. It is a term of unity, of singleness of purpose, of affiliation, of federation, of partnership, of alliance. As such, when the words of the prophet Ezekiel, “That they may be one in Your hands,” are brought to the forefront of one������Ƶapp thoughts, the word one assumes a far grander connotation — in today������Ƶapp society, one almost daunting.

{mosimage}Editor's Note: this is the first place winner of the seventh annual Friars’ Student Writing Award sponsored by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and The Catholic Register. Lowe, 16, is a Grade 11 student at St. Augustine Catholic High School in Markham, Ont.

---

“That they may be one in your hand” comes from the prophet Ezekiel and closely relates to the modern Christian goal of “ecumenism.” Ecumenism is a term used to describe “a movement promoting union between religions.”

In relation to Christianity, it explains the effort to develop unity between the churches: Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant. To fully comprehend and apply the idea that the prophet Ezekiel was trying to convey, we must look at the past conflicts within Christianity, the present attempts to promote unity and the actions that we can take in order to make unity between churches a reality.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Joshua Lowe has taken the first prize in the seventh annual Friars’ Student Writing Award contest for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. (See here for Joshua's essay )

The Grade 11 student at St. Augustine Catholic High School in Markham, Ont., was one of more than 70 high school students between the ages of 14 and 18 who competed by submitting a 500-word essay on ecumenism.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Six hundred youth from across Canada ended the year by attending workshops, praying and reflecting on their faith at ������Ƶapp annual Rise Up Conference.

The Dec. 28-Jan. 1 conference, held this year at the Marriott Eaton Centre Hotel in downtown Toronto, built up to a New Year������Ƶapp Eve party during which Salt + Light Television CEO Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B., interviewed the niece of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassatti, Wanda Gawronska, live onstage.

{mosimage}OSHAWA, Ont. - Providing a ministry of presence to post-secondary students is something that Deacon Bill Letterio considers the greatest aspect of Christian witness — and also the newest.

Letterio single-handedly started up a chaplaincy from scratch at this past fall.

{mosimage}BEACONSFIELD, Que. - At first glance, Sara Brouillette, 18, does not seem any different from other CEGEP students in Quebec, expressing worried chatter about the overload of last-minute assignments and exams.

But as soon as she begins to speak about Swaziland, it is obvious there is more to this young woman than meets the eye.

{mosimage}Christmas gifts don’t have to be expensive to be heartfelt and generous. With Christmas day upon us, there is still plenty of time to put together something memorable. To help you out, members of the Youth Speak News team have kindly shared some of their favourite gift and wrapping ideas that are   meaningful and different.