Youth’s Role for the
Future
Working for
the benefit
of
others is the _ most satisfying
type of work and the most
challenging.
Here are a few examples:
·
David Hayrs joined his local volunteer
fire department and saw firsthand the value of
community service. Even when the sirens interrupted a family celebration, he responded. "I wasn't in
the department long before
I
learned some other goals of this group. We are a group of citizens who work with other organizations which
strive to from a community among the citizens. It is my belief that we
are doing
a respectable job of serving our community by helping them to realize that working
together will help the world.”
·
Christine had an early life filled with difficulties but she is better able to help others in similar situations. "I was born into a family that had many unhealthy problems. As I grew older these problems increased proportionately.
Living became
an impossible
task". Christine was sent to an orphanage. There she learned
to reach out to others who needed help. Through listening and sharing,
she found that she was helping her peers to develop confidence to shoulder their burdens with trust. But she admits: "The person
I helped most was myself."
·
Richard works with multihandicapped children-
blind youngsters who also have such difficulties as retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness or some other disability. He plays with these youngsters, changes diapers, makes beds and many other chores. "You name it, I have· done it. It is not glamorous, but someone has to do it. People need other people to care and, as long as I am here, I am going to care."
Conclusion:
Apathy, ignorance of another's problems, lack of direction a feeling that individual efforts are unimportant -
these can keep youngsters from acting on behalf
of others. Parents, teachers, and adults can help young people by encouraging them in their attempts
to be of service and by giving them a personal
example of the impact one individual can have.
Pope john Paul
II in Boston, on October 1st 1979 had this to say: "Everywhere young people are asking important questions- questions on the meaning of life, on the right way to live, on the true scale of values:
What must I do? This questioning tells the world that you, young people, carry within
yourselves an openness with regard
to what is good and what is true.
Faced with problems and
disappointments,
many people will try to escape from
their responsibility: escape in
selfishness, escape in sexual pleasure, escape in drugs, escape in violence, escape in indifference
and
cynical
attitudes.·
But today I propose to you the oppositi-on of love, which is the opposite of escape. Christ
is calling you, in one way or another, to the service of love: the love of God and the love of neighbour.
Love demands
effort and a personal commitment to the will of God. It means discipline and sacrifice, but it also means joy and human
fulfillment.
Dear young people do not be afraid of honest effort and honest work. Do not be afraid of the truth".
