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The Pope did his second TED Talk just 3 days ago. This one is about three steps to take to help resolve Climate Change. It's 13 minutes long. Turn on subtitles, available in 9 languages, using the CC button in the bottom right of your screen. What do you think?

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The Pope did his second TED Talk just 3 days ago. This one is about three steps to take to help resolve Climate Change. It's 13 minutes long. Turn on subtitles, available in 9 languages, using the CC button in the bottom right of your screen. What do you think?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHuwaKrHuR0

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The election is coming up, and I am hoping that you put your thoughts into who you will vote for this year. As you think of who you will vote for, there is a specific topic that I think you should consider: the environment. Our environment is breaking because no one is taking care of it. This is our home, and we must care for it. Pope Francis stated, “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more like an immense pile of filth. The Earth was here before us and was given to us.” If we don’t start caring for the planet, our environment will be terrible by 2050. We are making climate change worse and worse and we are making some animals go extinct.  I am not allowed to vote yet, but I know you are. I really hope you put your thoughts into who you vote for. If we want the environment to get better, we must start now. 

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The election is coming up, and I am hoping that you put your thoughts into who you will vote for this year. As you think of who you will vote for, there is a specific topic that I think you should consider: the environment. Our environment is breaking because no one is taking care of it. This is our home, and we must care for it. Pope Francis stated, “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more like an immense pile of filth. The Earth was here before us and was given to us.” If we don’t start caring for the planet, our environment will be terrible by 2050. We are making climate change worse and worse and we are making some animals go extinct.  I am not allowed to vote yet, but I know you are. I really hope you put your thoughts into who you vote for. If we want the environment to get better, we must start now. 

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In today's society a woman makes eighty cents for every dollar a man makes.  I feel that just because of a person's gender, they should not be paid less or not be able to participate in certain things.  You have the power to vote a president that will change this. People should look into a president and think about what they are going to be doing to help everybody be equal. I want all men and women to be paid the same and be able to do most of the same things. I want society to see women just as equal as men are. I do not want to see a gap in between them.  Like Pope Francis said, “Why is it taken for granted that women earn less than men. No! They have the rights. The discrepancy is pure scandal.” In this upcoming election I want everyone to think, will the candidate I’m voting for help solve this problem or will he/she ignore it. Thank you for reading my letter on the rights of women. 

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In today's society a woman makes eighty cents for every dollar a man makes.  I feel that just because of a person's gender, they should not be paid less or not be able to participate in certain things.  You have the power to vote a president that will change this. People should look into a president and think about what they are going to be doing to help everybody be equal. I want all men and women to be paid the same and be able to do most of the same things. I want society to see women just as equal as men are. I do not want to see a gap in between them.  Like Pope Francis said, “Why is it taken for granted that women earn less than men. No! They have the rights. The discrepancy is pure scandal.” In this upcoming election I want everyone to think, will the candidate I’m voting for help solve this problem or will he/she ignore it. Thank you for reading my letter on the rights of women. 

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This November 3rd, you will have the power to vote for our next president as well as other important people in our state and country. As you think about who you vote for, I would be happy if you will think about the people who need special care and attention. One of the groups that I would like to point out is homeless people. I think that everyone deserves a second chance. It is probably really hard to get a job if you just came out of jail, if you have mental health issues or if you just moved here from a different country and you can not speak English. If you do not have a job, it is hard to get a house and support yourself or your family. Catholic Social Teaching says that everyone has a right and a responsibility. I believe that homeless people have a right to have a home no matter the circumstances. I am not old enough to vote, but you are and I know that you and I can both come to a decision that everyone deserves a roof over their heads and a warm place to sleep. Please remember this when you vote in November. You could make the world a better place.

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This November 3rd, you will have the power to vote for our next president as well as other important people in our state and country. As you think about who you vote for, I would be happy if you will think about the people who need special care and attention. One of the groups that I would like to point out is homeless people. I think that everyone deserves a second chance. It is probably really hard to get a job if you just came out of jail, if you have mental health issues or if you just moved here from a different country and you can not speak English. If you do not have a job, it is hard to get a house and support yourself or your family. Catholic Social Teaching says that everyone has a right and a responsibility. I believe that homeless people have a right to have a home no matter the circumstances. I am not old enough to vote, but you are and I know that you and I can both come to a decision that everyone deserves a roof over their heads and a warm place to sleep. Please remember this when you vote in November. You could make the world a better place.

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On November 3rd, you will be able to vote for our new president and our state leaders.. When you are choosing who to vote for, I would very much appreciate it if you think about the racism in the state and country that we live in.One of the Catholic Social Teachings is solidarity, and I want to shine a light on racism in the country and state. Even though people might be a different skin tone or race that doesn’t mean that they should be treated differently from you. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”.I don’t have the power to vote, but I know we can all agree that racism is a problem.   When you are voting, please remember that you can bring peace and solidarity to our country. 

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On November 3rd, you will be able to vote for our new president and our state leaders.. When you are choosing who to vote for, I would very much appreciate it if you think about the racism in the state and country that we live in.One of the Catholic Social Teachings is solidarity, and I want to shine a light on racism in the country and state. Even though people might be a different skin tone or race that doesn’t mean that they should be treated differently from you. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”.I don’t have the power to vote, but I know we can all agree that racism is a problem.   When you are voting, please remember that you can bring peace and solidarity to our country. 

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On November 3rd, you have the right as a citizen and member of our community to vote for the people who will run our country. In this election please keep in mind that our brothers and sisters all over the world and even in your community are being human trafficked.  Some are forced into the sex trade, or labor and domestic servitude. Human trafficking involves all countries either as a origin, transit, or destination. As most of the Catholic teachings say, we all have basic rights, and we all have responsibilities to others. People all over the world are having their rights taken away and are being abused.We have the responsibility to help those who are vulnerable and in need. As Albert Einstein once said “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”  We need to realize this and help humans across the world that have been held against their will and forced to do unthinkable things. I can't vote, but you can.  Please participate in your community and acknowledge your right as a American citizen. You have the power to help people all over and keep them protected from human trafficking.

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On November 3rd, you have the right as a citizen and member of our community to vote for the people who will run our country. In this election please keep in mind that our brothers and sisters all over the world and even in your community are being human trafficked.  Some are forced into the sex trade, or labor and domestic servitude. Human trafficking involves all countries either as a origin, transit, or destination. As most of the Catholic teachings say, we all have basic rights, and we all have responsibilities to others. People all over the world are having their rights taken away and are being abused.We have the responsibility to help those who are vulnerable and in need. As Albert Einstein once said “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”  We need to realize this and help humans across the world that have been held against their will and forced to do unthinkable things. I can't vote, but you can.  Please participate in your community and acknowledge your right as a American citizen. You have the power to help people all over and keep them protected from human trafficking.

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      This November 3rd you will have the opportunity and power to vote for our next president as well as other elected officials in our state and country.   As you consider who you wish to vote for, I hope you take into mind our Earth and think about issues such as pollution, littering, and global warming.      The most serious issue to me is pollution. When we choose to pollute we are hurting the air that we breath and the Earth that was given to us. The choices we make everyday can help or hurt ourselves. When we pollute it is usually a quicker way to do things like driving to school instead of walking but when you walk you're not only helping your community but you're helping yourself. Because the air that you help keep clean is your air too. As Catholic Social Teachings say we should “Care for God’s Creation”.      I know that I am not old enough to vote, but you are and we all want a better environment. Please, take into mind what environment you want now, and how your vote now will help future generations.

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      This November 3rd you will have the opportunity and power to vote for our next president as well as other elected officials in our state and country.   As you consider who you wish to vote for, I hope you take into mind our Earth and think about issues such as pollution, littering, and global warming.      The most serious issue to me is pollution. When we choose to pollute we are hurting the air that we breath and the Earth that was given to us. The choices we make everyday can help or hurt ourselves. When we pollute it is usually a quicker way to do things like driving to school instead of walking but when you walk you're not only helping your community but you're helping yourself. Because the air that you help keep clean is your air too. As Catholic Social Teachings say we should “Care for God’s Creation”.      I know that I am not old enough to vote, but you are and we all want a better environment. Please, take into mind what environment you want now, and how your vote now will help future generations.

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This upcoming month you will have the chance to vote for the next president of the United States. As you are voting, please think about what could help our community, and who could get problems solved.One thing I think you should consider worrying about is who could solve some world problems such as war & peace. There are so many countries at war, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and many more. As stated from justiceandpeace.org, “True peace is of God so it involves the harmony of all people pursuing justice for all. In this way peace is, at its heart, a reflection of God’s Kingdom.” I would love to see the world a peaceful, kind place, not just in America, but everywhere. I hope I can encourage you and many others to vote for reasons like this. 

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This upcoming month you will have the chance to vote for the next president of the United States. As you are voting, please think about what could help our community, and who could get problems solved.One thing I think you should consider worrying about is who could solve some world problems such as war & peace. There are so many countries at war, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and many more. As stated from justiceandpeace.org, “True peace is of God so it involves the harmony of all people pursuing justice for all. In this way peace is, at its heart, a reflection of God’s Kingdom.” I would love to see the world a peaceful, kind place, not just in America, but everywhere. I hope I can encourage you and many others to vote for reasons like this. 

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Dear Adults, Soon this November you will be able to cast your vote to select our next  president and other government officials. While you are thinking about who to vote for, I hope that you will take notice of the unique habitats that are being destroyed across the world. In the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, mining companies are threatening the amazing environment that many animals and plants rely on. Also, farms are endangering many forests and prairies throughout our state. We need to help preserve these special places in order to save many species of plants and animals. As Pope Francis said, “We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behavior.” I can’t vote yet, but you have the power to. We can probably agree that humans have caused enough habitat destruction already. Please consider this as you cast your ballot this year. 

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Dear Adults, Soon this November you will be able to cast your vote to select our next  president and other government officials. While you are thinking about who to vote for, I hope that you will take notice of the unique habitats that are being destroyed across the world. In the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota, mining companies are threatening the amazing environment that many animals and plants rely on. Also, farms are endangering many forests and prairies throughout our state. We need to help preserve these special places in order to save many species of plants and animals. As Pope Francis said, “We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behavior.” I can’t vote yet, but you have the power to. We can probably agree that humans have caused enough habitat destruction already. Please consider this as you cast your ballot this year. 

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On this November 3rd, you have the power to vote for our next president along with other leaders in our state and country. While you think about who you believe is a better candidate for the job, I hope that you think about the amount of education children are currently getting.  I worry about this because I feel that children of color are not getting the same education as whites. Education is very important and if you don't get a good enough education, it can really have a major effect on your future. I think we should all have an opportunity for access to good education. Like Sonia Sotomayor said, “Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society.” As I am not able to vote, I ask you to take all of this into consideration about children’s education, when you go to cast a vote on November 3rd. 

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On this November 3rd, you have the power to vote for our next president along with other leaders in our state and country. While you think about who you believe is a better candidate for the job, I hope that you think about the amount of education children are currently getting.  I worry about this because I feel that children of color are not getting the same education as whites. Education is very important and if you don't get a good enough education, it can really have a major effect on your future. I think we should all have an opportunity for access to good education. Like Sonia Sotomayor said, “Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society.” As I am not able to vote, I ask you to take all of this into consideration about children’s education, when you go to cast a vote on November 3rd. 

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This voting season you will have the opportunity to vote for the candidate of your choice. While you are making your decision I would like you to keep in mind the environment and the impact your vote might have on it. Global warming is destroying our planet that we all live on and we need to do something about it. That could mean on a personal level you recycle or switch to LED light bulbs, but the president also has a large say in whether or not renewable energy is important or not. It is our responsibility to keep the earth that God has given us clean and safe for everyone. I cannot vote yet, but that is not stopping me from trying to make a difference in this country. I would like you to keep in mind that our planet needs saving, and that means more than just saying that things need to change. We need to vote for a president who will make a change for the better. 

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This voting season you will have the opportunity to vote for the candidate of your choice. While you are making your decision I would like you to keep in mind the environment and the impact your vote might have on it. Global warming is destroying our planet that we all live on and we need to do something about it. That could mean on a personal level you recycle or switch to LED light bulbs, but the president also has a large say in whether or not renewable energy is important or not. It is our responsibility to keep the earth that God has given us clean and safe for everyone. I cannot vote yet, but that is not stopping me from trying to make a difference in this country. I would like you to keep in mind that our planet needs saving, and that means more than just saying that things need to change. We need to vote for a president who will make a change for the better. 

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Dear Adults, As the majority of you know, we will have the opportunity to vote for our next President on November 3. While you are thinking about who you are going to vote for, I hope that you remember the poor and the homeless. There are a lot of people who are not as fortunate as some of us and they need help, especially those who are children, wondering where their next meal is coming from. There are people everywhere who are having a hard time in life. Some of them don’t have a home to sleep in, and some of them are just too poor to afford things for their children or themselves. As Pope Francis says, “ The Son of God came into this world homeless as a homeless person. The Son of God knew what it was like to start life without a roof over his head.” Nobody in this world deserves to be homeless. Since I am not eighteen yet, I cannot vote. But you can. Your vote matters, and people out there need you. If you think that one vote can’t change anything, you’re wrong, it can. 

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Dear Adults, As the majority of you know, we will have the opportunity to vote for our next President on November 3. While you are thinking about who you are going to vote for, I hope that you remember the poor and the homeless. There are a lot of people who are not as fortunate as some of us and they need help, especially those who are children, wondering where their next meal is coming from. There are people everywhere who are having a hard time in life. Some of them don’t have a home to sleep in, and some of them are just too poor to afford things for their children or themselves. As Pope Francis says, “ The Son of God came into this world homeless as a homeless person. The Son of God knew what it was like to start life without a roof over his head.” Nobody in this world deserves to be homeless. Since I am not eighteen yet, I cannot vote. But you can. Your vote matters, and people out there need you. If you think that one vote can’t change anything, you’re wrong, it can. 

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Dear teens . . .  Adults of the parish want to hear from you. We are asking you to write a message to adults and leaders in our parish about what matters to you. What troubles you in the world? What do you hope for? What are some things happening in the world that you like? Since you will be the beneficiaries of the choices we make, whether at the voting booth, the stock market, the purchases we make, or the companies we support, we want you to have a voice too. Remember that what you share in the chat room is anonymous but you are welcome to add your name if you like. Whatever your choice, you will be kept anonymous but the ideas here may be shared with the broader parish to help all of us in our discernment.

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SURVEY:  Would you like a Zoom (or other format) meeting with Fr. Paul to further discuss prayer and relationships as a follow-up to his writings above? What would be your favorite format for this meeting?

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Hi Everyone and welcome to Lumen Christi’s Teen Chat.  I’m sorry about the slow start for this website.  It’s taken a bit on our part to get this up and running.  The questions posted so far seem revolve around a couple of topics: prayer and relationships, so I’d like to take a stab to both of these in order to get the conversation started:

On Prayer:    One of the questions was: “How do you know when you are praying?”  We often mistakenly think that prayer is about trying to contact an absent God, but in reality, prayer is about allowing the God who is always present to enter our minds and hearts.  In other words, prayer is first of all an encounter with God before it is a conversation with God.  Since God is everywhere, the feeling can grow in us that he is nowhere.  That means that the first part of prayer is to still yourself long enough to hear God’s voice.  This is hard for most of us when there is so much “noise” out there.  But I’ve found that if you take five or ten minutes at a specific time each day to still yourself, to just sit in God’s presence – no thoughts, no questions, no conversation – you will actually miss that time of prayer when you don’t.

A second part of prayer is what I would call reflection.  If you are in God’s presence, what is that saying about you, your day, your world?  Too often we don’t stop the living of life long enough to understand what it is doing to us.  We fall into patterns or habits of living unreflectively.  We hold onto a grudge, for example, and don’t notice that we have become meaner, more intolerant, more cynical.  We also don’t notice how it is distancing us from that person and all they have to offer us because we have turned them into their little slight.  Prayer doesn’t help you to escape the ups and downs of life.  Prayer helps you to consciously participate in them instead of just floating through days and weeks and years of your life without ever noticing how life is changing you.  Prayer of reflection sharpens your vision of yourself so that you can realize you don’t need to live the way you do.

A final dimension of prayer is what one person on the Chat called contacting friends over social media and at school: prayer of connection.  This notion of prayer suggests that praying is not just a purely individual project.  As Jesus says, “How can you love the God you can’t see, when you can’t even love those you can?”  We live in unbreakable connection with others but often we can forget that.  At this time of social isolation, we can perhaps see more clearly how we truly need each other – especially those we normally take for granted.  When we pray for both friend and stranger alike, we re-establish that connection.  Prayer brings to heart and mind the identity we cannot escape: that we are all in this adventure together.

On Relationship:     One question wondered whether there are priests who had families and children.  Yes, this is true.  In many other traditions (including some Catholic ones) priests are allowed to be married.  In much of the history of our own church, priests were married.  Slowly over history and time the Roman church decided that priests should not be married because it was felt that giving oneself solely to a relationship with God allowed the priest to more freely serve the needs of the community.  Still, many other churches do both very nicely.  The promise that priests make to not be married today is actually the same promise as married partners make to one another.  It is by our commitments that we humans learn to grow in love.

But the point is that both the married and non-married life needs to be a relationship.  Genesis tells us that it is not good for us to be alone.  The purpose of life is to grow out of our native selfishness to be generous enough to live for others – and we all grow by fits and starts.

This leads to a couple of other questions not posted because they were more personal in nature and a bit specific.  They were around the question of sexuality.  Again, our sexual nature is made for relationship.  It is not good for us to be selfish in the use of our sexuality and the reason is simple:  Sex is spiritual dynamite.  People can be emotionally or psychically scarred for the rest of their lives over a misuse of sex.  People can be physically hurt (as in the case of rape) or even murdered over sex.  We see examples of these on the news and in the movies every day.

We need to be careful about what habits we are forming when it comes to sex.  If we are using our sexuality selfishly, why would we ever think that we would suddenly become selfless when we “fall” in love with someone else? I know of many teens who have been sexually “used.” Ask yourself what amounts to the Golden Rule: Would I liked to be used?  What you do to the other, you do to yourself; how you love yourself is how you love your neighbor; how you love God is how you love yourself; how you love yourself is how you love God.  How you do anything is how you do everything.  It’s all about relationship.

Well that’s it for this week.  Hope this is a bit helpful and can get some conversation started with your friends.  Keep the questions coming and we will try to see if we can make this Chat space even better.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Thanks, Father Paul

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Fr. Paul is excited about the responses to this board. We said that he would choose one question per week to answer, and now that we're past Memorial Day holiday, he is choosing two! Fr. Paul will be writing about prayer and about relationships. Coming soon! Looking forward, Lynn Schelitzche, Director of Faith Formation

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In the History of the church, there were many church priests who had family and children. Are there any Priests now that you know of that have a wife and kids and still are priests.

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As a follow up to the good way to pray I have always wondered how you can tell when your praying. For me I think that praying is when I wake up and in the morning and say good morning to all the people i am in contact with. over social media and at school.

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What are some good ways to pray?

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HI Everyone!  Welcome to the website!  We are trying to find a way to address your questions about faith and religion that YOU have and get us all into conversation about these questions.  Each of your views about faith matters because each of us has experienced Jesus in some way.  Yet faith is trying to bring us ALL closer to God, and that's reason for this conversation.  Come join us.  This could be a way to bring us all (me too!) to deeper faith.  Father Paul

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Be the first to ask a question. If you're wondering, so are many others!

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Welcome to the Lumen Christi Teen Chat !

The Usual Guidelines:

Be kind

Use appropriate language

Be open to others’ questions and thoughts

Enjoy your questions and discussions!