Religious Education
Marylene Douglas
All students attending St Louis de Montfort's Aspendale have the right to feel safe. The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility of all within our school.
Last week Melbourne hosted the Australian Catholic Youth Festival where thousands of young Catholic pilgrims gathered and engaged in workshops, daily Mass, concerts, and sacred prayer experiences—carrying with them the words of the Holy Father and the challenge to live out their faith with openness and curiosity, with joy, excitement and, above all, courage. The festival is a moving public witness to the faith, diversity and youthful vibrancy of the Church in Australia.
Pope Leo XIV sent a surprise video message to the thousands of young people attending the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in Melbourne, encouraging them to embrace their God-given identity and walk boldly as disciples in today’s world.
In his video message, Pope Leo told the pilgrims, “Our lives find their ultimate purpose in becoming who God made us to be, by living out his will.”
“You are not the result of a random process. Each of you is willed, each of you is loved, each of you is necessary.”
Pope Leo urged young people not to be discouraged by cultural trends that dismiss traditional values or isolate individuals despite the promise of connection.
“Technology may connect us,” he noted, “but it can also leave us more isolated.”
Instead, he offered a solution grounded in truth: “Turn to God, especially through prayer and the sacraments. That’s where you’ll hear your Heavenly Father’s voice most clearly.”
The Pope concluded by calling on young pilgrims to draw inspiration from the lives of saints such as St Catherine of Siena, St Carlo Acutis and St Pier Giorgio Frassati, and to return home ready to “build up the Kingdom of God in your local communities.”
One of the speakers was Ukrainian Mykola Cardinal Bychok CSsR who who shared a deeply personal story of growing up in a persecuted Church under Soviet rule.
He spoke candidly of being bullied as a child for his faith and challenged the young crowd to remain courageous in their witness.
“The world may try to silence your faith, but it can never silence your prayer,” he said. “When you pray – especially when it is difficult – you allow God to speak into the deepest part of your heart.”
No bully can break it. No social pressure can erase it. Your prayer is your strength. Your prayer is your freedom. Your prayer is your hope.”
Holding up a handmade rosary crafted by Ukrainian prisoners of war, Cardinal Bychok offered a powerful symbol of hope and resilience. “These young men and women—your peers—have endured suffering most of us cannot imagine. Yet in their darkest moments, they turned to God. Their hands, which once defended their homeland, now shape beads of hope.” He concluded by inviting all present to join him in praying a decade of the Holy Rosary for peace—especially in Ukraine—and for all nations wounded by war and injustice.
As we focus on PEACE this second Sunday of Advent, let us also pray not only for peace in war torn countries, but peace in our own communities, peace in our families where conflict may arise and peace in our hearts.
