Young Faces of Holiness Saints & Relics Speaking Presentation, 10/26/2018: Sts. Peter & Paul Church, Honolulu

Relics on display at the parish of Sts.

Peter & Paul Church, Honolulu.

This evening my ministry was invited to speak about Saints to a youth group at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Honolulu... and what an exceptionally enthusiastic group my audience turned out to be!  About 11 kids of various ages showed up along with their adult team leaders and invited guests, including a lovely sister from St. Marianne of Molokai's very own Franciscan congregation.

I featured 4 youthful holy individuals for the young people to learn about: Sts. Francisco & Jacinta Marto of Fatima, Bl. Imelda Lambertini, Bl. Rolando Rivi, and St. Rose of Viterbo... and what made this presentation very memorable for me was the reaction of the kids to the stories and the slideshow photos.  For example, when I spoke of a levitation miracle St. Rose had performed during her short lifetime, exclamations of "Wow" and "Cool" were heard... or when I showed a photo of Bl. Imelda's incorrupt body, the group let out a collective gasp of awe and surprise.  But it was when I told the audience that I also had bodily relics from some of these Saints and Blesseds present for them to see that the excitement in the room went up several notches.  Even the adults were excited.

Youth and adult participants viewing

the relic display up close.

As an added surprise for the group, I also brought relics from certain adult Saints who were namesakes for some of the children's confirmation names: St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Padre Pio, St. Therese the Little Flower, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The facial expression of the kids who chose these saint-names was just priceless when they learned these relics were present too. 

After the talk finished, several of the kids and adults seemed moved - a few even to tears - when they were invited to approach the display altar to view and venerate the relics.  Some laid their hands on the reliquaries and frames as they quietly prayed.  And there were others who pressed whatever religious articles they had with them to the reliquaries.  It was all very touching to watch the people - youth and adults - freely expressing their faith and emotions.

Some of the children's online feedback posted

on their youth group's menti.com site. 

Lastly, the team leaders invited the youngsters to post feedback on their group's menti.com account from their cellphones, and the messages that immediately came through were encouraging.  It showed the kids were indeed paying attention during the presentation and learned valuable faith-lessons from the lives of our Saints.

May these precious young souls from Sts. Peter & Paul Parish continue to grow in their Catholic Faith.  God bless them... today and always!

"You don't got to do big things

to become a Saint."

- one child's comment; a solid lesson
learned from tonight's presentation