Saints & Relics Presentation: Boys & Girls Scouts Youth Retreat, 8/27/2022

The Boys & Girls Scouts Youth Retreat

at the Convent of the Sacred Heart

Sisters in Kalihi.

Normally, it's a bit of a challenge for me to conduct speaking presentations for the youth.  The truth is, more often than not, it's harder to hold their attention for a long period of time, and there are always a few in the audience who seem downright uninterested; it's just how it is.  But I welcome the challenge and it's why I pray extra hard before a presentation and, ask others to pray too, if young children and teens are involved.

Saints/Relics featured by this ministry

at the retreat (L to R): St. Bernadette of

Lourdes, Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassatti, St.

Damien of Molokai, St. Maria Goretti, Sts.

Louis & Zelie Martin, and their daughter

- St. Therese the Little Flower.

So the many prayers offered for today must've been heard because this group of young people was very different from others - most of them seemed really engaged and highly interested in what they heard about our Saints and the relics I featured.  In fact, during the Q&A segment of the presentation, they had a lot of great questions for me; more than I usually get even from adults.  I was pleasantly surprised that these kids were apparently paying attention during the talk!

Devotional items made freely available to

the Scouts... and the young people lined up

after to venerate the Saints and Relics.

Furthermore, most of the young men approached me after the presentation to personally say "thanks", and to let me know they enjoyed themselves and learned a lot; one boy was even in tears - gently sobbing - as he said to me, "We have a beautiful Faith."  It was an unusually mature remark, coming from a teenager, and it deeply affected me.  My response was, "AMEN!  Please let the people you come across every day, who don't know that, know." to which he firmly replied, "I will."  In hindsight, only the Holy Spirit could have inspired this young man's remarkable reaction.

So, based on the feedback I received, it's evident the Saints again did their part for the presentation by planting faith-seeds and touching hearts - young hearts that urgently need their example and intervention.  God bless our youth.

A Message from the Scouts...