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The following
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By Larisa Abel – June, 2005
In considering the attitude of young
people committed to a pro-life youth organization, it is critical that
the young people comprising that organization be just that:
committed. Without total commitment to the upholding of the sanctity
of life, born and unborn, all is lost. Commitment is a relatively
broad term which, in its encompassing nature, includes dedication,
sacrifice, and optimism, and should a group be lacking in any of these
characteristics, the group, the pro-life movement, and lives are
greatly jeopardized.
Young people were never famous for
their ability to commit to anything besides being non-committal and
indecisive, and even that is inadvertent. When young people are
aligned with a particular belief or interest, their loyalty and
charisma are dynamic, highly contagious, and extremely effective due
to the deep nature of their passion. Youth are passionate people,
which is why adults benefit greatly to be allies with the youth. When
youth are dedicated, mountains move, assuming that the youth are
properly allied with Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said that “unless
you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of
heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in
my name receives me” (Matthew 18:3-5).
Young people should be dedicated to
the causes they embrace, even when they go through phases of apathy!
There is no cause more important than the cause of life, which is so
disposable these days thanks to the manipulation of science and
reason. In our enlightened stage, we think that we have risen above
the transparent God, the God of legend and lore, but it is the youth
that reminds us that we are called to be humble, to be like children,
to be youthful and innocent of mind, especially when approaching God.
God calls all of us His children and loves us as such, offering us
many gifts and sufferings to demonstrate His love for us. There is no
better gift to give a Father than to dedicate oneself to preserving
His children, our siblings.
Young people might be
discouraged because they are unable to see the results of their good
actions; young people were never known for their outstanding patience
either. Patience is a virtue that is bestowed upon us through the
blessings of God. Jesus reminds us, “Do not be afraid; just have
faith” (Mark 5:36). Just as we do not need to know God’s plan for us
right away, we do not need to see the results of our good behaviors,
which are pleasing to God. God hears, sees, and knows all, and we
must trust that He is listening and observing us thoroughly. We do
not need to do major things, like shut down a Planned Parenthood, in
order to effect the good that God calls us to. We merely need to
dedicate ourselves in the simplest of ways to preserving humanity. As
St. Therese the Little Flower pointed out, it is the little things
that make a big difference before the eyes of God. This can come in
the form of helping an old woman cross the street, praying in front of
an abortion clinic, or even attending regular Youth For Life
meetings.
The catch is, of course,
that the Lord always calls us to go deeper with what it is that we are
doing, which is why it is so easy for us to fall in love with the Lord
and to persevere in His work even through the darkest hours. As we
“go deeper,” things most certainly become more taxing. Jesus said,
“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be
shrewd as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). It will be
more difficult to tolerate certain people or to give up watching
Monday night football or rearrange a rehearsal in order to assist with
humanity’s greatest battle, the Constitutionally granted right to
life! No one ever said that any of this would be easy. There was no
contract with fine print and a dotted line awaiting a signature which
lined out the rules and ways of the pro-life movement. Jesus says
that “if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it”
(Luke 9:23-24). As it is, lives are on the line, making this battle
more pressing than anything imaginable, and, in result, we must be
ready to make sacrifices. Again, it is fitting to look to St.
Therese, as we are not called to make monstrous sacrifices every hour
of every day. It is the little sacrifices that make a big
difference.
Sacrifice can also be a
type of humiliation; we sacrifice our pride for God and the lives of
our brothers and sisters we may never know. If a youth is chastised
or consulted by an adult, the youth should humbly take the words of
the adult in stride, as difficult as it may be. It is important to
remember that adults were once youth as well and have the benefit of
experience. Sacrifice as a means of humiliation can also mean
emerging from the comfort zones in which we readily find ourselves.
In order for any organization, pro-life or otherwise, to flourish, it
is critical that we put aside our fears and remain in constant
communication! If a youth has an idea, the youth should relay it to
others. How much we fear the judgment of others, but Jesus again
reminds us to “stop judging, that you may not be judged” (Matthew
7:1). Let’s face it, though: if a youth has a bad idea and she is
called out on it, it would be exceptionally mature for the young lady
to accept the criticism in stride and move on. Youth are prone to
being exceptionally emotional, and it is certainly a huge sacrifice by
means of humility if a youth can tame a strong, inner urge to be
emotional.
It is also a huge
sacrifice to remember to do everything through love, because it is
through love that we are allowed to be humbled before God. We love
God so much that we embrace the lessons in humility that He gives to
us. We love God so much that we learn to look on His children as our
brothers and sisters, born and unborn, pro-life and pro-abortion. The
greatest act of love occurs through forgiveness, which youth struggle
with in their hormonal ages. The pro-life movement is loaded with
extreme highs and extreme lows and hardly resembles any form of
stability. The only constant thing in this movement is that
everything which is done must be done through love. As with
everything, “do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke
6:31).
One of the most
difficult things to do as a youth, however, is to be happy. Young
people are constantly plagued with a fit of psychotic emotions,
bouncing between intoxicating joy, bitter remorse, saggy lethargy, and
stark irritation. Jesus advises “do not worry about your life, what
you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more than food and the body more than clothing? … Seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take
care of itself” (Matthew 6:25, 6:33-34). It is indeed difficult to
force oneself to be happy during times of despair, but if we again
look to the saints, what saint was found to be unhappy even paired
with great suffering? St. Therese suffered greatly, but she was still
as content as could be because she trusted in God. It is only when we
separate ourselves from God and put ourselves before Him that we are
miserable. The moment we take our eyes off the Cross is our saddest
moment.
Our emotions often cloud
our judgment and perception of the world around us, causing us to do
harm to the work at hand. This pro-life work, however, is not for the
weak at heart. It is emotional work because so many people are
affected by abortion. It is difficult to approach this type of work
in a state of stoicism. We should feel emotion about what we’re
doing, but it is how we control the emotion that makes a difference.
In the face of disappointment or failure, we must strive towards
optimism, because it is only through God that anything is possible.
If we continue to place our trust in Him, then we will eventually
override the disappointment. God is clearly on our side—there is no
reason to be unhappy.
Should any bit of
dedication, sacrifice, or optimism be compromised at the expensive of
the pro-life movement, an individual cannot be said to be totally
committed. All the demands to be committed, however, are strenuous
and are probably things that people work on through the course of
their lives. This does not make a person any less committed to the
pro-life movement. Not only are we out to make the world a better
place, but we are committed to making ourselves better people. We
seek the salvation of souls, and this commitment to the salvation of
souls is what defines the pro-life movement.
To: The Youth Members and Adult Sponsors of
the Catholic Chapters of the Kentucky Youth For Life and
Generation JPII, Inc.
Fr: Joe Calvert
Re: Structural Changes
Hello Everyone,
It is not with sorrow but with joy that I inform
you of my intention to step down from the state leadership of the
Kentucky Youth For Life effective May 15th. I take enormous joy in
the memories and relationships that I will carry forward with me after
six years of working with you and with those who went before you; in
these things I could not be more richly blessed. Praised be Jesus
Christ, now and forever! I also take joy in knowing the strength of
the youth in the various chapters and the quality of their adult
leadership. I do not have any doubts about any of you! The reason I
must now go is simply that I must begin focusing in a single-minded
way upon my formation as a Roman Catholic deacon. I began that
formation eight months ago and it is beginning to accelerate.
I leave you with several hopes.
I hope that you will embrace duel membership in
both the KYFL and Generation JPII, Inc. There are many good reasons,
but simply put, things will work better if you function as Generation
JPII while doing specifically Catholic things, and function as the
KYFL when doing secular or political things. The adult sponsors of
each of your chapters are already on the Board of Directors of
Generation JPII, so this transition should be extremely easy and
require no work or expense on the part of the youth. You can keep the
same name of your chapter, so for example you can be the Real Presence
Chapter of both the KYFL and Generation JPII at the same time. It is
exciting that the Board of Generation JPII averages just 24 years of
age (outside of Berta and me)...some of you will probably be on that
Board in just a few years! The people on the Board are
(alphabetically): Berta Calvert, Joe Calvert, Paul Clemens, Jennifer
Dillman, Matt Foushee, Mark Fuhrman, Lorrie Keeling, Nick Kenney,
Katie McNeary, Sarah Nettleton, and Drina Spalding. They are either
founders of youth/young adult groups or are leading or have committed
to lead a youth/young adult group. As you can see, Berta and I are on
that Board right now, but will leave that also to God and those
younger on May 21st. So, that Board will be very young
indeed!
I hope that you will support the person who will
be my replacement as state director of the KYFL. Choosing that person
is a matter for the Board of Directors of Right To Life of Louisville.
I'm sure they will find a replacement by May 15th and
would welcome your suggestions. Likewise, I hope you will support the
new Executive Director of Generation JPII, who will be elected by
their Board on May 21st.
Finally, I hope that you will support two huge
projects that are in the works for this summer. First there is the
IGNITE National Catholic Youth Conference at Spalding University for
three full days on July 21-24. This will be one of the best things
you do all summer. And then there will be the youth Holy Hour at the
Cathedral on August 7th presided over by Archbishop Kelly. These two
projects are huge and reflect how far our groups have come. I can
remember years ago a youth telling me, "Nobody cares about us." Well,
they do now! For the first time you now have an Archdiocesan and even
a national audience. But, please, it will take all of you to pitch in
to make these two events spectacularly successful and most efficacious
to the saving of the lives of the unborn and the souls of the born.
It’s up to all of us to try to pack those events with people!
I have a lot of gratitude for all who helped make
the KYFL a joyful success through these years. As for humans: that
list would have to begin with my wife Berta who has always been so
generous with my time and more, Father Dennis Cousens, Mrs. Margie
Montgomery, Deacons Mike Murphy and Harry Prestwood, and Sister Mary
Naomi Buniff, RSM, all of the youth beginning with Mark Zimmerer,
parents and adult sponsors. I don't want to start on names as I might
leave someone out by mistake.
But more importantly, there has been one ultimate
source for our success from the very beginning. And that reason is
Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. He has
powered these groups like a nuclear generator. When He has been
neglected, we have failed. When we have put Him first, we have been
fruitful and blessed.
That's really all there is to life, that we
figure out how to put Him first so that we may spend eternity in
joyful adoration of Him in Heaven. If all of you can put Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament in the very center of all you do in the KYFL and
Generation JPII, then you will have the joy of seeing mountains move
and knowing that God is moving you by His own will and not by your
own. And whenever you find yourself faltering or starting to stray,
you just hit your knees and go to His mom; she’ll bring you back,
always better than before. This is my prayer in love for you.
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, pray for
us.
St. Joseph, guardian of virgins, pray for us.
St. Cecilia, model of purity, pray for us.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
An email
announcement of June 8th, 2005
Hello Everyone,
I am thrilled to
announce the debut of an incredible new Catholic pro-life youth group,
Generation JPII, Inc. It has many of the same members and adult
sponsors as the Kentucky Youth For Life, but is focused on Catholic
teaching, worship, and the Sacraments and open to expansion past state
and national borders, while the KYFL will focus on the political side.
For now, the names of the chapters and their youth officers and adult
sponsors will stay the same, but those things may change to suit
various circumstances. Youth will be encouraged to be members of both
organizations. I have attached a prayer which contains everything that
is in their mission statement and should give you a great idea of what
the group is about.
Generation JPII,
Inc. is incorporated by the state as a non-profit corporation and has
filed with the federal government for 501(c)3 status, so they are open
for donations to further their work for the Culture of Life. I am
thrilled to announce the Board of Directors, who are young adults who
have either founded or sponsored pro-life / Catholic youth or young
adult groups. They are:
Sarah Nettleton -
Founding Co-sponsor Defensor Vitae Chapter
Matt Foushee -
Founding President, UofL Cardinals for Life
Drina Spalding -
Co-sponsor Real Presence Chapter
Paul Clemens -
Founding Co-sponsor Defensor Vitae Chapter
Lorrie Kenney -
Founding Sponsor, Life is Sacred Chapter
Katie McNeary -
Co-sponsor Real Presence Chapter
Mark Fuhrman -
Founding President, Bellarmine Students For Life
Jennifer Dillman
- Co-founding President, Kentucky Young Adults For Life
Nick Kenney -
Co-founder Kentucky Youth For Life (modern era)
Up until May
21st, I was the Executive Director. However, as was planned, on May
21st, this Board met in Vine Grove, KY and accepted my resignation. It
is more fitting that this group be truly and totally run by young
(very young) adults who love the youth, live the faith, and have for
the most part risen up through the youth ranks. They took nominations
from amongst themselves and elected Sarah Nettleton as their new
Executive Director by unanimous vote! Congratulations,
Sarah!
Immediately
following their Board meeting, they attended Mass at St. Brigid
Catholic Church in Vine Grove where they were consecrated and blessed
by Father Dennis Cousens in front of the congregation. I have attached
Fr. Cousens' prayer so that you might see what a beautiful beginning
this group has!
I hope that you
will join me in cheering them and supporting them in their courageous
work for the Culture of Life. And remember, to start a chapter all you
need is two youth and one adult who will commit to joining together
once or twice a month to pray for the sanctity of human life. The
website (generationjpii.com) is under construction, but for now you
can email me or any of them for more info. May God bless all of our
efforts to do his will for the "least of these". joe calvert
"Fear not, little
flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."
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