Teens hear messages of hope about chastity
By Chris Donahue
Staff Writer
About 2,000 teenagers from schools and parishes in the diocese gathered for the outreach program Because I’m Worth It March 27 and 28 to be reminded that sex is a precious gift from God that should not be shared until they are married.
In speeches by motivational speaker Pam Stenzel, skits and reflection, topics included the benefits of living a chaste life and the emotional, physical and spiritual costs of pre-marital sex.
Sessions were held at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Piscataway; St. Helena School, Edison; St. James School, Basking Ridge; and St. Joseph High School, Metuchen.
The sacrament of reconciliation was available to participants. In his blessing and closing remarks at the St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, Bishop Emeritus Edward T. Hughes said reconciliation is not meant as a way for the church “to yell and scream at us, but to help us live a good Christian life.
“If you use the sacrament of reconciliation you will be a lot happier person because it has one purpose only: to bring you closer to the Lord,” Bishop Hughes added. “Don’t ever be ashamed to confess, no matter what you have done. All of us have sinned and sinned pretty badly.”
Bishop Hughes said the church is not an institution that just tries to take the fun out of life for teens but wants to protect them by helping them make the right decisions, especially keeping sex within the boundaries of marriage.
“How you dress and speak will influence other people,” Bishop Hughes said. “Do you want to be responsible for someone else walking away from the Lord?”
Risky behavior
Stenzel, a married mother of three who speaks to more than 500,000 teens and parents around the world each year, wove her personal story and extensive pregnancy counseling experience into a speech about the risks of sexual activity outside of marriage.
“The boundary God created for sex is marriage,” Stenzel said. “In the next 24 hours, 14,000 teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease and those are the ones being tested. In the 1950s and ‘60s, there were five sexually transmitted diseases. We now have more than 30 STDs; 30 percent of them incurable.”
Also, teenage mothers often live in poverty because most do not finish high school or get a college degree, Stenzel said.
Teenage boys also can’t avoid responsibility for fathering a child out of wedlock because welfare laws in all 50 states now require birth certificates to include the Social Security numbers of both parents to ensure financial support for the baby, Stenzel said.
Role models
Alyssa Filannino, 14, a student at St. Stanislaus Kostka School, also Sayreville, said Because I’m Worth It was valuable because it reminded her how important chastity is and the negative effects a wrong decision can have on your life.
Lisa Grover, an eighth grade teacher at St. Stanislaus Kostka School, said the students seem to enjoy being with their peers, who are going through “the same phases, the same decision-making processes and we just hope and pray they are making the best choice possible.”
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law