In the Spotlight

If it’s at school there are a few things you can do. First tell your real friends; they’ll help you just by being there for you, even if it’s just reminding you that what the bullies are saying is nonsense. Secondly tell your parents and a teacher you trust. They can make sure the bullies are stopped and it may even help others that are being bullied by the same people.

The best thing you can do is only talk to and message people you know whatever site or software you’re using. Adding friends just for the sake of it can be really dangerous as it can give those ‘strangers’ you’ve added access to your personal details.

When I get caught up in praise I feel alive. I have the sense that this is what I was made to do… And that’s kind of why we do it! We praise and worship God because that is what we were made to do. An artist has his paintings hung on the walls of galleries. People see it and say “What a beautiful painting! What an amazing artist!”. It’s like the painting is giving praise to the talents of the artist, the creator. In the same way it is natural as creations of God to give praise to him as our creator.

God has a plan for our lives and if we were to live this out, surely this would include our deaths. Unfortunately we don’t always follow God’s plans and some people end up hurting themselves and others. This is why we often read of people dying and being killed ‘before their time’. The choices that they have made or the choices of other people have ended their lives, not God. This happens because one of God’s greatest gifts to us is our free will. Without it we would be like robots or slaves, just doing what we were told. God loves us so much that he gave us the option of choosing to love Him back.

If you’re in Heaven and your family lived life like you did, then probably yes!

Some people suffer because of the choices that they have made – how they live their life. Others suffer because of the choices and actions of others, for example when parents spilt up or when someone is hit by a speeding driver. This again is because of God’s gift to us of free will.

Hell is a real place yes, it is simply life without God. This is something that many people get a glimpse of everyday. People that have no family, no home, no sense of love; those that are imprisoned, addicted, lonely or abused. Some people might even say that they are in a living hell. As Christians it is our job to bring heaven to these people. Heaven is simply life with God – in His Kingdom. Christians pray ‘Let You Kingdom come’, we can do this by showing love to those who don’t have any, by helping those who need it most.

God really did ‘descend’ from heaven, yes, when Jesus came? Did you know that Jesus fulfilled over 3000 messianic prophecies? Prophecies are things that God told the prophets to say hundreds of years before Jesus was born in what we call the Old Testament. Many of these predicted that the Messiah would be the Son of God, born by young girl, be killed by those he came to help and rise from the dead. It was after he rose from the dead that his disciples saw him ‘ascend’ back to heaven.

People can be stressed for any number of reasons from school and family troubles, to drugs and health problems. If you are worried about someone in particular try and be the best friend you can be to them. Ask if there is anything you can do to help them and tell them that you are praying for them.

A good habit to get into is to take some time before you go to bed, to look back over your day, and see if there’s anything you need to ask forgiveness for. There’s also an opportunity at the beginning of Mass to ‘call to mind our sins’, and to ask God to forgive us. If you need to go confession though, and for some reason you can’t make the Saturday slot, most priests are happy to hear confessions at other times if you call and make an appointment with them. Top tip: Don’t miss out on the grace that comes from the sacrament, find a way to get there!

God has given us what’s called free will, which means we choose our behaviour, and he never forces us to do anything. Sometimes God might want us to do particular things though, so when we pray it’s good to take time to listen to him. You might want to ask what God if there’s something special he wants you to do, it might be telling people about Jesus, or raising money for charities, or just smiling at people! One of the best things about life is discovering what God has in store for us. But the choice is always yours.

God will never ever stop loving you. God is so loving that it is true to say that God IS Love. Some people imagine God is going to punish crush them if they do something wrong. This isn't a good image of who God is. One of the best images is that of a loving and forgiving Father. God does love you and always will.