In the Spotlight

In the beginning, humanity was created to live in harmony with God forever. When humanity chose to disobey God, a lot of bad stuff came into the world, including disease and death. This is because God is life, and when we move away from God, we move away from life towards death. But because God loves us, he didn't want us to have eternal death, so his way of helping us out was to send Jesus to die in our place, so that we can have eternal life with him. So although we may leave our life on this earth, it's not the end of the story. We may feel that some people's lives are cut short and they leave this earth before we're ready to say goodbye, but we have to trust that it's part of God's eternal plan, even though we might not understand.

Let's start with what the Church understands sex as being about: 1) the good relationship (union) of the couple; 2) being open to having babies; and 3) having fun. The ideal situation is when all three things occur together, that’s when sex will be at it’s best for us. So, what about masturbation? Well, it's something you do on your own, so there's no chance of union with someone else, and there's no chance of having babies either; so, whether it's fun or not, it's a less than ideal sexual situation and we should try to avoid it. However, avoiding it can be difficult and it's very normal to struggle. But God can help us with our struggles, to the point where we don’t need to do it anymore, so it’s good to talk to him about it in prayer.

Jesus said that he came to give us life in all it's fullness, so our meaning and purpose must in some way be found in him. We're also told by the prophet Jeremiah that God knows the plans he has for each of us and so true happiness and freedom must be found in following those plans. Finding out what the plans are is another matter, but it's all part of the adventure of life with God. Why don't you spend a moment in prayer asking God to show you something of his plan for your life? You never know what might happen!

No matter who we are, we all have moments of feeling distant from God. The truth is that he's always next to us, but sometimes, for various reasons, we can't see or hear or feel him. In times like this, we need to trust that he won't abandon us, and that he still hears us even when it seems to be silent on the other end of the telephone. To continue the cheesy telephone analogy, don't hang up- you need to stay connected to receive an answer!

Some people like to show their faith by what they wear. They might wear their rosary or a cross or crucifix on a chain around their neck or they might wear religious t-shirts or a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) band on their wrist. These are all great ways to show our faith and often people will ask us questions about them which start some fab God conversations, but the best way to show our faith is through our actions. Caring for people and serving them, to show that you love them, is what Jesus calls us to do. This is because he says that it's by our love for one another that people will know we are His disciples.

This might not be what you want to hear, but it's not up to you to control the bullies. As scary as it may seem, you need to get some adult help. A big part of a bully's power comes from the secrecy that surrounds what they're doing, so telling someone is always going to be a positive move. Maybe there is a teacher who you can trust or maybe you want to speak to your parents or someone else, depending on where the situation is happening. If there really isn't anyone, then you can phone ChildLine on 0800 1111 to at least get some support in the situation.

The Bible tells us that we are God's work of art. When we make something, we put something of ourselves into it- our time, our effort, our care and our love. So, if we - as imperfect humans - love what we create, how much more does our perfect heavenly Father love us?! There is nothing we can do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we can do to make God love us less. God's love is so beyond our understanding that we could learn something new about it every day and still not have it completely figured out by the end of our life. So rather than asking the question why, why don't you ask God to show you how- then sit back and enjoy the ride! :)

Testament is another word for promise. The Old Testament was the promise between God and His people through Moses, that He would protect them and guide them. The New Testament is the promise between God and His people through Jesus, His Son. This promise is that we can be in relationship with God, despite the mistakes we make and the things we get wrong as humans, and have eternal life with Him through Jesus' death and resurrection. I don't know about you, but that sounds like pretty good news to me! :) The word Gospel also means Good News and as the Gospels are included in the New Testament, the whole of the New Testament is sometimes referred to as the Good News, but when we get down to it the Good News is that God has been planning how we can spend eternity with Him from the very beginning of time, because he loves us that much!

Jesus said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could tell the mountains to move themselves into the sea, so having faith when we pray is always helpful. God always answers our prayers, however we may not receive the answer we're looking for. Just as you wouldn't give a sharp knife to a young child- in case they hurt themselves - God knows what is best for us and so sometimes his answer is "no", or "not right now". Of course, that doesn't mean we should necessarily give up - sometimes, God wants us to persevere with our prayer so that we truly rely on him, and sometimes it's about learning to pray for what God wants rather than what we want.

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.