Kidanemhret Catholic Church - Toronto Canada

A WITNESS
SIX MONTHS AFTER COLOGNE 2005

(Senite Sahlezghi, Denver, Colorado)

My name is Senite Sahlezghi, and I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the 2005 World Youth Day festivities in Cologne with my school, Bishop Machebeuf Catholic High School in Denver, Colorado. This was the first World Youth Day I have actually experienced. By going to Cologne I learned many important lessons and came to many significant realizations.


	We are all children of God in one international family. Our nationalities convey our uniqueness but, in the end, He loves and treats us all the same. I experienced this when the group I went wit missed an opportunity to attend an English speaking mass. So, we thought the next best thing would be to go to the Polish mass in honor of Pope John Paul, the Great. Towards the end of the mass, heavy rain began to pour down upon us, and we were huddled under umbrellas. This was not very successful, so everyone discarded their forms of rain

protection and danced in the rain, crying our to the Lord: “Jesus Christ you are my light. Hallelujah, Hallelujah! The Holy Spirit flowed through igygt t all of us on that memorable day. At that moment I realized that Christ wholeheartedly loves us and wants us to overcome all these obstacles and distinctions to live in a awesome nature of God, we will know love and act upon it in a more perfect way. Another experience that sticks out for me was at the all night vigil that would close the ceremonies. At one point, there were millions of pilgrims from all walks of life sitting together and praying to the Lord while holding up candles. You could feel the fellowship of all those present today. It was a moment of wonder and awe. As Christ states in the Gospel of John, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father except through me.” It taught the true universality of the Catholic Church, and how we all have one purpose to fulfill: to live and love as Chirst Jesus did through opening our hearts to His plan for us. It is very difficult to give your whole self to God, because we feel that we are losing our hopes, aspirations, and control of our lives; but it is so worthwhile because we will be living those hopes and aspirations in a more complete and perfect way.

“We have come to worship Him. (Mt 2: 2) This theme for the World Youth Day taught me that we have to hold the course in practicing our faith complimentary to how we live our lives; they are coexistent and interdependent upon each other. We have to reject and transform this world by living our Christian life. Pope John Paul II said: “Worship Christ: He is the Rock on which to build your future and a world of greater justice and solidarity. Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the source of forgiveness and reconciliation, who can make brothers and sisters of all the members of the human family.” Through attending Mass weekly, being involved in youth groups/campus ministries, going to retreats and praying the Rosary, and putting oneself in an environment similar to that Christ expects of you, I have learnt that this really helps in living your life as follower and soldier of Christ, called to spread the Good News. St. Francis of Assisi says: “Preach the Gospel at all costs and when necessary use words."

Senite lives in Denver, USA. She is in twelve grade and gets only excellent grades. Last December she was enrolled in National High School Honor Society. Since her early years of schooling she has always studied on scholarship, thus making it much easier for her parents to keep her in the private Catholic School, at no expense . . . She is a very pleasant person to talk to. She plans to go to University and get a degree magna cum laude . . . She attributes her academic excellence to the devotion and support she got from her parents Sahlezgi and Keddusan, to her hard work and the challenging and supportive teachers. Talking to her recently, I was greatly impressed by her deep interest in religion, the competence with which she could explains various theological points and her familiarity with the Bible. She looked to me quite committed to her prayer life as well. Beside spirituality, one other thing we have in common is competence in Mathematics. I must have done a good job, seventeen years ago when I poured on her the baptismal water . . . Or is it something she got it from father Sahlezghi? Being the eldest of four siblings she has influenced the others also to follow in her footsteps. She plans to get married rather early than late and raise her kids the way she was raised. Congratulations, Senhit, and keep it up! *AbboKi, Abba Vittorio*