Posted July 31, 2013

I remember when I was in third grade, how excited I was to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion. It was an amazing feeling to know that I can now fully participate in the Mass.

Part of what the teachers told us to do when receiving the body of Christ was to let it dissolve in our mouths, not to chew the host as that is very disrespectful. When I was young I really didn’t understand why, because to me it was just a blessed piece of bread, but as I got older and deepened my faith I finally understood that when the priest consecrates the bread it is now truly Christ’s body.

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Part of going to a Catholic school is practicing our faith. Once a month we have a Mass at school. I can’t help but notice the colossal amount of people who chew Jesus like He is candy. Jesus is not candy, and we should receive him humbly.  When we receive the sacrament of Communion we are supposed to conduct ourselves in a very reverent manner. Unfortunately in today’s society many people do not conduct themselves in the manner that they should when attending Mass.

Jesus sacrificed so much for us, He died on the cross to save us from sin. All he asks us to do is keep our faith alive and live a life according to his teachings.

I believe that many teenagers around my age feel that it is not “cool” to worship God. Many of them do not want to do anything that would make them stand out from the rest of the crowd, including being disciplined enough to know that when you are in church it is a time devoted to God. You should receive the sacraments, participate in the liturgy, and be respectful at all times.

Many teenagers are worried about what their friends would think if they did something that is out of the ordinary, or something that is not popular, but really they should be thinking about how they are going to deepen their faith in God.

“What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.”– Albert Einstein

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Vince Madle is a student at Archbishop Ryan High School, Philadelphia.